Thieves steal memorabilia from St. John’s coach Rick Pitino’s office: Police
(NEW YORK) — Two burglars swiped memorabilia from St. John’s University men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino’s office on the New York City campus, according to police.
Items including a basketball and bullhorn were taken during the break-in Tuesday evening in Queens, according to police.
The suspects fled on a moped, the NYPD said.
The unidentified suspects remain at large. Both were captured in footage from a university camera that was released by police. One appeared to be holding a bullhorn and the other a small sword in the footage.
Pitino said on social media that he was “really upset” about the burglary and was “livid” over the theft of a vintage bottle of wine — a 1985 6L Petrus Pomerol, which sells for tens of thousands of dollars on some collectible wine sites — though later clarified that he was joking.
“I would never keep that on my desk! Saving that one in a wine cellar to open after the Johnnies go to the final four!” he said on X.
The incident occurred at approximately 8 p.m. Tuesday, according to St. John’s spokesperson Brian Browne.
“Property was stolen from an office in the Athletics Department,” Browne said in a statement. “The University shared surveillance footage with the NYPD and is assisting in the ongoing investigation.”
Pitino has served as the coach of the Big East team since 2023. He gained stardom coaching at the University of Kentucky, winning a national title in 1996.
He had short stints with the NBA’s Boston Celtics and New York Knicks before returning to college at the University of Louisville. He coached the Cardinals from 2001 to 2017 and won the national title in 2013, though it was later vacated for NCAA violations.
He was also inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Pitino says he was joking about the wine being stolen.
(LONDON, Ky.) — As a massive search continued Monday afternoon for the suspect in a Kentucky interstate shooting that injured five people and left a dozen vehicles with bullet holes, an arrest warrant released by authorities alleges the fugitive gunman sent a woman a text message threatening to “kill a lot of people” about a half hour before highway rampage.
The suspect, 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch, was also allegedly involved in a domestic dispute on Saturday morning and legally purchased an AR-15 rifle and ammunition at a gun store hours before allegedly opening fire on vehicles traveling on Interstate 75 near London, Kentucky, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
According to an arrest warrant, Couch is wanted on charges of attempted murder and first-degree assault.
Before the interstate shooting, according to the arrest warrant, a Laurel County 911 dispatcher received a call from a woman who alleged Couch texted her before the interstate shooting and “advised he was going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least.” The text message was sent to the woman at 5:03 p.m. Saturday, about a half-hour before the interstate shooting started, according to the arrest warrant.
“Couch sent another message to [the woman] that read, in part, ‘I’ll kill myself afterwards,” according to the arrest warrant.
London city officials told ABC News the woman Couch texted is the mother of his child.
Details of the domestic dispute that allegedly involved Couch were not disclosed.
Couch allegedly purchased a Cobalt AR-15 rifle with a mounted sight and 1,000 rounds of ammunition for $2,914 at a London, Kentucky, gun store on Saturday morning, according to the arrest warrant.
Saturday’s interstate shooting unfolded around 5:30 p.m. local time on I-75 at Exit 49, about eight miles from London, officials said.
At a news conference Sunday night, Laurel County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Richard Dalrymple estimated that 20 to 30 rounds were fired at vehicles in both the north and southbound lanes of I-75, from a hillside near Exit 49. At least 12 vehicles were struck by gunfire, leaving five people with gunshot wounds, including one victim who was shot in the face, officials said.
The five victims suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
Authorities initially said seven people were injured in the incident.
Officials said they do not believe any of the victims of the shooting were targeted.
State police announced Monday that a $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest of the suspect.
A silver Toyota SUV registered to Couch was found abandoned on a forest road in the dense woods near Exit 49, according to the arrest warrant issued for Couch. A Cobalt AR-15 rifle believed to have been used in the shooting and a green army-style duffle bag containing ammunition and several magazines were discovered in roughly the same area, according to the arrest warrant. The duffle bag had “Couch” handwritten on it, according to the warrant.
Investigators believe that the suspect was unprepared for a long period of trying to evade law enforcement in the woods because he left his gun, ammunition and vehicle behind. There is no indication, so far, that Couch had any type of stash of supplies that would enable him to disappear into the rugged terrain, investigators said.
Couch was initially named as a person of interest in the shooting, and the sheriff’s office released his photo and said he was “considered armed and dangerous.” On Sunday afternoon, Laurel County Sheriff John Root announced that Couch had been upgraded to the primary suspect.
Root said Couch has an address in Woodbine, Kentucky, and the sheriff’s office described him as about 5-foot-10 and 154 pounds.
According to military records, Couch served as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve from March 2013 to January 2019. Records show he was part of an Army Reserves engineering company, the 979 Engineering Company, based in Lexington.
More than 150 law enforcement officers are participating in the search for Couch.
Authorities are focusing their search in the area of Exit 49, although they have also investigated reported sightings of Couch in other areas of Laurel County and outside the county, officials said.
The area around Exit 49 is the most remote area of I-75 and the terrain is densely wooded and rugged, Kentucky State Police Trooper Scottie Pennington said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
“We’re in the Daniel Boone National Forest; this is thousands and thousands of acres. It’s kind of like a jungle,” Pennington said.
Pennington said the plan is to continue applying pressure on Couch to “wear him down.”
“Hopefully he has no water and nothing to eat,” Pennington said.
London Police Department Assistant Chief Bobby Day told ABC News that the area authorities believe Couch is hiding in has an extensive cave system and that the search has included underground caves.
At least nine Kentucky school districts and a community college campus closed Monday due to safety concerns stemming from the search for Couch.
“Student and Staff safety is a priority in the Laurel County Public Schools; therefore, out of an abundance of caution, school is canceled for tomorrow, Monday, September 9, 2024,” the Laurel County Public School said in a statement Sunday night.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
(BEAUFORD, S.C.) — A Massachusetts man vacationing with his family in South Carolina has been missing since Friday and is endangered, authorities said.
Stanley Kotowski, 60, was last seen Friday morning leaving his family’s vacation rental on Hilton Head Island, according to his family. He is believed to be barefoot and did not take any personal items such as his phone or wallet, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Kotowski has been struggling with anxiety recently, his family told ABC Savannah, Georgia, affiliate WJCL.
“He had really bad insomnia for about a month. This is like a brand-new thing,” his wife, Jackie Kotowski, told WJCL. “He doesn’t have dementia. His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse and he started to get a little paranoid, and he thought someone was chasing him.”
His son, Zak Kotowski, told WJCL that his father is otherwise healthy.
“He’s a strong person, he’s athletic. He could, even in a delirious state, shoeless, he could get a few towns over,” Zak Kotowski told the station.
Kotowski was reported missing by his family about two hours after he was last seen, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Master Sergeant Daniel Allen. He has been listed as endangered due to his mental state, the length of time he has been missing and because he was last seen on a Ring camera without any shoes on, Allen said.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office continued to search for Kotowski on Tuesday.
Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office continues to search for missing and endangered 60-year-old Stanley Kotowski. https://t.co/iKCirBWxl1
— Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, SC (@bcsopio) August 20, 2024
Search efforts have included K9s, helicopters, drones, boats, and foot patrol, the sheriff’s office said. There have been some tips but none that have panned out, Allen said.
“Unfortunately with all the efforts that they’ve been putting out, from literally air, land and water, we have not made contact with him at this point,” Allen told ABC News on Tuesday.
Kotowski’s information has been entered into national databases and sent out to agencies statewide, the sheriff’s office said.
His family said they are not leaving Hilton Head Island without him while pleading for people to help.
“We just want him to come home,” Jackie Kotowski told WJCL. “We need help from anybody who can assist us in finding him.”
Zak Kotowski also had a message for his dad: “We love you. Come home, we just want you home.”
Kotowski was last seen wearing a gray Coors Light T-shirt, dark-colored shorts and no shoes, as captured on a Ring camera footage shared by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. He is approximately 6 feet tall and weighs around 200 pounds, with short brown hair and brown eyes and a thick Boston accent.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office has asked residents to review their cameras and check their property for any signs of Kotowski. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 843-524-2777.
(NEW YORK) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested Monday night in New York City by federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations, ABC News has confirmed.
“Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,” United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement. “We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”
Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt hotel in Midtown Manhattan, sources said. He will spend the night in federal custody before he is brought to court for arraignment Tuesday, sources told ABC News.
A federal grand jury in Manhattan returned an indictment against Combs, which set in motion his arrest, sources told ABC News.
The charges remain sealed.
Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, addressed the news in a statement, calling it “an unjust prosecution.”
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sean “Diddy” Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community,” Agnifilo said in the statement.
“He is an imperfect person, but he Is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court,” Agnifilo added.
Combs has been under investigation for the better part of a year since his former, longtime girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, came forward with allegations in a civil lawsuit. At least 10 additional lawsuits followed. Combs has denied the allegations in all of them.
Back in March, Combs’ Los Angeles and Miami homes were raided by federal agents, authorities previously said.
A Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson said in a statement at the time that the raid was executed as part of an “ongoing investigation.”
Law enforcement sources told ABC News, also in late March, that federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations seized a number of electronic devices as part of the court-authorized searches of Combs’ two properties.
The searches, carried out in Los Angeles and Miami, were part of a federal sex trafficking investigation into the hip-hop and liquor mogul, the sources said.
HSI agents flooded Combs’ mansions and gathered evidence as part of an investigation led by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.