13 hospitalized after school bus overturns in New Jersey
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(MONTVALE, NJ) — A school bus carrying 31 passengers overturned and landed on its side in New Jersey on Monday, sending at least 13 to the hospital.
The crash occurred on the side of the Garden State Parkway in Montvale, according to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali said in a post on Facebook that no one died in the incident, and the individual with the most severe of injuries has a pulse.
The bus was headed from Lakewood, New Jersey to New York State when it overturned just south of Exit 172 around 7:30 p.m., according to the mayor.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LUCASVILLE, OH) An inmate allegedly assaulted and killed a veteran corrections officer on Christmas Day at an Ohio prison, an attack authorities said was “beyond comprehension.”
Officer Andrew Lansing was attacked Wednesday at the Ross Correctional Institution (RCI) in Chillicothe, about 43 miles south of Columbus, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
The inmate suspected of killing Lansing was not immediately identified by prison officials, who said he had been transferred to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Lucasville, Ohio.
“The loss of a staff person is difficult, but to lose a family member on Christmas Day at the hands of someone in our custody is a tragedy beyond comprehension,” Annette Chambers-Smith, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said in a statement. “Instead of going home after his shift to be with his family on this holiday, Officer Lansing made the ultimate sacrifice, and our agency will never be the same.”
Chamber-Smith released few details on the attacks, including where in the sprawling 1,707-acre prison Lansing was assaulted and whether the inmate was armed with a weapon.
Lansing was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The prison, which houses more than 2,000 inmates, has been put on lockdown as the Ohio State Highway Patrol investigates the homicide.
Chamber-Smith described Lansing as “a long-time, well-respected employee” at the Ross Correctional Institution and added, that his “untimely death — on Christmas Day — is heartbreaking for his family, the entire Ross Correctional Institution family, and our agency as a whole.”
“Officer Lansing was loved by his colleagues and known to be a great support for his fellow RCI staff,” Chamber-Smith said. “He was a friendly, outgoing officer who treated everyone with respect and was always a professional.”
(NEW YORK) — The Mexican drug lord who founded the Sinaloa cartel with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is in plea talks with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, to resolve his case before a trial that could yield the death penalty, an assistant United States attorney said during a hearing Wednesday.
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, 76, has pleaded not guilty to a slew of federal drug and weapons charges. He had been wanted in the U.S. for more than two decades when he landed over the summer at a small airport in New Mexico where he was taken into custody.
A frail-looking Zambada appeared at the hearing in a beige smock over an orange T-shirt and reading glasses dangling from the collar. He held an earpiece to his right ear with an index finger to listen to the interpreter.
“The parties have been engaged in discussions to resolve the case pre-trial,” federal prosecutor Francisco Navarro said.
The judge asked the parties to return to court on April 22 and, in the meantime, to keep working on a plea deal. No trial date has been set.
During the hearing, Judge Brian Cogan also allowed Zambada to keep his lawyer, Frank Perez, despite a conflict over Perez’s representation of El Mayo’s son, Vicente Zambada Niebla, who is cooperating with the government and who is likely to be called to testify against his father.
“Because Vicente has information that might be used against you, and indeed because Vicente may testify against you, Mr. Perez has conflicting loyalties,” Cogan said. “You don’t have to proceed with a lawyer like Mr. Perez, who is conflicted.”
Zambada put on his glasses to read a prepared statement that said he wished to retain Perez as his lawyer despite the conflict.
“I understand that upon representing two people in the same case there will be problems,” Zambada said in Spanish. “But I don’t want a different attorney. I want Mr. Perez to represent me even if this presents a conflict.”
The successors of El Mayo and El Chapo have been waging a bloody fight for control of the Sinaloa cartel after El Mayo accused El Chapo’s son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, of betraying him and turning him over to the United States.
Zambada and Guzman Lopez were arrested in New Mexico in July, following an operation that a Homeland Security Investigations official told ABC News had been planned for months.
Zambada faces multiple federal indictments in jurisdictions across the U.S. and has been on the run from U.S. and Mexican law enforcement for years.
He was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court in September on 17 counts related to drug trafficking, firearms offenses and money laundering. The charges make El Mayo eligible for the death penalty. He was ordered detained pending trial.
Federal prosecutors allege that under El Mayo’s leadership, the Sinaloa cartel expanded its drug business into fentanyl manufacturing and distributed thousands of kilograms of fentanyl into the U.S.
The co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, El Chapo, was extradited to the U.S. in 2017, convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.
His son, Guzman Lopez, has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges.
(CALIFORNIA) — An arrest warrant has been issued in the murder of a fire captain in California, who was stabbed multiple times in her own home on Feb. 17, according to officials.
Investigators concluded that 54-year-old Yolanda Marodi, also known as Yolanda Olejniczak, is suspected of fatally stabbing her wife, 49-year-old Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi, according to a warrant filed in San Diego County Superior Court last week and released Monday.
Lorena Marodi, the victim’s mother, told officials that approximately one week prior to her death, “Rebecca told Yolanda that she was leaving her and ending their marriage,” according to the warrant.
Lorena Marodi also provided officials with Ring camera footage of the night of her daughter’s death.
In the footage, Rebecca Marodi is seen being chased across the patio by Olejniczak, screaming “Yolanda! Please..I don’t want to die,” the warrant said. Olejniczak responded, “You should have thought about that before,” and appeared to stand in front of Marodi with a knife in her right hand, according to the warrant. There appeared to be blood on both Marodi’s back and Olejniczak’s arms.
Olejniczak can be heard telling Marodi to go inside in the video. Marodi repeatedly asks for Olejniczak to call 911, and then the two enter the residence, the warrant says.
Several minutes later, the front-door camera captures Olejniczak wearing different clothes, loading “pets, random items and some luggage” into a silver Chevrolet Equinox, according to the warrant.
Approximately an hour after Olejniczak left her house, her vehicle entered Mexico, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Police said in a statement on Friday that the sheriff’s office has “alerted authorities on both sides of the border about this suspect.”
An associate of Olejniczak shared with investigators a text from the suspect the day after the murder, reading, “Becky came home and told me she was leaving me, she met someone else, all the messages were lies. We had a big fight and I hurt her…I’m sorry,” according to the arrest warrant.
“Based on video surveillance from the residence depicting Yolanda with a knife standing in front and pushing Rebecca who was covered in apparent blood, Yolanda fleeing to Mexico and the text message Yolanda sent to a close friend stating she ‘hurt’ Rebecca, I believe Yolanda stabbed Rebecca Marodi multiple times ultimately causing Rebecca’s death,” the warrant said.
This is not the first crime Olejniczak has been accused of killing their partner. In 2003, she pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for stabbing her then-husband to death and was sentenced to 11 years in prison, according to officials. She served the time and was released, after which she met Marodi.
Olejniczak is believed to be driving a silver 2013 silver Chevrolet Equinox with a California license plate 8BQJ420, according to officials. Police also said the suspect is traveling with a small white dog.
Last week, Cal Fire confirmed Marodi’s death in a statement posted on social media.
“It is with great sadness that CAL FIRE reports the off-duty death of Fire Captain Rebecca ‘Becky’ Marodi,” officials said. “Captain Marodi served over 30 years with CAL FIRE, primarily in Riverside County, but also serving time in San Bernardino and San Diego Counties. The tragic loss of Captain Marodi is mourned by her family, friends and her CAL FIRE family.”
Police said anyone with information about the location of Olejniczak is urged to call 911 or the Sheriff’s Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330.
ABC News’ Alex Stone and Vanessa Navarrete contributed to this report.
