(SANTA NELLA, Calif.) — A woman was arrested after leaving over 100 cats inside a U-Haul in a Southern California parking lot, according to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.
Jeannie Maxon, 69, was arrested on Sunday after deputies were dispatched to a parking lot of a Taco Bell in Santa Nella, California, to “check on the welfare of several cats in a U-Haul van,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on Monday.
Once on the scene, the deputy observed “at least 20 cats in distress” through the window of the vehicle, officials said.
Animal control then responded to the scene and located 106 “extremely emaciated cats, as well as 28 deceased cats” in the vehicle without food or water, officials said.
Photos from the scene show the felines pressed against the front windshield of the van, with others found in cardboard boxes inside the vehicle.
All of the cats — which ranged from one week to 8 years old — were seized and taken to the Merced County Animal Shelter, officials said.
Once the cats are medically cleared by veterinary staff, they will be available for adoption, officials said.
Maxon, who is from Long Beach, California, was charged with 93 counts of animal cruelty and booked into the Merced County Jail.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation remains active and they will provide updates regarding the adoption process of the cats.
Officials reminded the public of the dangers of keeping an animal inside an unattended vehicle, especially on a summer day.
“On a warm day, temperatures inside a car can soar to extreme levels in just a few minutes, even with the windows open. Please ensure that when you’re traveling with your pet, they’re provided with a cool place to stay, offering plenty of shade, lots of water and food,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
It is unclear whether Maxon remains in custody as of Tuesday or whether she has an attorney that can speak on her behalf.
(WILMINGTON, Del.) — A severe thunderstorm turned deadly Monday night in Wilmington, Delaware, when a falling tree killed a 79-year-old woman riding in a car, Delaware State Police said.
Meteorologists warn the storm marks the beginning of a dangerous weather pattern along the Eastern Seaboard.
The crash happened about 10:08 p.m. on Lancaster Pike when the storm caused a tree to fall into the path of an SUV, according to state police. The driver, a 79-year-old man from Newark, Delaware, tried to swerve but couldn’t avoid the collision, police said.
The driver was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, but his female passenger, also from Newark, died at the scene, police said. Authorities are withholding the victim’s name until relatives are notified.
The incident came as powerful storms swept through the region, part of a broader weather system that continues to threaten more than 30 million Americans along the I-95 corridor.
The National Weather Service reported a weak tornado touched down near Omar, Delaware, on Monday afternoon, damaging only a small patch of trees.
The dangerous weather pattern intensified early Tuesday when southeastern Pennsylvania declared a flash flood emergency after 4 to 6 inches of rain fell in 10 hours.
Multiple water rescues were required in the Pennsylvania counties of Lancaster and Lebanon, particularly near Mount Joy and Manheim.
The severe weather threat is ramping back up Tuesday, with damaging winds and flash flooding remaining the primary concerns.
The threat zone spans from central Virginia to New York City, including major metropolitan areas like Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
The storms are causing significant travel disruptions. As of 11:10 a.m. Tuesday, airlines canceled 623 flights nationwide, with more cancellations expected throughout the afternoon.
Officials warn that ground stops and delays are likely at major airports along the I-95 corridor, particularly in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York.
Delaware State Police continue to investigate Monday night’s fatal crash and urge witnesses to contact the department or Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-847-3333.
For those affected by the tragedy, the Delaware State Police Victim Services Unit offers 24-hour support through their hotline: 1-800-VICTIM-1 (1-800-842-8461).
(NEW YORK) — A lone wolf actor poses the biggest threat to Fourth of July celebrations in New York and San Francisco, according to multiple intelligence bulletins obtained by ABC News.
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are concerned about the potential for copycat attacks from the New Orleans terror attack on New Year’s Day, as well as homegrown extremists.
“We are concerned about the potential threat of copycat attacks inspired by the 2025 New Year’s Day vehicle-ramming attack in New Orleans and continued [foreign terrorist organizations] messaging calling for attacks against Western targets,” both bulletins say.
Those who could be inspired by terrorist organizations who are in the U.S., are of concern for law enforcement, according to the bulletins.
In New York, officials are concerned about individuals “motivated by a broad range of racial, ethnic, political, religious, anti-government, societal, or personal grievances.”
“Of these actors, US-based violent extremists supporting FTOs and [Domestic violent extremists] not linked to FTOs represent two of the most persistent threats,” the bulletins say. “Lone offenders, in particular, remain a concern due to their ability to often avoid detection until operational and to inflict significant casualties.”
In San Francisco, “malicious actors, including violent extremists and criminals, could potentially exploit or target First Amendment-protected demonstrations via mass casualty or opportunistic attacks; dangerous, destructive, or disruptive activity; or other criminal disruptions, as we have seen with other events in the past,” according to DHS.
“We remain concerned that these malicious actors and violent extremists may attempt to create public safety hazards using weapons, chemical irritants, bodily fluids, or other hazardous materials, and enter and disrupt designated event areas that are closed to public access,” say both bulletins dated June 23, 2025.
Authorities are also concerned about drones, which may pose a danger to participants, attendees and law enforcement, authorities say.
The conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas is also of concern, and authorities cite last month’s Molotov cocktail attack in Boulder, Colorado, and bias against the Jewish community as an indicator.
“Individuals with grievances linked to the conflict could also perceive large gatherings, such as Independence Day celebrations, as opportunistic targets symbolic of the West in general,” according to the law enforcement bulletins.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, who has promoted Trump-branded sneakers, guitars, coins and watches, on Monday announced a new addition to his personal line of merchandise.
The latest product to bear the president’s name is “Trump Fragrances,” Trump-branded perfume and cologne that costs $249.
The fragrances, called “Victory 45-47” are “all about Winning, Strength, and Success,” Trump wrote on social media Monday evening.
The new offerings join a list of Trump-branded products that includes the $69.99 “God Bless the USA” Bible and $299 “Trump Landslide” boots.
Trump earlier promoted a “Fight! Fight! Fight!” fragrance collection, launched in December, that costs $199.
According to a financial disclosure report released in June, Trump last year made $2.5 million from Trump sneakers and fragrances.
Trump’s business assets are held by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which is controlled by his son, Donald Trump Jr., but government watchdog groups have nonetheless expressed concern about how Trump may be using his position as president to generate personal profits.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in May that Trump is abiding by all applicable conflict-of-interest laws.
“I think everybody, the American public, believe it’s absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency,” she said. “This president was incredibly successful before giving it all up to serve our country publicly.”
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous and Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The father of University of Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves is blasting the plea deal offered to Bryan Kohberger, accusing the prosecutors of mishandling and rushing the deal.
“We were not prepared for this — we had no idea that this was going to happen,” Steve Goncalves told ABC News hours after the plea deal was announced.
Kohberger — who was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022 killings of roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin — will be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count, according to the plea agreement.
The plea comes just weeks before Kohberger’s trial was set to begin. Opening arguments were scheduled for Aug 18.
In advance of Kohberger’s acceptance of the proposed deal, prosecutors met late last week with some of the victims’ relatives and got their input on whether such a plea deal should be proposed to the defense team, sources told ABC News.
Steve Goncalves told ABC News the subject of a possible plea deal was first broached at the end of their Friday meeting.
“Up until that point, we had never even considered it,” he said. “It was described to me as, like, due diligence. We’re going to, like, look at this option, see if it could fit.”
“At the least, justice starts with an interview of the families to ask them what justice is. And we didn’t get that,” he said.
Over the weekend, Latah County prosecutors said in a letter to the families that they were planning to make an offer that would take the death penalty off the table in exchange for guilty pleas to all four murders and an agreement to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the letter reviewed by ABC News. Idaho law requires the state to afford violent crime victims or their families an opportunity to communicate with prosecutors and to be advised of any proposed plea offer before entering into an agreement, but the ultimate decision lies solely with the prosecution.
In explaining their decision to make the offer, the prosecutors cited the risks of going to trial even in a case where the state was confident in the strength of its evidence. Among those concerns were a mistrial, a hung jury or the potential for an acquittal. The state also referenced the heavy toll a monthslong trial could impose on the families as well as the possibility of lengthy appeals even if Kohberger were to be convicted and sentenced to death, according to the letter reviewed by ABC News.
But Steve Goncalves slammed the prosecutors for being willing to negotiate with Kohberger.
“We can’t just let people come from other states and come in here and kill our kids while they’re sleeping, getting an education, and then just negotiate with those types of people,” he said. “It’s sad, it’s disgusting, and I can’t pretend like I feel like this is justice.”
The prosecutors acknowledged that some of the family members may disagree with resolving the case via a plea deal, but contended that the most realistic path to closure is through the entry of guilty pleas. On Monday, prosecutors sent another letter to the families informing them that Kohberger had accepted the proposed terms of the deal and would enter guilty pleas at a change of plea hearing on Wednesday.
“All of a sudden,” Steve Goncalves said, “the trial’s over. Two-and-a-half years of your life is over.” “It’s the opposite of what we wanted and it’s the opposite of the majority of what the families wanted,” he said.
The Goncalves family is also frustrated with how little time they were afforded to mentally prepare — and make travel arrangements — for Kohberger’s Wednesday hearing.
“A miracle has to happen in 24 hours for me to get justice,” Steve Goncalves said.
In Monday’s letter to the families, prosecutors called the deal a “sincere attempt to seek justice for your family.”
“Your viewpoints weighed heavily in our decision-making process, and we hope that you may come to appreciate why we believe this resolution is in the best interest of justice,” prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors anticipate sentencing to take place in late July, as long as Kohberger enters the guilty plea as expected on Wednesday, according to the letter.
As a part of the deal, Kohberger — a Pennsylvania native who was a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University at the time of the crimes — will waive all right to appeal, the agreement said. The state also will seek restitution for the victims and their families for funeral expenses and crime victims compensation reimbursement, according to the agreement.
(CHEROKEE COUNTY, N.C.) — A North Carolina detention officer was fatally shot during a “scuffle” at a medical facility after a federal inmate who had been taken to the facility for treatment managed to seize his weapon, authorities said.
The inmate was apprehended after fleeing in a stolen vehicle and now faces a murder charge, according to Cherokee County Sheriff Dustin Smith.
“This has probably been one of the worst days of my career,” Smith said during a press briefing Monday evening. “This is a tough day for law enforcement for Cherokee County.”
The inmate — identified as 48-year-old Kelvin Simmons — had been transported to a medical facility for orthopedic treatment after he complained of foot pain, according to Smith.
Two detention officers were escorting Simmons — a heightened protocol after the inmate had previously attempted a failed escape from the Cherokee County detention center last year, Smith said.
One of the officers, 56-year-old Francisco Flattes, was shot at the medical facility, the sheriff said.
“There was a scuffle, and that’s when the officer’s weapon was taken from him,” Smith said.
Flattes was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The other officer, George Feinauer, was injured during the incident but is expected to recover, Smith said.
Simmons is then accused of carjacking a vehicle from someone who was at the medical facility and fleeing the scene. He was later apprehended in Macon County, North Carolina. No one else was in the vehicle. He was transported to a hospital in the area after complaining of foot pain, the sheriff said.
Simmons is a federal inmate who was being housed in Cherokee County on bank robbery charges, according to Smith. Online records show he pleaded guilty to bank robbery by force or violence and motor vehicle theft in 2023 but has not yet been sentenced.
Simmons also faces escape charges after attempting to break out of the Cherokee County detention center in October 2024 by climbing over a fence, according to Smith.
He is going to be charged with first-degree murder in Flattes’ death, according to the local district attorney, Ashley Hornsby Welch.
“We anticipate that more charges will be forthcoming,” she said at the briefing. “We’ve also been in contact with the United States Attorney’s Office, and I do believe that charges are likely coming from them as well.”
Flattes had been with the sheriff’s office for four years, Smith said. His wife also works for the Cherokee County detention center and his son-in-law works for the sheriff’s office.
“I just ask that you pray for our office, for Officer Flattes’ family,” Smith said.
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump campaigned for president on the promise of mass deportations that targeted criminals — and while ICE agents have arrested over 38,000 migrants with criminal convictions, new data shows a recent shift toward also arresting those who have not been accused of crimes.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has arrested an increasing number of migrants with no criminal convictions, according to an ABC News analysis of Immigration and Customs Enforcement data.
The numbers, which were obtained through a public records lawsuit and released by the Deportation Data Project at the University of California Berkeley, give the first real glimpse of how Trump’s immigration enforcement policy is playing out in the streets.Over the first five months of the Trump administration, ICE has arrested over 95,000 individuals, according to data analyzed by ABC’s owned television stations’ data team.
At the start of the administration, ICE tended to target migrants with pending or criminal convictions. From Inauguration Day to May 4, 2025, 44% of those arrested had a criminal conviction, while 34% of those arrested had pending charges and 23% had no criminal history, according to the data.
But beginning May 25, the data appears to show there was a shift in enforcement — with individuals with criminal convictions making up only 30% of those arrested. Those arrested with pending criminal charges accounted for 26% of the individuals arrested and 44% had no criminal history.
“It looks like there’s been a shift from about Memorial Day this year up until now, to an increasing number of people who have been detained who have no criminal charges,” said Austin Kocher, a professor at Syracuse University who reviewed the data.
“We hear a lot about the administration deporting the worst of the worst. And as far as we can tell from all available data up to this point, the data has not really supported that,” Kocher said.
The data is largely divided into three groups of individuals: those who have criminal convictions, those with pending charges, and those who may be facing civil immigration charges, labeled as “other immigration violators.” However, the data provides no indication of what kind of crimes the individuals may be accused or convicted of.
In Los Angeles, where ICE raids recently sparked large demonstrations, and in the New York City area, almost 60% of those arrested by ICE in the first ten days of June had no criminal convictions nor any pending criminal charges, according to the data.
Asked about the shift, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told ABC News, “We are not going to disclose law enforcement sensitive intelligence and methods. 70% of the arrests ICE made were of criminal illegal aliens.”
“We are continuing to go after the worst of the worst — including gang members, pedophiles, and rapists,” McLaughlin said. “Under Secretary [Kristi] Noem, we are delivering on President Trump’s and the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and make America safe.”
The majority of administration’s migrant arrests have taken place in Texas, the state with the longest southern border. But the data also shows that enforcement has largely shifted away from apprehensions at the southern border to apprehensions in the interior of the country.
John Sandweg, the former acting director of ICE under President Barack Obama, told ABC News that the shift in enforcement is not a surprise, considering that illegal border crossings are down dramatically.
“For the last probably 15 years at least, the majority of ICE arrests, people booked into ICE custody or ICE apprehensions, were individuals apprehended at the border. But now, the administration is very sensitive to the numbers and has started putting ICE under pressure,” Sandweg said, referring to Trump’s call for more migrants to be deported.
“The problem is that you are now engaged in operations that are, frankly, more likely to find non-criminals than criminals,” Sandweg said.
As ABC News previously reported, ICE’s latest tactic has been arresting individuals at immigration courts. In most cases, when a deportation case is dismissed, it is a positive outcome for a migrant, attorneys told ABC News — but according to immigration attorneys and advocates, immigration enforcement officers have been waiting in immigration court buildings and coordinating with DHS lawyers to arrest migrants promptly after their cases are dismissed, after which the migrants are placed into expedited removal proceedings without allowing them to fight their case.
“If there’s anything that says this isn’t about serious criminal enforcement, it’s this wholesale dismissal of cases of the people who are showing up in immigration court,” Sandweg said. “I mean, you want to find the place where you’re least likely to find dangerous criminals — it’s the people who show up for their immigration court hearings.”
Sandweg said these new types of enforcement, including courthouse arrests, are being made in an effort to achieve quotas set by the Trump administration.
“It’s another way to just quickly make some arrests,” Sandweg said.
The administration, meanwhile, says it’s continuing its efforts to target accused criminals.
At a press conference on Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal authorities have arrested 2,711 alleged multinational gang members since Trump re-took office in January.
“You should all feel safer that President Trump can deport all of these gangs and not one district court judge can think they’re emperor over this Trump administration and his executive powers,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Monday charged four North Koreans in a brazen scam to pose as IT workers with stolen credentials and use them to get hired by U.S.-based companies and scam those companies out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju and Chang Nam Il are all allegedly “citizens of North Korea who used stolen and false personally identifiable information to pose as non-North Koreans and thereby obtain employment with technology companies, gain victim companies’ trust, obtain access to virtual currency assets controlled by victim companies, steal those virtual currency assets, and launder the proceeds of that activity.”
Federal authorities in Atlanta, Georgia said that the four allegedly stole $900,000 in cryptocurrency from one company, according to prosecutors, and the scheme has been ongoing since at least 2020.
In one instance, a U.S. company hired who they thought was Malaysian IT worker “Bryan Cho,” but in reality they hired Jong Pong Ju, who was a North Korean bad actor, according to the Justice Department.
Hiring “Byran Cho” also allowed for other North Koreans to be brought into the fold, including Chang Nam Il, the department said.
“On or about March 29, 2022, defendant KIM KW ANG JIN, without Company-1’s knowledge or consent, modified the source code for two smart contracts owned and controlled by Company-1 that resided on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains. Defendant KIM KW ANG JIN’ s modifications to these smart contracts changed the rules governing the withdrawal of virtual currency from two funding pools controlled by Company-1,” the court record says.
The four are not in the U.S., the department noted.
In total, the Justice Department seized 29 known or suspected “laptop farms” across 16 states, and seized 29 financial accounts used to launder illicit funds and 21 fraudulent websites, and charged four North Korean nationals, six Chinese nationals and two Taiwanese nationals for their involvement in separate information technology worker schemes, DOJ officials told reporters on a call with reporters on Monday.
In Massachusetts, the Justice Department alleges that nine more North Koreans posed as IT workers and were able to cause $3 million in losses from more than 100 U.S. companies, including some Fortune 500 companies over a four-year period, as well as steal “export controls and US military technology off the company’s network,” the official said.
Kejia Wang, a U.S. citizen, worked with others abroad to “to facilitate the criminal schemes” alleged by the Justice Department. According to senior DOJ officials, Wang was arrested on Monday.
Similar to the case unsealed earlier today in Georgia, workers posing as tech workers used fraudulent identification cards to dupe U.S. companies., according to the department.
Authorities said that it is not only profitable for the North Koreans, but they attempt to steal U.S. secrets as well.
“These schemes target and steal from U.S. companies and are designed to evade sanctions and fund the North Korean regime’s illicit programs, including its weapons programs,” John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s National Security Division, said in a release. “The Justice Department, along with our law enforcement, private sector, and international partners, will persistently pursue and dismantle these cyber-enabled revenue generation networks.”
(BOULDER, Colo.) — An 82-year-old woman hurt in the Molotov cocktail attack in Boulder, Colorado, has died, prosecutors announced, as they updated an attempted murder charge to a murder charge.
Karen Diamond “died tragically as a result of the severe injuries that she suffered” on June 1, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office said.
She is the only person to die from the attack, prosecutors said.
“Our hearts are with the Diamond family during this incredibly difficult time,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in a statement. “Our office will fight for justice for the victims, their loved ones, and the community.”
The district attorney’s office also said it has found 14 more victims during the investigation and added 66 counts to the state indictment against Mohamed Soliman.
On June 1, Soliman allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a group of marchers who were advocating for the release of the Israeli hostages outside the Boulder courthouse, prosecutors said. More than a dozen people were injured, officials said.
Soliman allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack, which he told police he was planning for one year, according to court documents.
Soliman allegedly told police “he wanted to kill all Zionist people,” court documents said. He also allegedly said “this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine),” documents said.
State charges against Soliman include first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault, prosecutors said. Soliman’s preliminary hearing in the state case is set for July 15.
(IDLLWILD, Calif.) — A quickly growing brush fire in Southern California has spread at least 1,400 acres, prompting evacuations, according to fire officials.
The blaze, dubbed the Wolf Fire, was first reported around 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon near Wolfskill Truck Trail and Old Banning Idyllwild Road, according to the Riverside County Fire Department. The fire was just 10% contained as of Monday morning, according to Cal Fire.
Evacuation orders are in place for areas north of Poppet Flat Divide Truck Trail, south of Interstate 10, east of Highland Springs Avenue, and west of Old Cabazon Road, fire officials said.
The fire is impacting Highway 243, the road to the mountain community of Idyllwild.
Four helicopters and 300 personnel are currently fighting the fire, Cal Fire said. Air tankers were also dropping water on the fire “as conditions allow,” officials said.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
The Wolf Fire joins a spate of brush fires that have broken out in the region, including in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
There are currently five fires burning across the Inland Empire, according to Cal Fire.
The summer heat is reaching dangerous levels across parts of the desert Southwest with extreme heat warnings in effect Monday across portions of Arizona, including Phoenix and Tucson, as well as extreme southeastern California.
While this region expects to see hot weather this time of the year, afternoon highs will be 5 to 10 degree above average for late June, which makes this excessive, dangerous heat — even for the desert.
There are also red flag warnings in effect for Northern California because of the hot and dry conditions, as well as the abundance of lightning from passing dry thunderstorms.
ABC News’ Jenna Harrison, Tristan Maglunog and Kyle Reiman contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates
