Massachusetts sheriff arrested on charges of pressuring cannabis company to over stock purchase
Sheriff Steven Tompkins, 67, who oversees about 1,000 employees in the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, is facing two counts of extortion. He was taken into custody in Florida and had his first appearance there. He will appear in Boston federal court later.
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Toronto Star
14 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Armed robbers in latest Philadelphia-area Brinks truck heist took $700,000 or more, police say
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police are investigating whether the armed robbery of a Brinks truck on Tuesday outside a Philadelphia-area store is related to four other attacks on armored vehicles in and around the city this summer. Two armed males got away with between $700,000 and $800,000 in the midday Tuesday heist at an H Mart in Elkins Park, according to Cheltenham Township police. The robbers — one described as armed with an AR-15-style pistol, the other with a handgun — fled with the cash and later abandoned their vehicle nearby, police said. No shots were fired, and no one was injured.
Winnipeg Free Press
14 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Armed robbers in latest Philadelphia-area Brinks truck heist took $700,000 or more, police say
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police are investigating whether the armed robbery of a Brinks truck on Tuesday outside a Philadelphia-area store is related to four other attacks on armored vehicles in and around the city this summer. Two armed males got away with between $700,000 and $800,000 in the midday Tuesday heist at an H Mart in Elkins Park, according to Cheltenham Township police. The robbers — one described as armed with an AR-15-style pistol, the other with a handgun — fled with the cash and later abandoned their vehicle nearby, police said. No shots were fired, and no one was injured. Cheltenham Township Police Lt. Andrew Snyder said it's the first such robbery in their township, but authorities are looking into whether it may be connected to four robberies of armored cars in and around Philadelphia since June that police and the FBI are investigating as possibly related. Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that three people from Philadelphia who were arrested in early August are charged in connection with the $2 million armed robbery of a Brink's armored vehicle outside a Home Depot on June 21. A Loomis armored transport vehicle was held up outside an Aldi in a different neighborhood five days later. Then on July 2, a Brinks truck was held up outside a Dollar General at a shopping center. And on July 15, police had a report of two suspects robbing one of the armored vehicles in northeast Philadelphia. FBI agent Wayne Jacobs told CBS News Philadelphia that law enforcement recovered most of the money stolen in the June 21 heist, as well as a number of long weapons and handguns. Some of the money had been spent on jewelry, clothes and other items, he said. 'If this is the type of activity you're going to engage in, if you look at the timeline, six weeks from the time of the incident until the time of the arrest,' Jacobs said, 'it's just a matter of time before you're held accountable for your actions.'
CTV News
14 minutes ago
- CTV News
Environmental concerns could halt construction at Florida's ‘Alligator Alcatraz' immigration jail
Work progresses on the Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades, July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, file) MIAMI — Construction of a makeshift immigrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades dubbed ' Alligator Alcatraz ' could be halted indefinitely as a federal judge considered Wednesday whether the hasty development on sensitive wetlands violated environmental laws. Last week, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered a two-week halt on additional construction at the site while witnesses testify. The temporary order doesn't include any restrictions on law enforcement or immigration enforcement activity. The first phase of 'Alligator Alcatraz' opened in July atop a lightly used, single-runway training airport. Less than 1,000 detainees were being held there as of last week, and it's designed to eventually hold up to 3,000 detainees. U.S. President Donald Trump toured the facility last month and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration races to expand the infrastructure necessary for increasing deportations. 'Alcatraz' in a swamp Inside the compound's large white tents, rows of bunkbeds are surrounded by chain-link cages. People held there say worms turn up in the food, toilets don't flush and flood floors with fecal waste, while mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere. At times the air conditioners abruptly shut off in the sweltering heat. Detainees are said to go days without showering or getting prescription medicine, and can only speak to lawyers and loved ones by phone. The detention centre has an estimated annual cost of US$450 million, according to a public database. Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the location in the rugged and remote Everglades was meant as a deterrent from escape, much like the island prison in California that Republicans named it after. Who runs 'Alligator Alcatraz,' Washington or Florida? Williams last week said the detention facility was, at a minimum, a joint partnership between the state and federal government. Plaintiffs presented witnesses Wednesday and Thursday who testified that the facility violates the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of major construction projects. Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe want the judge to issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further construction, which they say threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars' worth of environmental restoration. Attorneys for the state and federal government say that although the detention centre would hold federal detainees, its construction and operation is entirely under the state of Florida, meaning a federal environmental review wouldn't apply. Attorneys for federal and state agencies last month asked Williams to dismiss or transfer the injunction request, saying the lawsuit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction. Williams had yet to rule on that argument. Witnesses describe environmental threats Witnesses for the environmental groups have testified that at least 20 acres (8 hectares) of asphalt have been added to the site since the Florida Division of Emergency Management began construction. They said additional paving could lead to an increase in water runoff to the adjacent wetlands, spread harmful chemicals into the Everglades and reduce the habitat for endangered Florida panthers. Marcel Bozas, director of the Miccosukee Tribe's fish and wildlife department, said tribe members hunt and fish for subsistence and cultural reasons. He said sustained human activity can drive away game animals as well as protected species. State official says Florida runs centre Washington doesn't tell Florida where to detain immigrants, and the Everglades facility was built to alleviate overcrowding at other lockups, said David Kerner, the head of the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Kerner couldn't say how many of the 'Alligator Alcatraz' detainees have been charged with violent crimes or whether any other sites besides the middle of the Everglades were considered for possible detention centres. Facility faces a second legal challenge Over the weekend, a federal judge gave the state until late September to prepare arguments against an effort to get the civil rights litigation certified as a class action. That second lawsuit claims detainees' constitutional rights are being violated because they are barred from meeting lawyers, are being held without any charges, and a federal immigration court has cancelled bond hearings. The lawsuits were being heard as DeSantis′ administration apparently was preparing to build a second immigration detention centre at a Florida National Guard training centre in north Florida. David Fischer, The Associated Press
