Teen arrested for allegedly injuring 3 horses with ‘sharp object’ at equestrian competition
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(LAS VEGAS) — A teenage girl has been arrested for allegedly injuring three horses at an equestrian competition, officials said.
Officers responded to a barn in Las Vegas early Saturday and found three horses “intentionally injured with a sharp object,” Las Vegas police said.
A teenage girl was identified as a possible suspect, police said. She allegedly had access to the barn and authorities believe she may have used a knife to wound the horses, police said.
The horses’ injuries were not life-threatening, but they were expected to keep the animals from competing at this weekend’s event, police said in a statement.
The teen, who was at a nearby hotel, was taken into custody and booked for 12 counts of willful/malicious kill/maim/torture animal – horse and three counts of felony malicious destruction of private property over $5,000, police said.
The suspect was a competitor in the National Barrel Horse Association’s Professional’s Choice Vegas Super Show this weekend, according to the NBHA.
“The situation was addressed immediately in coordination with the National Barrel Horse Association, the South Point Hotel & Casino Security, Metro Police, and all appropriate parties,” the NBHA said in a statement.
“All appropriate steps have been taken to ensure the well-being of all horses,” the organization added.
Australian-born presenter, Savannah Guthrie poses alongside her mother Nancy Guthrie during a production break whilst hosting NBC’s “Today Show” live from Australia at Sydney Opera House on May 4, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)
(NEW YORK) — “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie announced on Tuesday a new $1 million reward for the recovery of her mom, Nancy Guthrie, who has been missing since Feb. 1.
The combined reward between the family and law enforcement now stands at $1.2 million.
Sources familiar with the family’s decision told ABC News the family was prepared to fund the reward from the start but waited until now because they were initially advised against it.
Separately, the Guthrie family is donating $500,000 to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children to shine a light on other missing persons cases.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was abducted from her Tucson, Arizona, home by an unknown suspect in the early hours of Sunday, Feb. 1.
“Every hour and minute and second and every long night has been agony,” Savannah Guthrie said in her Tuesday morning Instagram post.
“We still believe in a miracle,” Savannah Guthrie said. “We also know she may be lost. She may be gone.”
Savannah Guthrie said in the video that her mom may be “dancing in heaven,” and “If this is what is to be, then we will accept it. But we need to know where she is.”
“Somebody knows,” Savannah Guthrie said. “And we are begging you to come forward now.”
Savannah Guthrie wrote in the caption that anyone with information can anonymously call the FBI or “reach out to me.”
The FBI has released photos and videos of the unknown armed suspect in front of Nancy Guthrie’s home, appearing to tamper with a security camera.
The FBI in Phoenix said in a statement on Tuesday, “If you have firsthand knowledge of Nancy’s whereabouts or any information about where she may be located, please contact the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).”
“To help keep the tip line available for actionable investigative law enforcement leads, please submit only serious and detailed fact-based information – no well-wishes or case theories,” the FBI added. “The tip line is not for personal messages to the Guthrie family.”
Anyone with information is urged to call 911, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.
People dressed as Santa Claus take part in the annual SantaCon celebration in New York City, December 13, 2025. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Federal prosecutors arrested the organizer of New York City’s controversial SantaCon bar crawl Wednesday after they say he allegedly kept a lot of the holiday joy for himself.
Stefan Pildes, 50, is facing federal wire fraud charges that accuse him of siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars in charitable funds for his own use, including for concert tickets and vacations.
SantaCon is an event held annually in December in which thousands of attendees dress as Santa Claus and other holiday characters and travel to bars and restaurants throughout the day.
The event is billed as “a charitable, non-political, nonsensical Santa Claus convention that happens once a year to spread absurdist joy” that charges attendees tickets that cost between $10 and $20, the indictment said.
“When one Attendee, for example, asked what she would receive for purchasing a ticket, the SantaCon Email responded, in part, ‘your donation goes to charity and it is only a few bucks and that good feeling will warm your heart faster than whiskey and gingerbread,'” the indictment said.
But of nearly $3 million Pildes raised since 2019, he allegedly diverted more than half to an entity he used as a slush fund, according to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court.
Prosecutors allege Pildes used the money for personal expenses, including $365,000 to renovate a lakefront property in New Jersey, $124,000 toward the lease of a “luxury Manhattan apartment,” a “$100,000 investment in a boutique resort in Costa Rica founded by a personal friend,” and a nearly $3,000 birthday dinner, the indictment said.
Pildes was expected to appear in court later Wednesday, and it was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer.
He is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The bar crawl has become a controversial event in Manhattan with complaints from local leaders and residents accusing some intoxicated Santa-dressed revelers of causing disturbances during the day
The NYPD has issued several summonses and made some arrests at past SantaCons.
-ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
Rev. Jesse Jackson has a word with Sen. Barrack Obama, after a Congressional Black Caucus ceremony at the Library of Congress, in which members where sworn into the CBC for the109th Congress, Jan. 4, 2005. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
(CHICAGO) — Three former American presidents and a former vice president are set to honor the late Rev. Jesse Jackson at a memorial service in Chicago on Friday morning – a “Celebration of Hope” that is being held by the family of the pioneering civil rights leader, who died on Feb. 17 at the age of 86.
Former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris are expected to deliver remarks at the homegoing services on Friday, according to the Jackson family. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former first lady Jill Biden are also expected to attend the services, the family said.
ABC News reached out to representatives for Clinton, Obama, Biden and Harris for further comment.
“Jesse Jackson, Sr. marched beside Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil rights for all people. He traveled the world fighting economic and gender inequity. Until his last days, he fought for better healthcare, education, and peace in Chicago, Illinois, the United States, and beyond,” the Jackson family said in a statement on Wednesday. “I hope everyone who joins us to honor his legacy will also continue to champion these causes. That would be the best possible tribute and celebration they could offer.”
Friday’s public homegoing service will take place at the House of Hope event center. A private service will take place on Saturday morning in Chicago.
The services come after thousands paid their respects to Jackson as he lay in honor at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago last week. He was also honored in his birth state of South Carolina on Monday, where he laid in state at the state house in Columbia.
“Jesse Jackson, Sr. changed the United States — and the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement. “We are deeply honored to know there are people from every walk of life who want to join us to pay their respects.”
Other scheduled speakers at the service on Friday include Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Ill., and Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts. Singer and actress Jennifer Hudson and gospel legends Bebe Winans and Pastor Marvin Winans are also expected to perform on Friday. Stevie Wonder is set to perform at the private service on Saturday.
Jackson died after experiencing health issues over the past several years, including a battle with Parkinson’s disease and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurological disorder.
Jackson’s children honored their father’s legacy at a press conference last month, reflecting on his 1984 and 1988 presidential runs and how he dedicated his career to advancing economic justice and building political power for Black Americans.
Jackson’s son, Jesse Jackson, Jr., called for unity in the Feb. 18 press conference ahead of his father’s funeral services.
“Do not bring your politics out of respect to Rev. Jesse Jackson and the life that he lived to these home going services,” he said. “Come respectful and come to say thank you, but these homegoing services are welcome to all Democrat, Republican, liberal and conservative, right wing, left wing, because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American.”
