Iowa
No. 2 Air Force nuke officer isn’t facing charges
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The No. 2 officer at the military command in charge of U.S. nuclear war-fighting forces won’t face charges in Iowa for allegedly using counterfeit gambling chips at a casino. But a federal investigation continues.
Navy Vice Adm. Tim Giardina has been suspended from his duties while the Naval Criminal Investigative Service examines the case. He’s accused of using $1,500 in counterfeit chips at a western Iowa casino in June.
Matt Wilbur, the top prosecutor in Iowa’s Pottawattamie County, said Tuesday that everyone agreed the Defense Department was in the best position to hold Giardina accountable.
Officially, Giardina remains deputy commander at U.S. Strategic Command, which is based at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha. But he is prohibited from performing duties involving nuclear weapons or requiring a security clearance.
New York
Suspect in 2009 rape returned to NY from India
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A man charged with the 2009 rape of a 14-year-old New York girl has been sent to the U.S. from India.
Nassau County prosecutors say 32-year-old Amit Singh was ordered held without bail during a court appearance Monday. He is charged with rape, sexual abuse and child endangerment.
His attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.
Singh is charged with attacking the girl in 2009 as she walked to her high school in Elmont on Long Island.
He allegedly fled to India, where he was later arrested trying to board a flight to Thailand.
Prosecutors say he fled New York the day before the victim identified him in a photo array. They say he was linked by DNA evidence.
Kentucky
Man charged in officer’s death pleads guilty
HODGENVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A central Kentucky man has pleaded guilty to charges in a vehicle chase that led to a police officer’s death.
The News-Enterprise reports 30-year-old Jason Avis entered guilty pleas Monday to second-degree manslaughter, first-degree fleeing and evading, leaving the scene of an accident and second-degree persistent felony offense. He was originally charged with wanton murder in the death of Hodgenville Police Officer Mark Taulbee, who was found critically injured Sept. 16, 2012 in his patrol car.
Kentucky State Police spokesman Norman Chaffins said at the time of the accident that the pursuit began when Taulbee spotted the vehicle of a man wanted in an alleged domestic dispute.
During the hearing Monday, Taulbee’s widow, who is a nurse, testified about the morning he was brought into the hospital’s emergency room. She said she took his X-rays and knew he was bleeding internally, but told him it was going to be OK.
“It was absolutely horrific,” Elizabeth Taulbee said as the couple’s children, Audra and Austin, stood behind her. “And it’s horrific every day because I relive it every day.”
Avis was required as part of his plea agreement to make a formal statement admitting that he was speeding during the police chase. He said his speed reached about 100 miles per hour.
Avis told the court he saw an officer pursuing him but kept on going and eventually notice that the police car was no longer behind him. He said he turned back and saw a wrecked car.
When public defender David Stewart asked him if he was sorry for Taulbee’s death, he answered, “I’m very sorry.”
Elizabeth Taulbee said her husband’s death has been “devastating” for her and their children.
“Mark didn’t deserve this,” Elizabeth Taulbee said. “He was a great cop.”
North Carolina
Court dumps speedway’s suit over $80M deal
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina court says it will not revive a lawsuit from one of the country’s largest auto racing track operators which says local officials reneged on millions of dollars in tax breaks for a new drag strip.
A three-judge state Court of Appeals panel ruled Tuesday against Speedway Motorsports Inc. and Charlotte Motor Speedway, which sued Cabarrus County.
The companies had threatened to move the 135,000-seat speedway and build a new drag strip somewhere other than the Charlotte region unless they got the tax breaks. They say they decided to build the drag strip and upgrade the speedway after an oral agreement for $80 million in tax breaks.
The appeals court says there was no binding contract since nothing was put in writing until after the drag strip opened.
Pennsylvania
Woman gets 3 to 8 years in wild 2-state chase
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Pennsylvania woman accused with her boyfriend of leading police on a wild chase in a stolen Camden, N.J., police car and then stealing a Philadelphia police car has been sentenced to three to eight years in prison.
Shayna Sykes, 24, of Macungie, was sentenced Monday in Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty in July to theft, aggravated assault, conspiracy, reckless endangering and receiving stolen property, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Prosecutors said she and her boyfriend stole an idling police cruiser in Camden and drove into Philadelphia, where Sykes later stole another cruiser. They told police that they had been on a three-day heroin binge and sleeping on the street and were desperate to get warm.
Authorities allege that her boyfriend, Blake Bills, 25, also of Macungie, spotted the idling cruiser and jumped in, striking an officer who tried to intervene. Two other people were injured during the chase.
Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Ehrlich told Sykes before imposing the sentence, which also included seven years of probation, that their actions could have resulted in “a monumental tragedy” in the city.
“Drugs and alcohol are not an excuse,” the judge said.
Defense attorney Geoffrey Kilroy sought a 1-1/2- to two-year sentence, saying his client “has been nothing but remorseful. She always said these were decisions she made.”
Assistant District Attorney Guy D’Andrea sought a five- to 10-year sentence, noting previous DUI convictions and the injuries to others.
“She stopped when the car would no longer run,” D’Andrea said. “A short sentence will do nothing more than say she could do anything she wants.”
Prosecutors said Sykes also faces court action in Lehigh County on a probation violation and more charges in New Jersey. Bills was scheduled for a court hearing later this week on his theft and conspiracy charges.
