New Jersey
4 charged over taped beating of teen who later took own life
BAYVILLE, N.J. (AP) — Four students have been charged and a school district superintendent has resigned after a recorded attack against a 14-year-old New Jersey student in the hallway of her school spread on social media in the days before her family says she took her own life.
One juvenile was charged with aggravated assault, two were charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and one was charged with harassment, prosecutors in Ocean County, New Jersey, said Saturday.
All four juveniles and their guardians were given copies of the complaints and they were released pending future court appearances, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in an email Saturday.
The family of Adriana O. Kuch found her body on Feb. 3, two days after her beating beside school lockers at Central Regional High School in Bayville, her father has said.
The Central Regional School District announced Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides’ resignation Saturday, but did not immediately provide any additional information.
The district said in a statement that it “is evaluating all current and past allegations of bullying.”
In an interview with WNBC-TV, her father, Michael Kuch, said Adriana had been hit with a 20-ounce (0.56 liter) water bottle. She received care from the school nurse after the attack left her with bruises and wounds.
“I do know why it happened,” he said. “It happened because these two haven’t liked each other for a couple years, and she had been threatening my daughter online.”
After students at the high school participated in a walkout on Wednesday, Parlapanides wrote in a letter to parents that the protest interfered with “the learning process” and future “rallies” will need prior approval from the administration.
“I spoke with the student protestors in front of the school on Wednesday and offered to sit down and meet with them to discuss their concerns,” said the prosecutor, Billhimer, who was at the high school again on Friday to meet with protest organizers for more than two hours.
Billhimer said he discussed ways to improve the district’s response to school “incidents” during a meeting on Saturday with Parlapanides.
“I also shared some suggestions regarding staff changes as well as programming and services to respond to the needs of the students,” Billhimer wrote.
Adriana was born in Toledo, Ohio, and moved to Bayville seven years ago, according to her obituary. She was described as an animal lover and a girl who helped children with special needs.
Pennsylvania
Man gets 15 to 30 years in shot that wounded police chief
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison in a 2021 shooting that wounded a suburban Philadelphia borough police chief.
Colin Petroziello, 26, of Yardley pleaded no contest last fall in Bucks County Court to attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer, attempted murder, aggravated assault and other charges. In a no contest plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence for conviction.
Chief Joseph Kelly III of the Yardley police department was hit in the hand and ear by a shotgun blast through the front door of a home in the Yardley Commons complex in August 2021. Kelley, who was assisting a probation officer checking on the defendant, said he continues to have limited mobility of his injured hand.
Common Pleas Judge Wallace Bateman Jr. last week recommended that the sentence be served in a state prison with a mental health or psychiatric hospital, saying that it was obvious he needs long-term psychiatric treatment. But the judge also cited the defendant’s use of drugs and alcohol, his possession of firearms he was not allowed to have, and a history of failing to comply with medical treatment for his issues.
“In my judgement, that makes you very dangerous,” Bateman said. “You did know someone was on the other side of that door.”
Kelly said he was frustrated by Petriozello’s lack of accountability for his actions and criticized the family for blaming the events on his mental illness.
Defense attorney A. Charles Peruto Jr. had sought a sentence with minimal jail time but significant probation, saying his client “is an unlucky kid whose wires were crossed at a young age.”
Petroziello apologized before sentencing, saying he was “a different person.”
“I wish I was able to understand what happened that day,” he said.
California
Southern California Edison sued over damaging wildfire
HEMET, Calif. (AP) — A city claims in a lawsuit that Southern California Edison equipment ignited a damaging wildfire last fall.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of the city of Hemet claims that the utility did not manage its electrical power lines and failed to keep landscape trimmed, Southern California News Group reported Friday.
The city lost property and suffered damages, the lawsuit claims.
“Our thoughts remain with the people affected by the Fairview fire,” SoCal Edison spokesperson Reggie Kumar told the news group. “We are reviewing this action and will respond to it through the proper legal channels.”
The Fairview Fire erupted Sept. 5 near Hemet, a city of about 90,000 in Riverside County east of Los Angeles.
The fire scorched more than 44 square miles (114 square kilometers) and destroyed or damaged nearly three dozen homes and other structures. Two residents were killed as they tried to flee and a third was injured. Two firefighters also were injured.
After the fire, SoCal Edison told state utility regulators that “circuit activity” was reported near where the fire was first reported and that some power poles had signs of damage but that it was not known if that contributed to ignition of the fire.
Mississippi
Former tax preparer sentenced for making false statements
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi woman has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for knowingly making a false statement on a tax return, federal prosecutors said.
Gena Michelle Hall, 37, of Biloxi, was sentenced Thursday and ordered to pay $231,636 in restitution, U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca, of the Southern District of Mississippi, said in a news release.
According to documents and information provided to the court, Hall worked at a business in the Gulfport area, known as Tax Pros. Between 2015 and 2019, Hall prepared federal income tax returns for clients that contained one or more materially false entries that caused the IRS to issue inflated income tax refunds to her clients.
Hall also knowingly filed false returns for herself as a taxpayer, LaMarca’s office said. In 2017, she received about $49,000 in tax preparation fees yet she reported none of those fees as income, authorities said.
Illinois
Man reaches $91 million settlement in 7-Eleven crash suit
CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago man whose legs were amputated in 2017 after a car lurched forward into a parking space, pinning him against the front of a 7-Eleven store, reached a $91 million settlement on Monday with the convenience store chain.
A Cook County judge approved the settlement on the day the man’s lawsuit had been set for a jury trial, said James Power, one of the attorneys representing the 57-year-old plaintiff, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The man was waiting in front of a 7-Eleven store in Bensenville for his carpool ride to a food processing plant on Sept. 20, 2017, when a motorist pulling into a parking space in front of the store stepped on his car’s accelerator instead of the brake, Power said.
The car lurched over a curb, across a sidewalk and pinned the man against the storefront, causing injuries that would require the amputation of both his legs above the knees, Power said. The man was hospitalized for a month after the crash and now walks using prosthetic legs, he said.
“He has been through a lot of pain,” Power said.
The 2017 crash was one of thousands of similar incidents identified in discovery for the case — collisions that frequently resulted in crippling injuries, he said. The crashes could have been prevented, Power said, if 7-Elevens had installed bollards — thick posts anchored in the ground — between storefronts and parking spaces.
A spokesperson for 7-Eleven, which operates about 8,000 locations nationwide, said the company was “heartbroken by this tragedy” and its thoughts were with the man and his family.
“It is important to note that this unfortunate accident was caused by a reckless driver who pled guilty, and this store followed all local building codes and ordinances,” the spokesperson added.
Texas
Dad convicted of murder in fatal shootings by teen son
DALLAS (AP) — A Texas man has been convicted of capital murder in the fatal shooting of three teenagers by the man’s then-14-year-old son.
Richard Acosta, 34, was convicted Friday by a jury in Dallas of capital murder for the 2021 shooting deaths of Xavier Gonzalez, 14; Ivan Noyala, 16; and Rafael Garcia, 17, the day after Christmas. A 15-year-old newly hired cook was injured in the shooting and has recovered.
Acosta testified that he did not know his son, Abel Acosta, had a gun or had shot anyone, only that the teenager got into his vehicle and told his father to drive away because someone was shooting.
Abel Acosta disappeared shortly after the shooting and authorities say he remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous.
Prosecutors argued that Richard Acosta sought to dispose of evidence and tried to move his family from Garland.
Richard Acosta, who surrendered to police days after the shooting and was indicted nearly one year ago, said his son disappeared later the night of the shooting.
“We are only halfway to justice,” according to a statement on social media by the Garland Police Department that said authorities would persist in their search. “We will not stop until Abel Acosta is captured.”
Richard Acosta testified that he does not know where his son is.
Acosta, who faces life without parole because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, was convicted under a Texas law that allows accomplices to be charged even if they did not commit the actual crime.
Minnesota
Man convicted in wife’s 2010 shooting death
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A St. Paul man has been convicted of shooting and killing his wife nearly 13 years ago.
Nicholas Firkus, 39, was convicted Friday of first-degree murder and second-degree murder in the April 25, 2010, death of his wife Heidi Firkus.
Firkus had argued that his wife was shot accidentally while he struggled with a burglar during a home invasion.
Prosecutors alleged Firkus shot his wife because he was ashamed that he had not told her about their financial troubles, including $18,000 in credit card debt and 22 months of late mortgage payments, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.
The couple was to be evicted the next day.
The case went cold until 2019, when St. Paul police reopened the investigation and asked the FBI for help. With new evidence, Firkus was charged in 2021.
Firkus, who did not testify at the trial, will be sentenced April 13.
