Circus Tigers Turn on Trainer, Maul Him to Death Despite Frantic Attempts to Intervene
Italian police are investigating after one of the country’s most famous tamers was killed by four tigers he was training.
Ettore Weber died Thursday evening during a rehearsal at Marina Orfei Circus in Triggiano, Bari, Italian newspaper Repubblica reported.
Police said they think one tiger bit Weber, prompting the other three to attack. The animals mauled the tamer for some 20 minutes, according to Notizie.it.
Some 118 people tried to rescue Weber, but he died from his injuries. He was in his early sixties.
Weber’s show was part of the circus’s “Animal Park” event, which featured live animals from five continents. It was due to run from June 15 to July 14. The circus did not immediately respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.
Weber’s death provoked fierce criticism on social media of circuses that feature wild animals. One Twitter user wrote: “Animals have to stay where nature puts them, stop. You can’t torture them for your own profit and delight.”
User Lello Pinto called those who run circuses with wild animals “beasts.” “A decent parent doesn’t take their children to see animals behind bars,” Pinto added.
User Katerina Medici said she was not “at all” sorry about the tragedy. “This is not their natural habitat,” she wrote. “Let these animals go free.”
“Karma is a b****,” tweeted another user. “Another reason not to use animals in circuses.”
User Paola Massari said she was “dismayed, of course,” but added: “This could also be an opportunity to stop exploiting, segregating and mistreating exotic animals.”
But some Twitter users hit back at critics. One said those “rejoicing” over Weber’s death wouldn’t do the same if he was their own friend or relative. The user added: “If you are so opposed to the mistreatment of animals in the circus, why don’t you actually take action?”
Italy’s parliament voted to phase out animal circus acts in November 2017, with a requirement that new legislation be outlined within a year. Campaign group Animal Defenders International hailed the move as “a major breakthrough” for animal rights.
In the U.S., some states have banned the use of exotic wild animals in circuses. When New Jersey governor Phil Murphy signed such a bill into law last December he said he was proud his state would no longer allow animals to be “exploited and cruelly treated.” He added: “These animals belong in their natural habitats or in wildlife sanctuaries, not in performances where their safety and the safety of others is at risk.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Workers Arrive To Find Bag Of Human Bones Hanging On The Door Of New Jersey Snack Stand
An investigation in New Jersey is underway after a bag of human bones was left hanging on the door of a snack stand in Alpine, New Jersey.
On Monday, employees of the snack stand found the plastic bag as they arrived to work at the snack stand at the scenic Stateline Lookout at Palisades Interstate Park. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella confirmed his office is looking into the matter.
“At approximately 8:00 a.m. on Monday July 1, 2019, employees arrived for work at the Stateline Lookout snack stand and found a plastic bag hanging on the door,” reads a statement from Musella. “The workers noticed that the contents of the bag appeared to be bones and they contacted the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Department to report their suspicious finding.”
After authorities were contacted by employees of the State Line Lookout Cafe, cops showed up and “concluded that the bones were similar to that of a human.”
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Cold Case Unit was notified of the gruesome discovery, and since then, the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office has been analyzing the bones.
“The investigation into the identity and origin of the remains is ongoing and the Prosecutor’s Office is seeking to identify the person who found the remains to get additional information on where exactly they were located,” the statement continues.
Alpine is located in northern New Jersey, not far from New York City and the New York-New Jersey border.
Anyone with any information regarding this case is asked to contact the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Cold Case Unit at (201) 226-5500.
Photo Credit: start.att.net
Police are working to identify ten male suspects caught on camera stealing more than $30,000 worth of North Face merchandise from the Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlets in Wisconsin
Pleasant Prairie Police Chief David Smetana said the mass theft happened in about 30 seconds on the evening of July 1, when ten people walked into the store and nine of them grabbed as many items as they could carry before fleeing.
“This was an organized group. They had planned this out, they had traveled to this outlet knowing which stores they were going to hit,” Smetana said. “This isn’t a group of ten people walking by a store and coming up with an idea to hit it.”
Investigators are now examining surveillance video from inside and outside of the store — hoping to get better identification on the suspects.
“We’ve seen it before. Not to this level, in my recent history,” Smetana said. “Through the work of our detectives in contacting other agencies and other stores they’ve seen recently, they’ve seen similar attacks go on at these stores.””We’ve seen it before. Not to this level, in my recent history.”Officials said the employees at the store did not confront the suspects.
“They got on the phone right away and advised the Pleasant Prairie Police Department that there was an incident at the store,” Smetana said.
Smetana says they are investigating whether the group is linked to other similar robberies in the area.
“It really is a matter of a number of people coming in, overwhelming a staff of employees,” Smetana said.
via: https://fox2now.com/2019/07/05/video-shows-mob-shoplifting-30k-of-merchandise-from-wisconsin-store/
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Baby fighting for life after mom leaves her in running bathtub
A Bronx baby is fighting for her life after her mom put her in the bathtub with the water running — and then left the room to do chores, police sources told The Post on Thursday.
The 23-year-old mother placed her 8-month-old daughter in the tub shortly before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in their third-floor apartment on Vyse Avenue near East 173rd Street in Crotona Park, sources said.
The woman then left the room, with the water still running, to clean up around the apartment, they said.
When the mom returned, her baby was face down, floating in the bathtub, which was half full of water, sources said.
Medics rushed the child to St. Barnabas Hospital, where she had no pulse. Doctors were able to re-establish a heartbeat and later transported her to Montefiore Medical Center in critical condition.
Police are still investigating the incident. No charges were immediately filed.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/04/baby-fighting-for-life-after-mom-leaves-her-in-running-bathtub/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Two female corrections officers who brawled outside a Queens nightclub were fighting over a man, as explicit video emerged showing two separate off-duty officers performing a sex act on the dance floor
One of the female corrections worker was arrested and suspended from the department as other officers are now under investigation in connection with the fracas outside Club Amadeus in Elmhurst on June 22.
Previous video showed off-duty Rikers Island Officers Cotrina Theodore, 32, and Amanique Paul, 26, allegedly brawling in the street as other scantily clad women looked on.
“Get the f–k off her, bitch!” one woman yells in the recording, which was filmed by other corrections officers.
“You’re not here, ho!” another says.
One of the women, Cheryl Smith, 25, tried to break up the fight — but was allegedly slugged several times by Theodore.
Sources said the fight was sparked by a man.
Paul told police that Theodore approached her at Amadeus and began arguing with her — and then things got physical, sources said. Theodore allegedly punched Paul in the face.
Theodore was arrested at the scene and charged with two counts of assault.
“Very sad. These women should be fired from the job,” a police source said. “It’s embarrassing to law enforcement.”
Meanwhile, video newly obtained by The Post shows a female off-duty corrections officer performing oral sex on a male officer inside the club, sources said.
The video was posted to Instagram.
A source said that Theodore has been suspended.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/05/off-duty-corrections-officers-allegedly-fought-over-a-sex-act/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Woman tells Wendy’s drive-thru clerk she was kidnapped
A woman in a car told a North Carolina fast-food drive-thru cashier early Friday that she had been abducted and now cops are trying to find her.
Employees at a Wendy’s near Charlotte Douglas International Airport told police that a passenger in a forest green Honda that pulled up just after midnight asked for help, saying she was a kidnapping victim.
The suspect — who was behind the wheel — was described as a black woman in her late 20s with light skin who wore glasses and a small nose ring. She also had a flower tattoo on her shoulder and was wearing a red tube top, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said.
The woman who called out for help, meanwhile, is believed to be in her 40s or 50s with a dark complexion. They were traveling in a possible Honda Accord that had a sunroof, rear spoiler and temporary tags, police said.
No arrests had been made as of Friday afternoon. There’s no indication that the woman’s report was fabricated, a police spokesman said.
“Detectives continue to thoroughly investigate the circumstances involving the incident,” police spokesman Robert Turfano said.
Anyone with information about the Boyer Street incident is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers at (704) 334-1600.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/05/woman-tells-wendys-drive-thru-clerk-she-was-kidnapped-cops/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Black couple turns away white repairman who had Confederate flag on truck
A black couple in Georgia turned away a white repairman who showed up to their house while flying a large Confederate flag, leaving the couple in utter “disbelief” before saying he wasn’t welcome.
The Saturday exchange between Zeke and Allison Brown and a contractor in his early 20s identified only as Michael was caught on the couple’s doorbell cam at their home in Dallas, a suburb of Atlanta, where they wanted someone to fix faulty brakes on their golf cart, ABC News reports.
Zeke Brown said his son first spotted the flag that’s seen by some as a symbol of slavery and white supremacy as the repairman pulled into the family’s driveway, prompting the younger Brown to say he was going to leave “because he knew nothing good” would come of the ensuing encounter.
After a polite conversation with the contractor, Brown said, he was in “disbelief” that the man he hired from Facebook’s local marketplace would think the flag was acceptable to fly during house calls.
Brown’s wife then came outside and bluntly turned the man away, video shows.
“Hi. You know what?” Allison Brown said. “I do apologize … I know you’ve come from a very long way, but we’re going to use someone else.”
Brown said she was “beyond upset” by the flag and told the man to “continue to believe what you need to believe” before sending him on his way.
“But no, I cannot pay you for your services,” she continued. “Thank you. Have a good day.”
The repairman offered to remove the flag, but the damage was already done. He later reached out to the couple on Facebook to say he didn’t mean to offend them, Zeke Brown told ABC News.
Brown replied to the contractor, explaining that the flag is “extremely offensive” to people of color while urging him to do some research
“I understand it is part of American history, but that flag stood for a time in history where people such as myself had a very bad way of life,” Brown wrote in the message, which was obtained by WXIA. “The few minutes I got to speak with you, I saw nothing that represents that flag. I saw a very respectful young man that works very hard to make his way.”
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Road Rage Driver Shoots Truck Full Of Fireworks, Burns Family Inside
A family of four, including two young children, has been seriously injured after a man shot at their vehicle during a road rage incident, causing the fireworks they had recently purchased to ignite.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation following an incident that broke out around 10 p.m. yesterday in Houston.
Police said that two men got into an argument near a Fiesta store on West Mount Houston Road. The pair then drove to a nearby gas station in their separate vehicles before getting out and continuing the dispute.
One of the men then pulled a gun out, prompting the other to get back inside his vehicle with his wife and two small children, aged 1 and 2.
The suspect then fired his gun at the family’s car. Police believe the gunshot ignited the fireworks the family was carrying inside the vehicle.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez described the incident as a “horrific scene.”
The father drove off briefly, but their car engulfed in flames forcing him to stop,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “Some good Samaritans came to the rescue and transported the family to a community ER clinic.”
The two children sustained major burns and are currently in hospital in a critical condition. The parents were also hurt, although the extent of their injuries is unknown at this time.
“The two children were [taken via Life Flight] to UTMB Galveston with severe burns,” said Harris County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crimes Detective Tom Turner, reported Click 2 Houston. “The mother was also transported [and] the father has since been transported.”
The suspect, described as either mixed race or Hispanic in his 20s, was driving a light-colored Ford Expedition with a woman and two children inside.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office added in a statement: “If anyone has any information about this horrific incident that occurred tonight, please contact CrimeStoppers Houston. Your tip could help solve this crime and could be worth up to $5000. Two innocent children were hurt in this incident. Please provide any info you might have.”
Anyone with info is urged to call 713-221-6000 or CrimeStoppers 713-222-8477.
Elsewhere, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office also dealt with an incident in which a suspected robber was shot with his own gun after attempting to rob a fireworks stand on July 4.
Deputies said that fireworks stand employee was able to “take possession of the would-be robber’s pistol and shot him with it,” leaving the teenage suspect in a critical condition.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Police break up 400-person ‘modern day slavery’ ring in U.K.
Prosecutors say more than 400 victims were forced to work for minuscule wages while their masters earned some 2 million pounds ($2.5 million) and lived a luxurious lifestyle.
Article via NBCNews
Details about what prosecutors have called one of Britain’s largest-ever modern day slavery rings have emerged with the conviction of eight people originally from Poland.
Prosecutors say more than 400 victims were forced to work for minuscule wages while their masters earned some 2 million pounds ($2.5 million) and lived a luxurious lifestyle. Reporting restrictions were lifted Friday, allowing details to be published.
The group preyed on the homeless, former convicts and alcoholics in Poland and lured them to Britain with false promises of well-paid work. Some ended up being paid less than $1 for a day’s work and were held in squalid conditions.
Five men and three women originally from Poland have been convicted of modern day slavery offenses and money laundering.
Jurors in two separate trials at Birmingham Crown Court heard testimony from more than 90 victims, with indications that at least another 350 had been trafficked by the criminal gang.
Victims reported being forced to wash in a canal because they had no access to fresh water, having to plug leaky toilets with their blankets and sheets, and getting food from soup kitchens and food banks because their wages were not sufficient.
The group targeted vulnerable people in Poland for recruitment, including newly released convicts, and placed them in England in cramped, rat-infested lodgings. They were put to work on farms, rubbish recycling centers and poultry factories.
The victims ranged from teenagers to people over 60.
Judge Mary Stacey said at the end of the first trial that the traffickers’ “degradation” of fellow human beings had been “totally unacceptable.” She imposed prison sentences of up to 11 years.
She said the belief that slavery had been ended in Britain was not true: “The hard truth is that the practice continues, here in the U.K., often hiding in plain sight.”
The police investigation and research by the charity Hope For Justice turned up numerous cases of abuse.
In one instance, a man who complained about poor pay and living conditions had his arm broken, was given no medical care, then ejected from the lodgings.
Another was forced to remove his clothes and threatened with the removal of his kidneys if he did not keep quiet about the situation.
In the second trial, which ended in June, 52-year-old Ignacy Brzezinski and Wojciech Nowakowski, 41, were convicted. A third, Jan Sadowski, 26, pleaded guilty.
Convicted at the earlier trial, which ended in February, were chief conspirator Marek Chowanic, Marek Brzezinski, Julianna Chodakiewicz, Natalia Zmuda and Justyna Parczewska.
Woman who licked tub of ice cream in viral video could face 20 years in prison
Police aren’t resting until they catch the person who opened a carton of ice cream at a Texas Walmart, licked the creamy goodness and put it back in the freezer.
Lufkin Police say they are searching for a womanwho gleefully contaminated a half-gallon of Blue Bell Tin Roof ice cream — which the company describes as “a vanilla ice cream with a rich chocolate fudge swirl and roasted peanuts dipped in dark chocolate” — last week in a Twitter video that has garnered more than 11 million views.
Police say the woman faces a charge of second-degree felony tampering with a consumer product, which carries two to 20 years behind bars and a possible fine of up to $10,000.
Blue Bell called the unsettling footage a “malicious act” in a statement on its website.
The ice cream maker said it inspected the freezer case that contained the licked ice cream, found the problematic tub and removed all Tin Roof half gallons from the Lufkin Walmart.
“The safety of our ice cream is our highest priority, and we work hard to maintain the highest level of confidence of our customers. Food tampering is not a joke, and we will not tolerate tampering with our products,” Blue Bell said.
A Walmart in Corpus Christi isn’t taking any chances with its own ice cream stock.
To protect its frozen goods, the store said, it stationed an “armed” guard in front of its precious Blue Bell freezer and posted a photo Wednesday of an employee holding a squirt gun; the photo was removed about 18 hours later.
“We’re guarding our Blue Bell Ice cream for your Weekend party, what a great way to cool down in the Hot Texas heat !” the post said.
By Michelle Lou, CNN
Photo Credit: pix11.com