New Jersey
2 teens accused of running down geese for video
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. (AP) - Two New Jersey teens are accused of luring a family of geese into the street so one boy could run them down with his SUV while the other videotaped it.
The New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says Woodbridge police have charged the 17-year-olds with animal abuse charges.
The SPCA says it was alerted to the abuse after the tape was posted on social media.
The group says at least one goose was found in the road. It says the SUV shown in the video was found in a high school parking lot and had feathers embedded in its grill.
Minnesota
12-year-old boy arrested in fatal Omaha shooting
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A 12-year-old boy suspected in a fatal shooting in Omaha has been arrested in Minneapolis.
According to an Omaha police statement released Tuesday, the boy was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service and will be booked ahead of court proceedings to return him to Nebraska.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that the boy is one of three suspects in the June 29 shooting of 31-year-old Jamymell Ray near Miller Park. Two other suspects, aged 15 and 17, were arrested last week.
A 30-year-old man was also wounded in the shooting.
A Douglas County prosecutor says the young men had planned to rob the men whom they lured to the area on the premise of a marijuana deal.
The Associated Press generally does not name juveniles accused of crimes.
New York
Police, lawmaker decry phone case shaped like gun
NEW YORK (AP) - Police across the country are warning about the dangers of a cellphone case that's shaped like a handgun, saying it could be mistaken for the real thing.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York is urging online retailers to stop selling the case, and police are asking consumers not to buy it. Schumer says it lacks a required orange marking that identifies it as harmless.
He says advertisements indicate the case can be displayed in a pocket, as though it's a real weapon.
He called the gun-shaped case a "disaster waiting to happen."
Amazon.com told The New York Times on Tuesday that the item is no longer listed on its site.
The case can also be used with a Russian roulette app that transforms the phone's screen into the image of a gun barrel.
New York
Fox to develop film about gay marriage ruling
NEW YORK (AP) - 20th Century Fox is developing a film about the U.S. Supreme Court case that made same-sex marriage a nationwide right.
A representative for Fox confirmed Tuesday the studio has acquired the life rights to Jim Obergefell (OH'-burk-uh-fel), the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that last month became a landmark in the gay rights movement. Fox also obtained the life rights to Obergefell's lawyer, Al Gerhardstein, and those to a book proposal by Obergefell and journalist Debbie Cenziper.
The project will be developed by the 20th Century Fox division Fox 2000.
Obergefell sued after Ohio refused to list him as the spouse to his longtime partner, John Arthur, on Arthur's death certificate after his death in 2013. The two had been legally married in Maryland.
The New York Times first reported the film project.
Tennessee
Judge: Sunni Muslim trooper fired for his faith
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A federal judge has deemed the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security guilty of discrimination in the firing of a Sunni Muslim state trooper.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell ruled in June that the agency violated the rights of De'Ossie Dingus by firing him in 2010 after the 10-year highway patrol veteran was dubbed a budding terrorist without any proof.
Military liaison Maj. Kevin Taylor labeled Dingus a potential terrorist after a 2009 encounter in which Dingus complained about the airing of a training video on the radicalization of children.
Campbell did not award Dingus the roughly $300,000 he sought in damages, saying he did not support his claims.
Department of Safety spokeswoman Dalya Qualls says the agency had no comment on the ruling.
Nebraska
Woman accused of using stun gun on teen daughter
COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) - A Columbus woman has been accused of using a stun gun to shock her 13-year-old daughter.
The Columbus Telegram reports that a hearing is scheduled next week for 42-year-old Ruby Baeta, who is charged with felony child abuse. Online court records don't list the name of an attorney who could be called to comment on Baeta's behalf.
Columbus police say the girl and her 16-year-old sister reported that their mother shocked the younger girl around 5:30 p.m. Friday. An officer says he saw two bumps on the girl that he says could have been caused by a stun gun.
The officer says Baeta denied shocking the girl and denied owning a stun gun. He says he found a stun gun in a suitcase in a closet in the home.
Pennsylvania
Suspected child sex trafficker caught by Feds
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Pittsburgh-area man indicted last month on child sex trafficking charges has been arrested in Mississippi by federal marshals.
The FBI and marshals had been searching for 34-year-old Mario Grisom, of Homestead, since federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh unsealed the indictment on July 1. It was returned by a grand jury on June 25.
Grisom was arrested in Pittsburgh in May when local authorities busted an online prostitution operation that was using hotels in the suburbs of West Homestead and Monroeville.
Federal investigators took over the case and charged Grisom with trafficking in a runaway girl earlier this year, and with promoting sex by another minor in 2012.
Online court records don't list an attorney for Grisom who was arrested Tuesday in Columbus, Mississippi. He's jailed there awaiting extradition to Pittsburgh.
Published: Thu, Jul 09, 2015
