Latest news with #JoshHunter
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
GRIDLOCK! Staggering pic shows 40 BUSES stuck in city centre roadworks
This staggering picture showing 40 BUSES stuck in roadworks at a key city centre junction. It comes after complaints drivers are queuing up to an hour at the bottleneck. Salford council say the roadworks, which motorists say have brought the area around Chapel Street, Blackfriars Road and Trinity Way in Salford to a near standstill, are set to last for almost a year. New bike lanes, pedestrian areas and spaces for buses on Chapel Street are being built in what the council calls a 'complete streets approach to rebalance the space in favour of pedestrians and cyclists'. But the gridlock is compounded by a stretch of Deansgate now being closed to traffic, meaning drivers are using the Trinity Way approach to the roadworks. READ MORE: Woman pedestrian, 80, dies after collision with bike READ MORE: Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney turns up at school to play football One motorist described the situation as 'chaos'. They added: "Local residents are not able to get out. The emergency services have nowhere to go." Another said: "If the roads are so bad in May, I cannot even begin to think what they will be like during the build up to Christmas. I am not sure who ultimately decides on the cycle lanes, roads being only one way, but it's clearly not working. "The city will come to a complete gridlock. Something need to be done before this happens. I do believe this will stop people coming into the city and will affect businesses and trade." Josh Hunter, who took the photo from the balcony of his flat around 6pm on Thursday, said: "I've never seen it like this before. It's gridlocked. "It can get busy before the Christmas markets, but not like this. You can't imagine the delays for the people stuck on the buses at the back." In response to the complaints, a Salford council spokesperson said: "Salford City Council recognise that any scheme of this scale is going to be disruptive, especially in the early stages while all road users get used to the new arrangements. We are working closely with Transport for Greater Manchester and constantly monitoring traffic flows in the area. "Adjustments have been made to signals' operation at key junctions at Chapel Street/Blackfriars Road, Trinity Way/Blackfriars Road, and Trinity Way/Chapel Street to ease the congestion issues. While we recognise there have been delays during peak times, we would like to reassure residents and all road users that the one-way closure on Chapel Street represents the best solution currently available to deliver the works safely and efficiently. "The set up balances the needs of local residents and businesses whilst maintaining the operation of public transport and general traffic flow with a provision for pedestrians and cyclists, whilst providing an adequate space for the works in a built up and very constricted city centre environment. "We are working with the works' contractor to ensure the project is constructed in the shortest possible timeframe to minimise disruption. The works are part of a long-term plan to enhance the area and build high quality, safer pedestrian and cycling provision across the city centre. "Public realm improvements will see the installation of rain gardens, planting beds and new trees introduced. There will also be upgraded surfaces and new street furniture to create a more inviting and dynamic space for all to enjoy." A Transport for Greater Manchester spokesperson said: 'We're aware of the disruption to people's journeys in and around Chapel Street yesterday evening, which also impacted bus services in that area. 'A combination of factors including roadworks, temporary diversions for the football fan walk and high volumes of people travelling into the city centre for events, resulted in long delays on the road network. 'We met with Salford Council and other key partners earlier today to investigate the causes of the disruption in more detail and are explore options to ease the build-up of traffic along Chapel Street going forward, including potential changes to traffic light sequencing at the junction of Blackfriars Street.'
CBS News
03-04-2025
- CBS News
Castro Valley comic book store staffers track down suspect in rash of Bay Area burglaries
A brazen thief who didn't try very hard to cover his tracks was apprehended by authorities with help from a rag-tag group of amateur detectives. It sounds like the plot to a new comic book series, but this is the true story of a pair of Castro Valley comic book store staff members turned sleuths. Crush Comics owner Josh Hunter and store manager Cole Sanders never thought they'd find themselves as real-life comic book vigilantes, but that's exactly what happened after the shop was burglarized in the early morning hours of March 22. "When I got down here, I was like, 'OK, it's not as bad as it could be. I'm going to try to be really positive about this,'" said Hunter. The burglar cleared the wall where the most valuable comic books were displayed. Hunter thought they were all gone for good, until one of his employees spotted a very specific comic book for sale on eBay less than 12 hours after the burglary. "This is the one that really solved the case. The absolutely unique one-of-one sketch cover from our artist friend Dan. When I saw that on eBay I was like, 'I'm just going to buy that and see what happens.' And we got the guy's name and address and everything, and there it was," said Hunter. From there, Hunter went to an Instagram page for someone with the same name and found a telling post. In it was a Lego bandit figurine offering to buy, sell or trade Lego sets in the East Bay. He also saw other photos which looked very similar to the mystery man in the hoodie on the shop surveillance video. The honorary detectives didn't stop there and contacted a competing shop in San Leandro that had also been broken into recently. "I called them and I was like, 'Hey, we found this eBay page. They look almost certainly like they stole some of our stuff. You should check too.' And they got back to us and they're like, 'Yes. There's like ten of our books on there right now.' And I was like, 'Wow! OK,'" said Hunter. When they saw Lego items on the eBay page, they reached out to a toy shop in San Ramon that had recently lost a number of valuable sets to a shoplifter. "She's like, 'Do you think this is him?' And she showed a picture of the guy that they had, and he wasn't masked in this one. And based on the Google searches and stuff that we did, we were like, 'This is probably the guy,'" said Hunter. They turned the information over to police. Just a couple of days later, another toy shop was hit. "My wife and I are looking at each other and [thinking the] same thing. They broke the window, they got in, they stole a whole bunch of stuff and left. Do you think this could be the same guy? So I go to message them on Instagram. We had already had a message from them saying, 'Hey, we think it's the same guy,'" said Hunter. The very next day the Alameda County Sheriff's Department served a search warrant at the home of 29-year-old Noorullah Amiri of Livermore where they said they found tens of thousands of dollars of comic books, collectables and Lego sets — the majority of which were returned to their respective stores. "Everybody is really appreciative and everybody's really cool. We now have a little text group chain of shop owners talking about it," said Hunter. Reflecting on the entire experience, the Castro Valley Avengers could only do one thing, quote another comic book super-hero. "What did Peacemaker say? 'Who knows why crazy men do the things that they do?' Yeah," they said laughing. They said they're now actually thinking about publishing their own comic book collection based on the break-in and subsequent detective work, but they said they'd have to change it up a bit and make the villain a little harder to catch.
CBS News
02-04-2025
- CBS News
Bay Area comic book store staff track down suspect in rash of burglaries
A brazen thief who didn't try very hard to cover his tracks and a rag-tag group of amateur detectives: It sounds like the plot to a new comic book series, but this is the true story of a pair of Castro Valley comic book store detectives. Crush Comics owner Josh Hunter and store manager Cole Sanders never thought they'd find themselves as real-life comic book vigilantes, but that's exactly what happened after the shop was burglarized in the early morning hours of March 22. "When I got down here, I was like OK, it's not as bad as it could be. I'm going to try to be really positive about this," said Hunter. The burglar cleared the wall where the most valuable comic books were displayed. Hunter thought they were all gone for good until one of his employees spotted a very specific comic book for sale on eBay less than 12 hours after the burglary. "This is the one that really solved the case. The absolutely unique one-of-one sketch cover from our artist friend Dan. When I saw that on eBay I was like, I'm just going to buy that and see what happens, and we got the guy's name and address and everything, and there it was," said Hunter. From there, Hunter went to an Instagram page for someone with the same name and found a telling post. In it was a Lego bandit figurine offering to buy, sell or trade Lego sets in the East Bay. He also saw other photos which looked very similar to the mystery man in the hoodie on the shop surveillance video. The honorary detectives didn't stop there and contacted a competing shop in San Leandro that had also been broken into recently. "I called them and I was like, 'Hey, we found this eBay page. They look almost certainly like they stole some of our stuff. You should check too.' And they got back to us and they're like, 'Yes. There's like 10 of our books on there right now.' And I was like, 'wow, OK,'" said Hunter. When they saw Lego items on the eBay page, they reached out to a toy shop in San Ramon that had recently lost a number of valuable sets to a shoplifter. "She's like, do you think this is him and she showed a picture of the guy that they had, and he wasn't masked in this one. And based on the Google searches and stuff that we did, we were like, this is probably the guy," said Hunter. They turned the information over to police and just a couple of days later, another toy shop was hit. "My wife and I are looking at each other and same thing. They broke the window, they got in, they stole a whole bunch of stuff and left. Do you think this could be the same guy? So I go to message them on Instagram. We had already had a message from them saying' Hey, we think it's the same guy,'" said Hunter. The very next day the Alameda County Sheriff's Department served a search warrant at the home of 29-year-old Noorullah Amiri of Livermore where they said they found tens of thousands of dollars of comic books, collectables and Lego sets — the majority of which were returned to their respective stores. "Everybody is really appreciative and everybody's really cool. We now have a little text group chain of shop owners talking about it," said Hunter. Reflecting on the entire experience, the Castro Valley Avengers could only do one thing, quote another comic book super-hero. "What did Peacemaker say? Who knows why crazy men do the things that they do? Yeah," they said laughing. They said they're now actually thinking about publishing their own comic book collection based on the break-in and subsequent detective work, but they said they'd have to change it up a bit and make the villain a little harder to catch.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Yahoo
Livermore man arrested for allegedly stealing comics, Legos and action figures
(KRON) — A suspect has been arrested in connection to a burglary at a Castro Valley comic bookstore last weekend. Crush Comics on Castro Valley Boulevard was hit by burglars just after 3 a.m. Saturday morning. Two masked, hooded suspects wearing dark clothes hammered their way into the store, making off with around $2,000 worth of valuable comics off the store's wall book section. 'They grabbed everything from there, put it in a bag and they were out within, like a minute and a half or so,' said the store's co-owner Josh Hunter. Two buildings evacuated after gas line ruptures in San Francisco According to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, 29-year-old Noorullah Amiri was arrested on Thursday in connection to the crime on Thursday. Following the burglary, the Eden Township Substation Property Crime Unit developed probable cause to arrest him and obtained a search warrant. With the assistance of the Gang Suppression Unit and the Street Crimes Unit, Amiri was located at his residence in Livermore. Officers executed a search warrant and found a 'significant quantity of suspected stolen goods,' police said. Along with comic books and action figures, nearly 200 boxes of LEGO sets were also found. According to police, another victim from a different Bay Area city reported a burglary on Wednesday in which $10,000 worth of LEGO sets were stolen. The victim, police said, was able to recover most of the stolen LEGO sets from Amiri's residence. 'The diligent efforts of the Eden Township Substation Property Crime Unit let to the successful investigation and arrest,' ACSO said. 'We remain committed to bringing justice to those affected by property crimes.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
