Latest news with #Sheriff'sDepartment
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Missing Chicopee kayaker found deceased, DA says; another man from separate Conn. River incident still missing
HOLYOKE — Nicklas Delisle, the Chicopee kayaker who went missing on the Connecticut River earlier this month, has been found dead, officials said. Delisle, 27, was found by the Hampden County Sheriff's Department Marine Patrol Unit early Friday afternoon in Holyoke near the South Hadley line, according to Rob Rizzuto, public information officer for the Sheriff's Department. The site was not far from where Delisle's kayak originally capsized, Rizzuto said. Delisle went missing on May 19 while on a fishing trip with his girlfriend, Mya Ballard, 23. Ballard was rescued that evening by a passerby, according to Delisle's uncle, Nevin Bastin, at the time. Bastin declined to immediately comment Friday about the news. The search for Delisle began almost immediately after he disappeared around a bend in the river. Multiple agencies, including the Sheriff's Department, the Western Massachusetts Regional Dive Team, the Massachusetts State Police, the Connecticut River Task Force, Westfield Fire Department, Holyoke Fire Department, Chicopee Police Department, Southwick Police Department, South Hadley Fire District 1, Agawam Fire Department, and Northampton Fire Department, used resources to locate Delisle. 'This is a tragic loss, and we extend our deepest condolences to the Delisle family,' said Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni. 'We appreciate the professionalism and compassion shown by everyone involved in the search and recovery efforts.' The incident remains under investigation by the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the DA's office. Meanwhile, it has been more than 80 days since Daniel Callahan, a 26-year-old from East Windsor, Connecticut, went missing in the river. In April, bright signs about the missing man were posted along the Connecticut River in the Nutmeg State, including information about where he was last seen and what he was wearing. On March 9, shortly after midnight, authorities received a report that a man had walked into the river at the end of Walter Street in Chicopee. The following day, Callahan's car was pulled from the water. A multi-agency search also was ongoing for Callahan, but had slowed in April. The search for him is still ongoing, according to Nick Cocchi, sheriff of Hampden County. 'I am thankful that we, along with all our law-enforcement and first responder partners, were able to bring closure to one of the families on the Connecticut River. We send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Niklas Delisle,' Cocchi said in the DA's statement. 'But we will remain on the water searching for Daniel Callahan in an attempt to bring his family some peace.' Callahan's family could not be immediately reached Friday afternoon. Paper City Clothing Co. opens new location, saving historic Holyoke building OneHolyoke to host event on community challenges amid federal cutbacks ICE takes two into custody in Amherst in crackdown on 'sanctuary' communities Westover Job Corps program on chopping block in Trump budget Read the original article on MassLive.
Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Florida man arrested on sex abuse charges, drug possession
Police found 16 kilos of cocaine and 50 pounds of meth in the SUV of a Florida man already facing sexual abuse charges on Wednesday during a traffic stop on the Indiana Toll Road, the Lake County Sheriff's Department announced in a release. Around 11:30 a.m. May 28, a Lake County officer with the department's Highway Interdiction Unit pulled over a Chevrolet Tahoe SUV heading east near Westville on the toll road for following too closely and failing to maintain the lane of travel, Sheriff's Department Spokeswoman Pam Jones said in a release. When the officer ran the driver's license, he found the man was wanted through the Miami-Dade County, Florida Sheriff's Office for sexual battery of a minor and child molestation, she said. Officers then conducted a search of the SUV and found 16 kilos of cocaine and 50 pounds of meth in a cooler and suitcase located inside the vehicle, Jones said. Police arrested 39-year-old Yohan Ponce Riera, of Ocala, Florida, where he also awaits federal charges through the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. 'I commend the outstanding work of our officers for the quick and decisive arrest of a dangerous suspect traveling through our area,' Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said in the release. 'These police officers also seized a significant amount of narcotics that will never threaten our communities now. 'The Lake County Sheriff's Department remains steadfast in our ongoing efforts to find those who traffic illegal drugs and bring them to justice.'
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Smokey Robinson sues former housekeepers for defamation over rape allegations
The filing is a fast and forceful legal and public pushback from the 85-year-old Motown music luminary in response to the women's May 6 lawsuit and a May 15 announcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that its Special Victims Bureau is 'actively investigating criminal allegations' against Robinson. The women are seeking at least 50 million dollars, alleging Smokey Robinson repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them in his home when they worked for him between 2007 and 2024. They said Frances Robinson, a co-defendant, enabled him and created an abusive workplace. The counterclaim opens with friendly text messages from the women to contradict their claims against Robinson, whose songs, including Tears Of A Clown and The Tracks Of My Tears, established him among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s. The filing says the women 'stayed with the Robinsons year after year', holidayed with them, celebrated holidays with them, exchanged gifts with them, asked for tickets to his concerts, and sought and received help from them including money for dental surgery, financial support for a disabled family member, and 'even a car'. The filing — which includes photos from the holidays and gatherings as exhibits — says that despite the couple's generosity, the women 'secretly harboured resentment for the Robinsons and sought to enrich themselves through the Robinsons' wealth'. 'Unfortunately, the depths of Plaintiffs' avarice and greed know no bounds,' the counterclaim says. 'During the very time that the Robinsons were being extraordinarily generous with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs were concocting an extortionate plan to take everything from the Robinsons.' John Harris and Herbert Hayden, attorneys for the former housekeepers, said in a statement that the defamation suit 'is nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson's sexual battery and assault. It is a baseless and vindictive legal manoeuvre designed to re-victimise, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward.' The lawyers said they intend to get the Robinsons' lawsuit thrown out by invoking California's laws against using the courts to silence and intimidate people who sue. The four women, whose names are withheld in their lawsuit, each allege that Robinson would wait until they were alone with him in his Los Angeles house and then sexually assault and rape them. One woman said she was assaulted at least 20 times while working for Robinson from 2012 until 2024. Another said she worked for him from 2014 until 2020 and was assaulted at least 23 times. The Sheriff's Department would give no details on its investigation beyond confirming its existence. Robinson, who was a central figure in the Motown Records machine with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, is a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Former Times reporter sues Villanueva, L.A County, alleging 1st Amendment violation
Former Los Angeles Times reporter Maya Lau filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Los Angeles County, former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, a former undersheriff and a former detective, alleging that a criminal investigation into her activities as a journalist violated her 1st Amendment rights. The suit comes less than a year after a Times article revealed that Lau had been the target of an L.A. County Sheriff's Department probe that 'was designed to intimidate and punish Lau for her reporting' about a leaked list of deputies with a history of misconduct, Lau's attorneys alleged in an emailed statement. Lau's suit seeks unspecified damages to compensate her for alleged violations of her dignity and privacy, as well as the 'continuous injuries' and anxiety she says in the complaint that she has faced in the wake of the revelation she had been investigated. The suit details 'six different counts of violating Ms. Lau's rights under the U.S. constitution and California state law, including retaliation and civil conspiracy to deny constitutional rights,' according to the statement by Lau's attorneys. 'It is an absolute outrage that the Sheriff's Department would criminally investigate a journalist for doing her job,' Lau said in the statement. 'I am bringing this lawsuit not just for my own sake, but to send a clear signal in the name of reporters everywhere: we will not be intimidated. The Sheriff's Department needs to know that these kinds of tactics against journalists are illegal.' The Sheriff's Department said in an emailed statement that it had "not been officially served with this lawsuit" by late Tuesday afternoon. "While these allegations stem from a prior administration, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department under Sheriff Robert G. Luna is firmly committed to upholding the Constitution, including the First Amendment," the statement said. "We respect the vital role journalists play in holding agencies accountable and believe in the public's right to a free and independent press." Villanueva said via email that he had not yet reviewed the complaint in full and that "under the advice of counsel, I do not comment on pending litigation." "What I can say is the investigation in question, like all investigations conducted by the Public Corruption Unit during my tenure as Sheriff of Los Angeles County, were based on facts that were presented to the Office of the Attorney General," he said. "It is the political establishment, of which the LA Times is a part, that wishes to chill lawful investigations and criminal accountability with frivolous lawsuits such as this one." A spokesperson for the county counsel's office declined further comment. The other defendants in the lawsuit, former Undersheriff Tim Murakami and former Detective Mark Lillienfeld, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday afternoon. In December 2017, The Times published a story by Lau about a list of about 300 problem deputies. A lengthy case file reviewed by The Times last year found that department investigators launched an initial probe into who provided Lau with the list. The agency's investigation began when Jim McDonnell was sheriff in 2017. The Sheriff's Department ultimately dropped the investigation without referring it for proscution after, as Lau's complaint says, it 'turned up no evidence connecting Ms. Lau to any crime.' Read more: Inside a secret 2014 list of hundreds of L.A. deputies with histories of misconduct The case file reviewed by The Times last year stated that, after Villanueva became sheriff in 2018, he revived the investigation into Lau, which the complaint alleges was part of an 'unlawful conspiracy' conducted as part of a policy of "retaliatory criminal charges against perceived opponents of LASD.' Lillienfeld led the investigation, and Villanueva 'delegated to Undersheriff Murakami his decision-making authority' in the probe, which Murakami ultimately referred to the state attorney general's office for prosecution, Lau's complaint says. In May 2024, the office declined to prosecute her, citing insufficient evidence. But Lau alleges that the damage was already done and that her rights under the 1st Amendment and California's Constitution had been violated. 'If LASD's actions are left unredressed,' according to the complaint, 'journalists in Los Angeles will be chilled from reporting on matters of public concern out of fear that they will be investigated and prosecuted.' The Sheriff's Department told The Times last year that its probe of Lau was closed and that the department under Luna does not monitor journalists. David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit free speech and press freedom advocacy organization, told The Times last year that reporting on leaked materials involving a matter of public concern is typically 'protected under the 1st Amendment' even if a reporter is aware they were obtained illegally. 'You're not authorized to break into a file cabinet to get records. You're not authorized to hack computers. But receiving information that somebody else obtained unlawfully is not a crime,' Snyder said. The saga of the leaked records began in 2014, when Diana Teran compiled a list of deputies with histories of disciplinary problems. Teran was working for the Office of Independent Review, which conducted oversight of the Sheriff's Department until it closed down that July. In 2015, Teran was hired by the Sheriff's Department to serve in an internal watchdog role. In 2017, according to the investigative file reviewed by The Times last year, she heard that Times reporters including Lau had been asking questions about the list. After investigating further and learning that the reporters had asked about specific details that matched her 2014 list, she grew worried that it had been leaked. On Dec. 8, 2017, The Times ran an investigation by Lau and two other reporters that described some of the misconduct detailed in the list, from planting evidence and falsifying records to sexual assault. Some of the deputies on the list, the reporters found, had kept their jobs or been promoted. Read more: Times reporter was leaked list of problem deputies. The Sheriff's Department investigated her Sheriff's department investigators interviewed Teran and other department officials who all denied leaking the list. The investigation was dropped before Villanueva became sheriff in November 2018. Several months later, Lillienfeld was assigned to investigate allegations that Teran and other oversight officials had illegally accessed department personnel records, reopening the probe into the leaked list. Lillienfeld's inquiry produced an 80-page report that was part of the case file reviewed by The Times last year. It detailed potential times when the list could have been leaked by Teran and stated that she denied doing so. In fall 2021, Murakami sent the 300-page case file – which identified Lau, Teran, L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman, an assistant to Teran and an attorney in Huntsman's office as suspects – to California Atty. General Rob Bonta. There was no probable cause to prosecute Lau, according to the complaint. 'Undersheriff Murakami alleged that Ms. Lau had engaged in conspiracy, theft of government property, unlawful access of a computer, burglary, and receiving stolen property,' the complaint says. 'Ms. Lau did not commit any of these crimes.' Bonta declined to prosecute the case. "The retaliatory investigation against Ms. Lau is one example of how Alex Villanueva used the LASD to target and harass his political opponents,' said Justin Hill, an attorney at Loevy & Loevy representing Lau. 'Our communities suffer when governmental leaders try to silence journalists and other individuals who hold those leaders accountable. This lawsuit seeks to re-affirm the protected role that journalism plays in our society." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Former Times reporter sues Villanueva, L.A county, alleging 1st Amendment violation
Former Los Angeles Times reporter Maya Lau filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Los Angeles County, former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, a former undersheriff and a former detective, alleging that a criminal investigation into her activities as a journalist violated her 1st Amendment rights. The suit comes less than a year after a Times article revealed that Lau had been the target of an L.A. County Sheriff's Department probe that 'was designed to intimidate and punish Lau for her reporting' about a leaked list of deputies with a history of misconduct, Lau's attorneys alleged in an emailed statement. Lau's suit seeks unspecified damages to compensate her for alleged violations of her dignity and privacy, as well as the 'continuous injuries' and anxiety she says in the complaint that she has faced in the wake of the revelation she had been investigated. The suit details 'six different counts of violating Ms. Lau's rights under the U.S. constitution and California state law, including retaliation and civil conspiracy to deny constitutional rights,' according to the statement by Lau's attorneys. 'It is an absolute outrage that the Sheriff's Department would criminally investigate a journalist for doing her job,' Lau said in the statement. 'I am bringing this lawsuit not just for my own sake, but to send a clear signal in the name of reporters everywhere: we will not be intimidated. The Sheriff's Department needs to know that these kinds of tactics against journalists are illegal.' The sheriff's department said in an emailed statement that it had 'not been officially served with this lawsuit' by late Tuesday afternoon. 'While these allegations stem from a prior administration, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department under Sheriff Robert G. Luna is firmly committed to upholding the Constitution, including the First Amendment,' the statement said. 'We respect the vital role journalists play in holding agencies accountable and believe in the public's right to a free and independent press.' Villanueva said via email that he had not yet reviewed the complaint in full and that 'under the advice of counsel, I do not comment on pending litigation.' 'What I can say is the investigation in question, like all investigations conducted by the Public Corruption Unit during my tenure as Sheriff of Los Angeles County, were based on facts that were presented to the Office of the Attorney General,' he said. 'It is the political establishment, of which the LA Times is a part, that wishes to chill lawful investigations and criminal accountability with frivolous lawsuits such as this one.' A spokesperson for the county counsel's office declined further comment. The other defendants in the lawsuit, former Undersheriff Tim Murakami and former Detective Mark Lillienfeld, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday afternoon. In December 2017, The Times published a story by Lau about a list of about 300 problem deputies. A lengthy case file reviewed by The Times last year found that department investigators launched an initial probe into who provided Lau with the list. The agency's investigation began when Jim McDonnell was sheriff in 2017. The sheriff's department ultimately dropped the investigation without referring it for proscution after, as Lau's complaint says, it 'turned up no evidence connecting Ms. Lau to any crime.' The case file reviewed by The Times last year stated that, after Villanueva became sheriff in 2018, he revived the investigation into Lau, which the complaint alleges was part of an 'unlawful conspiracy' conducted as part of a policy of 'retaliatory criminal charges against perceived opponents of LASD.' Lillienfeld led the investigation, and Villanueva 'delegated to Undersheriff Murakami his decision-making authority' in the probe, which Murakami ultimately referred to the state attorney general's office for prosecution, Lau's complaint says. In May 2024, the office declined to prosecute her, citing insufficient evidence. But Lau alleges that the damage was already done and that her rights under the 1st Amendment and California's Constitution had been violated. 'If LASD's actions are left unredressed,' according to the complaint, 'journalists in Los Angeles will be chilled from reporting on matters of public concern out of fear that they will be investigated and prosecuted.' The Sheriff's Department told The Times last year that its probe of Lau was closed and that the department under Luna does not monitor journalists. David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit free speech and press freedom advocacy organization, told The Times last year that reporting on leaked materials involving a matter of public concern is typically 'protected under the 1st Amendment' even if a reporter is aware they were obtained illegally. 'You're not authorized to break into a file cabinet to get records. You're not authorized to hack computers. But receiving information that somebody else obtained unlawfully is not a crime,' Snyder said. The saga of the leaked records began in 2014, when Diana Teran compiled a list of deputies with histories of disciplinary problems. Teran was working for the Office of Independent Review, which conducted oversight of the sheriff's department until it closed down that July. In 2015, Teran was hired by the Sheriff's Department to serve in an internal watchdog role. In 2017, according to the investigative file reviewed by The Times last year, she heard that Times reporters including Lau had been asking questions about the list. After investigating further and learning that the reporters had asked about specific details that matched her 2014 list, she grew worried that it had been leaked. On Dec. 8, 2017, The Times ran an investigation by Lau and two other reporters that described some of the misconduct detailed in the list, from planting evidence and falsifying records to sexual assault. Some of the deputies on the list, the reporters found, had kept their jobs or been promoted. Sheriff's department investigators interviewed Teran and other department officials who all denied leaking the list. The investigation was dropped before Villanueva became sheriff in November 2018. Several months later, Lillienfeld was assigned to investigate allegations that Teran and other oversight officials had illegally accessed department personnel records, reopening the probe into the leaked list. Lillienfeld's inquiry produced an 80-page report that was part of the case file reviewed by The Times last year. It detailed potential times when the list could have been leaked by Teran and stated that she denied doing so. In fall 2021, Murakami sent the 300-page case file – which identified Lau, Teran, L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman, an assistant to Teran and an attorney in Huntsman's office as suspects – to California Atty. General Rob Bonta. There was no probable cause to prosecute Lau, according to the complaint. 'Undersheriff Murakami alleged that Ms. Lau had engaged in conspiracy, theft of government property, unlawful access of a computer, burglary, and receiving stolen property,' the complaint says. 'Ms. Lau did not commit any of these crimes.' Bonta declined to prosecute the case. 'The retaliatory investigation against Ms. Lau is one example of how Alex Villanueva used the LASD to target and harass his political opponents,' said Justin Hill, an attorney at Loevy & Loevy representing Lau. 'Our communities suffer when governmental leaders try to silence journalists and other individuals who hold those leaders accountable. This lawsuit seeks to re-affirm the protected role that journalism plays in our society.'
