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Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Dad upset over girl's ‘constant bullying' shoots at teens' SUV, CA officials say
A father upset over his daughter's 'constant bullying' shot at an SUV driven by teenage boys accused of egging his home, California prosecutors say. Craig Steven Miceli, 54, was arraigned on felony charges Tuesday, May 27, the San Mateo District Attorney's Office said in a news release. He pleaded not guilty, prosecutors said. 'It's the response that's the crime,' San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told KGO-TV. 'You do not get to take a firearm out and point it at a car with human beings in it and fire.' The San Mateo Police Department said they were investigating a shooting the morning of Sunday, May 25, that stemmed from 'alleged bullying and/or harassment,' the department said in a May 28 Facebook post. Just after midnight that day, three boys, two 16-year-olds and one 17-year-old, 'were driving around San Mateo pulling pranks on classmates' from their high school, prosecutors said. Two days earlier, the boys went to a San Mateo home where a girl from school 'they did not like lived,' prosecutors said. They doused the porch in oil then left, according to prosecutors. When the boys returned on Sunday, they got out of the SUV, each threw an egg at the girl's home and got back into the SUV, prosecutors said. As they started to drive away, they encountered the girl's father, Miceli, 'standing in the street' armed with a handgun, according to prosecutors. Miceli fired two shots, and one bullet hit the SUV's front passenger side panel, prosecutors said. Officers arrived and stopped the SUV, prosecutors said. A short time later, Miceli came to speak with officers, telling them how angry he was over his daughter's 'constant bullying' at her high school, prosecutors said. Miceli also told officers he was upset by how much time it took him to clean the oil from the incident days prior, prosecutors said. Miceli told officers when the same SUV returned to his home, and the boys threw eggs at his house, 'he angrily fired at the tires,' prosecutors said. The gun was tossed in Water Dog Lake a few miles from his home, he told police, according to prosecutors. After getting a search warrant to search the home, officers 'found an illegal automatic rifle' and several kinds of ammunition, prosecutors said. Miceli is facing multiple charges, including three counts of assault with a firearm and one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to appear in court June 9, prosecutors said. San Mateo is about a 20-mile drive south from San Francisco.
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Bloodhounds hunting 'Devil in the Ozarks' fugitive are seen as key part of manhunt
A bloodhound picked up the scent shortly after the ' Devil in the Ozarks ' escaped from a lockup in northern Arkansas. The hound didn't have to go far to begin the hunt — it lives at the prison as part of a specialized unit that uses man's best friend to help track fugitives. Although the scent of convicted killer Grant Hardin was lost because of heavy rain, experts say that even days after Sunday's escape, the animal's highly developed sense of smell can still pick up a fresh trail. That's partly due to the 300 million cells in their nose that supercharges their sense of smell, said Terri Heck, a Bloodhound handler and trainer who works with the Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney's Office. They've got wide nostrils to scoop up smells, and their long ears often work to stir up scents as they drag along the ground. Even their drool plays a role, as that wetness wakes up scents, Heck said. Bloodhounds are known for being tenacious trackers, said Brian Tierney, president of the National Police Bloodhound Association. They're playing a key role in the search for Hardin, now in its sixth day. 'They have a big heart and big lungs and can go the distance,' Heck said of their endurance. They also save lives, as one young bloodhound did just two weeks ago in Maine. Millie, a 10-month-old hound tracked a 5-year-old girl with autism who went missing from her home on May 16, Maine State Police said. The dog found the girl waist-deep in water in a cedar swamp, the agency said. Authorities credited Millie's dedication and 'incredible nose' for saving the girl. Bloodhounds are also independent, a key trait for searches. 'When it gets to be a difficult search they don't look to you for help, that they go forth themselves,' Heck said. Bad weather confounded the hunt for Hardin, who was serving a 30-year sentence for murder when he escaped from the prison in Calico Rock, Arkansas. The hound found - then lost - Hardin's scent when heavy rains blew through the area, said state prison spokesman Rand Champion. Hardin was tracked for less than a quarter of a mile when the bloodhound lost the trail. The fugitive could have gone in any direction after that. 'That was one of the most frustrating things, that they were able to track him but then they lost him because of the rain,' Champion said. A tip that Hardin was sighted in southern Missouri has been ruled out, Champion said Friday. Until authorities find evidence that he's left the area around the prison, they assume that he's still in that vicinity, he said. Hardin took almost nothing with him and left behind plenty of clothes, bedsheets and other items that are used to familiarize the bloodhounds with his scent, Champion said. Those items are shared with the dogs to give them the initial scent of the person they are seeking, Tierney said. It's a process that's standard operating procedure for Arkansas' prison dogs. Who is Grant Hardin? A former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, Hardin had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in a fatal shooting for which he was serving a 30-year sentence. Hardin's DNA was matched to the 1997 rape of a teacher at an elementary school in Rogers, north of Fayetteville. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison for that crime. Eventually, his notoriety led to a TV documentary, 'Devil in the Ozarks.' Champion said that someone should have checked Hardin's identity before he was allowed to leave, describing the lack of verification as a 'lapse' that is being investigated. Bloodhounds live at Calico Rock prison The Calico Rock prison is known for its bloodhounds that live in a kennel on prison property. The nearly one dozen dogs at the prison have helped many other agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to track a variety of people over the years, according to a 2021 state audit report on the prison. Southern prisons have a long history of keeping bloodhounds around in case of escapes, like the one featured in country artist Blake Shelton's song 'Ol' Red," about a hound that hunts escaped inmates with "a nose that could smell a two-day trail." Dogs in Arkansas' prison system have also been used to help other agencies find people who are not dangerous, such as missing children, people with special needs or elderly people, Champion said. The bloodhounds tend to raise a ruckus when they find their mark. But the prison system uses other types of dogs in searching for children and vulnerable people who go missing, and those dogs tend to lick people and make friends with them when they are found, Champion said. Fugitives use spices, other means to foil bloodhounds Fugitives being hunted by bloodhounds have been known to take extreme steps to throw the dogs off their trail, Tierney said. Two convicted killers who broke out of a maximum-security prison in upstate New York in 2015 collected dozens of containers of black and cayenne pepper before their escape. They had intended to use the pepper 'to interfere with tracking dogs they assumed would be part of a manhunt for them after the escape,' a state investigation found. One of the men was shot and killed during the manhunt; another was also shot but survived and was captured. Hardin has troubled past in law enforcement In his first job as a police officer 35 years ago in the college town of Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas, Hardin struggled almost immediately, his supervisors said. He was dismissed by Fayetteville police, but kept getting hired for other law enforcement jobs in northwest Arkansas over the years. By the time he was the police chief in the small town of Gateway in 2016, 'he was out chasing cars for no reason,' Cheryl Tillman, the town's current mayor, recalled in the documentary 'Devil in the Ozarks.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Barstow man accused of DUI after fatally striking woman with SUV in Victorville
A Barstow man is accused of DUI and manslaughter after striking and killing a woman with an SUV in Victorville on Tuesday night, authorities said. The collision took place about 9 p.m. at Reno Loop Road and Sorrel Way, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. "Upon arrival, it was determined a gold Chevrolet Suburban struck a pedestrian," sheriff's officials said in a written statement. The badly injured woman was taken to a hospital for treatment, but could not be saved. Her identity was not released pending notification of family. Deputies determined the driver of the SUV, identified as 50-year-old George Batiste Thenarse of Barstow, was intoxicated and arrested him on suspicion of DUI and vehicular manslaughter. Thenarse was released from custody as the investigation continues, but the case will be submitted to the San Bernardino District Attorney's Office for potential criminal charges, sheriff's department spokeswoman Mara Rodriguez said. Deputies from the Victorville Major Accident Investigation Team were spearheading the investigation. More: Man accused of kidnapping, beating, trying to strangle girlfriend at Barstow motel Any witnesses, or anyone with information, was asked to contact the Victorville Police Department at (760) 241-2911, or Sheriff's Dispatch at (760) may also be submitted anonymously to the We-Tip hotline at (800) 782-7463. This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Woman fatally struck by SUV in Victorville, driver accused of DUI
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Family remembers Uber driver who was shot, killed
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The family of the Uber driver who was shot and killed by a woman who died before she could face trial for murder said they want to remind the community that he was the victim and they miss him terribly. That's the message from family members of Daniel Piedra during a news conference called on Thursday, May 29 by the El Paso District Attorney's Office. Piedra was shot and killed while giving a ride to Phoebe Copas in June 2023. Copas said she believed she was being kidnapped and taken to Mexico. While awaiting trial, she died in March of this year of a 'medical episode' that has been ruled natural causes, DA James Montoya said. El Paso district attorney to discuss Phoebe Copas case Her untimely death made it so the family of Piedra and the defendant would not be able to present their sides during a trial and be vindicated, Montoya said. Montoya said that he had no choice but to dismiss the case, but that left a big hole for the family of the victim. Montoya said he was confident that if they had gone to trial, prosecutors could have proven that Copas' actions were 'not reasonable' and 'unnecessary,' and were therefore not self-defense. Because there will be no trial, Montoya said he wanted to give Piedra's family a chance to speak since there would be no post-trial victim impact statements. Didi Lopez, Piedra's niece, said 'it was not fair' how her uncle was 'taken from us.' 'We miss him so much,' she said. 'He was the victim. He was not a criminal. He was just a hard-working man.' Her uncle's death has left a huge hole in the family's lives, Lopez said. 'He wasn't kidnapping her,' she said. 'Uber has already said he was taking her the right way (to go to Speaking Rock). He wasn't abusing drugs. He was just a very funny, hard-working man.' Piedra had no criminal record, 'not even a ticket,' his niece said. Lopez also said that he had a huge impact on people he met and is greatly missed by all. No questions were taken from the media after the family issued some brief statements, one in English and the other in Spanish. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania man sentenced to three consecutive life terms in triple homicide
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (WHTM) — A Pennsylvania man accused of killing his sister, stepmother, and the mother of his children will spend the rest of his life behind bars, sentenced to three consecutive life term without parole. Andre Gordon, Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of first degree murder, as well as charges of attempted homicide, burglary, aggravated assault, and robbery, among others. He was set to face trial in Bucks County Court for the March 16, 2024 killings of his 13-year-old sister, his 52-year-old stepmother Karen Gordon and his 25-year-old girlfriend, Taylor Daniel. PREVIOUS COVERAGE > Man faces charges in two states after alleged killings of family members in Pennsylvania This happened in Falls Township in eastern Bucks County, near Morrisville and across the Delaware River from Trenton, New Jersey. Gordon was accused of carjacking a vehicle in that city, driving to his father's residence and breaking in, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said in a news release. Karen Gordon and her 13-year-old daughter were found dead by Falls Township Police responding to a reported shooting there. He then went to Daniel's home, authorities said, alleging that he forced his way into the home and shot and killed her. Multiple members of the family, including their two children, were present and Daniel's mother, Nancy, was assaulted in the act. In Morrisville shortly after, he was accused of carjacking another vehicle at the Dollar General. Gordon was sentenced Wednesday by President Judge Raymond F. McHugh to three life terms without parole on the first-degree murder charges and 156 1/2 years to 313 years on the remaining charges. The sentences are to run consecutively. Download the abc27 News+ app on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Apple TV devices 'There are no words to explain why this happened,' McHugh said in the sentencing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
