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3 charged with armed robbery spree, deadly car crash in L.A. County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:23 GMT

A trio of suspects were charged on Thursday for an alleged robbery spree across L.A. County that eventually ended in a deadly crash.The suspects were identified as:- Kaelenn Maea, 26, of Long Beach- Salagi Iakopo, 30, of Carson- Mathew Salanoa, 23, of PlacentiaFrom Sept. 22 to 29, the suspects were allegedly responsible for several armed robberies across Downey, Compton and South El Monte, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.In each robbery, one suspect would reportedly use a “short-style rifle to control the cashier and customers” while another suspect would steal full cash registers or drawers before they all fled the scene in a getaway car.On Sept. 27, the trio allegedly robbed a Compton gas station. One suspect was caught on surveillance video casing the store about 10 minutes before the robbery. The group then left briefly before returning.As one suspect detached the cash register from the counter, another suspect pointed a rifle at the cashier and customers to prevent them...

Homicide, auto theft suspect arrested in Pleasanton after chase

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:23 GMT

(KRON) -- An auto theft and homicide suspect was arrested in Pleasanton on Tuesday, the San Francisco Police Department said. Joseph McBee, 42, of Alameda County, was taken into custody after a chase involving multiple law enforcement departments. McBee is linked to three car thefts that happened between Aug. 24 and Aug. 28 in San Francisco. SFPD said he also has a warrant out for homicide in another county. KRON4 reached out to SFPD for more information about the homicide and we are awaiting a response. Woman accused of laundering money to San Francisco drug dealers’ Mexican bank accounts SFPD attempted to arrest McBee on Tuesday, and he initiated a chase that also involved East Bay law enforcement agencies. He was arrested in the area of Canyon Meadows Circle and Canyon Meadows Drive in Pleasanton.No officers or citizens were injured in the chase, SFPD said. The San Ramon Police Department said McBee discarded a loaded pistol, which was located by officers. McBee had active ...

Downtown SF Target evacuated after pepper spray released

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:23 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Pepper spray was released inside a Target in downtown San Francisco on Thursday evening, the San Francisco Fire Department said. Around 7:10 p.m., first responders went to the store at 789 Mission Street regarding people "experiencing physical symptoms," the San Francisco Police Department said. Paramedics arrived at the scene to evaluate those individuals' symptoms. However, authorities said no one was injured or needed to be taken to the hospital. Statue at Vallejo City Hall stolen, front sign taken down The store was evacuated once crews arrived. SFPD officers found residue consistent with pepper spray in the store's business, the police department said. Fire crews determined that the smell was originating from the restroom area. The suspect(s) in connection to this incident was not identified by SFPD.

Grim yet hopeful addition to National WWII Museum addresses the conflict’s world-shaping legacy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:23 GMT

A new, permanent addition to the sprawling National WWII Museum in New Orleans is a three-story complex with displays as daunting as a simulated Nazi concentration camp bunk room, and as inspiring as a violin pieced together from scrap wood by an American prisoner of war.The Liberation Pavilion — set to open Friday with ceremonies including around 40 surviving veterans of the war — is ambitious in scope. Its exhibits filling 33,000 square feet (3065.80 square meters) commemorate the end of the war’s death and destruction, emphasize its human costs and capture the horror of those who discovered the aftermath of Nazi atrocities. Films, photos and recorded oral histories recount the joys and challenges awaiting those who returned from battle, the international effort to seek justice for those killed and tortured, and a worldwide effort to recover and rebuild. Underlying it all is the idea that almost 80 years later, the war’s social and geopolitical legacies endure — from t...

Biden will host Americas summit that focuses on supply chains, migration and new investment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is gathering leaders from countries across the Americas on Friday in the U.S. capital to discuss the tightening of supply chains and addressing migration issues.In a preview of the first Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Leaders’ Summit, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday that the two-day event would be a “once in a generation opportunity” to shift more of the global supply chains to the Western Hemisphere.Kirby said the summit would also involve the “shared migration challenge” and the building of “meaningful economic opportunity” among the countries in the region.Friday’s event was announced last year at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. The focus on trade comes as competition has intensified between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies. Biden has provided government incentives to build U.S. infrastructure and for companies to construct new fact...

CJ McCollum scores 32 points to lead short-handed Pelicans past Pistons, 125-116

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:23 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — CJ McCollum says he enjoys basketball too much to allow fatigue or a thrown-off routine to stop him from doing what he can to carry the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans through back-to-back games.He even found a moment during a second-quarter stoppage against Detroit on Thursday night to play rock-paper-scissors with a young fan.“I actually owe that kid some shoes,” an exhausted but grinning McCollum said. “We got to find the kid. I lost.”The Pelicans, however, beat the Pistons, 125-116, thanks in large part to McCollum with his 33-point night.“He did everything we asked him to do and more,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said of McCollum, who scored 29 points Wednesday night in a victory at Oklahoma City. “It’s a credit to his mindset, to his character and to the work that he puts in.”New Orleans was facing Detroit without starting power forward Zion Williamson and starting wing Brandon Ingram, who are also two of their top scorers. Williamson, who has been injury ...

Closing arguments scheduled Friday in trial of police officer charged in Elijah McClain’s death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:23 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Closing arguments are scheduled Friday in the trial of a police officer charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man stopped as he walked home from the store after someone reported that he was suspicious.Nathan Woodyard is the third police officer to be prosecuted in McClain’s 2019 death in the Denver suburb of Aurora. Protests over the killing of George Floyd a year later renewed interest in the case and led to calls for first responders to be held responsible for his death. The trial of two other police officers indicted in McClain’s death ended in a split verdict last month, with Jason Rosenblatt acquitted of all charges and Randy Roedema convicted of the least serious charges he faced — criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault — which could lead to a sentence of anywhere from probation to prison time.Two paramedics, Jeremy Cooper and Lt. Peter Cichuniec, who were involv...

Takeaways from AP’s reporting on an American beef trader’s links to Amazon deforestation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Data analysis by The Associated Press and the Rainforest Investigations Network, a nonprofit reporting consortium, found that a little-known American meat trading company in Utah is feeding China’s growing appetite for Brazilian beef, a commodity that’s driving the deforestation of the Amazon.The world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon plays a critical role in the global climate by absorbing carbon emissions.As Chinese beef imports have surged sixfold in the last decade, according to U.N. Comtrade data, Salt Lake City-based Parker-Migliorini International, known as PMI Foods, has shipped more than $1.7 billion dollars in Brazilian beef, almost all of that to China. PMI’s biggest supplier of Brazilian beef is meat processing giant JBS SA, which has been cited repeatedly by Brazilian federal prosecutors for buying cattle raised on deforested land.PMI’s role as middleman shipping meat across borders shows how the growing international trade in beef can drive deforestat...

Biden is bound for Maine to mourn with a community reeling from a shooting that left 18 people dead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is heading to Lewiston, Maine to mourn with a community where 18 people were killed in the deadliest mass shooting in state history. It’s the type of trip that is becoming far too familiar. “Too many times the president and first lady have traveled to communities completely torn apart by gun violence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on the eve of the Bidens’ trip on Friday. “We can’t accept it as normal.” In addition to those killed, 13 people were injured in the Oct. 25 shootings at a bar and a bowling alley.The Bidens will pay their respects to the victims, meet with first responders and grieve with families and community members affected by the shootings, Jean-Pierre said. The president has said he’s determined to fight gun violence in the U.S. He created the first-ever White House office of gun violence prevention, which is charged with finding solutions and fully implementing landmark gun safety ...

The FBI is investigating a Texas sheriff’s office, a woman interviewed by agents says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:23 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — The FBI is investigating a Texas sheriff who faced complaints of corruption from his own deputies for years before drawing broader scrutiny for his agency’s response to a mass shooting, according to a woman interviewed by federal agents.The woman said she’s twice met with a pair of FBI agents in recent months after contacting them about what she feels was the sheriff’s botched investigation of her brother’s killing. Jenifer Jones told The Associated Press the agents gathered records accusing San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers and his staff of wide-ranging misconduct and told her they were looking for potential civil rights violations. During hourslong interviews, Jones said they asked specific questions about cases and events well beyond her brother’s death. Federal investigators’ interest in the rural sheriff comes after an AP investigation found longstanding accusations that Capers has ignored deputies’ misconduct and neg...