California: SoCal man to be sentenced for raising fight dogs
EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) — A San Diego County man is facing up to 11 years in prison for raising fighting pit bulls at his home.
Raul Leyva is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in El Cajon. He pleaded guilty to five charges of owning, training or possessing animals for dog-fighting purposes.
Animal control officers raided Leyva’s property in rural Ramona two years ago, seizing 10 pit bulls. Some had scars similar to those seen on fighting dogs. Six of the dogs were later euthanized.
Court documents show that officers also seized a treadmill, bloody carpeting, pictures of fights and a manual on how to train dogs for fighting.
Minnesota: Man assaulted girl a decade ago, to be deported
WILLMAR, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota man who eluded authorities for 10 years after being accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl has agreed to plead guilty and face deportation from the U.S.
Forty-one-year-old Tomas Hernandez Lopez signed the plea deal Monday in Kandiyohi County District Court. He could have faced 10 years in prison if he was convicted of assaulting the girl in 2000.
Court records say Lopez was living with the girl’s family and sexually assaulted her more than once. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but he remained at large until authorities caught up with him in September.
The West Central Tribune says Lopez will be turned over to the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation.
Wisconsin: Judge denies killer’s request for a new trial
OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) — A judge in eastern Wisconsin has denied a convicted killer’s request for a new trial based on an intoxication defense.
Zachary Reid testified in Winnebago County Circuit Court Monday that he was “trashed” on prescription pills, vodka and marijuana in the hours before he strangled his father at their Neenah apartment in October 2008.
Reid’s defense during his initial trial was self-defense. His new claim that he probably wouldn’t have killed Brett Reid had he not been intoxicated, contradicts his previous statements that he was “completely sober” when he strangled his father during a struggle.
The Appleton Post-Crescent reports Judge Scott Woldt denied all motions for a new trial, saying Reid “has absolutely zero credibility.”
Illinois: Man accused of kidnapping two women from store
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — A man suspected in a multistate string of crimes faces federal charges that accuse him of kidnapping two women from a southwestern Illinois loan store.
A federal grand jury in East St. Louis has indicted 51-year-old Carey Breshers on charges of kidnapping, use and carrying of a firearm during a crime of violence and interference with commerce by robbery.
Authorities accuse Breshers of abducting the women last month from an O’Fallon loan store during a failed check-cashing scheme, then releasing the women unharmed later that day in St. Louis.
Police later caught Breshers after a gas station was robbed in Topeka, Kan. And he’s charged in Oklahoma with assault and robbery.
Online court records don’t show whether he has an attorney.
New York: Men hold up pizza makers, flee with wrong dough
NEW YORK (AP) — Police in New York City say thieves held up the owners of a pizzeria and then fled with a bag of full dough — the kind that crusts are made of.
Police say Salvatore LaRosa was charged with robbery after surrendering to police.
According to court papers, LaRosa and an accomplice followed the owners of Brothers Pizzeria on Staten Island. After donning masks, the papers say, they pointed guns and demanded the men turn over a bag they believed held the day’s proceeds.
But instead, the bag was full of pizza dough.
Nevada: Brother wants facts in slaying by off-duty officer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The brother of a man slain in a bedroom confrontation with an off-duty Nevada police officer is promising a civil lawsuit or other fact-finding effort.
Timur Durdyev says he thinks the officer and his brother’s estranged wife are providing the same account of the early Sept. 17 shooting at the woman’s home in Henderson.
They’re the only two people who saw the shooting.
Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said an inquest isn’t warranted because 32-year-old Henderson Police Officer Edward Little wasn’t acting in an official capacity.
Police say 38-year-old Ruslan Zhgenti had a handgun when he was fatally shot after entering the home and confronting his estranged wife and Little.
Wisconsin: Insurance doesn’t cover Milwaukee priest sex abuse
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A state appeals court says the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s insurance company isn’t liable for damages that could come out of more than a dozen priest sex abuse lawsuits.
At issue in the case are 13 lawsuits accusing the Archdiocese of misrepresentation. They allege the archdiocese realized priests posed a threat to children but still insisted they did not have histories of molesting children and weren’t a danger to kids.
Two trial judges ruled the archdiocese’s insurer, OneBeacon Insurance Company, wasn’t liable to cover damages arising from the suits. They said the archdiocese’ policy covers accidents.
The 1st District Court of Appeals agreed, ruling the misrepresentations were intentional.
Arkansas: Evangelists’ followers ask for dismissal of suit
TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Attorneys for businesses associated with convicted evangelist Tony Alamo and several Alamo followers are asking that a lawsuit against them be dismissed.
The lawsuit by six women who say they were beaten, denied food and psychologically abused asks for unspecified damages. Five of the women have testified they were forced as children to marry Alamo.
The lawsuit claims nine Alamo businesses and several Alamo followers knew or should have known of the abuse.
The Texarkana Gazette reports that the motion to dismiss says the lawsuit’s claims contradict the testimony of the women during Alamo’s trial. Alamo was convicted in 2009 of taking minors across state lines for sex and was sentenced to 175 years in prison.
