Purdue University’s Boilermaker Special mascot involved in deadly collision
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(WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.) — One person is dead and two others injured after Purdue University’s Boilermaker Special mascot collided with a vehicle on a highway in Indiana, authorities said.
The deadly crash happened Thursday afternoon on U.S. 52 at Wyandotte Road in southeastern Tippecanoe County, several miles southeast of the university.
The Boilermaker Special vehicle was traveling north on the highway when, for a currently unknown reason, it crossed the median and collided with a passenger car traveling south, according to the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver of the passenger vehicle died, the sheriff’s office said. The person’s identity has not yet been confirmed, authorities said. No one else was in the vehicle.
Two students who were on the Boilermaker Special were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. They have since been treated and released, according to Purdue.
“We can confirm our Boilermaker Special was involved in a serious multi-vehicle accident,” the university said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the incident.”
The Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office crash reconstruction team is investigating, the sheriff’s office said.
The Boilermaker Special, a vehicle that resembles a Victorian-era steam locomotive, is Purdue’s official mascot. It travels to away football games and can drive up to 75 mph, according to the school.
(SAN JOSE, Calif.) — A California engineer pleaded guilty Tuesday to bombing two Pacific Gas and Electric transformers in 2022 and early 2023, federal prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Peter Karasev, 38, used homemade explosive devices to bomb two PG&E transformers in San Jose, causing significant damage and widespread power outages.
The incidents occurred in December 2022 and January 2023 at two separate locations, police said. Nearly 1,500 electrical customers were without power for almost 16 hours in the first bombing, prosecutors said. The second attack damaged a transformer and an adjacent building and left dozens more residents and businesses without power, prosecutors said.
During a search of Karasev’s San Jose home following his arrest in March 2023, investigators found a “staggering trove” of explosive material and hazardous substances, prosecutors said. Ultimately more than 300 pounds of explosive precursor materials, hazardous chemicals, firearms and remote detonation devices were found in his home, vehicle and office, prosecutors said.
Karasev pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of willful destruction of an energy facility, admitting that the attacks were “premeditated and deliberate,” the Department of Justice said.
Under the terms of his plea deal, he faces approximately 8 1/2 to 10 1/2 years in federal prison, prosecutors said. He also agreed to pay restitution of at least $104,076.26 for the damages caused. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19.
ABC News reached out to his attorney for comment and did not immediately receive a response.
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Robbins for the Northern District of California applauded the swift work of law enforcement officers to “prevent further harm” to San Jose residents.
“There can be no mistake as to the extent of destruction that could have resulted,” Robbins said in a statement Tuesday.
Karasev initially pleaded not guilty to multiple federal charges following his indictment in October 2023 before pleading guilty to the two counts during a change of plea hearing on Tuesday, court records show.
He also faces state charges in connection with the bombings. He is next scheduled to appear in court in Santa Clara County in June, court records show.
At the time of his arrest, Karasev was a software engineer at a company that develops self-driving cars.
(NEWARK, N.J.) — Four detainees at an immigration detention center in New Jersey remain unaccounted for on Friday, according to law enforcement officials, following what the city’s mayor referred to as an “uprising” at the facility.
Federal officials have told local law enforcement in New Jersey that the four detainees have escaped, officials told ABC News. A be-on-the-lookout notice has been issued and a search is ongoing.
The detainees were being held at Delaney Hall in Newark, a privately owned facility that has been contracted out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We are concerned about reports of what has transpired at Delaney Hall this evening, ranging from withholding food and poor treatment, to uprising and escaped detainees,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement late Thursday.
Baraka said he is demanding “immediate answers” to the situation inside the facility from the owner, GEO Group, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., who represents Newark in Congress, said she is monitoring the situation following reports of “unrest” at the facility.
“I have serious concerns about the reports of abusive circumstances at the facility,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “Even now, as we are hearing reports from news organizations and advocates on the ground about a lack of food and basic rights for those inside, the administration appears to be stonewalling efforts to learn the truth. My office has reached out to ICE for answers. ICE has not yet provided them.”
When contacted for comment, ICE referred ABC News to DHS, which has not yet responded.
The GEO Group referred ABC News to law enforcement.
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Rep. Rob Menendez, D-N.J., were inside talking with facility leaders on Friday morning, according to law enforcement officials.
McIver and Baraka were both involved in an incident at Delaney Hall last month while McIver and other congressmembers were on site to conduct oversight. Federal prosecutors allege McIver assaulted law enforcement officers outside the facility while attempting to thwart the arrest of Baraka after a law enforcement official asked him to leave.
A federal grand jury indicted McIver for “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers,” New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said this week.
McIver called the prosecution “a brazen attempt at political intimidation” and said she plans to plead not guilty.
Baraka was arrested at the facility and charged with trespassing, though Habba later dropped the charge.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MN) — Three major wildfires raging out of control in the same Minnesota county have burned more than 20,000 acres combined, destroying dozens of structures, triggering evacuations and prompting the governor to call in the state National Guard to help battle the flames.
The largest fire in St. Louis County — the Camp House Fire — exploded overnight to nearly 12,000 acres and was 0% contained on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
“The responders are doing everything they can, working long hours under extremely tough conditions,” Cmdr. Ryan Williams of the Minnesota Incident Command System (MNICS) said at a news conference.
The Camp House Fire, which started on Sunday in the Superior National Forest near Brimson, about 35 miles north of county seat Duluth, grew overnight from roughly 1,200 acres to 11,788 acres by Tuesday afternoon, according to Williams.
He said that up to 150 structures, including seasonal cabins, remain under mandatory evacuation orders.
St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said in a video statement that more than 40 structures, including homes and cabins, have been destroyed by the Camp House Fire.
Fueled by wind gusts, relative low humidity, warm temperatures, dry underbrush and a build-up of dead trees killed by an insect infestation, the Camp House Fire has quickly spread through the area, according to officials.
“When the fire torches through tree canopies, it throws embers into the air like confetti,” Williams said.
Two other wild fires burning in St. Louis County were the Jenkins Creek Fire — which started on Monday afternoon and had spread to 6,800 acres as of Tuesday afternoon — and the Munger Saw Fire, which also started Monday afternoon and had grown to 1,400 acres as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the MNICS. Both fires were also 0% contained, officials said.
No injuries have been reported from any of the fires, officials noted.
As of Tuesday morning, wildfires had scorched over 37,000 acres — far above the state’s typical yearly total of about 12,000 acres.
“We are seeing the effects of climate change,” Sarah Strommen, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said at Tuesday’s news conference. “It’s harder to compare current fire seasons to what used to be normal. We are trending toward hotter, drier weather — and that’s changing everything.”
On Monday night, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called in state National Guard troops to help firefighters gain control of the three fires.
“Last night, many of our firefighters were out there with no sleep in extremely dangerous conditions,” Walz said in a statement. “We’ve already seen 970 wildfires this year — 40 on Sunday and another 40 on Monday. These are record-setting numbers, and the fires are burning fast.”
The blazes ignited amid red flag fire danger warnings issued by the National Weather Service for nearly the entire state of Minnesota.
Making matters worse for firefighters were high temperatures forecast for most of Minnesota this week. On Monday and Tuesday, temperatures in the Duluth area reached the 80s.
