Helicopter crashes into Houston radio tower killing four: Police
Houston Fire Department
(HOUSTON) — A helicopter that crashed into a radio tower in Houston, Texas, Sunday left four people killed, including a child, officials said.
The crash happened at approximately 7:54 p.m. local time, when a private aircraft struck a radio tower in Houston’s Second Ward, Houston police said in a press conference Sunday night.
All four of the individuals killed were aboard the helicopter and no one on the ground was injured in the crash, officials said.
No residences and structures were impacted except for the radio tower, police said, but noted the fire that erupted from the crash spanned two to three blocks.
The location of the crash was cited as the intersection of Engelke Street and N. Ennis Street, just five minutes away from Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.
Houston Fire Department officials extinguished the fire after the crash.
The crash is being investigated by Houston authorities, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
(NEW YORK) — A New York judge on Monday vacated the conviction and dismissed the case against Jon-Adrian Velazquez, who spent more than 20 years in prison for a murder prosecutors now say he did not commit.
“Who am I? I’m a very lucky man. I’m lucky that so many people believed in me,” Velazquez, 48, who was formally released in 2021, said outside of the court.
According to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg’s office, two individuals committed a robbery of a gambling parlor on Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem on Jan. 27, 1998. During the robbery, retired police detective Albert Ward pulled a gun and a struggle ensued with one of the armed robbers, who identified himself as “Tee.”
“Tee” shot and killed Ward, according to Bragg’s office.
The then-22-year-old Velazquez was arrested, along with Derry Daniels, and convicted for Ward’s murder at trial in 1999. He served more than 23 years in prison until his sentence was commuted in 2021. On Sept. 30, 1999, over 18 months after he was arrested, Daniels pleaded guilty to a single count of robbery in the second degree and was sentenced to 12 years in prison as a repeat felon, according to his attorneys. Daniels was released in 2008.
In 2022, the city’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit compared Velazquez’s DNA to a betting slip that “Tee” handled before shooting Ward. Velazquez’s DNA was not found on the slip. This type of DNA comparison was not available at the time of Velazquez’s trial in 1999.
According to Bragg’s office, the reinvestigation into Ward’s murder found that the DNA testing results could have impacted the jury’s consideration of other trial evidence, including Velazquez’s alibi, the lack of evidence connecting him to the crime and inconsistent witness descriptions.
Velazquez was granted clemency in 2021 by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and spoke with President Joe Biden as an activist for criminal justice reform.
His case is featured in the 2023 movie, “Sing Sing,” named for the prison, about a wrongfully imprisoned man who “finds purpose by acting in a theatre group with other incarcerated men,” according to A24.
“JJ Velazquez has lived in the shadow of his conviction for more than 25 years, and I hope that today brings with it a new chapter for him,” Bragg said in a statement. The reinvestigation was conducted by the Office’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit and defense counsel for Velazquez.
The creation of the Post-Conviction Justice Unit in 2022 has led to 10 vacated convictions, Bragg said.
“These convictions have deep consequences for individuals and their loved ones, compromise public safety and undermine trust in the criminal justice system, which is why this work is of the utmost importance to me,” Bragg said.
Operation Bear Claw reveals suspects allegedly wore bear costume to commit insurance fraud. Image via California Department of Insurance
(LOS ANGELES) — Four individuals were arrested Wednesday for allegedly attempting to defraud their insurance companies by claiming a bear had damaged their vehicles — when in fact it was a person in a bear costume attacking the cars.
The suspects were all Los Angeles-area residents, according to a statement released Wednesday afternoon by the California Department of Insurance.
The suspects varying in age, were Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale; Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale; Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale; and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village.
The statement said that all four were charged with conspiracy and insurance fraud.
Suspects claimed on Jan. 28, 2024, that a bear entered their 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost and caused interior damage, according to the Department of Insurance. They provided video footage of the incident, stating that it had occurred during their visit to Lake Arrowhead.
Upon reviewing the footage, the Department of Insurance said that it suspected fraud. Officials said that they believed right away that the bear in question was actually a person in a bear costume.
Initiating an investigation — named Operation Bear Claw — the department learned that two other claims had been filed to different insurance companies with similar details: the same location and the same date.
Similar to the claim that originally drew the unit’s attention, the two other reports stated that a bear had attacked their cars: a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, according to the statement.
Each of the two other claims had submitted video footage as part of their evidence. And in both of those videos, the department said it believed that they were looking at the same bear costume.
However, the department said that it sought an outside opinion on the case before making a final determination. Investigators reached out to a biologist from the California Department of Wildlife, who then independently reviewed the evidence for Operation Bear Claw.
The biologist stated that “it was clearly a human in a bear suit,” according to the statement.
Authorities were able to execute a search warrant for the people involved in the alleged insurance fraud scheme.
Officials confirm that a bear costume was found in one of the suspects’ homes.
At the time of the arrests, officials reported that the insurance companies had already paid out some of the claims, totaling $141,839.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump has not played golf since the apparent assassination attempt near one of his courses last month, and is not expected to hit the golf course again until a new security plan is in place — which sources tell ABC News is not expected to be in effect until after the election.
The Secret Service had previously expressed its concern to Trump over his golfing and told him during a briefing last month that additional planning and security procedures are needed for him to be able to continue his golf outings.
Trump, who owns several golf courses, typically plays on a regular basis.
Asked about the development, a Secret Service spokesperson referred questions to the Trump campaign.
“Since the attempted assassination of former President Trump on July 13, the U.S. Secret Service has made comprehensive changes and enhancements to our communications capabilities, resourcing, and protective operations,” said Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi. “Today, the former President is receiving heightened protection and we take the responsibility to ensure his safety and security very seriously.”
Ryan Routh, 58, pleaded not guilty on Sept. 30 to federal charges in connection with an alleged attempt to assassinate Trump at the former president’s golf club in Florida. On the day of the alleged attempted assassination, Trump was playing golf on the course when a Secret Service agent spotted a gun barrel poking out from the tree line near the sixth green, according to investigators.
Routh fled after the agent fired in his direction, and was subsequently apprehended. Trump was not harmed in the incident.
