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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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A physical education teacher working at Herndon Barstow Elementary School in the Clovis Unified School District has been accused of punishing students by briefly constricting their necks with a jump rope. The victims are all children between the ages of 9 and 11.

Detectives reported that the incident occurred on Thursday afternoon when the teacher, Peter Samhammer, allegedly utilized disciplinary measures consisting of holding a jump rope around their necks for a brief time before releasing them. Visible red marks were left on the neck and shoulder areas of the victims.

The Central Unified School District responded to the situation by releasing a statement confirming that Samhammer, who worked as a seasonal employee, has been placed on official administrative leave. They also announced, “Student safety is a top priority for the district and as such, we are fully cooperating with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and will continue to do so throughout the course of its investigation.”

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36-year-old Jessica Godoy Ramos has been accused of posing as an immigration attorney and representing several immigrants seeking legal citizenship status, charging thousands of dollars for services she never provided. Ramos allegedly assumed the identity of a New York lawyer with a similar name and stole her bar license number allowing her to work undetected for several years.

A criminal complaint against Ramos claims her clients believed she was a legitimate lawyer until many of them showed up for appointments at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that were never scheduled. Though Ramos filed immigration petitions in some cases, it is alleged that she performed no tasks for some of the clients she billed. In addition, she allegedly issued counterfeit immigration parole documents with which a client was able to enter the U.S.

In February Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received information from the USCIS concerning five individuals represented by Ramos who tried to pick up green cards that did not exist, resulting in the decision to open an investigation.

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A South Dakota woman entered a plea of guilty on Friday to felony child abuse and neglect of two of her children. Darcel Featherman allegedly left her daughters, age 2 and 3, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the care of her mother and sister. The children were discovered by tribal police emaciated and near death.

Featherman signed a factual basis statement claiming she was aware that her mother and sister suffer from addiction and use of methamphetamine and alcohol and they would be unlikely to provide proper care for the children. When officers recovered the little girls they were lying on the floor of their grandmother’s home covered in blankets, lethargic and weighing only thirteen pounds. It was also discovered that due to chronic non-accidental trauma to her brain, the three-year-old child had lost her eyesight.

Featherman is the mother to eight children total, six of whom she does not have legal custody. Her daughters were placed into the care of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and they have put on weight since their relocation.

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In August a Palos Verdes Estates man planning a vacation sought dog walking services through a service called Care.com, a site matching caregivers with potential clients in need, and selected Nephi Henderson of Hermosa Beach for the job. Henderson accepted the position and was provided a key in order to gain entry while the homeowner was away. He has been accused of using the key to steal property from the home.

Police reported that when the victim returned home he discovered some of his personal belongings were missing. He had a video surveillance security system in place, and while reviewing the material he discovered two people stealing items from his home. The recording for the following night revealed three people who stole more of his possessions. He believed one of the suspects was recognizable as Henderson.

Detectives obtained a search warrant for Henderson’s place of residence and identified the missing property from the victim’s home, in addition to goods taken from another reported burglary. Purses and clothing that did not appear to belong to Henderson were also discovered leading police to believe that more victims may exist.

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A gunman, now identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, of Mesquite, used a fully-automatic assault rifle to fire hundreds, perhaps thousands of rounds down onto a crowd of fans enjoying the conclusion of a three-day country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Over 58 people are dead and at least 400 wounded in the now-deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

In footage of the attack, dozens of shots can be heard going off in a matter of seconds. Officers and SWAT team personnel stormed the hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino to find Paddock dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Among the wounded and dead were four off-duty police officers.

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An independent teaching contractor who instructed a music program in more than one Southern California school district is currently under investigation for allegedly contaminating flutes with his semen before giving them to young students.

On September 29th, parents of the students attending elementary schools in Fountain Valley, Los Angeles, Fullerton, Inland Empire, Fullerton, Chatsworth, Capistrano Unified and Newport-Mesa, and a minimum of five other school districts in Southern California received email alerting them about an ongoing investigation regarding the possible contamination of flutes that had been distributed to the children.

It has not yet been determined which of the schools in each district may have been affected by the suspected tainted instruments. Accounting for the time it will take to investigate the considerable amount of sites in the districts, administration felt it was a priority to communicate with parents as soon as possible.

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On September 20th police arrived at a Palm Beach Gardens home where they allegedly found a woman driving in circles trying to run over her son-in law with her SUV. According to the police report the driver, 58-year-old Kathleen Regina Davis, had previously been carrying on an extramarital affair with her daughter’s husband, 33-year-old Michael Sciarra.

Davis was enraged when she learned that Sciarra had confessed to his wife about their infidelity claiming it had destroyed her relationship with her daughter. She allegedly drove to Sciarra’s residence where she threw a considerable amount of eggs at his car and his home. When Sciarra came outside Davis began chasing him down with her vehicle. Sciarra claimed he was nearly run over and that he feared his life was in danger.

When Davis was questioned by the authorities, she allegedly told them that she wanted to run Sciarra over. She was placed under arrest, and is now facing criminal charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. Two days after her detention Davis was released after posting $3,000 bond.

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A car containing two people was pulled over by Ripton police officers performing a traffic stop for expired vehicle registration tags on Wednesday. Upon inspection they located items in the car that they believe had been stolen in a string of recent vehicle burglaries that took place in Santa Rosa and Modesto. In addition, the officers allegedly discovered methamphetamine and a fake gun in the car.

The driver of the Buick, 45-year-old Robert Lenton Ruiz, was found to be on probation and wanted for an arrest warrant for misdemeanor vandalism. 39-year-old Elisa Marie Cabonios, the passenger of the vehicle, possessed an arrest warrant for petty theft. The two were placed under arrest at the scene.

Ruiz and Cabonios are each facing allegations for possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools, possession of a controlled substance and destroying or concealing evidence. Ruiz must also face charges for driving with a suspended license and violation of a court order.

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Officer Edgar Verduzco had been driving down the 605 freeway in Whitter when his car veered to the right into the adjoining lane and made impact with the back end of a Nissan carrying two parents and their child. The mother, father and teenage son were pronounced dead at the scene. Verduzco was suspected of DUI.

26-year-old Verduzco, an Army veteran who has worked at the front desk of the police department for two years, had allegedly been driving approximately 65 mph when he struck the Nissan causing it to combust, and leaving the victims without an escape from their vehicle. They have not yet been identified due to the state of the remains.

Immediately following the initial accident Verduzco’s car continued on and struck another vehicle before he came to a stop. The driver from the second vehicle was reported to have suffered minor injuries, and Verduzco acquired a broken nose.

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