Engineer pleads guilty to bombing 2 transformers in California
KGO, FILE
(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.
(NEW YORK) — The rotor of the helicopter from last week’s deadly crash has been retrieved from the Hudson River, four days after the devastating accident that killed all six people on board, according to a statement from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The recovery of the rotor system included the transmission and the roof beam, the NTSB said on Monday night, adding: “They also recovered the tail rotor system.”
The main fuselage, which includes the cockpit and cabin, had already been recovered, the NTSB said.
“Key components of the Bell 206 L-4 helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River last week were recovered Monday, greatly aiding the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the fatal accident,” the statement said, in part.
It credited the efforts to divers from the New York Police Department, the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Jersey City Office of Emergency Management.
“The evidence will be taken to a secure location for further examination,” the NTSB statement said.
“Recovery efforts are now finished,” it added.
The pilot, Seankese “Sam” Johnson, was taking a family of Spanish tourists — Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal, and their children, ages 4, 8 and 10 — on a tour when the chopper crashed on April 10.
Video showed the helicopter plunging into the 5-foot-deep water near Jersey City, New Jersey, without its tail rotor or main rotor blade.
The NTSB is investigating the cause of the crash. The helicopter wasn’t equipped with any flight records, the NTSB said.
New York Helicopter Tours, the company behind the helicopter, has shut down its operations, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA said it will launch an immediate review of the tour operator’s license and safety record.
(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.
Andy Alfaro/The Modesto Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(LOS ANGELES) — After investigating the case for more than a year, the Los Angeles Innocence Project has filed voluminous evidence it says shows Scott Peterson did not murder his wife and unborn son in 2002.
In a nearly 400-page petition to the California Court of Appeals, filed Friday night, the LA Innocence Project argued Scott Peterson is innocent and his conviction should be overturned.
Laci Peterson, who was 27 years old and eight months pregnant, disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002. Her body was found in San Francisco Bay in April 2003.
Scott Peterson, now 52, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife and second-degree murder in the death of their unborn son. A jury found him guilty following a six-month trial in 2004.
The Los Angeles Innocence Project claims Scott Peterson was denied his rights to due process and a fair trial because jurors did not hear evidence over two decades ago that they argue could have affected the outcome of the trial, and police and prosecutors did not fairly investigate the case, and even destroyed possibly critical evidence.
“In my opinion, once the police locked onto Mr. Peterson as the prime suspect, they had no interest in finding evidence showing that someone other than Scott may have abducted Laci Peterson because that evidence did not fit with their working theory of the case,” LA Innocence Project director Paula Mitchell stated in the filing. “In addition to ignoring the eyewitness reports, the police turned a blind eye to other exculpatory evidence that would have exonerated Mr. Peterson.”
She said she believes police press releases included information “indicating to the public that police did not believe Mr. Peterson’s alibi, almost from day one.”
“This created a domino effect and ultimately created a tidal wave of media attention focused on Mr. Peterson as the prime suspect in the case,” she continued.
In their filing, the LA Innocence Project claims they have new scientific evidence that shows the date of the death of the Petersons’ unborn child was later than claimed at trial, and that an expert in water movement can prove that Laci Peterson’s body was not dumped where police said it was in December 2004 — two points they say would undermine the prosecution’s case.
“This new evidence undermines the prosecution’s entire circumstantial case against Petitioner, and shows that the jury relied on false evidence, including false scientific evidence, to convict him,” the petition states. One of the attorneys on the case said that in her entire career, she has never seen exculpatory evidence this strong.
The filing also makes multiple claims of new evidence and witnesses involving two crimes they say happened around the same time as Laci Peterson’s disappearance near the Petersons’ home — a burglary at a neighbor’s home and a burned van in Modesto’s Airport District.
Last year, a judge did not let them test for Laci Peterson’s DNA on a bloodstained mattress found in the van, so his attorneys do not know if her DNA is on that mattress. Prosecutors have argued that testing on one of the mattress cloths found male DNA, so no further testing would be required. The LA Innocence Project said it has sought “more precise DNA testing to determine if there is a link to the crimes in this case.”
A judge did grant them access to review some discovery in the case from the trial in 2004, including police interview transcripts and case files.
“Every aspect of the prosecution’s theory as to how the crimes in this case were committed has now been shown to be false,” the petition states.
The petition also includes a 126-page declaration from Scott Peterson, who did not testify during his trial, in which he maintains his innocence and says he was wrongfully convicted of murder.
“It is important to me that whoever killed my wife and son be found and held accountable,” he stated. “If whoever committed such violence against Laci and Conner is still at large they are a danger to public safety. It is also important to me that I clear my name and my family’s name because I did not and could never harm or kill my family.”
The filing asks the court to vacate the judgment and sentences, among other possible forms of relief.
The LA Innocence Project also submitted an application seeking permission from the court to file the oversized petition, as it is in excess of the allowed 25,500 words.
The Court of Appeal said Monday that a decision on the application may take several days. If the application is granted, the court said it will then file the petition and lodge the exhibits. If the application is denied, it will reject the petition but may allow a shorter one to be filed.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, said it won’t comment on the petition until it is filed by the court and they read it.
Scott Peterson has previously appealed his conviction, claiming he received an unfair trial based on possible jury misconduct.
A judge denied him a new trial in 2022 following his appeal on stealth juror accusations.
Prosecutors and police who were involved in the original trial have stood behind the 2004 conviction.
Scott Peterson was initially sentenced to death for the murders. In 2020, the California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence, citing that his jury was improperly screened for bias against the death penalty, according to court documents. He was later resentenced to life in prison without parole.
