Connecticut
Arrest in robbery of autistic man in
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) - A 27-year-old Connecticut man has been charged with stealing $100 in birthday money from an autistic man in a crime that was captured by video cameras.
Police say they charged Steven St. Jacques of Stamford on Monday with second-degree larceny after a search of his home turned up clothing that matched those worn by the suspect in the video.
Police say they received important tips after posting the video of last Tuesday's robbery on YouTube.
They say St. Jacques pretended to befriend the victim and then tricked him into handing over his money.
Members of the police union collected $1,300 and presented it to the victim on Monday.
St. Jacques has no listed phone number and could not be reached for comment. He was due in Superior Court on Tuesday.
Missouri
FBI investigates police officer's stun gun use
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) - The FBI is investigating after a police officer in suburban Kansas City, Missouri, used a stun gun to subdue a 17-year-old during a traffic stop, leaving him hospitalized in critical condition.
An Independence police officer used the stun gun on Bryce Masters of Independence Sunday afternoon after stopping a car Masters was driving because it had a warrant attached to it, police said in a statement.
The officer, identified by the police department as Tim Runnels, has been placed on administrative leave.
Police said in the statement that Masters became uncooperative and physically resisted getting out of the car, prompting Runnels to warn Masters he would use a stun gun. Police said the stun gun was used on Masters while he was still in the car but he was able to get out of the car on his own.
The confrontation continued outside the car and both Masters and Runnels fell to the ground. Masters then suffered a "medical emergency" and needed resuscitation, prompting a call for an ambulance, police said.
The FBI's Kansas City office will investigate whether Runnels used excessive force, which falls under the bureau's civil rights program, the FBI said in a statement. Independence police pledged to cooperate with the investigation.
Masters is the son of a Kansas City police officer.
"We would conduct a thorough investigation, regardless of who the parents are," Independence police Maj. Paul Thurman said.
Massachusetts
Tsarnaev's lawyers: Didn't pose as FBI
BOSTON (AP) - Attorneys for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Monday denied as "false" and "preposterous" an allegation that defense team members posed as FBI employees while investigating the case in Russia.
"Let us be clear: at no time have members of the defense team misrepresented themselves or lied about their work," the defense attorneys said in a court filing. They also said trying to get information in a country where people are suspicious of appointed defense lawyers, the defense team already has a difficult job persuading potential witnesses it is working to protect Tsarnaev "rather than facilitating the U.S. government's effort to execute him."
Tsarnaev, 21, has pleaded not guilty to participating with his now-deceased brother Tamerlan in the 2013 bombings that killed three people and injured about 260 others. He could face the death penalty. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen who came to the Boston area with his family more than a decade ago. His parents have returned to Russia.
Prosecutors said the allegation came in an official communication from the Russian government, which expelled the three individuals. Prosecutors cited it in a court filing Friday opposing a defense request to delay Tsarnaev's Nov. 3 trial, saying the preparation work load cited by the defense is largely self-inflicted.
Defense attorneys said that by repeating "reckless allegations" prosecutors are likely making it more difficult for them to prepare on time. They pleaded again for a delay.
"More time is needed to ensure basic fairness to the accused. It is also needed to service society's best interest in the fullest possible accounting of what happened in Boston during the week of April 15, 2013, and why it happened," the lawyers said.
New York
Criminal case in boat crash ends, lawsuits await
NEW CITY, N.Y. (AP) - The criminal case stemming from a boat ride on the Hudson River that took the lives of a bride-to-be and her fiancé's best man is ending. But the case may persist in civil courtrooms for years.
Jojo John, who was piloting the powerboat that crashed into a barge in July 2013, is expected to be sent to jail Tuesday for two years.
He pleaded guilty in June to vehicular manslaughter and admitted that he was drunk at the time.
John's 19-foot Stingray crashed into a barge that was moored in the Hudson as part of the construction of a new Tappan Zee Bridge, about 30 miles north of Manhattan.
Two 30-year-old friends of John, Lindsey Stewart of Piermont and Mark Lennon of Pearl River, were killed. Stewart was to have been married two weeks later. The groom-to-be, Brian Bond, was injured, as was John.
Prosecutors said the 36-year-old John had nearly twice the legal level of alcohol in his system when the boat crashed. They quoted him as telling first responders, "I've been drinking all day," or words to that effect.
John's lawyer, David Narain, insisted that the crash was caused not by intoxication but by a lack of lighting on the barge. The Coast Guard and the state Thruway Authority, which is building the bridge, said the barge was properly lighted.
Stewart's and Lennon's families have sued several companies involved in the construction, citing poor lighting. But they also sued John, as co-owner of the boat, and said he was careless and negligent. Others who were in the boat also have sued.
John's civil lawyer, James Mercante, said Monday that the end of the criminal case means civil lawyers will get access to the boat and other evidence. A conference in the lawsuits, which have been consolidated in admiralty court, is scheduled for Oct. 27.
