Man faces criminal charges in Smith Canal illegal dumping investigation
A man has been arrested in a months-long investigation into an illegal petroleum dumping incident last September at the Smith Canal Waterway in Stockton.
On Tuesday, California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Law Enforcement Division announced that charges have been brought against David Andrew Sump.
Sump is accused of dumping roughly 280 gallons of waste oil into the waterway and surrounding environment, according to authorities
Charges filed by the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office include destruction of public property/vandalism, and disposal of hazardous waste. Sump also faces two misdemeanor charges related to the alleged dumping, fish and wildlife officials stated.
'Put them on the menu': Americans should eat more of these invasive animals, agency says
On Sept. 28, the state's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, U.S. Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and Stockton Police Department responded to reports of released petroleum product near the Smith Canal.
The agencies recovered oil from the waterway and removed impacted soil along the canal, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials.
An investigation was started following the discovery of the illegal dumping and subsequent clean up efforts. Wildlife officers spent weeks collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses, authorities said.
Multiple people also called in tips to the state department's CalTIP Hotline.
'Invaluable information was gained from these tips, ultimately providing our investigating officers with enough information to request an arrest warrant,' said Nathaniel Arnold, fish and wildlife chief of law enforcement. 'The CalTip Program has again proven to be a crucial tool in protecting public safely and our natural resources.'
California Statewide Law Enforcement Associated echoed Arnold's sentiments regarding the investigation.
'We are grateful to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel who responded to the reports of released petroleum product, to the citizens who used California Department of Fish and Wildlife's tip line, and to the law enforcement investigators who identified a suspect," Association President Alan Barcelona stated in a news release. "It is important that we protect our waterways and environment from harmful substances.'
To report a poaching or polluting incident or any fish and wildlife violation, call the CALTIP number 1 888 334-CALTIP (888 334-2258), or text 'CALTIP' followed by a space and the message to 847411 (tip411).
This article originally appeared on The Record: Man accused of dumping 280 gallons of oil into Stockton's Smith Canal
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
44 minutes ago
- Forbes
As Americans Worry About Trump Policies, Fake Investment Scams Spread
Economic tensions in the U.S., including concerns over the relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, are driving a big boom in "get rich quick" schemes online, with criminals rushing to register malicious domains. With more than of Americans admitting to living paycheck to paycheck, said Forex broker comparison firm BrokerChooser, searches for get rich quick schemes have shot up by 150% over the past month. And scammers are exploiting this concern - along with current political internal U.S. political tensions. According to PreCrime Labs, the threat research team at BforeAI, large numbers of domains related to hypothetical conflicts between Donald Trump and Elon Musk are appearing. These domains are often mimicking betting platforms, fake giveaways or crypto multipliers, while promising victims huge returns. "In the case of the Donald Trump and Elon Musk feud, once Musk publicly voiced his distaste for Trump's 'big beautiful bill' on June 4, 2025, cybercriminals leapt into action, creating at least 39 new domains aimed at scamming and defrauding internet users," said the researchers. "All of these new domains were registered in the following two days, on June 5 and 6, 2025." The scammers are using a wide range of low-cost and under-regulated top level domains, said the firm, including '.xyz', '.space', '.wtf', '.live', '.info', '.fun', '.store', '.icu', and '.online'. Many URLs contain keywords like 'trumpvselon', 'elonvstrump', 'elonprivateaccess', 'trumploveselon', 'trumpmuskfeud', along with keywords such as 'crypto', 'billiondollar', 'betting', 'private access', and 'game'. Meanwhile, domains are being configured to leverage Telegram's messaging API, either by auto-redirecting visitors or by presenting a Telegram bot interface. This is done through client-side scripting or meta-refresh tags, directing individuals to a specific Telegram handle or channel. "This method is frequently observed in campaigns designed to funnel victims into fraudulent investment schemes, as the domain promotes crypto or facilitates impersonation-based scams", the researchers said. "The presence of Telegram integrations and fake app stores used in this campaign represents a shift to multi-channel attack vectors. There is a strong potential that we will continue to see scams spreading to other popular social media platforms, where media consumption and redirection are high." In 2024 alone, investment scams netted at least $5.7 billion from American victims, BrokerChooser said. "Before parting with your money, always verify a company's license directly on the official regulator's website and don't trust links or contact details from emails or messaging apps. Search the company's name with terms like 'scam' or 'complaints,' read verified reviews, and check for regulatory warnings", said Adam Nasli, head analyst at BrokerChooser. "Be wary of promises like 'guaranteed returns' or 'risk-free' profits, which are classic red flags. Real investments carry risk, and legitimate firms will be upfront about that. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Threats against judges nearly doubled under Trump. Republicans blame the victim.
Threats against judges nearly doubled under Trump. Republicans blame the victim. | Opinion President just keeps turning up the heat as judges hold him accountable to the law. And his allies in the House shrug off the danger, while echoing his attacks. Show Caption Hide Caption Protests break out over judge's arrest as politicians weigh in Protesters demanded the release of Judge Hannah Dugan after the FBI arrested her for allegedly helping an immigrant escape arrest. Former federal Judge Kathleen O'Malley and others are advocating for increased funding for federal judicial security due to a rise in threats. This push comes as some House Republicans, including those critical of judges holding Trump accountable, resist the funding increase. The judiciary's budget request includes a substantial increase for security, citing a concerning threat environment. Despite testimony from judges about the escalating threats, some Republicans deflect blame onto the judges themselves. Kathleen O'Malley spent nearly three decades as a federal judge and knows what it feels like when the U.S. Marshals and FBI come calling with warnings about threats of harm. A jailhouse informant once revealed that another inmate was plotting to have her killed. O'Malley, who returned to private practice in 2022 after 16 years as a district judge in Ohio and 12 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals, told me she always knew during her time on the bench that the U.S. Department of Justice "had my back" when threats came up. She felt a shift during President Donald Trump's first administration, a confluence of his aggressive attacks on judges who made him follow the law and the amplifying impact of his criticism through social media. The point of all that, O'Malley told me, is to intimidate judges, to prevent them from ruling against a president willing to target them just for doing their jobs. Americans want the Trump administration to follow the law O'Malley, who once sat on a judicial committee tasked with making courthouses safe and secure, spoke to me this week because I am tracking an effort to increase funding for federal judicial security. That push comes after funding has been flat in the past two federal fiscal years, despite a growing number of threats against judges. The call for more funding has drawn predictable pushback from some Republicans in the U.S. House, including some who have vilified judges for holding Trump accountable when he was out of office and for making his administration obey the U.S. Constitution now that he has returned to the White House. Judges don't come to this on a level playing field, O'Malley pointed out. The president is the commander in chief of our military. Congress controls spending. Judges? All they have is "the ability to persuade," she said. That should be enough. An NBC News poll released June 16 found that 81% of Americans said Trump should obey a federal court order if a judge rules his actions are illegal. That number drops to just 50% among Trump supporters. Opinion: The most 'beautiful' part of Trump's bill is it helps him defy federal courts Republicans keep blaming judges So Trump just keeps turning up the heat as judges hold him accountable to the law. And his allies in the House shrug off the danger, while echoing his attacks. U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, told Punchbowl News on June 13 that he sees few members "excited" to increase judicial security funding, in his reaction to a report that noted that threats against judges have nearly doubled since Trump took office. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican who also sits on the Judiciary Committee, played the blame-the-victim game when asked about security for federal judges. 'Maybe they should stop screwing everything up,' Roy told Punchbowl News. Trump allies like Jordan and Roy offer cheap, empty rhetoric. The federal judiciary comes prepared with cold, hard math. Judges are telling Congress there is a problem. They're being ignored. The federal judiciary's $9.4 billion budget request for fiscal year 2026, which starts on Oct. 1, includes $892 million for security, a 19% increase of $142 million after no increases in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Judge Amy St. Eve, who was elevated by Trump's appointment in 2018 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, testified to Congress in May in support of the increase for security funding, telling the House members, "The threat environment facing judges and the judiciary as a whole right now is particularly dynamic and worrisome." Judge Robert Conrad Jr., appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush 20 years ago, was named in 2024 by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. He testified to Congress about the budget request with St. Eve and singled out threats of judicial impeachment being made by Trump and his allies. 'The independence of the judicial branch is jeopardized when judges are threatened with harm or impeachment for their rulings," Conrad warned. "Our constitutional system depends on judges who can make decisions free from threats and intimidation." Opinion: Trump's military show of force in LA and DC camouflage his failing presidency That echoes what Roberts wrote in his 2024 report on the federal judiciary, in which he said threats of impeaching judges for how they rule are "inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed." Roberts noted that the U.S. Marshals Service said "hostile threats" against judges have "more than tripled over the past decade." U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud, a Texas Republican, took offense during the testimony by St. Eve and Conrad, but not about the threats aimed at judges. No, Cloud said, the real danger came from judges like St. Eve, Conrad and Roberts linking the politically motivated calls for impeachment to the increase in threats to judges across the country. As with his colleagues, Jordan and Roy, Cloud wants us to blame the targets of those threats, federal judges, and not focus on anything politicians say that might help fuel those threats. The three of them, with their rhetoric, are all the evidence we need to demonstrate that an increase in security funding for federal judges is well worth it and long overdue. They, along with Trump, show no signs of stopping their attacks. We, as Americans, must provide for the safety of judges so they can uphold our laws. Follow USA TODAY columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Translating Politics, here.
4 hours ago
10 years after Charleston church massacre, faith leaders lament that the country hasn't changed
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- People of faith gathered again at Mother Emanuel AME on Tuesday just like they did 10 years ago, searching for God's truth and His love in the church fellowship hall. On that horrible night in 2015, nine Black church members were gunned down by a white man who hated them just for the color of their skin. He sat with them through their Bible study, then as they closed their eyes and bowed their heads, he started firing. As survivors gathered in 2025, they invited another congregation that knows the pain of murderous hatred to join them. When a gunman killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, Mother Emanuel's pastor, the Rev. Eric Manning, flew to Pittsburgh to comfort another flock. It was up to Rabbi Jeff Myers to lament Tuesday that the world hasn't changed as much as was hoped by the congregation of the South's oldest African American church, which was founded by enslaved people, torn down after they rebelled and then rebuilt following the Civil War. 'Both of us were assaulted by Americans who did not want us to exist, who thought violence would solve their problems,' Myers said. Then he read the portion of the U.S. Declaration of Independence that starts with 'we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' 'Except for the Jews and the Blacks. That's how I feel in America right now,' Myers said. Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly said American society combines hate and guns in a stew that threatens the country's existence. 'We know that hate is dangerous. But hate with a gun in its hand is deadly,' said Kelly, who was joined at the Mother Emanuel pulpit by his wife, former U.S. House member Gabby Giffords, who was gravely wounded in a January 2011 mass shooting in Arizona. The Charleston church massacre did change the world in some ways. The shooter, now on death row just like the killer at Tree of Life, posted selfie photos with a Confederate flag to hammer home his racist reasons for shooting Black parishioners. For many, this act made it impossible to keep defending the rebel banner as a symbol of southern heritage. South Carolina then took the flag down from the Statehouse grounds where it was installed as a rebuttal to federal desegregation orders. But some things are the same. Mother Emanuel's sanctuary still has the same deep red carpet. The church continues its mission of empathy, empowerment, encouragement and equipping. And the nation still struggles with the legacy of enslaving Black people for hundreds of years. South Carolina remains one of only two states in the U.S. without a hate crime law even though survivors keep pushing for it. Months before the massacre at Mother Emanuel, a white North Charleston police officer shot and killed an unarmed Black man in the back about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away. Six years later, a white officer knelt on a Black man's neck in Minnesota for nine minutes, killing him. 'On paper, the concept of the United States is a wonderful one. In reality, it is not successful right now,' Rabbi Myers said. Mother Emanuel member Marvin Stewart has tried to emulate the love he saw in his nine friends killed that night. 'Unfortunately, the present time is very demoralizing and very challenging with the political divide. As I sat in church today, and I keep hearing the word forgiveness, I said, 'am I in that space?' I would use the word acceptance as the space I'm in,' Stewart said after the service. One hymn was sung Tuesday. It was 'Amazing Grace' — the spiritual that Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president, began singing at the memorial service for the nine victims, held just blocks from Gadsden's Wharf, where an estimated 40% of enslaved Africans first touched U.S. soil. Rapturous applause rained down when survivors of the shooting and relatives of the people killed were asked to stand and be seen. Chris Singleton, whose mother Sharonda Coleman-Singleton was killed, asked everyone to 'hug somebody who looks different than you,' and for several minutes the packed sanctuary was abuzz with smiling people, arms reaching over pews and hugs spilling into aisles. Large photos of those killed were on display in the sanctuary — pillars of the community who included the church's pastor who was a state senator, a high school track coach, the church sexton, a librarian and an aspiring poet. The shooter sprayed more than 70 bullets to kill them — and told Polly Sheppard he was leaving her alive so that the world would know his motive: "You're taking over our country. And you have to go.' He failed, the Rev. Manning said: People of faith are still here, working together for good through God. 'Let the memory of the Emanuel Nine be a light that guides us not only to remembrance, but also to renewal and change,' he said.
