National Roundup

Florida
Police: Man stole bulldozer, ran down Biden signs
HAINES CITY, Fla. (AP) — A 26-year-old man has been accused of stealing a bulldozer from a Florida construction site, driving it into a neighborhood and knocking down campaign signs for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, according to authorities and homeowners.

The man took the bulldozer in Haines City on Saturday and repeatedly destroyed Biden signs in full view of people who live in the neighborhood, witnesses said. James Blight was charged with grand theft auto and trespassing, according to the Haines City Police Department.

Former Vice Mayor Adam Burgess lives in the central Florida neighborhood, which he said is predominantly Black. He called it a hate crime.

"This man came onto my property, took the two Joe Biden signs I had in my yard and then came back with a bulldozer to run down my fence," Burgess told Bay News 9.

Video taken by the news outlet showed the damaged fences. Blight was also accused of bulldozing down a city speed limit sign, among other signs.

Police said Blight claimed he was too drunk at the time to remember what happened. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Tennessee
Probe: Former hospital worker stole $798K in medical supplies
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee comptroller's office says a former hospital worker stole at least $798,200 in medical supplies from the facility.

According to the comptroller's investigation, former Maury Regional Medical Center supply chain department system coordinator Tommy John Riker was indicted this spring on theft and money laundering charges for incidents from April 2017 through September 2019.

The investigation found Riker sold the goods online and kept the cash. The items ranged from needles to wound dressings.

The report says Riker's job duties didn't include filling supply orders, but he manipulated the hospital inventory control system to make it appear orders were filled and dispensed to staff.

The investigation found that due to issues with the previous inventory control system, officials failed to investigate until receiving a third report in July 2019.

Riker was fired from the hospital in November 2019, the report states. It is unclear if Riker has retained an attorney.

Indiana
State AG disputing bill in discipline case
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is disputing tens of thousands of dollars in expenses a state commission wants him to pay in the disciplinary case stemming from allegations that he groped a state lawmaker and three other women during a party.

The state's attorney disciplinary commission asked the Indiana Supreme Court in September to order that Hill pay about $57,000 toward expenses in the case. That includes about $8,000 in investigation and litigation costs and nearly $49,000 for former Supreme Court Justice Myra Selby's work as the case's hearing officer.

But Hill's lawyer filed a response this past week proposing that he pay a total of about $17,400 and calling into question about $39,000 of costs and expenses the commission wants him to pay, The Journal Gazette reported.

Among other things, Hill's filing said he shouldn't have to pay five hours of consulting time between Selby and a colleague at the Ice Miller law firm, noting that the state Supreme Court appointed Selby, not the law firm, to hear his case.

He also said he shouldn't have to pay for about eight hours of Selby's time dealing with media matters.

"The respondent did not turn this case into a media circus. The complaining witnesses and their counsel did," Hill said in his filing.

The Indiana Supreme Court will ultimately decide how much Hill must pay.

Hill completed in June a 30-day suspension of his law license after the Supreme Court found "by clear and convincing evidence that (Hill) committed the criminal act of battery" against the women. The women say Hill drunkenly groped them  during a March 2018 party at an Indianapolis bar marking the end of that year's legislative session.

Hill has denied wrongdoing. His reelection bid failed when he  lost the Republican nomination in June to former U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, who faces Democrat Jonathan Weinzapfel, a former Evansville mayor, in the November election.

Iowa
Black man shot by police settles suit for $400K
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Black man who was shot by police outside an Iowa nightclub five years ago and alleged he was singled out because of his race has agreed to a nearly $400,000 settlement.

Jovan Darnell Webb, 33, was wounded while attempting to pull out of the New World nightclub parking lot in Waterloo during a disturbance in April 2015. His suit also alleged excessive force, equal protection violations and battery on the part of the police officers, The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.

The lawsuit had been scheduled to go to trial this month in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. The decision to settle for $399,999 was made by the city's liability insurance carrier.

The city's attorney, David Baker, declined to comment.

Waterloo officers had responded to the club around closing time because of a disturbance that included a report of possible gunfire. According to court records and testimony at pretrial hearings, a plainclothes officer saw Webb enter a car with a bottle and ran after the vehicle, calling for uniformed officers to stop him.

Another officer stepped in front of the vehicle but dived out of the way when it bumped his legs because he was worried he was about to be run over. Fearing the officer was being dragged, two other officers began shooting at the car, striking Webb in the arm, abdomen and chest.

Webb's attorneys said he was stopped when the shooting started and only accelerated to get away from the gunfire.

Webb drove to a nearby hospital, where officers searched his car in the parking lot and found a .22-caliber revolver.

Webb was sentenced to probation after entering Alford pleas in 2017 to misdemeanor charges of assault on an officer, interference and carrying weapons. Under the plea, he didn't admit guilt but acknowledged he would likely be convicted if the case went to trial.