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A news release from the Placer County sheriff’s department stated that on Sunday evening a woman called for assistance reporting that a man had violently assaulted her and threatened to burn down her house. Upon arrival the deputies located the woman and accompanied her to a safe place. 27-year-old Christopher Williams was determined to be the alleged perpetrator, but his whereabouts were not immediately discovered.

The deputies set up a perimeter surrounding the residence and made efforts to get Williams to surrender. When several announcement attempts were met with no response they broke open the door of the home and were unsuccessful at locating Williams inside. A California Highway Patrol aerial search of the property and dwelling using heat imagery also failed to reveal his location. Deputies then sent a sheriff’s K-9 into the crawl space under the house to try to find Williams.

K-9 Officer Eros discovered Williams in the crawl space and proceeded to bite him on the arm in an attempt to subdue him. The sheriff’s office alleged that “Williams then grabbed Eros by the collar, held his face, and lifted him off the ground, choking him.” Deputies were successful in their attempt to get Williams to free Eros, and the dog was treated for minor injuries.

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WKU’s director of media relations Zach Greenwell reported that assistant men’s basketball coach Ben Hansbrough has resigned from his position on Monday to “pursue other opportunities.” Hansbrough spent two seasons as a support staffer with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, and he was promoted to a full-time assistant coach this summer. His departure from the job followed his arrest on Saturday for allegedly driving under the influence.

Police responded to a report of a collision between Hansbrough’s car and a second automobile in the El Mazatlan Mexican Restaurant parking lot. According to the arrest report the second driver claimed he smelled alcohol on Hansbrough’s breath. When the officer asked if he had consumed any alcohol that night Hansbrough maintained that he had not had anything to drink since the previous evening.

The arrest report also stated that the officer administered a standard field sobriety test and Hansbrough allegedly showed indications of intoxication. He was taken into custody and the arresting officer claimed he could smell alcohol on his person as he put him into the police car.

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Last year after winning the election President Donald Trump issued an executive order establishing the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. Chaired by the Vice President the commission was formed to investigate Trump’s posit that voter fraud in the United States needs to be addressed, after he made claims that numerous phony ballots were counted causing him to lose the popular vote to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. According to a senior administration official who asked to remain anonymous, a man working as a researcher on the commission was arrested on alleged charges of child pornography after law enforcement observed the pornographic material on his cell phone.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children issued a tip to the Maryland State Police’s Internet Crime against Children Task Force about possible circulation of child pornography traced to a specific internet address. The suspect was purported to be 37-year-old Ronald Williams II, a researcher working with the Advisory Commission on assignment from an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency called the Office of the Special Counsel.

State police reported that they searched Williams’ home and on initial inspection of his cellphone, “multiple files of child pornography” were located. He was taken into custody and he is facing 11 counts of possession and distribution of child pornography.

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While the North Bay fires continue to burn, a man was arrested for allegedly stealing from a car in an evacuation zone. Upon investigation police also discovered other items believed to be stolen such as pharmaceuticals, sunglasses and a fire department’s emergency fire shelter kit marked “SMFD.”

Sgt. Spencer Crum of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call regarding a fight on Thursday. When speaking to Crum the person who reported the confrontation claimed to overhear the alleged perpetrator telling a neighbor that he only stole a pair of glasses, and then he proceeded to ride away from the altercation on his bicycle.

Deputies contacted 30-year-old Morgan Plumere, the suspected culprit in the lootings. They found him holding a prescription pill bottle with a woman’s name on the label, insulin, unused syringes, an unknown white substance in a bag and an emergency fire kit. They also discovered a portable radio suspected of being stolen from La Prenda Vineyards on October 5.

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A former culinary arts school teacher, Nichole Noel Thiel, was accused by her former student of having sex with him when he was 16 years old at her condominium in Idaho for a period lasting over two years. Thiel was 46 years old when the incidents allegedly took place.

The teen said it all started when he came across the teacher crying and upset and he gave her a hug. He said that she kissed him on the cheek and later he claimed she picked him up from his father’s home to take him back to her Coeur d’Alene home to have sex. He wouldn’t report the incident to his school counselor until the following year.

Thiel maintained her innocence throughout the investigation and trial. Due to the time that had passed, investigators were not able to find any physical evidence of the crime, so prosecutors were forced to rely almost entirely upon the testimony of witnesses. Throughout the trial, Thiel relied upon the support of her friends, colleagues, and family. From others, opinions of Thiel were harsh. Allegations of adults having sex with minors creates a sense of disgust, hysteria, and drives a “guilty-until-proven-innocent” rush to judgement from many in the community. Simply being arrested for a crime is often enough to convince people of guilt. Throughout the trial, criminal defense attorney Michael G. Palmer fought for Thiel’s innocence and realized she was faced with a teen who said that the sex happened and the only way to be acquitted was to somehow prove it didn’t.

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A Border Patrol agent working at the Ajo Border crossing station in Pima County, AZ was taken into custody two weeks ago on a fugitive warrant issued for suspicion of lewd acts with a minor. The alleged offense took place in Imperial County, CA in 2013.

29-year-old Supervisory Agent Kyle Mrofka was detained by Pima County Sheriff’s Deputies on September 29. He remains in Pima County jail without bond awaiting extradition to Imperial County, CA where he is charged with two counts of lewd acts for alleged sexual contact with a child age 14 or 15 when he was at least 10 years older. The identity of the victim is being withheld.

The Tucson Sector public affairs office issued a statement announcing that Mrofka, a 9-year employee of the federal border enforcement agency, has been put on indefinite unpaid suspension awaiting the outcome of the investigation.

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Derek Starnes and his wife rented a condominium on Longboat Key, FL through Airbnb based partly on over 40 positive reviews posted on the site regarding the property. A day after checking into the rental Starnes who has a career in IT saw something amiss with one of the smoke detectors. Upon inspection he discovered it was a hidden security camera with a microphone pointed directly at their bed in the master bedroom.

Starnes called the police and they seized all computer equipment capable of storing data. A second camera was discovered in the living room.

The owner of the property, 56-year-old Wayne Natt, was taken into custody and charged with one count of video voyeurism. Natt’s Airbnb listing has been active for two years and police are investigating the possibility of others affected by the alleged breach of privacy. “We don’t know if there are local victims, someone who may have been dating him or a companion that doesn’t realize they are being videotaped, and then we have the other side of who he rented to through Airbnb,” said Lt. Bob Bourque.

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Scott Radtke, owner of California Motoring Company in Clovis, CA works as a broker by matching interested buyers with sellers of automobiles. Court documents allege Radtke conned at least $2.8 million from 17 car dealerships, 11 financial institutions and 48 customers through fraudulent car sales transactions.

Beginning in September 2016 the Department of Motor Vehicles started receiving several complaints from Radtke’s customers who had purchased cars and never received titles or registration, and car dealerships that never received money for sales. DMV issued a statement that they have a zero tolerance policy for business conducted in this manner and they opened an investigation.

Radtke is suspected of employing several methods of stealing money from clients, many of whom were reported as elderly. Some of the accusations include scamming customers who had purchased vehicles for which he accepted payment. He then forged their names on fraudulent loan applications or payment plans from lenders for thousands of dollars over the amount of the initial transactions, which would force them by contract to foot the bill for their purchased vehicle a second time. Another alleged ploy took the form of accepting and selling trade-in vehicles without giving customers the money he had acquired from the sales.

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17-year-old Ziaire Davis of Buffalo, NY has been accused of assaulting his 2-month-old daughter by throwing her up against a wall and shaking her, leaving her in critical condition. Though Davis is underage his name has been released as he is being charged as an adult due to the severity of the alleged crime.

Buffalo Police Lt. Jeff Rinaldo stated that the infant was diagnosed with a fractured skull, a brain bleed, broken ribs, and other injuries. She is currently being treated in the pediatric intensive care unit at Women & Children’s Hospital. The amount of time between the assault and the call placed to 911 has yet to be determined and is under investigation by the district attorney.

Detectives from specialized units were dispatched to the crime scene where they interviewed Davis. He was taken into custody and charged with felony assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He is being held on $50,000 bail.

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Louisville resident Kingsley I. Ekpendu has been accused of targeting elderly people using a hoax consisting of telling them they had won cash prizes in a sweepstakes. He allegedly extorted money from the assumed winners after sending them counterfeit checks to deposit into their bank accounts. He then asked that they overnight money to a specified address. It is suspected that he was able to con hundreds of thousands of dollars from people in this manner.

Police stated that between September 2 and October 4 Ekpendu allegedly mailed letters to three or more addresses announcing they were winners of the Publishers Clearing House Super Cash Giveaway. The letters held fraudulent checks for amounts between $6,000 and $8,000, and instructions to deposit the check and overnight mail an amount ranging from $5,200 to $7,000 in order to claim their winnings.

Law enforcement received information from a local shipping company who became suspicious of the number and size of the packages being delivered to an address that appeared to be a vacant dwelling. Ekpendu received the first two of the three packages, and police intervened before he was able to get the third.

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