Two injured in fiery, head-on collision involving vehicle, school bus: Police

August 28, 2024

CAL FIRE

(NEW YORK) — Two people were injured, including a student, after a vehicle collided head-on with a school bus in California in a fiery crash, authorities said.

The crash occurred around 7:30 a.m. PT Tuesday in Santa Cruz County, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A man driving a Kia Forte northbound on Green Valley Road began traveling in the southbound lane “for reasons under investigation,” CHP said in a press release.

A “head-on crash occurred between the Kia and the school bus,” CHP said.

The collision caused a fire and firefighters from CAL FIRE and the Pajaro Valley Fire District responded. Extensive fire damage could be seen to the front of the bus following the crash.

A 13-year-old girl on the school bus was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries, CHP said.

The 28-year-old driver of the Kia was also transported to a local hospital with minor injuries, CHP said.

The driver of the school bus, which had 43 children on board, was uninjured, CHP said.

It is unclear what speed the Kia and school bus were traveling at, CHP said.

“The cause of the crash is still under investigation,” CHP said. “It is not believed that alcohol and/or drugs are factors in this crash.”

The bus was transporting students to Aptos junior and high schools, according to a Pajaro Valley Unified School District official.

“Immediate evacuation of all students took place, with first responders arriving promptly,” Jenny Im, the school district’s chief business officer, said in a letter to families. “Our bus driver and transportation department staff acted swiftly in response.”

Im said the incident “has understandably shaken all students involved,” while noting that the district is providing counseling services at both schools.

Judge in Arizona ‘fake elector’ case against several Trump allies sets 2026 court date

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(PHOENIX) — The judge overseeing the Arizona “fake elector” case that charged several Trump allies with alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state has set a trial date of Jan. 5, 2026.

At a hearing in Phoenix on Monday, Arizona Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen heard several motions from the defendants’ attorneys including some motions to dismiss the case.

Many of the defendants, including Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, appeared virtually.

An attorney for former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani argued in court that the allegations against Giuliani are not crimes and instead amount to free speech.

“The way I see it, is that in every instance where they’ve alleged Mr. Giuliani has done something in this indictment, it’s all conduct related to his constitutional right, freedom of speech, to petition the government,” the attorney said.

An attorney for Jim Lamon, one of the so-called fake electors, argued at length that the charges in the indictment against his client are “insufficient” and that his client was told to be a “duly qualified elector” by state party chair Kelli Ward.

Ward, Lamon’s attorney said, told Lamon that the documents he signed purporting that Trump won Arizona “was vetted out by lawyers all throughout the administration.”

“That’s what he was told,” Lamon’s attorney argued.

“I think we can agree [Lamon] was not part of the Trump campaign,” Lamon’s attorney added. “There’s no evidence he talked to Trump or the campaign at all.”

Krista Wood, an attorney with the Arizona attorney general’s office, asked for a protective order over the grand jury proceedings, citing “several leaks” in other similar cases, including the Fulton County election interference case case in Georgia.

“Given the number of defendants and defense counsel, there’s a larger probability of that type of information being leaked,” Wood said of the grand jurors’ names.

All those indicted in the case pleaded not guilty earlier this summer to charges of fraud, forgery, and conspiracy for their alleged efforts to overturn the state’s election results. Trump’s former attorney Jenna Ellis subsequently reached a cooperation agreement with prosecutors in exchange for the state dropping the charges against her.

Day care operator’s husband sentenced to 45 years in child’s fentanyl death

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(NEW YORK) — The husband of the owner of a New York City day care where a 1-year-old child died of fentanyl poisoning was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years in prison.

Felix Herrera Garcia, 35, pleaded guilty in June to federal drug charges for trafficking fentanyl out of the day care center.

In September 2023, a 1-year-old boy attending the day care, Nicholas Dominici, died, and three other children, ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years, were hospitalized and treated with Narcan, police said.

In his sentencing, federal prosecutors said Herrera Garcia was seen fleeing the Bronx day care through a back alley, carrying two heavy shopping bags while children were suffering from the effects of fentanyl.

Herrera Garcia and others stashed more than 11 kilograms of fentanyl and heroin in secret compartments, or traps, located underneath the floor tiles in the playroom where the children played, ate and slept on a daily basis, prosecutors said.

“Felix Herrera Garcia operated a deadly fentanyl trafficking enterprise out of a day care, recklessly putting babies at risk of fentanyl exposure on a daily basis,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Wednesday.

“This case demonstrates the deadly reach and scope of the fentanyl epidemic, and the tragic collateral damage it inflicts on American lives,” Williams added.

Herrera Garcia fled to Mexico after the death and was arrested after a weeklong manhunt. His wife, Grei Mendez, who worked at the day care has also been charged in relation to the drug trafficking scheme.

Mendez pulled her and Herrera Garcia’s 2-year-old son from attending the day care prior to the incident after she worried he was exhibiting signs of fentanyl exposure, law enforcement sources familiar with the case previously told ABC News.

Mendez never reported the suspected exposure to police and did not allow the boy to return to the facility, according to the sources. However, she kept the day care open for other children.

In September, a federal criminal complaint showed Mendez allegedly deleted more than 20,000 messages between her and her husband sent from March 2021 to the day the 1-year-old boy died from fentanyl exposure at her facility, on Sept. 15, 2023.

Before calling 911 about the unresponsive children, Mendez allegedly made three other phone calls: one to a day care employee and two to her husband, according to the federal court documents.

In addition to the 45-year prison term, Herrera Garcia was sentenced to five years of supervised release, prosecutors said.

Landslide in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, threatens homes, prompts evacuations

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(RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.) — An ongoing crisis stemming from a widening landslide is threatening multimillion-dollar homes in the Southern California city of Rancho Palos Verdes.

The landslide grew worse over the weekend and prompted an evacuation warning for more than 100 homes in the oceanside community, officials said.

Residents in the growing landslide zone, which has spread about 680 acres over the past year the community has been dealing with the issue, were advised Sunday to leave the area after the Southern California Edison (SCE) utility company shut off power to 140 homes and said another 105 residents were poised to lose electricity by Monday night.

“SCE has determined there is a public safety threat,” the utility company said in a statement. “Electricity service will be discontinued in these zones effective Sunday, September 1 at 12 p.m. PST. DO NOT USE WATER OR PLUMBING AFTER THE POWER IS SHUT OFF — THIS COULD RESULT IN A SEWER SPILL.”

Rancho Palos Verdes is located about 30 miles south of Los Angeles.

City officials said homes, roads and infrastructure have already been damaged by the landslide, which has been shifting for decades, but began to accelerate following heavy rains in the spring of 2023.

“There is no playbook for an emergency like this one,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents the area, said at a news conference Sunday. “We’re sparing no expense. This is bigger than Rancho Palos Verdes. This land movement is so gigantic and so damaging, that one city should not have to bear the burden alone.”

Hahn said the county has committed $5 million to respond to the disaster.

Hahn called on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to visit the area in hopes he will declare a state of emergency.

“Yes, this landslide has been moving for decades, but the acceleration that’s happening currently is beyond what any of us could have foretold, and it demands more response from the state, more response from the federal government,” Hahn said.

Officials said the shifting land has caused water and gas pipes to leak and the city has been forced to red-tag at least two homes that have been made uninhabitable by damage.

Officials said that earlier this month the landslide caused a 10,000-gallon sewer spill on private property.

“It’s just kind of mind-blowing,” one resident told ABC Los Angeles station KABC. “It doesn’t feel legal.”