National Roundup

Tennessee
Feds take no action after police shooting
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Federal officials say they agree with a decision not to prosecute a white Tennessee police officer who fatally shot a black man after a traffic stop and have concluded no further action is warranted.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Friday in a statement it had worked with the FBI and the Department of Justice in reviewing investigations by the Nashville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation into the fatal shooting of Jocques Clemmons in February.

Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk announced earlier he wouldn’t seek charges against Josh Lippert, saying the officer’s actions met the legal definition of self-defense. Police, prosecutors and a key witness say Clemmons had a gun.

The decision drew a swift outcry from the NAACP, some clergy, Clemmons’ family and other community members.

Pennsylvania
Rant about salad with too-few cucumbers ends in arrest
NEW HOLLAND, Pa. (AP) — Police say a Pennsylvania man ranted that there weren’t enough cucumbers on his Wendy’s salad before he threw his food at an employee and made a threat.
Police say they were called to the fast-food restaurant on Sunday afternoon in New Holland after 58-year-old Theodore Gunderson Jr. cursed, threw the salad at an employee and said, “If I had a gun or knife you would be the first to go.”

The clerk called police, and officers arrived to find Gunderson in his vehicle with the windows rolled up. Police say Gunderson eventually rolled down his window but then tried to drive away as an officer reached inside.

Online court records don’t list an attorney for Gunderson. He remained jailed Friday on aggravated assault, terroristic threats and other charges.

Ohio
Baby sitters accused of transporting kids in U-Haul
ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say two baby sitters have been charged with putting five children infested with fleas, bedbugs and lice into the back of a U-Haul truck in Ohio.

The Chronicle-Telegram reports 25-year-old Jamie Adkins and 55-year-old Brian Dekam were arrested Wednesday in Elyria after they were spotted loading the children into the U-Haul.

Adkins told police she and Dekam had been caring for the children for several weeks and the children’s mother knew they were being transported in the U-Haul from Cleveland to Elyria. Adkins described herself as the children’s godmother.

The children range in age from 2 to 15. The youngest was hospitalized for heat exhaustion. The other four are now in foster care.

Adkins and Dekam are charged with child endangerment.

Records don’t indicate whether they have attorneys.

South Carolina
Warden replaced at prison where inmate escaped 
RIDGEVILLE, S.C. (AP) — There is a new warden at the South Carolina prison where an inmate got an 18-hour head start on an escape.

Corrections Department spokeswoman Summer Sharpe told local media Joel Anderson took over as warden at the maximum security Lieber Correctional Institute in Ridgeville on Thursday.
Anderson replaces Joseph McFadden, who had been warden since 2013.

Sharpe would not say whether McFadden’s replacement was related to the July 4 escape of 46-year-old Jimmy Causey, who was captured near Austin, Texas, three days later.

He escaped using wire cutters that were apparently dropped into the prison grounds by a drone. He had created a dummy under the covers in his cell to cover his escape, similar to what he had done when escaped a Columbia prison in 2005.

North Carolina
$82 million fine proposed in robocall case
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Federal officials have proposed an $82.1 million fine against a North Carolina man who they say made millions of illegally spoofed robocalls.

The News & Observer reports that the Federal Communications Commission announced the proposed fine against Best Insurance Contracts owner Philip Roesel in a news release Thursday.
Roesel is accused of making more than 21 million spoofed robocalls while operating as Wilmington Insurance Quotes in an attempt to sell health insurance to vulnerable customers.

“Spoofing” is the practice of deliberately altering caller identification information with the intent to harm or defraud consumers, and is prohibited under the 2009 Truth in Caller ID Act.

The FCC’s enforcement bureau subpoenaed Roesel’s call records from October 2016 to January 2017.
It’s unclear if Roesel has a lawyer.

New York
Man gets 2 years in prison for beheading cat, can’t have pet
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — An upstate New York man has been sentenced to two years in prison for the gruesome killing of a cat and won’t be allowed to have pets once he’s released.

WTEN-TV reports 45-year-old John Gehrlein, of Albany, was sentenced Thursday. A jury in June found Gehrlein guilty of felony aggravated animal cruelty.

Police say they found a nearly decapitated cat in Gehrlein’s backyard in December 2016. Investigators say the animal’s head was only attached to its body by its spinal cord.

Police say Gehrlein admitted to killing the cat but didn’t provide an explanation for his actions.

As part of his sentence, Gehrlein will be prohibited from owning an animal once he’s released.

New Jersey
Archbishop blames parents for enrollment
KENILWORTH, N.J. (AP) — The archbishop of Newark says it was a “very difficult decision” not to allow two sisters to return to their Catholic school in New Jersey after a dispute over one of them wanting to play on the boys basketball team.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin on Thursday testified he decided not to allow 13-year-old Sydney Phillips and her younger sister, Kaitlyn, to re-enroll because their parents’ behavior was not in the best interest of St. Theresa School in Kenilworth.

The parents are seeking a court order to allow the girls to return in the fall.

A different judge had denied the family’s attempt to get Sydney on the boys team after the girls team was canceled.

Lawyers for the archdiocese and for the family have accused each party of bullying and harassment.