Nevada
Two men face trial for allegedly damaging ancient rock formations at Lake Mead recreation area
LAS VEGAS (AP) — An Oct. 8 trial date has been set for two Nevada men accused of damaging rock formations estimated to be 140 million years old at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
A federal indictment charged Wyatt Clifford Fain, 37, and Payden David Guy Cosper, 31, with one count of injury and depredation of government property and one count of aiding and abetting. The U.S. Department of Justice said the men could each face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The two Henderson residents were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and made their first court appearance Friday, at which they both pleaded innocent and were released on a personal recognizance bod, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Authorities said Fain and Cosper allegedly pushed rock formations over a cliff edge around Redstone Dunes Trail at Lake Mead on April 7, resulting in damages of more than $1,000.
The Lake Mead National Recreation Area just outside of Las Vegas draws around 6 million visitors every year and spans 2,344 square miles (6,071 square kilometers) of mountains and desert canyons.
Authorities said staffing levels mean park officials often rely on the public to also keep watch over resources within park boundaries.
New York
Man charged with stealing sword, bullhorn from Coach Rick Pitino’s office
NEW YORK (AP) — A 25-year-old man has been arrested for stealing a ceremonial sword and bullhorn from Coach Rick Pitino’ s office at St. John’s University, New York City police said Saturday.
Emanuel Yakubov was arrested Friday, one day after police released surveillance footage showing two men walking down a hallway in the building, with one carrying the stolen sword and the other holding the bullhorn.
Yakubov, who lives in Queens where the Catholic institution is located, was charged with burglary, petit larceny, trespassing and possession of stolen property, police said. He remained in custody Saturday. It was unknown whether he had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.
Police said the theft happened Tuesday night when two people gained entry to the university athletics department offices “without authorization” and removed a number of items before fleeing on a moped.
The second suspect was still at large Saturday, police said.
“St. John’s University is grateful for the rapid response made by the NYPD and the recovery of stolen property,” university spokesperson Brian Browne said in a statement. “The safety and security of our campus community are essential, and our cooperative relationship with law enforcement helps ensure that.”
Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Pitino, a Hall of Fame coach, was hired by St. John’s last year with the hopes of restoring a once storied Big East program that had its heyday in the 1980s.
Washington
Suspect charged with murder and animal cruelty in fatal carjacking of dog walker, 80
SEATTLE (AP) — A man accused of carjacking a beloved 80-year-old Seattle dog walker, running her over and later stabbing her dog to death has been charged with murder and animal cruelty.
Jahmed Kamal Haynes, 48, was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree assault and first-degree animal cruelty, according to a document filed with the court. Prosecutors asked that he be held in the jail without bail and the judge agreed. Haynes is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 5.
It was not immediately known if Haynes had a lawyer or would be assigned one by the King County Public Defense office. Officials say they don’t believe Haynes knew Dalton.
Ruth Dalton was parked on the side of the road in Seattle’s Madison Valley neighborhood at about 10 a.m. Tuesday when Haynes got into the passenger side, prosecutors said. Dalton started to drive away while Haynes tried to take control of the vehicle, they said. He pushed her out and onto the road, backed into several parked cars before driving over her as he fled the scene, prosecutors said.
Several bystanders tried to intervene, one carrying a bat or stick, but Haynes threatened them with a knife, prosecutors said. After he left, the witnesses attempted life-saving measures but Dalton died at the scene.
After leaving the neighborhood, Haynes stabbed Dalton’s dog to death in a park, prosecutors said.
“The sheer brutality of the defendant’s actions that morning was only further demonstrated by how he disposed of evidence of his crimes: disposing of Dalton’s dog in a recycling bin and destroying Dalton’s phone,” Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brent Kling said in his request for a no-bail hold.
Seattle police identified the suspect after someone reported that a man was hurting a dog in the park. Officers responded and found Dalton’s car nearby and were able to get fingerprints from her cellphone, Seattle police Deputy Chief Eric Barden said during a press conference Wednesday.
When police arrested Haynes near his home, he was carrying a knife that had blood on it and the keys to Dalton’s Subaru, Barden said.
Haynes has an extensive and violent criminal history, prosecutors argued when asked that he be held without bail.
He was convicted of vehicular homicide in 1993 for driving recklessly down Seattle streets and on to a sidewalk, crashing into several vehicles and killing a driver. After serving his sentence, he was convicted in 1999 of robbing a Safeway store using a BB gun and vehicle theft, Kling said.
While in prison for those crimes, he attacked two corrections officers in 2003 using a 12-inch (30.5-centimeter) piece of metal that had been sharpened to a dull point, Kling said.
“In short, the level of violence the defendant has shown he is capable of, not only within the day the presently charged crimes were committed, but over the course of the last 30 years demonstrates a propensity for violence that conclusively shows that he is a danger to the community,” Kling said.
The judge agreed.
Alabama
Man pleads guilty to detonating makeshift bomb outside AG’s office
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man pleaded guilty to detonating an explosive device outside of the state attorney general’s office, federal prosecutors said on Friday.
Kyle Benjamin Douglas Calvert constructed the bomb out of nails, firecrackers and screws, and then set it off outside of Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office in downtown Montgomery in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 24, according to a complaint filed by prosecutors. No people were hurt, and nearby buildings were not damaged.
The bomb was not discovered until Monday, Feb. 26, according to a statement from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Law enforcement arrested Calvert two weeks later.
“Public servants should never be targeted for doing their jobs,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “The Justice Department will not tolerate such conduct, and we will use every resource at our disposal to prevent these attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.”
Calvert, 26, pleaded guilty in federal court to the malicious use of an explosive device. Calvert faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison with no possibility of parole.
Calvert’s federal defenders declined to comment to an email sent on Friday.
Prosecutors said that Calvert had placed stickers reflecting a wide range of political ideologies around the area, some of which included the phrase, “Support your local antifa.” But the plea deal Calvert signed said that he does not have any “affiliation with antifa,” prosecutors said.
Calvert’s sentencing hearing will be scheduled for the coming months.
New York
Federal lawsuit challenges mask ban in suburban county, claims law is discriminatory
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A disability rights organization is challenging a suburban New York ban on wearing masks in public except for health and religious reasons, arguing it is unconstitutional and discriminates against people with disabilities.
The federal class action lawsuit, filed by Disability Rights of New York on behalf of individuals with disabilities, seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to immediately stop enforcement of Nassau County’s Mask Transparency Act.
“This mask ban poses a direct threat to public health and discriminates against people with disabilities.” Timothy A. Clune, executive director of the rights organization, said in a statement. The lawsuit includes two plaintiffs with various health conditions and who wear medical-grade face masks to protect themselves, noting they are now fearful of being harassed and possibly arrested because of the new mandate.
“While in public and private places, strangers have come up to G.B. since August 5, 2024, to ask them if they are sick, if they are healthy or not, and to ask why they are wearing a facemask,” according to the lawsuit, referring to one of the plaintiffs by their initials and to the date when the Nassau County Legislature passed the local bill.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, said G.B., a resident of Nassau County for 24 years, has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and asthma and uses a wheelchair for mobility.
“G.B. fears that they will be arrested just for wearing a facemask for their health because there is no standard for the police to follow to decide if they meet the health exception or not,” according to the lawsuit. “G.B. is also concerned that they will be harassed, discriminated against, or even assaulted by people, including business owners and employees, in Nassau County for just going about their day with a mask on.”
In a written statement, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican who signed the bill into law on Aug. 14, said county officials are “confident that the law will be upheld as there is a presumption of constitutionality when the legislature acts, and this legislation is reasonable and responsible.”
When the county’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved the ban on face coverings, legislator Howard Kopel said lawmakers were responding to “antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks” since the Oct. 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war.
The law makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine for anyone in Nassau to wear a face covering to hide their identity in public. It exempts people who wear masks “for health, safety, religious or cultural purposes, or for the peaceful celebration of a holiday or similar religious or cultural event for which masks or facial coverings are customarily worn.”
Blakeman has said that while mask-wearing campus protesters were the impetus for the ban, he sees the new law as a tool to fight everyday crime as well.
“This is a broad public safety measure,” Blakeman said at a news conference. “What we’ve seen is people using masks to shoplift, to carjack, to rob banks, and this is activity we want to stop.”
Two men face trial for allegedly damaging ancient rock formations at Lake Mead recreation area
LAS VEGAS (AP) — An Oct. 8 trial date has been set for two Nevada men accused of damaging rock formations estimated to be 140 million years old at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
A federal indictment charged Wyatt Clifford Fain, 37, and Payden David Guy Cosper, 31, with one count of injury and depredation of government property and one count of aiding and abetting. The U.S. Department of Justice said the men could each face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The two Henderson residents were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and made their first court appearance Friday, at which they both pleaded innocent and were released on a personal recognizance bod, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Authorities said Fain and Cosper allegedly pushed rock formations over a cliff edge around Redstone Dunes Trail at Lake Mead on April 7, resulting in damages of more than $1,000.
The Lake Mead National Recreation Area just outside of Las Vegas draws around 6 million visitors every year and spans 2,344 square miles (6,071 square kilometers) of mountains and desert canyons.
Authorities said staffing levels mean park officials often rely on the public to also keep watch over resources within park boundaries.
New York
Man charged with stealing sword, bullhorn from Coach Rick Pitino’s office
NEW YORK (AP) — A 25-year-old man has been arrested for stealing a ceremonial sword and bullhorn from Coach Rick Pitino’ s office at St. John’s University, New York City police said Saturday.
Emanuel Yakubov was arrested Friday, one day after police released surveillance footage showing two men walking down a hallway in the building, with one carrying the stolen sword and the other holding the bullhorn.
Yakubov, who lives in Queens where the Catholic institution is located, was charged with burglary, petit larceny, trespassing and possession of stolen property, police said. He remained in custody Saturday. It was unknown whether he had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.
Police said the theft happened Tuesday night when two people gained entry to the university athletics department offices “without authorization” and removed a number of items before fleeing on a moped.
The second suspect was still at large Saturday, police said.
“St. John’s University is grateful for the rapid response made by the NYPD and the recovery of stolen property,” university spokesperson Brian Browne said in a statement. “The safety and security of our campus community are essential, and our cooperative relationship with law enforcement helps ensure that.”
Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Pitino, a Hall of Fame coach, was hired by St. John’s last year with the hopes of restoring a once storied Big East program that had its heyday in the 1980s.
Washington
Suspect charged with murder and animal cruelty in fatal carjacking of dog walker, 80
SEATTLE (AP) — A man accused of carjacking a beloved 80-year-old Seattle dog walker, running her over and later stabbing her dog to death has been charged with murder and animal cruelty.
Jahmed Kamal Haynes, 48, was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree assault and first-degree animal cruelty, according to a document filed with the court. Prosecutors asked that he be held in the jail without bail and the judge agreed. Haynes is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 5.
It was not immediately known if Haynes had a lawyer or would be assigned one by the King County Public Defense office. Officials say they don’t believe Haynes knew Dalton.
Ruth Dalton was parked on the side of the road in Seattle’s Madison Valley neighborhood at about 10 a.m. Tuesday when Haynes got into the passenger side, prosecutors said. Dalton started to drive away while Haynes tried to take control of the vehicle, they said. He pushed her out and onto the road, backed into several parked cars before driving over her as he fled the scene, prosecutors said.
Several bystanders tried to intervene, one carrying a bat or stick, but Haynes threatened them with a knife, prosecutors said. After he left, the witnesses attempted life-saving measures but Dalton died at the scene.
After leaving the neighborhood, Haynes stabbed Dalton’s dog to death in a park, prosecutors said.
“The sheer brutality of the defendant’s actions that morning was only further demonstrated by how he disposed of evidence of his crimes: disposing of Dalton’s dog in a recycling bin and destroying Dalton’s phone,” Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brent Kling said in his request for a no-bail hold.
Seattle police identified the suspect after someone reported that a man was hurting a dog in the park. Officers responded and found Dalton’s car nearby and were able to get fingerprints from her cellphone, Seattle police Deputy Chief Eric Barden said during a press conference Wednesday.
When police arrested Haynes near his home, he was carrying a knife that had blood on it and the keys to Dalton’s Subaru, Barden said.
Haynes has an extensive and violent criminal history, prosecutors argued when asked that he be held without bail.
He was convicted of vehicular homicide in 1993 for driving recklessly down Seattle streets and on to a sidewalk, crashing into several vehicles and killing a driver. After serving his sentence, he was convicted in 1999 of robbing a Safeway store using a BB gun and vehicle theft, Kling said.
While in prison for those crimes, he attacked two corrections officers in 2003 using a 12-inch (30.5-centimeter) piece of metal that had been sharpened to a dull point, Kling said.
“In short, the level of violence the defendant has shown he is capable of, not only within the day the presently charged crimes were committed, but over the course of the last 30 years demonstrates a propensity for violence that conclusively shows that he is a danger to the community,” Kling said.
The judge agreed.
Alabama
Man pleads guilty to detonating makeshift bomb outside AG’s office
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man pleaded guilty to detonating an explosive device outside of the state attorney general’s office, federal prosecutors said on Friday.
Kyle Benjamin Douglas Calvert constructed the bomb out of nails, firecrackers and screws, and then set it off outside of Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office in downtown Montgomery in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 24, according to a complaint filed by prosecutors. No people were hurt, and nearby buildings were not damaged.
The bomb was not discovered until Monday, Feb. 26, according to a statement from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Law enforcement arrested Calvert two weeks later.
“Public servants should never be targeted for doing their jobs,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “The Justice Department will not tolerate such conduct, and we will use every resource at our disposal to prevent these attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.”
Calvert, 26, pleaded guilty in federal court to the malicious use of an explosive device. Calvert faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison with no possibility of parole.
Calvert’s federal defenders declined to comment to an email sent on Friday.
Prosecutors said that Calvert had placed stickers reflecting a wide range of political ideologies around the area, some of which included the phrase, “Support your local antifa.” But the plea deal Calvert signed said that he does not have any “affiliation with antifa,” prosecutors said.
Calvert’s sentencing hearing will be scheduled for the coming months.
New York
Federal lawsuit challenges mask ban in suburban county, claims law is discriminatory
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A disability rights organization is challenging a suburban New York ban on wearing masks in public except for health and religious reasons, arguing it is unconstitutional and discriminates against people with disabilities.
The federal class action lawsuit, filed by Disability Rights of New York on behalf of individuals with disabilities, seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to immediately stop enforcement of Nassau County’s Mask Transparency Act.
“This mask ban poses a direct threat to public health and discriminates against people with disabilities.” Timothy A. Clune, executive director of the rights organization, said in a statement. The lawsuit includes two plaintiffs with various health conditions and who wear medical-grade face masks to protect themselves, noting they are now fearful of being harassed and possibly arrested because of the new mandate.
“While in public and private places, strangers have come up to G.B. since August 5, 2024, to ask them if they are sick, if they are healthy or not, and to ask why they are wearing a facemask,” according to the lawsuit, referring to one of the plaintiffs by their initials and to the date when the Nassau County Legislature passed the local bill.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, said G.B., a resident of Nassau County for 24 years, has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and asthma and uses a wheelchair for mobility.
“G.B. fears that they will be arrested just for wearing a facemask for their health because there is no standard for the police to follow to decide if they meet the health exception or not,” according to the lawsuit. “G.B. is also concerned that they will be harassed, discriminated against, or even assaulted by people, including business owners and employees, in Nassau County for just going about their day with a mask on.”
In a written statement, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican who signed the bill into law on Aug. 14, said county officials are “confident that the law will be upheld as there is a presumption of constitutionality when the legislature acts, and this legislation is reasonable and responsible.”
When the county’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved the ban on face coverings, legislator Howard Kopel said lawmakers were responding to “antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks” since the Oct. 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war.
The law makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine for anyone in Nassau to wear a face covering to hide their identity in public. It exempts people who wear masks “for health, safety, religious or cultural purposes, or for the peaceful celebration of a holiday or similar religious or cultural event for which masks or facial coverings are customarily worn.”
Blakeman has said that while mask-wearing campus protesters were the impetus for the ban, he sees the new law as a tool to fight everyday crime as well.
“This is a broad public safety measure,” Blakeman said at a news conference. “What we’ve seen is people using masks to shoplift, to carjack, to rob banks, and this is activity we want to stop.”
