Suspects who posed as city workers sought in armed home invasion: Police
Boston Police Department
(BOSTON) — Police in Boston are searching for two suspects who allegedly posed as city workers in an armed home invasion.
The Boston Police Department released images of the unknown male suspects, who are accused of attempted robbery and burglary, according to the incident report.
The incident occurred at an apartment in the Dorchester neighborhood on Monday afternoon, police said.
“The suspects allegedly posed as city workers to gain entry into an elderly victim’s residence, where they restrained the victim, placed duct tape over their mouth, and brandished a black firearm,” the Boston Police Department said in an alert on Wednesday.
The suspects knocked on the victim’s door and forced their way in after he opened it, according to the incident report. One of the suspects was wearing a neon yellow construction worker jacket and white hard hat at the time, police said.
Once inside, one of the suspects attempted to tie the victim’s ankles together with a clear plastic bag while the other attempted to place duct tape over his mouth, according to the incident report.
When the victim broke free of the plastic bag, one of the suspects “brandished a black firearm and pointed it directly at his head,” the incident report stated.
The suspect also threw a fan at the victim after the victim pushed him to the side of a bed during a struggle, according to the incident report.
Both suspects ultimately fled the apartment, according to the incident report.
The victim sustained bruising on both of his hands and wrists, light bruising on his face and several cuts on his right ear, according to the incident report. He declined medical assistance from Boston EMS, preferring to go to his own doctor, the report stated.
Security camera footage showed the two suspects entering the apartment building at about 4:24 p.m. Monday and going to the door of the apartment, then exiting from a rear staircase at approximately 4:30 p.m., according to the incident report.
Both suspects were wearing black masks, police said. One of the suspects was also wearing a red knit Red Sox hat, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-494-TIPS.
(NEW YORK) — A 25-year-old woman gave birth to a baby girl on a NYC subway train Wednesday morning, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials.
At approximately 11:32 a.m., passengers on a southbound W train alerted the conductor that a woman was giving birth inside one of the cars, according to the MTA.
“As we’re entering 34th Street, you hear her asking, ‘Help, help, help,'” passenger Bryanna Brown, who captured the moment on video, told New York ABC station WABC. “You [then] hear a baby start crying.”
The train stopped at the 34th Street-Herald Square station, under the flagship Macy’s department store. Several commuters assisted the woman in the delivery, with one even cutting the umbilical cord with a pocket knife, according to Brown.
“From our knowledge, she wasn’t a doctor or anything, she was someone who had full knowledge of what to do in this situation,” Brown told ABC News. “Thank God for her.”
The video captured by Brown shows the woman lying on the floor after giving birth, with another passenger hoisting up the newborn and wrapping her in a red cloth.
The conductor “held the train in the station and responded to that car,” accompanied by a NYC Transit Train service supervisor and NYPD officers, the MTA said. Emergency medical services were quickly on the scene and transported the mother and baby to Bellevue Hospital, where the two are both in good condition, according to officials.
There are no details yet on the baby’s name, but Brown described the situation as a “miracle” on 34th Street, paying homage to the iconic 1947 film.
MTA New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said in a statement that this incident is an “example of New Yorkers coming together to assist each other” that reflects “the best of the subway community and this city.”
“We are thrilled that both mother and Baby W are doing well, and look forward to welcoming both of them back aboard for a lifetime of reliable — and hopefully less dramatic — rides,” Crichlow said.
Giving birth in the NYC subway system does happen from time to time. In 2017, an MTA worker helped a mother give birth on a subway platform, while in 2012, a baby boy was born on a J train in downtown Manhattan.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge will hear arguments Monday on efforts by a group of California public university students to block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing highly sensitive federal student loan records maintained by the Department of Education.
An organization representing more than 200,000 students enrolled in California’s public universities has brought suit seeking a temporary restraining order to block DOGE from accessing the student loan records as part of its effort to slash government spending.
The lawsuit, one of several that DOGE is facing, alleges that individuals associated with DOGE are illegally attempting to access the personal and financial information of the more than 42 million borrowers — accounting for more than 12% of the U.S. population — who have federal student loans.
A handful of people working with DOGE were spotted at the Department of Education last week and some now have access to the agency’s records and files, according to sources familiar with the matter.
“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is enormous and unprecedented,” the lawsuit said, alleging that Musk’s team could access the bank account numbers, income information, dates of birth, and social security numbers of millions through the Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid.
DOGE workers are now listed in the Department of Education’s email directory, meaning they were hired as employees, sources also told ABC News.
The Department of Education is the smallest cabinet-level agency, with 4,400 employees. Some 1,400 employees work in the department’s FSA office, which distributes money — including loans and grants — for students to pursue higher education.
The University of California Student Association lawsuit, filed against Acting Secretary of Education Denise Carter, alleged that DOGE has engaged in a “systematic, continuous, and ongoing violation of federal laws” meant to protect the security of data held by the federal government.
“People who take out federal student loans to afford higher education should not be forced to share their sensitive information with ‘DOGE.’ And federal law says they do not have to,” the lawsuit said. The lawsuit also raised concerns with the lack of transparency surrounding DOGE, which they alleged might share the sensitive information with third parties.
“Because Defendants’ actions and decisions are shrouded in secrecy, individuals do not have even basic information about what personal or financial information Defendants are sharing with outside parties or how their information is being used,” the lawsuit said.
Last week, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to Carter requesting information about whether Musk and his team have been provided access to National Student Loan data, among other sensitive borrower information.
“There are over 40 million federal student loan borrowers in the United States,” the senators, along with 14 others, wrote. “It is not at all clear that DOGE officials meet the strict criteria that would allow them to access this sensitive information protected by federal law–or whether DOGE officials have gained access to other sensitive ED databases as part of their efforts to “reform” the agency,”
The senators also asked Carter to describe what safeguards are in place to ensure that student loan data is not misused. The letter urged Carter to ensure that Musk and his team have not been provided access to any other databases managed by the department.
Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(LOS ANGELES) — Late at night on Jan. 6, Los Angeles Emergency Management Department General Manager Carol Parks sent a text message wishing Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley a happy new year.
“It’s my first opportunity to send this Public Safety leadership text,” Parks wrote. “Wishing it could have been on a blue sky day, but duty now calls.”
The following day, Los Angeles would witness the start of what would become the worst wildfire in city history, destroying large swaths of the Pacific Palisades area.
“Not good,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Tony Marrone texted at 11:18 a.m.
“No,” Crowley responded.
Almost immediately after the Palisades fire began spreading through the Westside of Los Angeles in January, questions were raised about how city leaders prepared for the disaster.
Early on, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faced scrutiny over her decision to continue with a diplomatic trip to Ghana before the fires broke out, while Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley told local TV station KTTV that previous municipal budget cuts “did impact our ability to provide [firefighting] service.”
“It was a mistake to travel, but I will tell you that we need to evaluate everything,” Bass later told KABC-TV. “Because, honest and truly, if I had all of the information that I needed to have, the last thing I would have done was to be out of town.”
ABC News previously reported that although the LAFD’s budget saw a $17.5 million budget cut in May 2024, the measure occurred while fire employee union contract negotiations were underway. Once the contract was approved, the department’s budget increased from $819.6 million to $895.6 million. The exact impact of the 2024 budget matters remains unclear.
Last month, Bass announced she was removing Crowley as fire chief, criticizing decisions she said the department made under Crowley’s leadership, including not keeping some 1,000 firefighters on extra duty as their shift ended in the hours before the Palisades fire broke out.
Crowley subsequently issued a statement defending her lengthy career with the LAFD, noting in part that “as the Fire Chief, I based my actions and decisions on taking care of our firefighters so that they could take care of our communities.”
Now, hundreds of files linked to the Palisades fire response released by the EMD and LAFD to KABC-TV and ABC News this week through public records requests are providing new insight about what local officials were discussing before, during and after the blaze tore through neighborhoods.
The records, which include text messages from Crowley’s phone and city government reports, show how officials first started to realize how bad things were getting and that the windswept blazes had the upper hand.
‘Potentially life-threatening and destructive impacts’
During the text exchange on Jan. 6, Parks, the Emergency Management Department director, informed Crowley that Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center would be “activated at Level 3 (lowest level with EMD staff)” the next day.
“Should conditions necessitate us elevating the EOC status, the three of us will need to remain in close contact,” Parks wrote, an apparent reference to Crowley and Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell.
Crowley responded in part, “I’ll be available to discuss any necessary actions with the both of you if the need arises.”
An EMD city leadership briefing dated Jan. 6 commented on the next day’s weather forecast for Los Angeles: “This windstorm event could lead to potentially life-threatening and destructive impacts similar in magnitude to the 2011 Pasadena windstorm.”
“Any fires that develop during this period may experience rapid growth and extreme behavior,” the briefing added, noting that the LAFD was expected to pre-deploy resources on Jan. 7 and that community emergency response teams would be activated.
‘Anything else you can send us, we will take it’
The next morning, in the hours after sunrise, text messages show that Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s office had reached out to the LAFD “about the weather event.”
Harris-Dawson had been serving as acting mayor since Bass traveled to Ghana.
“I briefed him on our deployment in our preparation efforts. Also our needs for additional resources,” LAFD Deputy Chief Jason Hing told Crowley in a text message.
In another text, sent to Battalion Chief Patrick Leonard at 9:04 a.m., Crowley asks him to direct another staff member to “reach out to the appropriate Council Offices to ensure that they are proper[ly] informed about our preparedness for the weather event.”
As fires started to break out in Los Angeles just under an hour and a half later, the text messages showed concerns growing.
At 10:33 a.m., Chief Deputy Orin Saunders texted Crowley an LAFD alert showing that a brush fire had broken out in the Pacific Palisades area.
“Two brush fires in the city. Palisades and Hollywood,” Crowley wrote to someone at 10:35 a.m.
“Sending over staff now,” she texted Parks minutes later. “I would recommend level 2,” indicating an increase in resources.
Parks responded, “EOC staff have some concerns now that we have two fires.”
By 10:58 a.m., videos posted on social media already showed plumes of smoke dangerously close to residential blocks.
At 11:27 a.m., Crowley sent a message to an individual asking for “Harris-Dawson’s number please.”
“I just asked him for his phone number and he said he will call you,” the recipient responded.
Six minutes later, Parks wrote to Crowley, “The EOC is in need of leadership. Pls advise who from your department can respond to the EOC asap,” with Crowley responding that a chief was en route.
Voluntary evacuation orders in the Palisades area were issued at 11:44 a.m.
“Anything else you can send us, we will take it,” Crowley wrote to fire officials in neighboring counties at 12:02 p.m. “Star[t]ing to [lose] home[s] and people trapped.”
At 2:27 p.m., Crowley texted a fire official, “Can you send me the number … of resources and type assigned to the palisades incident?”
At the same time, according to videos posted to social media, cars had already been abandoned alongside busy roads.
At 3 p.m., Crowley received a text stating, “Marqueece here Chief. At command post, eager to connect.”
Hours later at 5:54 p.m., California Governor Gavin Newsom posted on social media that he had declared a state of emergency to support communities impacted by the Palisades fire.
At 6:18 p.m. in Altadena, which is across Los Angeles County from the Pacific Palisades area and outside of city limits, the Eaton fire began, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Eight minutes later, the LAFD posted on social media that all off-duty LAFD members needed to call the Department Operations Center “with their availability for recall.”
At 7:19 p.m., Parks, the emergency manager, texted, “EOC Directors are recommending that we move to Level 1,” adding that the Level 1 status — the highest level of emergency management — would start the next morning.
At 7:22 p.m., Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Chief Executive Officer Janisse Quiñones asked Crowley if “we can safely access this point,” adding that “we got evacuated before installing a reg station” and that otherwise “we will run out of water in about 2 hours.”
The Department of Water and Power is currently facing a lawsuit from Pacific Palisades residents alleging that it was unprepared for a fire of this sort. The agency previously told ABC News that it does not comment on pending litigation, but issued a statement before the lawsuit was filed.
“The water system serving the Pacific Palisades area and all of Los Angeles meets all federal and state fire codes for urban development and housing,” the statement said. “LADWP built the Pacific Palisades water system beyond the requirements to support the community’s typical needs.”
‘I have not been fired’
The Palisades fire would not be fully contained until the end of the month. By that time, it had burned more than 23,000 acres. The Eaton Fire had torn through 14,000 acres. Entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble and 29 people were dead.
In the days after the Palisades fire first broke out, Crowley received numerous messages of support.
“Getting mixed news reports about your future employment. If you need expert testimony in the future or simply a Jersey Guy to come out there and straighten things out with the pols, you have my number,” an unidentified individual texted on Jan. 11.
“Good to hear from you,” Crowley responded. “I have not been fired. Thanks for looking out for me.”
Bass went on to fire Crowley on Feb. 21. Crowley, who opted to take a civil service demotion to a lower rank, is appealing her dismissal. The Los Angeles City Council is expected to discuss the personnel matter on Tuesday. The council can override Bass’ move to terminate the chief.
