Teen rescued from 50-foot deep mine shaft in Northern California
Dong Xudong/Xinhua via Getty Images
(CHINA BAR, Calif.) — A 16-year-old teen was rescued from a 50-foot deep mine shaft in Northern California on Monday after the rope he was using to climb back out of the hole snapped, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The teen was saved after attempting to explore a mine shaft located in the Auburn State Recreation Area near China Bar, officials said.
At approximately 3:27 p.m. on Monday, Placer County Fire Department and Auburn City Fire Department were dispatched to a medical rescue for a “16-year-old male stuck in a vertical mine shaft approximately 50 feet deep,” according to a press release.
The teenager and his friends traveled about 180 feet into the mine shaft and the side of the mountain to explore and rappelled 40 to 50 feet down using a household rope, Cal Fire said.
Upon their ascent back, the rope broke, and the victim fell about 30 feet back to the bottom of the shaft. He attempted to free climb his way back up, but “ultimately lost strength and positioned himself in a precarious ledge awaiting rescuers,” officials said.
Once crews arrived on the scene, the teen’s friends led rescuers to the victim. The Placer County Technical Rescue Team was able to successfully save the teen using a “lightweight, complex rope system and established air monitoring,” Cal Fire said.
The victim was immediately taken to a local trauma center for treatment.
Cal Fire applauded the Placer County rescue team as they were able to “facilitate this technical rescue in a very confined and austere environment 180 feet inside of the mountain.”
“The incident highlights the unique natural hazards ever present within our beautiful and rugged landscape in Placer County,” Cal Fire said. “Our commitment to public safety in these diverse scenarios using highly trained special operations team is paramount in our service to the public.”
The name of the rescued teenager has not yet been released.
(PHILADELPHIA) — U.S. Marshals are on the hunt for a man they say killed a 29-year-old woman and then buried her body in a shallow grave, according to authorities.
The U.S. Marshals Service Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force is asking for the public’s assistance in locating 29-year-old Geovanni Otero, who authorities say a warrant for murder out for his arrest, according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals on Monday.
“On November 27, a warrant murder and related charges was issued by the Philadelphia Police Department and Otero is also wanted for violation of his Pennsylvania State Parole. Otetro is charged with killing 29-year-old Melody Rivera in early November,” the U.S. Marshals said. “Her body was found in a shallow grave in the 900 block of Tustin Road in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase section of the city.”
Otero is approximately 5-foot-10 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds, officials said. He has black hair, brown eyes and tattoos covering the top of both hands as well as a tattoo of a dagger behind his left ear, police said. His last known address was in the 5800 block of N. Park Avenue in Philadelphia.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to Otero’s arrest and authorities say the reward will be “processed immediately upon arrest and not upon conviction.”
“Geovanni Otero is officially charged with the homicide of Melody Rivera. We are hoping the public can provide information that will assit us in removing this lifelong criminal from society,” said Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark.
The U.S. Marshals Service Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force is the lead investigative agency tasked with apprehending Otero for the murder and state parole warrants.
Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union via Getty Images
(HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.) — A New York state trooper who claimed to have been shot in the line of duty in October is now facing criminal charges for having allegedly “staged” the shooting, according to officials.
Thomas Mascia, 27, surrendered to police Monday morning, a spokesperson for the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office told ABC News. He faces charges of official misconduct, falsely reporting a crime and tampering with evidence.
Mascia’s parents, Dorothy and Thomas, also surrendered to police on charges of criminal possession of a firearm, according to the district attorney’s office. All three have been released on their own recognizance.
Mascia was on duty Oct. 30 in Hempstead when he “initiated a radio transmission for shots fired,” according to a felony complaint obtained by ABC News.
He then “claimed he was shot by the driver of a black Dodger Charger described as either a Black or dark-skinned Hispanic male.”
The complaint alleges Mascia actually “staged the scene of the shooting,” placing shell casings on the ground hours earlier.
He then allegedly “shot himself in the leg in another location before returning to the staged location” on the Southern State Parkway.
State police temporarily shut down the section of the parkway where Mascia claimed the incident occurred “in an effort to locate the non-existent shooters, causing alarm and inconvenience to the public,” the complaint states.
The complaint accuses Mascia of staging the shooting “for the benefit of gaining attention or sympathy for himself.”
An attorney representing Mascia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is expected to make his next court appearance Feb. 5.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Ten days ahead of his presidential inauguration, Donald Trump is scheduled to be sentenced Friday morning in New York for committing what the judge in his case characterized as a “premeditated and continuous deception” to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election.
President-elect Trump — who plans to attend the 9:30 a.m. hearing virtually from his Mar-a-Lago estate — is expected to receive the lightest possible sentence allowable under New York law, though the sentencing effectively finalizes his unprecedented status as the first former president to be a convicted criminal.
The sentencing hearing concludes an embarrassing and nearly decade-long ordeal for the former president, who has long maintained his innocence but sat through weeks of testimony detailing an alleged scheme to influence the 2016 election by paying off an adult film actress who said she had affair with Trump in 2006, three months after his wife gave birth to his youngest son.
“So I’ll do my little thing tomorrow. They can have fun with their political opponent,” Trump told reporters Thursday night ahead of the sentencing.
Trump was convicted by a jury in May following a six-week trial and was set to be sentenced in July, but a sweeping Supreme Court ruling and his successful presidential campaign helped his lawyers delay his sentencing three times. His lawyers attempted to accomplish the same feat this week but were denied four separate times — including by the U.S. Supreme Court — after arguing that Trump should be immune from criminal prosecution as president-elect.
“Forcing President Trump to prepare for a criminal sentencing in a felony case while he is preparing to lead the free world as President of the United States in less than two weeks imposes an intolerable, unconstitutional burden on him that undermines these vital national interests,” Trump’s lawyers unsuccessfully argued.
A narrowly divided Supreme Court denied the request on Thursday night, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Trump-appointee Amy Coney Barrett joining the court’s three liberal justices. The majority wrote that the hearing imposed a “relatively insubstantial” burden on Trump based on the anticipated sentence.
Judge Juan Merchan — who has overseen the case since April 2023 — suggested in a court filing last week that he plans to sentence Trump to an unconditional discharge, a rarely used option that allows the judge to finalize the judgment in the case without handing down punishment. If his sentence is unconditionally discharged, Trump would receive no jail time, financial penalty, or probationary period.
Though Merchan could have sentenced Trump up to four years in prison, he opted to give him the lightest possible sentence to “ensure finality” — including Trump’s right to appeal — while also respecting the principle of presidential immunity, which takes effect on Jan. 20 once Trump becomes president.
The sentencing is expected to take approximately one hour and include what’s called an allocution, in which Trump can make a statement to the court. Judge Merchan is also expected to comment on the nature of crime for which Trump was convicted. In a filing last week, the judge harshly criticized what he called Trump’s “disdain” for the judiciary.
“Defendant’s disdain for the Third Branch of government, whether state or federal, in New York or elsewhere, is a matter of public record,” Merchan wrote. “Indeed, Defendant has gone to great lengths to broadcast on social media and other forums his lack of respect for judges, juries, grand juries and the justice system as a whole.”
Since his conviction, Trump has maintained his innocence and has baselessly alleged that he is the victim of a political persecution directed by the federal government. Leaving the courtroom shortly after his conviction in May, Trump blasted the trial as “disgrace” and Judge Merchan as “corrupt.”
“The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people,” the newly convicted Trump declared.
