New York
Man accused of randomly punching strangers is indicted on hate-crimes charges
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who was arrested in March on charges of randomly hitting a woman walking down a street in New York City has been indicted on hate crime charges for that assault and several others, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Skiboky Stora, 40, of Brooklyn, is charged with assaulting, stalking and harassing strangers in a series of anti-female, anti-white, and antisemitic incidents between September of 2023 and March of this year, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
The March 25, 2024 assault on a 23-year-old woman in the Chelsea neighborhood attracted wide attention after the victim posted about it on TikTok and several other people described similar attacks in social media posts.
The victim in that case fell to the ground and suffered pain and swelling on the left side of her head, Bragg said.
That attack came months after two other assaults in the same neighborhood, prosecutors said.
On Sept. 20, 2023, Stora elbowed a 17-year-old student in the neck and said, “You people think you can do whatever you want,” using a curse word, according to the indictment.
Then on Oct. 26 he elbowed a 37-year-old woman’s left shoulder, causing pain and bruising, prosecutors said.
And on Nov. 18, a husband and wife, both 28, were walking their dogs near Union Square when they saw Stora tearing down posters of Israeli hostages and stopped to take a photo, prosecutors said.
Noticing the couple looking at him, Stora followed them shouting anti-white and antisemitic threats and insults including, “Die, Jews, die!” according to the indictment.
Bragg said in a statement that Stora “allegedly committed a series of hate-motivated incidents against several individuals based on their perceived gender, race and religion.”
Stora was arraigned Tuesday on charges including assault as a hate crime and stalking as a hate crime.
He had been charged previously with assault in connection with several cases and pleaded not guilty.
He said outside the courtroom Tuesday, “They’re (trying to) indict me man...this guy Alvin Bragg he’s corrupted,” according to WNYW Fox 5.
Stora said authorities had “no probable cause” to arrest him, the TV station reported.
Stora is representing himself in court and has no attorney, the district attorney’s office said. His next court date is Aug. 6.
A message seeking comment on the charges against him was left on Stora’s Instagram page.
Minnesota
Appeals court orders new trial for man convicted of killing star student athlete
ST.. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday threw out the murder conviction and ordered a new trial for a man who allegedly shot and killed a 15-year-old Minneapolis high school student athlete who brushed shoulders with him on a sidewalk.
Cody Fohrenkam was convicted last year of second-degree murder and sentenced to 38 1/2 years in the February 2020 death of Deshaun Hill Jr., an honor roll student and star quarterback at North High School. Hill’s determination to escape poverty and build a better life for his family was highlighted in the 2023 Showtime miniseries “Boys in Blue.”
The Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court erred when it admitted statements that Fohrenkam made to investigators while he was in the Carlton County Jail after his arrest for an unrelated matter. Fohrenkam was handcuffed when the investigators questioned him about Hill’s death, even though it was over an hour after he was ordered to be released on the other matter. The appeals court said the state failed to meet its burden of showing that Fohrenkam’s detention was still lawful, so his incriminatory statements must be suppressed as the product of an unlawful seizure.
Prosecutors said Hill was walking to a bus stop after school when he barely brushed shoulders with Fohrenkam, who was looking for someone who had stolen his cellphone earlier in the day. Fohrenkam allegedly shot Hill in the back several times and fled.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it was “deeply disappointed” in the ruling, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. It has 30 days to decide whether to ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to review the case. Fohrenkam will remain in custody in the meantime.
Massachusetts
Evaluation requested for suspect charged in stabbings at movie theater, McDonald’s
A Massachusetts individual was arraigned Tuesday on multiple charges including assault with the intent to murder after six people, including four girls at a movie theater, were stabbed and wounded in separate attacks, officials said.
Jared Ravizza, 26, of Chilmark, a town on Martha’s Vineyard, also was being sought in connection with a homicide investigation in Connecticut, a prosecutor said in Plymouth District Court.
Ravizza was arraigned in connection with the stabbings of two employees at a McDonald’s in the town of Plymouth on Saturday. Ravizza was appointed a lawyer, who asked for a mental health evaluation. The judge agreed to that before deciding on a prosecutor’s motion that Ravizza be held without bail.
Ravizza was referred to as “he” in court by a prosecutor on Tuesday and on a professional website, but uses “she” on Instagram. Ravizza’s gender identity could not immediately be determined.
Also Tuesday, Ravizza was charged with eight counts of assault in connection with the stabbings of the four girls, ages 9 to 17, at the movie theater in Braintree on Saturday. Authorities said that attack occurred before Ravizza drove south to Plymouth, where the fast food workers were stabbed.
The prosecutor said that Ravizza entered the McDonald’s drive-thru Saturday night in a black Porsche, then briefly stepped out and publicly urinated. Ravizza moved up to the drive-thru window and became argumentative with a male employee. Ravizza allegedly lunged out the window of the car and stabbed the worker in the forearm with what appeared to be a long kitchen knife, the prosecutor said.
The employee said that Ravizza ordered food and yelled at him to “check the bag,” before paying for it, according to a police affidavit. The employee removed the items and put them back in the bag. He said Ravizza attempted to grab the bag, and then as the employee pulled it back, Ravizza took out a knife and stabbed him.
The prosecutor said Ravizza then parked his car, entered the McDonald’s and went behind the counter. Ravizza then allegedly stabbed a female employee in the back of her upper left arm. Both workers were taken to hospitals and are in stable condition.
Ravizza was apprehended following a police pursuit into the Cape Cod town of Sandwich. Ravizza crashed and the car became engulfed in flames, the prosecutor said.
In Braintree, police said a person entered the AMC Braintree 10 south of Boston about 6 p.m. Saturday and went into one of the theaters without paying.
The girls were inside the theater when the individual suddenly attacked them “without saying anything and without any warning” before running out, the Braintree Police Department said in a news release. The four girls were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
Video footage showed the suspect’s vehicle and a license plate, and that information was broadcast to law enforcement, police said.
A vehicle matching that description was later seen in Plymouth, about 27 miles (45 kilometers) south of Braintree. Police said it had left the McDonald’s, where the 21-year-old woman and the 29-year-old man were stabbed.
Ravizza was arrested in April on Martha’s Vineyard and charged with assault and battery on a family or household member, as well as vandalism, after allegedly attacking their father, according to court records, The Boston Globe reported.
Ravizza’s father told officers that Ravizza “had just had a mental break and attacked him” inside his home, according to the police report. Email and phone messages seeking comment were left with Ravizza’s father on Tuesday.
The newspaper reported that Ravizza was sent to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital for a mental health evaluation, but “did not meet their standards to be held,” the report said. The Edgartown case was sent to pretrial diversion.
Oregon
Wineries and vineyards seek $100 million from PacifiCorp for wildfire smoke damage to grapes
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Dozens of Oregon wineries and vineyards have sued PacifiCorp over the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state, alleging that the utility’s decision to not turn off power during the Labor Day windstorm contributed to blazes whose smoke and soot damaged their grapes and reduced their harvest and sales.
In the latest lawsuit to hit the utility over the fires, some 30 wineries and vineyards in the Willamette Valley accused PacifiCorp of negligence and requested over $100 million in damages. The suit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court last week.
In an emailed statement, PacifiCorp said it is “committed to settling all reasonable claims for damages as provided under Oregon law.”
“The safety of our customers and communities remains our top priority,” the statement said.
The wine producers named as plaintiffs in the suit are located in the Willamette Valley, home to two-thirds of Oregon wineries and vineyards and the oldest wine region in the state, according to the Oregon Wine Board.
In their complaint, the wine producers say the fires “produced harmful smoke particles that landed on and infused themselves into the grapes.”
Vineyards couldn’t sell their grapes to winemakers, and wineries have been unable to sell their wines, resulting in lost revenue and damaged reputations, the complaint says.
“Grapes and grape juice that are infused with smoke can carry the smoke compounds and smoke taste through the entire wine production, bottling process, and sale to the consumers,” the complaint said.
Despite paying “extraordinary costs” to try to cleanse the soot and smoke from their 2020 vintages, such efforts largely failed, according to the complaint.
Other Oregon wineries have also sued PacifiCorp in separate lawsuits that contain similar allegations and requests for economic damages.
In other cases that have gone to trial over the past year, Oregon juries in multiple verdicts have ordered PacifiCorp to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to victims. Ongoing litigation could leave it on the hook for billions.
Last June, a jury found PacifiCorp liable for negligently failing to cut power to its 600,000 customers despite warnings from top fire officials. The jury determined it acted negligently and willfully and should have to pay punitive and other damages — a decision that applied to a class including the owners of up to 2,500 properties.
Thousands of other class members are still awaiting trials, though the sides are also expected to engage in mediation that could lead to a settlement.
The 2020 Labor Day weekend fires were among the worst natural disasters in Oregon’s history, killing nine people, burning more than 1,875 square miles (4,856 square kilometers) and destroying upward of 5,000 homes and other
Man accused of randomly punching strangers is indicted on hate-crimes charges
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who was arrested in March on charges of randomly hitting a woman walking down a street in New York City has been indicted on hate crime charges for that assault and several others, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Skiboky Stora, 40, of Brooklyn, is charged with assaulting, stalking and harassing strangers in a series of anti-female, anti-white, and antisemitic incidents between September of 2023 and March of this year, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
The March 25, 2024 assault on a 23-year-old woman in the Chelsea neighborhood attracted wide attention after the victim posted about it on TikTok and several other people described similar attacks in social media posts.
The victim in that case fell to the ground and suffered pain and swelling on the left side of her head, Bragg said.
That attack came months after two other assaults in the same neighborhood, prosecutors said.
On Sept. 20, 2023, Stora elbowed a 17-year-old student in the neck and said, “You people think you can do whatever you want,” using a curse word, according to the indictment.
Then on Oct. 26 he elbowed a 37-year-old woman’s left shoulder, causing pain and bruising, prosecutors said.
And on Nov. 18, a husband and wife, both 28, were walking their dogs near Union Square when they saw Stora tearing down posters of Israeli hostages and stopped to take a photo, prosecutors said.
Noticing the couple looking at him, Stora followed them shouting anti-white and antisemitic threats and insults including, “Die, Jews, die!” according to the indictment.
Bragg said in a statement that Stora “allegedly committed a series of hate-motivated incidents against several individuals based on their perceived gender, race and religion.”
Stora was arraigned Tuesday on charges including assault as a hate crime and stalking as a hate crime.
He had been charged previously with assault in connection with several cases and pleaded not guilty.
He said outside the courtroom Tuesday, “They’re (trying to) indict me man...this guy Alvin Bragg he’s corrupted,” according to WNYW Fox 5.
Stora said authorities had “no probable cause” to arrest him, the TV station reported.
Stora is representing himself in court and has no attorney, the district attorney’s office said. His next court date is Aug. 6.
A message seeking comment on the charges against him was left on Stora’s Instagram page.
Minnesota
Appeals court orders new trial for man convicted of killing star student athlete
ST.. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday threw out the murder conviction and ordered a new trial for a man who allegedly shot and killed a 15-year-old Minneapolis high school student athlete who brushed shoulders with him on a sidewalk.
Cody Fohrenkam was convicted last year of second-degree murder and sentenced to 38 1/2 years in the February 2020 death of Deshaun Hill Jr., an honor roll student and star quarterback at North High School. Hill’s determination to escape poverty and build a better life for his family was highlighted in the 2023 Showtime miniseries “Boys in Blue.”
The Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court erred when it admitted statements that Fohrenkam made to investigators while he was in the Carlton County Jail after his arrest for an unrelated matter. Fohrenkam was handcuffed when the investigators questioned him about Hill’s death, even though it was over an hour after he was ordered to be released on the other matter. The appeals court said the state failed to meet its burden of showing that Fohrenkam’s detention was still lawful, so his incriminatory statements must be suppressed as the product of an unlawful seizure.
Prosecutors said Hill was walking to a bus stop after school when he barely brushed shoulders with Fohrenkam, who was looking for someone who had stolen his cellphone earlier in the day. Fohrenkam allegedly shot Hill in the back several times and fled.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it was “deeply disappointed” in the ruling, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. It has 30 days to decide whether to ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to review the case. Fohrenkam will remain in custody in the meantime.
Massachusetts
Evaluation requested for suspect charged in stabbings at movie theater, McDonald’s
A Massachusetts individual was arraigned Tuesday on multiple charges including assault with the intent to murder after six people, including four girls at a movie theater, were stabbed and wounded in separate attacks, officials said.
Jared Ravizza, 26, of Chilmark, a town on Martha’s Vineyard, also was being sought in connection with a homicide investigation in Connecticut, a prosecutor said in Plymouth District Court.
Ravizza was arraigned in connection with the stabbings of two employees at a McDonald’s in the town of Plymouth on Saturday. Ravizza was appointed a lawyer, who asked for a mental health evaluation. The judge agreed to that before deciding on a prosecutor’s motion that Ravizza be held without bail.
Ravizza was referred to as “he” in court by a prosecutor on Tuesday and on a professional website, but uses “she” on Instagram. Ravizza’s gender identity could not immediately be determined.
Also Tuesday, Ravizza was charged with eight counts of assault in connection with the stabbings of the four girls, ages 9 to 17, at the movie theater in Braintree on Saturday. Authorities said that attack occurred before Ravizza drove south to Plymouth, where the fast food workers were stabbed.
The prosecutor said that Ravizza entered the McDonald’s drive-thru Saturday night in a black Porsche, then briefly stepped out and publicly urinated. Ravizza moved up to the drive-thru window and became argumentative with a male employee. Ravizza allegedly lunged out the window of the car and stabbed the worker in the forearm with what appeared to be a long kitchen knife, the prosecutor said.
The employee said that Ravizza ordered food and yelled at him to “check the bag,” before paying for it, according to a police affidavit. The employee removed the items and put them back in the bag. He said Ravizza attempted to grab the bag, and then as the employee pulled it back, Ravizza took out a knife and stabbed him.
The prosecutor said Ravizza then parked his car, entered the McDonald’s and went behind the counter. Ravizza then allegedly stabbed a female employee in the back of her upper left arm. Both workers were taken to hospitals and are in stable condition.
Ravizza was apprehended following a police pursuit into the Cape Cod town of Sandwich. Ravizza crashed and the car became engulfed in flames, the prosecutor said.
In Braintree, police said a person entered the AMC Braintree 10 south of Boston about 6 p.m. Saturday and went into one of the theaters without paying.
The girls were inside the theater when the individual suddenly attacked them “without saying anything and without any warning” before running out, the Braintree Police Department said in a news release. The four girls were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
Video footage showed the suspect’s vehicle and a license plate, and that information was broadcast to law enforcement, police said.
A vehicle matching that description was later seen in Plymouth, about 27 miles (45 kilometers) south of Braintree. Police said it had left the McDonald’s, where the 21-year-old woman and the 29-year-old man were stabbed.
Ravizza was arrested in April on Martha’s Vineyard and charged with assault and battery on a family or household member, as well as vandalism, after allegedly attacking their father, according to court records, The Boston Globe reported.
Ravizza’s father told officers that Ravizza “had just had a mental break and attacked him” inside his home, according to the police report. Email and phone messages seeking comment were left with Ravizza’s father on Tuesday.
The newspaper reported that Ravizza was sent to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital for a mental health evaluation, but “did not meet their standards to be held,” the report said. The Edgartown case was sent to pretrial diversion.
Oregon
Wineries and vineyards seek $100 million from PacifiCorp for wildfire smoke damage to grapes
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Dozens of Oregon wineries and vineyards have sued PacifiCorp over the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state, alleging that the utility’s decision to not turn off power during the Labor Day windstorm contributed to blazes whose smoke and soot damaged their grapes and reduced their harvest and sales.
In the latest lawsuit to hit the utility over the fires, some 30 wineries and vineyards in the Willamette Valley accused PacifiCorp of negligence and requested over $100 million in damages. The suit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court last week.
In an emailed statement, PacifiCorp said it is “committed to settling all reasonable claims for damages as provided under Oregon law.”
“The safety of our customers and communities remains our top priority,” the statement said.
The wine producers named as plaintiffs in the suit are located in the Willamette Valley, home to two-thirds of Oregon wineries and vineyards and the oldest wine region in the state, according to the Oregon Wine Board.
In their complaint, the wine producers say the fires “produced harmful smoke particles that landed on and infused themselves into the grapes.”
Vineyards couldn’t sell their grapes to winemakers, and wineries have been unable to sell their wines, resulting in lost revenue and damaged reputations, the complaint says.
“Grapes and grape juice that are infused with smoke can carry the smoke compounds and smoke taste through the entire wine production, bottling process, and sale to the consumers,” the complaint said.
Despite paying “extraordinary costs” to try to cleanse the soot and smoke from their 2020 vintages, such efforts largely failed, according to the complaint.
Other Oregon wineries have also sued PacifiCorp in separate lawsuits that contain similar allegations and requests for economic damages.
In other cases that have gone to trial over the past year, Oregon juries in multiple verdicts have ordered PacifiCorp to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to victims. Ongoing litigation could leave it on the hook for billions.
Last June, a jury found PacifiCorp liable for negligently failing to cut power to its 600,000 customers despite warnings from top fire officials. The jury determined it acted negligently and willfully and should have to pay punitive and other damages — a decision that applied to a class including the owners of up to 2,500 properties.
Thousands of other class members are still awaiting trials, though the sides are also expected to engage in mediation that could lead to a settlement.
The 2020 Labor Day weekend fires were among the worst natural disasters in Oregon’s history, killing nine people, burning more than 1,875 square miles (4,856 square kilometers) and destroying upward of 5,000 homes and other
