New York
Police handcuff and shackle unruly 5-year-old
PHILADELPHIA, N.Y. (AP) - State police are defending the actions of two troopers who handcuffed and shackled the legs of an unruly 5-year-old special-needs student at a primary school in northern New York.
State police spokesman Jack Keller says the boy was screaming, kicking, punching and biting and had to be subdued Wednesday because his behavior allegedly posed a risk to himself and those around him.
School officials tell the Watertown Daily Times that staff members trained in nonviolent crisis intervention tried for two hours before a teacher finally restrained the boy until troopers arrived.
The boy was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.
The boy's parents, Chelsea and Ryan Ruiz, say their son is emotionally traumatized now and afraid to return to school. They say they plan to file a lawsuit against the school district.
West Virginia
Police: Robber pepper sprays himself in store
BEAVER, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia man is in jail after authorities say he foiled his own robbery by accidentally pepper-spraying himself.
The Register-Herald reports 43-year-old Michael Kevin Meadows of Shady Spring was arrested Wednesday for attempted robbery.
Authorities say a man went into a pharmacy in Beaver on Tuesday wearing full camouflage and a paintball mask.
The would-be robber started spraying pepper spray in an effort to take down employees, then walked into the cloud of pepper spray in front of him. Police say security footage showed he was affected by his own pepper spray.
He staggered out of the business and got into a vehicle. Police investigating the incident discovered the name of the man who was driving the vehicle. The driver identified Meadows as the attempted robbery suspect.
Pennsylvania
Man charged with robbing home with body inside
ST. MARYS, Pa. (AP) - Police say a Pennsylvania man broke into a dead woman's house and stole $200 worth of valuables - while her corpse was still inside the residence.
The Bradford Era reports 39-year-old Richard Pounds Jr., of St. Marys, was arrested Thursday.
Police charged him with burglary and other crimes because they say he spotted the woman's dead body after a bystander pointed it out to him Sunday afternoon. St. Marys police say Pounds pried open a window, then stole a safe, two cellphone, a GPS unit, keys and a security system monitor.
Elk County Coroner Michelle Muccio says autopsy results on 41-year-old Pamelyn Kopp were still pending, but her death does not appear to be connected to the burglary.
Ohio
Quintuple murder suspect held on $7.5 million bond
CLEVELAND (AP) - A judge has set a $7.5 million bond for a Cleveland man charged with aggravated murder in the shooting deaths of five people, including an unborn baby.
An attorney entered a not-guilty plea for 19-year-old James Sparks-Henderson during a court appearance Friday.
A prosecutor says Sparks-Henderson was arrested Wednesday carrying a gun that tests showed was used in the slayings. He says phone records placed Sparks-Henderson near the shooting scene Nov. 21.
The victims were 41-year-old Sherita Johnson, Johnson's unborn child, 60-year-old Lemon Bryant, 19-year-old Ja'rio Taylor and 17-year-old Shaylona Williams. Johnson was seven months pregnant.
Johnson's 9-year-old daughter was also grazed by a bullet.
Maine
Man who lured teen to death being sentenced
BANGOR, Maine (AP) - A Maine man who used a phony Facebook profile to lure a teenage girl to her death is in court for sentencing.
A jury convicted 22-year-old Kyle Dube (DOO'-bee) of Orono in March of kidnapping and murder. A prosecutor told the judge Friday that he abducted the victim, Nichole Cable, to have sex with her. He told others that he intended to kidnap her and then become a hero by returning to rescue her.
The 15-year-old died from asphyxiation. Her body was found after an eight-day search.
Police say the phony Facebook profile was traced to Dube's home, and DNA evidence pointed to him, as well. Prosecutors asked the judge Friday to sentence him to 90 years - 60 years in prison for murder and 30 years for kidnapping.
Mississippi
Sheriff: Man made threats to avoid jury verdict
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A Gulfport man has been charged with calling in a bomb threat at the Harrison County Courthouse in April just before a verdict was to be handed down in a gun possession case.
The Sun Herald reports that Willie Eddie Smith Jr., 33, was arrested Wednesday on a felony charge of false reporting of a bomb.
Harrison County Sheriff Melvin Brisolara said Smith had tried to bolt from a courtroom April 15, jumping over chairs, when an alarm sounded, but a court security officer subdued him with a stun gun.
"He made the call as a distraction to get out of hearing his jury verdict," Brisolara said.
The jury found him guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The verdict was being read when the alarm sounded.
Brisolara said Smith had used his cellphone to make a call reporting several bombs had been placed around the courthouse before he went into court. He had been free on bond pending the trial's outcome.
On April 20, Circuit Judge Chris Schmidt sentenced him as a habitual offender, ordering him to serve 10 years in prison on the possession charge.
Minnesota
Ex-school janitor pleads guilty to abuse, peeping
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A former St. Paul elementary school janitor has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing several children, including his relatives, and peeping at a student in a school bathroom.
Sixty-three-year-old Walter Johann Happel, of Newport, reached a plea deal in March after being accused of peeping at several students at Linwood Monroe Arts Plus School. The peeping allegations led victims to come forward who said Happel abused them back as far back as the 1980s.
Happel , who was a St. Paul Schools employee for nearly 30 years, apologized in court.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi says Happel preyed on the innocence of children for over 30 years.
Published: Mon, May 11, 2015
