2 Arrested After $100K Worth of Stolen Target Merchandise Found at Perris Home
Two people have been arrested in connection with an embezzlement scheme that netted about $100,000 in stolen goods from a Target store in Riverside, police said Thursday.
Elias Hernandez, 23, of Moreno Valley, is accused of helping Mandeep Chamdal, 34, steal the merchandise from the Target store where he worked in the 2700 block of Canyon Springs Parkway over the past five months, police said in a news release.
Asset protection at Target notified police about the scheme earlier in the month.
Hernandez was arrested June 5 at the store, while 34-year-old Mandeep Chamdal was taken into custody on June 13 at her home in the 2200 block of Jornada Drive in Perris. After serving a search warrant, detectives located and recovered the $100,000 worth of stolen Target merchandise at the home.
Police said Hernandez would allow Chamdal to “price check” items well below their actual value, and would give her gift cards to use toward her fraudulent purchases.”
“One example included where a $15 package of diapers was rung up for only $2 to $3 dollars,” police said in the news release.
Detectives believe Chamdal would sell the stolen merchandise at local swap meets, including one in Wildomar.
Hernandez was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of grand theft and embezzlement. Chamdal was booked on suspicion of grand theft.
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Detective Jeff Derouin at (951) 826-5722 or [email protected].
Photo Credit: ktla.com
San Diego Doctor Accused of Using Dirty Needles Stored in Boxes With Dead Insects on Pediatric Patients
A San Diego doctor has been accused of allegedly using dirty needles on pediatric patients, San Diego television station KGTV reported.
Newly released documents by the California Medical board state Dr. Bret Robert Gerber used dirty syringes on a 2-year-old and a 10-year-old in July, 2016. Back then, Gerber worked at Scripps Coastal Medical Center in Hillcrest.
According to the documents, a medical assistant reported seeing the doctor bring in two boxes of unauthorized needles from home. Upon closer review, she noticed that the syringes had expired in 2008, and the boxes contained dead insects and what looked to be rodent droppings.
Three years before this alleged incident, Gerber was arrested by Mono County Sheriffs deputies for having psychedelic mushrooms, cocaine and ecstasy. Deputies found the drugs during a traffic stop, inside his Winnebago, while the doctor was on his way to the Burning Man Festival. He later admitted to using ecstasy at the festival just after his arrest, according to KGTV.
Instead of court, Gerber went through a diversion program and the Medical Board put him on probation. But in March 2018, documents show Gerber violated his probation after failing to provide a bodily fluids sample for a drug test.
Despite his prior offenses, Gerber’s medical license was never revoked and continues to practice pediatric medicine, most recently at Mid-City Community Clinic in City Heights, twice a week.
KGTV contacted the California Medical Board for comment. They said Gerber now faces multiple charges including gross negligence, repeated negligent acts, failure to maintain accurate medical records and unprofessional conduct.
“The physician has the right to a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge after the filing of the accusation, and that hearing has not taken place yet,” -Carlos Villatoro, public information officer for the Medical Board of California, told the TV station.
Gerber is no longer on probation and his license is valid until January 2020.
KGTV spoke to Gerber on the phone Thursday. When asked about the recent accusations, he answered, “no comment.”
Photo Credit: ktla.com/KGTV
YouTube star missing after posting disturbing video
NEW YORK — A YouTube star has been reported missing, and fans are concerned he posted a disturbing video.
Desmond Amofah, also known as Etika, was last heard from by phone around 8 p.m. on June 19.
He is 29 years old, approximately six feet tall and 160 pounds.
The NYPD released the following information.
On Wednesday, the YouTuber released a video entitled “I’m sorry,” and shows him talking directing to the camera apologizing to family, friends and fans for letting them down.
“I’m sorry I betrayed your trust, I’m sorry I pushed you all away,” Amofah says in the video.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/06/21/youtube-star-missing-after-posting-disturbing-video/
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Mom says Ohio day care handed her ‘lifeless’ 2-month-old daughter
CLEVELAND – Multiple investigations are underway into the death of a 2-month-old Ohio newborn. The child’s mother says the infant was “lifeless” when she picked her up from a Cleveland home day care Tuesday.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office identifies the child as Di’Yanni Griffin.
“She was everything to me,” said Griffin’s mother, Taylor Bush, with a strained voice.
Bush said when she picked up her child from Nana’s Home Daycare in Cleveland on Giddings Road, she realized her baby needed immediate medical attention.
“So I go to walk out the door and I close the door behind me so I’m like, ‘Hey, mama baby.’ I realize her neck is, just, she’s just lifeless,” said Bush.
According to Bush, she went back inside the day care, began CPR on the baby and called 911. She said they were taken by ambulance to the hospital where Griffin was pronounced dead.
“When you handed me my daughter, my daughter was basically already dead,” said Bush.
Cleveland police said they are awaiting an official cause of death from the medical examiner’s office. If it’s determined the baby died under suspicious circumstances, investigators will resume the investigation.
Meanwhile, a Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services spokesperson said they are also investigating the circumstances of the baby’s death; that’s in addition to state investigators and a childcare licensing unit.
A spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services released the following statement:
“ODJFS is monitoring this tragic situation very closely. County JFS agencies are responsible for inspections of in-home child care, with oversight by ODJFS. The county agency is conducting an investigation and actively working with child protective services and law enforcement. ODJFS would make the final determination on whether to suspend Nana’s Home Daycare license if the county agency recommends suspension.”
The day care owner, Danielle Townsend, said she was not present during the incident. However, she remains adamant the child was alive while in her sister’s care, who also works at the day care.
“My sister calls me and says, ‘Call her mother,'” said Townsend. “I said, ‘Well, her mother just texted me; what’s wrong?’ She said, ‘The baby is breathing fast.'”
Townsend said she has worked at day care facilities for 15 years and has operated her own for the past three years.
According to Townsend, she tried calling Bush but could not get in touch. She said Bush, who lives above the day care, was already on her way to the facility. Townsend said no one from the day care called 911 when they noticed the child breathing fast.
While sitting on the steps of a front porch in tears, Bush said she begged to have a little girl and now cannot imagine life without her daughter.
“I’m hurt; I blame myself,” said Bush.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/06/20/mom-says-ohio-day-care-handed-her-lifeless-2-month-old-daughter/
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Live rat falls from Buffalo Wild Wings ceiling as customer watches; store temporarily closed
Buffalo Wild Wings has temporarily shut down a Los Angeles location for repairs and cleaning after a customer claims a live rat drop dropped from the ceiling and onto a menu sitting on a table this week.
The customer, Alisha Norman, told NBC Los Angeles she heard something above her before the rat crash-landed onto her table. Norman was visiting Los Angeles from Texas.
“I knew the rat was going to be injured because it hit like a Mack truck,” she told NBC Los Angeles.
The incident happened at a complex undergoing construction, a Buffalo Wild Wings spokesperson said in written statement to USA TODAY on Friday. The chain believes construction was responsible for the situation and hopes to reopen the location soon, the statement says.
Norman told the station she asked for help from a manager, who proceeded to use two plates to pick up the rat and dump it into a trash bag. The manager blamed ongoing construction in the restaurant for the situation.
The manager also took care of her bill for the meal, Norman said. She isn’t angry about the incident, she told NBC Los Angeles.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Veterinarians find 19 baby pacifiers in bulldog’s stomach
BOSTON — A Boston veterinary hospital got quite a surprise recently when a family brought in their bulldog after he stopped eating.
The Angell Animal Medical Center found 19 baby pacifiers in the dog’s stomach.
It started in April when the Wellesley family noticed that their 3-year-old dog, Mortimer, started getting nauseous before meals. His owner, Emily Shanahan, brought Mortimer to the vet, who prescribed medicine to take care of the issue.
But it didn’t help and Mortimer eventually stopped eating entirely.
Shanahan went to Angell, where they took an X-ray and discovered the pacifiers.
Vets think Mortimer had been taking the pacifiers from Shanahan’s two children over the course of months.
The pacifiers were removed using a medical scope that did not require surgery. Mortimer recovered and is back at home.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/06/20/veterinarians-find-19-baby-pacifiers-in-bulldogs-stomach/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/AP
11-year-old boy died in crash after spider on mom’s hand sparked chaos
An 11-year-old boy died in a horrific car crash in the UK after a spider dropped onto his mom’s hand as she drove — sparking a frenzy that sent her car careening into a 4×4 hauling a trailer of sheep, a probe of the case revealed this week.
Tristan Silver and his sister, 8-year-old Branwen, were in the car one morning in May 2018 near Tregaron, Ceredigion, Wales, as their mom, Cloud Younger, drove them to school, an inquest heard this week, according to the BBC.
Suddenly, the arachnid landed on Younger’s left hand, causing Branwen, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, to start screaming hysterically, Younger said during her first interview, the outlet reported.
Younger turned her attention to her daughter to calm her down.
But she was so distracted that her Subaru drifted onto the wrong side of a highway and hit a black Mitsubishi towing a trailer full of sheep in the village of Olmarch, Ceredigion coroner Peter Brunton revealed during the inquest.
When cops initially Younger asked why she didn’t stop, she replied, “No comment,” according to the report.
Younger did not provide any evidence at the inquest, and when the coroner asked her if she had anything to add, she replied, “If I could remember more, I would have said more,” the outlet reported.
It’s unclear how fast Younger was driving on the 60-mph road, but the Mitsubishi driver, farmer David Glyndwr Jones, testified that his car was almost at a standstill after it was struck, according to the report.
“At first it was straddling the white line, about a quarter of the vehicle on the wrong side,” Jones said. “Then it came all the way over to my side and I could see it wasn’t going to stop.”
“All this happened in about six seconds — I just had enough time to warn my wife and brace myself,” he added. “I feel devastated by what happened. I don’t understand why she didn’t see us and drive back to her side.”
Brunton called the entire ordeal “an extremely sad and tragic inquest,” according to the report.
The investigation comes down to the manner in which Younger was driving during the “catastrophic seconds” she turned her attention to her daughter, she said.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/06/20/11-year-old-boy-died-in-crash-after-spider-on-moms-hand-sparks-chaos/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Man who won $30M lottery while in middle of divorce ordered to share winnings
PONTIAC, Mich. — A suburban Detroit man who was in the middle of a divorce when he won more than $30 million must share the lottery windfall with his ex-wife.
The Michigan appeals court says a marriage isn’t over until it’s over. It means Mary Beth Zelasko can keep $15 million awarded by an arbitrator, although she and Rich Zelasko had been separated for two years when he bought the Mega Millions ticket in 2013. Their divorce wasn’t final until 2018.
In a court filing, an attorney for Rich Zelasko said, “Rich was lucky, but it was his luck, not Mary’s, that produced the lottery proceeds.” But arbitrator John Mills said the ticket was marital property. The couple had agreed to have Mills make certain decisions during the divorce case.
The appeals court last week found no errors.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Married teachers found guilty of sexually abusing teen student
A pair of Pennsylvania teachers has been found guilty of sexually abusing a former student, according to reports.
Nicodemo Baggetta, 30, and wife Ruth Ann Baggetta, 37, were convicted Wednesday by a jury in Lackawanna County that deliberated for roughly 90 minutes after the teen — who is now 19 — detailed a two-year sexual relationship she said she had with Nicodemo Baggetta that began when she was just 16, WNEP reports.
The teen told jurors that Baggetta’s wife not only knew about the ongoing sexual abuse, but encouraged it.
The former student also previously told investigators that Ruth Baggetta consented to whatever sexual contact Nicodemo Baggetta desired so that he would “get it out of his system” before the couple got hitched, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Scranton Times-Tribune.
During the course of their relationship, Ruth and the teen even performed a sex act on the depraved hubby together, according to the affidavit.
“These teachers were predators,” District Attorney Mark Powell told the newspaper after Wednesday’s verdict. “It is clearly unacceptable and I think the jury found that.”
The teen said the sexual relationship ended in December 2017 — at which point the Baggettas were married.
The couple was arrested in March 2018 after a former Lakeland High School student told a therapist that she had been intimate with Nicodemo Baggetta, who was working at the time as a special education teacher at Fell Charter School in Simpson. Ruth remains on unpaid suspension as the band director at Lakeland High School, the Times-Tribune reports.
The teen also testified to engaging in specific sex acts with Nicodemo Baggetta, who, along with his wife, were led from the courtroom in handcuffs after a judge revoked their bail following their convictions.
The Baggettas previously acknowledged during testimony Tuesday that they allowed the then-sophomore to spend nights at their home, but insisted they were trying to help her deal with family issues.
An attorney for the couple said they intend to appeal their conviction on charges of institutional sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of a minor and furnishing alcohol to a minor. Ruth Baggetta was also convicted of failure to report suspected child abuse.
They each face up to seven years in prison, although state sentencing guidelines recommend prison terms ranging from three to 12 months, attorney Paul Walker told the newspaper.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/06/20/married-teachers-found-guilty-of-sexually-abusing-teen-student/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Maleah Davis’ casket is colored with rainbows, “My Little Pony,” and lots of pink
Maleah Davis — the 4-year-old found dead after she went missing in early May — will be buried in a colorful, one-of-a-kind casket, a tribute to her memory and her grieving family.
The casket was built and donated by SoulShine Industries to the Davis family.
“The casket is the most important part of remembering somebody, so it should be special,” said company owner Trey Ganem told CNN.
Ganem said that he received over 200 calls from the community asking him to make a casket for the Davis family. She will be buried in a private funeral on Saturday.
“It was such a blessing to provide something special for this loving family,” Ganem said.
The casket designer Courtney Sublett told CNN she worked closely with the family and the theme quickly became apparent. The final product was a white casket covered with rainbows, the color pink, “My Little Pony,” and even a portrait of Maleah.
“It’s such a tragic thing, I’m glad we could bring a little light to her story,” Sublett said.
The funeral home that is hosting the funeral, Richardson Mortuary, has been collecting flowers and condolences on behalf of the family, CNN affiliate KTRK.
Toys and teddy bears are also being collected at the apartment complex where the Davis family lived. A sign says that the items will be displayed at the funeral and then donated to the Houston Fire Department.
Meleah’s remains were found in Arkansas on May 30, according to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo. Her mother’s former fiancé, Derion Vence, is charged with tampering with a corpse in connection to Meleah’s death.
Photo Credit: pix11.com/SoulShine Industries