Latest news with #MostWantedList
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bryan man sentenced to 40 years for beating ex-girlfriend
BRYAN, Texas (FOX 44) – A Bryan man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for beating his ex-girlfriend. The Brazos County District Attorney's Office says 32-year-old Olajawon Agube Mason was sentenced on Friday. He received 40 years for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, plus 40 years for Assault Family Violence Strangulation with a Previous Conviction as well as ten years in prison for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon. Judge Kyle Hawthorne also made affirmative findings of family violence and the use of a deadly weapon. Mason was originally sentenced to two years in prison in February 2019, after a jury trial in which he was convicted of Burglary of a Habitation. In this case, the jury heard evidence that Mason had broken into the home of his girlfriend, kicked in the door to her bathroom, and strangled her. He had no prior criminal history. The D.A.'s Office says shortly after Mason was released from prison on September 15, 2022, police responded to the same address. Officers discovered the same victim as in the previous case. This time, the victim was severely beaten and required immediate medical attention. Medical personnel and police documented severe bruising and swelling to the victim's face, bleeding from her nose and ears, and extensive evidence of strangulation. The girlfriend reported that she had lost consciousness during the assault and had little memory of what occurred. Gang member sentenced for violent burglary of habitation The D.A.'s Office says police also spoke with the 9-1-1 caller, who identified herself as the sister of the victim. This witness reported that Mason pointed a firearm at her before locking himself in the bedroom with his girlfriend. The sister reported hearing significant banging from the room and her sister screaming, but she was not able to enter. The sister snuck out of the home and called 9-1-1. The two young children of Mason and the victim were inside the home at the time of the assault. Bryan Police responded quickly to the scene and witnessed Mason fleeing the home. Despite setting up a perimeter and employing drones and canine resources, Mason managed to evade authorities. The D.A.'s Office says Mason was placed on the Brazos County Domestic Violence High Risk Team List, and also on the Most Wanted List in Brazos County. Multiple law enforcement agencies both inside and outside of the county worked to apprehend Mason while he remained a fugitive. Mason was ultimately apprehended in January 2025 by the Bryan Police Department's Direct Deployment Team. As a result of finding the deadly weapon, Mason will have to serve half his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Both Mason's now ex-girlfriend and her sister received lifetime protective orders as part of the plea. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Man involved in Springfield excessive force scandal as teen headed to prison in unrelated case
About a decade after teens accused a Springfield police detective of excessive force during a controversial 2016 arrest, one of the teens at the center of the case has been sentenced to prison for a different crime. Now 25, Evdyele Oniel Pabon Flores, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including manslaughter, assault and battery (attempt with firearm) and carrying a firearm without a license, in connection with a 2022 fatal shooting in Holyoke in which he was accused of shooting another man 10 times. Flores was originally charged with murder. On May 30, he was sentenced to 8-11 years in prison with about two years time served. Read more: Embattled former police officer Gregg Bigda files another suit against Springfield After gunshots were fired at the intersection of Pine and Sargeant streets in Holyoke around 8:20 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2022, Holyoke police found two vehicles that appeared to have crashed into one another — but they were empty. On the ground next to the damaged vehicles, police saw a pile of spent shell casings. Police searched the area and found a man lying down in the backyard of a nearby home with a gunshot wound in his stomach. First responders rushed the man, later identified as 49-year-old Chicopee man Luis Ramos, to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries. Authorities identified Pabon Flores, who was 21, as the suspected gunman in the fatal shooting. The investigation accused Pabon Flores, who was a passenger in one of the cars found in the crash, of firing more than 10 shots into Ramos, who was the driver of the other car. Detectives charged Pabon Flores with murder in connection with the fatal shooting and he was added to the Massachusetts Most Wanted List in 2023. In April 2023, Pabon Flores turned himself in at Holyoke District Court. Holyoke Police detained Pabon Flores at the courthouse and took him to the city's police station for booking. He was arraigned on the murder charge and was ordered to be held without bail. In 2016, the Springfield government published videos of Springfield narcotics detective Gregg A. Bigda haranguing two boys. 'I'll f---ing kill you in the parking lot ... and I'll stick a f---ing kilo of coke in your pocket and put you away for f---ing 15 years ... I'm not hampered by the truth because I don't give a f--- People like you belong in jail,' he screamed at a 16-year-old. At another point, the police detective said, 'Motherf---er, I'll charge you with killing Kennedy and f---ing make it stick.' 'Who's the kid at the hospital? Look at that [pointing to his own boot]. That's his blood,' he also said. 'If I find out you're lying . . . [pointing to his boot again] that will be your blood on this shoe.' Read more: Federal judge dismisses dueling lawsuits by embattled Springfield cop Gregg Bigda and city The three boys involved in the scandal were identified at trial by their first names — Georgie, 16, Daniel, 15, and Evdyele, 14. Although, Pabon Flores was not in the videos. The Hampden District Attorney's Office confirmed Pabon Flores' recent sentence but did not comment on his connection to the Bigda scandal. In 2016, an officer had left an undercover police Chevy Trailblazer unlocked, unoccupied and with its motor running when the three boys stole it, officials said. Detectives tracked the boys to Palmer after they heard a call about the stolen undercover police car being spotted in Wilbraham in the early-morning hours of Feb. 27, 2016. Police in neighboring communities chased the speeding car into Palmer where the chase stopped but the boys took off on foot. A state police K-9 officer stopped one of the teens and sent him to the hospital with dog bites and other injuries, according to police accounts. In 2018, Bigda was indicted by a federal grand jury for excessive force in connection with punching and kicking the young car theft suspects during the 2016 arrest, two counts of 'abusive interrogation' for threatening to kill and plant drugs on them, plus drafting a false police report, officials said. He faced up to 15 years behind bars if convicted. Read more: Springfield has paid out $877K since January to settle 3 lawsuits claiming police misconduct Daniel testified he saw Bigda repeatedly punch Pabon Flores in the head while the boys were already in handcuffs on the ground. He told jurors Bigda then marched over to him, yelled: 'Welcome to white town' and kicked him in the face. Bigda denied doing either. Prosecutors portrayed Bigda as a racist cop who attacked the Latino boys after they stole an undercover police car left running outside a Springfield pizza shop. However, Bigda lawyer Timothy Flaherty, during his opening and closing statements, argued the government cherry-picked evidence and witnesses to build a skewed case against his client. After jurors deliberated for about nine hours over two days in 2021, Bigda was acquitted on four criminal counts. In 2022, the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission denied Bigda's application for certification, Alia Spring, a spokesperson for the commission, said in a statement. Bigda fought back, requesting a review and hearing about the denial. In April 2024, the commission issued its final decision that he was denied certification, Spring said. Bigda is now fighting that in Hampden Superior Court. Read more: Community members say acquittal of Springfield detective Gregg Bigda in police brutality case further erodes trust in police, judicial system However, POST Commission hearing officer, retired Judge Charles J. Hely, stated that the video recording of Bigda's 'behavior in the cells of the Palmer Police Station cannot be disputed.' 'Officer Bigda's threats and abusive behavior toward the fifteen-year-old and sixteen-year-old boys were shocking and inexplicable,' he wrote. Republican reporter Stephanie Barry contributed to this reporting. Religion Notes: June 5, 2025 Springfield first in the state to propose regulations banning 'gas station weed' Holyoke Mall shooting: Should self-defense apply when a bystander dies? Teen runs a mile to escape attacker who dragged him into Springfield park Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Yahoo
FBI's '10 Most Wanted Fugitives List' turns 75
March 14 (UPI) -- On Friday, the FBI marked the 75th anniversary of its "10 Most Wanted Fugitives List," which has led to the discovery and capture of some of the more notorious people wanted for crimes in recent history. According to an FBI press release, the list was first launched in March 1950 after a journalist requested information about the "toughest guys" being sought by the organization at that time. The reporter received a list of 10 fugitives, and the resulting story gained national attention. Then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover saw how public involvement could be an asset and formalized the list into what is still used today, albeit now adapted to appear via modern media and digital platforms. Since its inception, 496 of the overall 535 listed fugitives have been captured or located, with the list evolving from a focus on murder suspects and bank robbers to include child predators, cyber criminals, white-collar criminals and organized crime suspects, with a scope that expands beyond American borders. Some of the especially infamous suspects who once appeared on the Most Wanted List include Osama bin Laden, James "Whitey" Bulger and James Earl Ray. "The 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list is an invaluable investigative publicity tool the FBI has leveraged for 75 years to ensure the most odious criminals are brought to justice," said FBI Director Kash Patel. "The capture rate of the subjects on the list demonstrates the enormous assistance the public provides, as well as the FBI's unwavering commitment to apprehending these criminals."
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Yahoo
Feds arrest attempted murder suspect with stolen identity in 4-decade-long case
Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Federal authorities recently apprehended a man allegedly living for decades under a stolen identity after allegedly absconding for a more than 40-year-old attempted-murder charge. Officials in the FBI's Albuquerque, N.M., field office announced Wednesday that Stephen Craig Campbell, 76, had allegedly been living under the assumed identity of Walter Lee Coffman, a 22-year-old man who died in 1975, and was taken into custody on Valentine's Day after a brief gun standoff. For more than 40 years, he was on the U.S. Marshals' Most Wanted List. He was charged with misuse of a passport and remains in custody pending a yet-to-be-determined trial date. Federal officials obtained arrest warrants to search Campbell's 44-acre property in Weed, which was legally registered under Coffman's name. A 2018 study found that 800,000 of the 2.5 million victims of identity theft were deceased persons, according to Lifelock. It followed an investigation that uncovered the decades-long abuse of a deceased man's identity to evade authorities, and fraudulently obtain roughly $140,000 in U.S. government benefits in Coffman's name administered by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It's been alleged the two may of had a prior connection. According to records, Coffman graduated from the University of Arkansas two months before he died with an engineering degree where Campbell also attended during that period seeking the same degree. Over the years, Campbell allegedly applied for a series of government documents supposedly acting as Coffman, first applying in 1984 for a passport that he renewed multiple times and for which he always provided a photograph and current address, officials say. Meanwhile, three east coast U.S. postal workers at the end of 2022 were arrested for allegedly stealing credit cards via mail in a 4-year-long, $1.3 million fraud and identity theft conspiracy to buy luxury items to sell online. Officials, however, later uncovered that Campbell was arrested in 1982 for attempted first degree murder charges in Wyoming when he allegedly planted an explosive device at the doorstep of his estranged wife's boyfriend. His ex-wife lost a finger and suffered other injuries when she opened the toolbox which held the bomb, and the blast ultimately set fire to the residence and a neighboring unit. He reportedly was released on bond in 1983 but failed to appear in court which resulted in an active warrant for his arrest. Campbell relocated to Weed around 2003 when he bought the property in Coffman's name. However, the scheme began to unravel in September 2019 when Campbell allegedly gave fraudulent documents in Otero County to renew his drivers license at the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Department in Cloudcroft in the south-central part of the state. Law enforcement obtained search warrants for his property on Feb. 14 and allegedly greeted them armed with a scoped rifle, positioning himself in an elevated and partially concealed spot. Campbell emerged from the woods after repeated orders and a deployment of flash bangs where he ultimately was detained and ready to fire loaded with high-powered ammunition capable of piercing standard body armor. He was identified via fingerprint testing, and a subsequent search of the property yielded 57 firearms and "large quantities of ammunition," officials added. If convicted, Campbell faces up to 10 years in prison.
