National Roundup

Pennsylvania
Prisoner hides in dumpster, gets stuck in truck
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Officials say a man trying to flee from a Philadelphia prison halfway house by hiding in a dumpster had to be freed from a trash truck.

WCAU-TV reports it took firefighters almost two hours to remove the bags of trash and free the man from the truck’s compactor section Monday morning.

Officials at The Kintock Group house say the man hid in the bin outside the facility. It was emptied into truck around 5:30 a.m.

The man has been taken to a hospital. There’s no word on his condition, but he could be seen moving his arms on a stretcher after the rescue.

The halfway house serves as an interim stop before offenders re-enter the general population.

Massachusets
Personal injury firm sues firm over billboard ad
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A personal injury law firm in Massachusetts is suing a competing firm over an alleged copycat billboard.

Ellis Law Offices in Worcester alleges in the suit that The Law Offices of Joseph J. Cariglia intentionally copied its Interstate 290 billboard to siphon away customers.

The Telegram & Gazette reports the lawsuit was moved to U.S. District Court on Tuesday.

The lawsuit says the billboards feature a similar color scheme, design and wording. Ellis Law says it put up its billboard in August, and says Cariglia Law put up its own in October.

Ellis Law wants Cariglia’s billboard removed and $500,000 in damages.

Cariglia Law’s marketing company, Murray Marketing Inc., denies wrongdoing and says the billboards contain numerous differences.

Texas
High court won’t review shooting rampage case
HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review the conviction and death sentence of a Houston man for the slaying of a 79-year-old woman during a 2012 shooting rampage outside the courthouse in downtown Beaumont.

The high court, without comment, ruled Monday in the case of 47-year-old Bartholomew Granger. He does not have an execution date and his lawyers are in the early stages of other appeals in federal district court.

Granger testified at his 2013 trial moved to Galveston that he wanted the death penalty. He acknowledged opening fire on his daughter outside the Jefferson County Courthouse after she testified against him in a sexual assault case but said he didn’t intend to kill a bystander, Minnie Ray Sebolt.

Granger’s daughter and her mother were among three people wounded.

Indiana
Man who withheld HIV status gets longer sentence
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana man who pleaded guilty to having sex with women and not telling them he was HIV-positive has been sentenced to another year in prison.

Thirty-eight-year-old Travis Spoor of Silver Lake had been sentenced in August to three years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of malicious mischief.

The Journal Gazette reports Spoor was also sentenced last week to one year in prison on a separate malicious mischief charge that was filed later against him.

An Allen County judge also ordered Spoor to pay $300 to one of his victims.

Court records show several women met Spoor online and engaged in sex with him, unaware of his HIV status.

Spoor never disclosed he’s infected with the virus that causes AIDS. That’s a legal requirement in Indiana.

Tennessee
Man says he fatally shot son in self-defense
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say a Tennessee man says he shot and killed his son in self-defense.

News outlets report Metro Nashville police say 42-year-old Mario Ford Sr. told 20-year-old Mario Ford Jr. he needed to move out Sunday morning, leading to a confrontation. Ford Sr. told police his son pulled his gun first, at which point he drew his own weapon and fired, hitting his son in the neck.

Ford Jr. died at a hospital.

Investigators say both men recently armed themselves as a result of their ongoing dispute. Police are investigating Ford Sr.’s claim of self-defense.

Ford Sr. has been charged with unlawful gun possession by a convicted felon, and it wasn’t immediately clear if he’ll face charges related to his son’s death. Online court records don’t list an attorney.

Pennsylvania
Dad, grandma charged after 3-year-old girl shoots self in leg
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 3-year-old girl shot herself in the leg in Philadelphia and the child’s grandmother and father have been charged.

WPVI-TV reports a man and woman were charged Sunday with endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment. The 64-year-old grandmother was charged with tampering with evidence after police say she attempted to hide the gun.

The shooting happened around 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Police say the child got ahold of her dad’s loaded gun and shot herself in the thigh. The bullet exited her calf.

She underwent surgery to save her leg.

Police say the father was rushing to work and asked his mother to secure his gun and watch the child. Police say she put it in a closet and in a holster with no lock before falling asleep.

Tennessee
City to enter mediation over removal of statue
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A city attorney says Memphis, Tennessee, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans will enter mediation over the removal of a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest from a public park.

The Commercial Appeal reports that Memphis City Council Attorney Allan Wade announced the mediation Tuesday. Wade also recommended delaying the unveiling of a plan to remove the statue of Forrest, a Confederate general who was a slave trader before the Civil War and an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan after the conflict.

City leaders have expressed their desire to move the statue from Health Sciences Park. The Sons of Confederate Veterans has fought the city’s efforts.

Lee Millar, a spokesman for the veterans group, said it agreed to mediation but will accept no resolution that moves the statue.