Alexander brothers plead not guilty, prosecutors say they raped more than 60 women
Matias J. Ocner/Pool/Getty Images, FILE
(NEW YORK) — Luxury real estate brokers Tal and Oren Alexander, along with their brother Alon, on Friday pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to drug and sexually assault dozens of women nearly two months after their arrest.
The three Alexander brothers arrived in Manhattan federal court together in handcuffs, shackles and drab beige jail clothing.
They pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking charges in their first court appearance in New York after being arrested in Miami in December. Their transfer was delayed for weeks as they tried unsuccessfully to secure bail.
Prosecutors announced plans to file additional charges, stating that more than 60 women alleged they were raped by at least one of the brothers. The three siblings have been accused of luring women to nightclubs and parties, then drugging and sexually assaulting them.
“We do intend to bring a superseding indictment in this case,” prosecutor Elizabeth Espinosa said. “I think we will need another month or two.”
Espinosa said that investigators gathered a “substantial” amount of evidence, including accounts from alleged victims, as well as data from iCloud, Instagram, Facebook, dating apps, cell phones, laptop computers and electronic storage devices.
In a January court hearing, when the brothers were still in Florida, prosecutor Andrew Jones said FBI agents found multiple hard drives in a closet of Tal’s apartment during a search.
They allegedly contained “a large quantity of sexually explicit videos and photos” showing the brothers with drunk, naked women who were unaware they were being recorded. According to prosecutors, some of the women tried to hide or flee from the camera when they realized they were being filmed.
Defense attorney Deanna Paul, who is representing Tal, called the allegations “speculative” and questioned what the videos depict, prompting U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni to interject.
“In my view, having a sex with a woman who is incapacitated is likely rape,” Caproni said.
On Friday, Caproni scheduled the trial for Jan. 5, 2026, anticipating it will last at least a month. Defense attorneys have until early May to file a motion to dismiss. The next in-person court hearing is scheduled for mid-July.
All three brothers face 15 years to life in prison if convicted of the federal charges. Oren and Tal were prominent New York and Miami real estate agents, working with wealthy and celebrity clients.
(RALEIGH, NC) — A police officer has been seriously injured after a suspect opened fire at authorities from inside a home, officials said.
Officers were called to a home in the Renaissance Park neighborhood of Raleigh, North Carolina, just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Raleigh Police Deputy Chief of Operations Rico Boyce said.
Once at the scene, someone inside the home opened fire at responding officers, causing officers to return fire before striking and fatally wounding the suspect, police said.
One officer was shot during the exchange and was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries, Boyce said.
The incident was contained to the home, and the emergency alert that was sent to those in the area has since been lifted, Deputy Chief Boyce continued.
“I have been briefed by Chief Patterson concerning the shooting of a Raleigh police officer tonight. The officer is being treated at the hospital now. Anna and I are praying for a complete recovery,” North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein posted on social medi
Police did not give any further details behind the motivation of the shooting or the identities of those involved.
(LOS ANGELES) — The fires blazing through Los Angeles County are the latest unprecedented natural disaster likely amplified by our changing climate. In the weeks and months to come, climate attribution science will determine by just how much.
However, we do know that heavy rains, followed by drought and mixed with winds and low humidity created a perfect storm of conditions — just weeks after Hurricane Helene ripped through North Carolina’s Buncombe County, with fatal floods and landslides 400 miles from where the storm made landfall.
Experts say that extreme weather events worsened by climate change are knocking on the doors of people across the country, and local officials must proactively prepare their regions before their residents become the next victims of tragedy.
“One of the things that every local government, every city government, should be doing right now, and the cost is well worth it, is investing in very comprehensive climate risk assessments,” Albany Law School’s climate policy expert Cinnamon Carlarne told ABC News.
These risk assessments look at the potential harms facing a community, their exposure level and vulnerability to disaster — properly setting regions up to plan for and minimize the destruction a disaster can cause.
If lawmakers don’t take action, the toll — both in human life as well as economic damages — will only compound, according to Thomas Culhane, a professor of global sustainability at the University of South Florida.
“I’m frustrated that my now cousin’s home may be lost, and her family was in jeopardy, and my family is in jeopardy because there hasn’t been enough good dialogue about all the incredible solutions that we’ve had for thousands of years, for hundreds of years, for decades, some brand new,” Culhane told ABC News. “We’re not getting together and discussing and then implementing so people can see with their own eyes.”
Los Angeles County is no stranger to extreme weather events. But according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, seven of the 10 largest wildfires in California history have occurred since 2017.
A recent assessment of LA County’s risk and vulnerability found that it was likely that wildfire conditions such as drought, high winds and extreme heat would compound.
The report found that areas between “urbanized land and undeveloped wildland vegetation” often sit within high or very high fire hazard severity zone. Notably, these hazard zones include the regions where the Palisades and Eaton Fires are burning.
It said that 19% of residents live in “Very High Fire Severity Zones” and developers continue to build in these areas despite concerns. The report noted that builders of new housing or infrastructure in such areas must follow requirements that “limit the impacts of wildfire on these properties,” including fire-resistant roofing, improved attic ventilation, tempered glass for exterior windows and maintaining 100 feet of “defensible space” between their structure and nearby landscaping or wildlands.
According to an October 2024 draft Climate Vulnerability Assessment from the office of LA City Planning, officials and researchers took the risk assessment back to communities to garner feedback about the best ways to implement mitigation strategies and create resilient infrastructure that stands strong in the face of climate disasters.
The draft assessment highlighted potential solutions to prevent against wildfire damage.
This included enforcing zoning restrictions to prevent new development in regions with high wildfire risk; requiring building codes in high hazard areas to include the use of fire resistant materials; ensuring reliable water sources and road access for emergency vehicles; and the installation of backup power in strategic locations to maintain essential services during outages.
Additionally, the draft also noted plans to “strengthen power lines, utility poles, and communication networks in wildfire-prone areas to withstand fire impacts” and “create and maintain fire defensible space around structures and infrastructure.”
The draft also encourages the use of indigenous fire risk reduction practices, such as intentional burns. It also suggests that community members can take part by clearing potential wildfire fuel such as dry underbrush, as well as restoring native habitat and plants.
The LA County Office of Sustainability and the LA City Planning office has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment about the climate assessments.
“When you look into indigenous practices or local practices, you see people dealt with these extremes by developing systems and then we ignored them,” Culhane said. “We set up systems that were bound to fail.”
He continued, “If you took seriously the catastrophic potential … put the money in because then we don’t have to pay later. The recovery costs are huge.”
This doesn’t take into account the cost of human life — at least 24 people have been recorded to have died thus far, according to officials.
If cities around the country can uncover and address targeted and individualized potential climate resilience techniques, they can save lives, according to Cinnamon Carlarne.
“We’re committed to a certain level of warming going forward, simply because greenhouse gasses are accumulating in the atmosphere, and we are not reducing our greenhouse gas emissions,” Carlarne said.
However, she argues, it’s vital to continue to do the work to ensure the climate does not worsen further and cause more damage.
“So you are starting to see, because the frequency and intensity of disasters is mounting, and the human and economic cost disasters are mounting, that more and more city and local governments are actually starting to engage in planning, to assess infrastructure and to create ways where they can learn from one another,” Carlarne said. “But we have more and more cities and local governments that are actually recognizing this is one of real, serious challenges for their government systems.”
(LOS ANGELES) — California homeowners shared evacuation stories and video clips of the damaging flames plowing through their community as the Pacific Palisades fire continues to blaze since its start on Tuesday.
Zibby and Kyle Owens, who own a home in Pacific Palisades but also reside in New York, sat down with Diane Macedo on ABC News Live on Wednesday morning, showcasing footage from their Google Nest camera that reveals the devastating flames. The camera faces their backyard, with the fire engulfing the surrounding area and moving closer to their pool.
“This is the worst-case scenario playing out in front of our eyes right now,” Kyle Owens said. “It’s not just a place, it’s a beautiful community.”
The video was the last contact the Owens received from their home since they lost power shortly afterward.
Fires are common in California, and the Owens said they are not new to this experience. The couple recently evacuated from a New Year’s Eve fire that started with fireworks. However, these particularly powerful Santa Ana wind gusts, which allow the fire to burn five football fields per minute, concerned Kyle Owens about the future of this community.
“If we’re able to go back at some point, I don’t know what we are going back to,” Kyle Owens said.
Kyle Owens also discussed how Pacific Palisades, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the area, is particularly difficult to evacuate due to its hillside homes and winding streets. Many friends waited over three hours to get down the mountain, a drive that would normally take around two minutes.
Two other Pacific Palisades residents, Kenny and Tricia Rakusin, who live along the coastline, said they also struggled to escape the fire zone as a buildup of vehicles trying to travel the hill toward Pacific Coast Highway clogged the road. Tricia Rakusin said her daughter also witnessed many people forced to abandon their cars along Sunset Boulevard.
“This neighborhood has been in place for decades, there’s never been a fire anywhere close to where we live,” Tricia Rakusin said. “No one has ever conceived the possibility of this.”
Along with the stress of the destructive flames and imminent damage, Tricia Rakusin said their insurance canceled all policies in their area four months ago.
“When we go up there, it will be from a war zone,” Kenny Rakusin said. “The unknown is really challenging.”
As of now, the Pacific Palisades fire, which is among two other fires in LA County, has grown to at least 3,000 acres and is zero percent contained.
On top of the uncertainty of their home’s condition, the Owens worry the flames could travel to Zibby’s bookshop in Santa Monica, which is also under an evacuation warning. For the Owens and many others, these flames are wiping away businesses and homes full of memories and connection.
“There is so much soul to the neighborhood,” Zibby Owens said. “It’s unthinkable that this place could vanish.”
