(ORLANDO) — A 78-year-old Florida man allegedly shot and killed his neighbor who was trimming trees along their property lines, authorities said.
The shooting was reported around 7:13 p.m. Sunday in DeLeon Springs, about 45 miles north of Orlando, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office said.
The victim, 42-year-old Brian Ford, was trimming tree limbs along the fence line between two properties when his neighbor, 78-year-old Edward Druzolowski, “confronted him about being on his property,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Druzolowski later told police that “he threatened to shoot Ford, and when Ford didn’t leave, he shot him,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Druzolowski was arrested for second-degree murder, authorities said.
(NEW YORK) — The operator of a New York City day care and her tenant have been held without bail following the “reckless, depraved” death of a 1-year-old boy and the exposure of three other children to fentanyl.
Nicholas Dominici, 1, died after he was exposed to the opioid at a Bronx day care on Friday, officials said. Three other young children were hospitalized.
Day care operator Grei Mendez and tenant Carlisto Acevedo Brito were arrested on charges including murder, manslaughter and assault.
At their Sunday night arraignments, the judge alleged Mendez and Brito were both flight risks.
The judge cited Mendez’s lack of citizenship, ties to the Dominican Republic and the seriousness of the charges leveled against her, which carry a potential of life in prison.
Mendez’s attorney said she was unaware drugs were being stored in her day care by Brito, her husband’s cousin, to whom she was renting a room for $200 a week.
“Her only crime was renting her room to someone who had a kilo,” attorney Andres Aranda said. “There is no evidence that she did anything but care properly for these children.”
The judge said Brito is a Dominican Republic national who is in the country illegally and is also a flight risk.
Prosecutors said the kilo of fentanyl was found in a hallway closet outside Brito’s room and that Mendez participated in the “reckless, depraved act” by renting him the room in the day care. Drug production equipment was also found inside the day care, police said.
Investigators said the children appeared to have been exposed over an extended period on Friday.
The day care, for children between 6 weeks and 12 years old, opened in January and just passed a surprise visit from city inspectors last week with no violations found, officials said.
Detectives are still seeking Mendez’s husband for questioning.
(LOS ANGELES) — A person of interest has been detained in the fatal shooting of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Investigators described the murder as an ambush.
Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was fatally shot around 6 p.m. Saturday after a gray Toyota Corolla pulled up alongside the patrol car he was driving, investigators said.
Clinkunbroomer, who had been on duty, was stopped at a red light outside the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station.
After the Corolla drove away, Clinkunbroomer’s cruiser remained at the light, where a “Good Samaritan discovered him unconscious in his vehicle and promptly alerted Palmdale Station personnel,” authorities said.
Clinkunbroomer, 30, was hospitalized and later died of his injuries, police said.
“This coward of cowards took his life while he waited at a red light,” Sheriff Robert Luna said during a press conference.
Investigators on Sunday asked for information about the Corolla, which they described as a dark-colored sedan with a model year between 2006 and 2012.
It was being sought as a “vehicle of interest,” according to a special bulletin.
“A widely circulated video from the incident also captured a secondary vehicle traveling alongside Deputy Clinkunbroomer’s patrol vehicle, which is of significant interest to our ongoing investigation,” the department said in a statement. “We ask for the public assistance locating the vehicle and its occupants.”
Authorities announced a $250,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
ABC News’ Amanda M. Morris and Marilyn Heck contributed to this story.
Tamir Kalifa for The Washington Post via Getty Images
(MAUI, Hawaii) — The rebuilding process has begun across Maui following the devastating wildfires that killed 97 people and displaced thousands more.
The number of those who remain unaccounted for in the weeks since the disaster totals 31, down from an original count of 66, according to authorities.
Here is the latest news out of Maui as officials and residents alike move toward recovery following the tragedy.
Information on reentry into West Maui and Lahaina, financial and housing assistance and more can be found on Maui County’s www.MauiRecovers.org informational site.
The return of residents
Officials are expected to announce the first zones that residents will be allowed to reenter after the Environmental Protection Agency clears properties of hazardous materials.
Residents and property owners in those zones will be contacted to acquire passes for reentry, a process that will begin on Sept. 22, according to Maui officials. Reentry is expected to begin Sept. 25 “with residents escorted to the properties and provided personal protective equipment during the first two visits,” they said.
“I cannot stress the importance of supporting people going through this experience,” said Darryl Oliveira, interim administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency. “We also want to make sure they’re safe.”
Currently, the burn area is restricted to authorized personnel as federal agencies remove potentially dangerous ash and other debris. This could take months, officials have said, adding that this is “a coordinated effort to develop a plan for the safe return of residents.”
Anyone visiting properties in the burn area is urged to use Personal Protective Equipment for their safety. Visitors are urged by officials to check out bit.ly/WestMauiCaution to learn more about protective measures.
Residents of Lahaina, Kula and the surrounding areas should only use bottled water or potable water provided by tankers. The Department of Water Supply urges those on the island to check out the Water Advisory map for updates about drinking water quality: bit.ly/mauiwateradvisory.
West Maui could reopen on Oct. 8 to tourists, according to Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.
The death toll
The death toll now stands at 97.
Of the deceased, 69 have been identified. Eight others have been identified but authorities are in the process of contacting family members.
Fifty-six people remain unidentified.
Those who are unaccounted for
One hundred percent of the land area has been searched.
MPD urges those who have loved ones who are still missing to file a report by contacting the Maui Police Department at 808-244-6400 or emailing unaccounted@mpd.net.
Those reporting an unaccounted for person must be prepared to give the first and last name of the individual, their age, their last known location and last known physical place of residence.
Those who are not on Maui but are the immediate family member of a missing person connected to the Maui wildfires, and wish to provide a DNA sample to assist in the investigation, call the FBI Honolulu Division at (808) 566-4300 or email HN-COMMAND-POST@ic.fbi.gov.
Scam calls claiming to be from “DNA Services” should be reported to Maui Police Department’s non-emergency number at (808) 244-6400.
The fires
The Upcountry fire is 90% contained and has affected an estimated 1,081 acres.
The Kula fire is 96% contained and has affected an estimated 202 acres.
The Lahaina fire is 100% contained and has affected an estimated 2,170 acres.
Officials say that containment indicates what percentage of the fire perimeter has been enclosed by a control line. This reflects the opportunity for the fire to spread beyond its original border into new areas, according to Maui County officials.
The fires do not pose a threat, according to the Maui Fire Department.
The return of students
Officials have said they expect to start up schools right after the fall break if the air quality, water quality and soil quality are safe for students and staff.
Roughly 3,000 students from the four Lahaina public schools have been displaced in the fires.
Students from the unusable King Kamehameha III Elementary School will share a campus with the other local elementary school.
Resources
The Maui Disaster Support Call Center, launched by state and local officials, will act as a central assistance hub to inform community members in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires. The call center can be reached at (808) 727-1550 between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time.
Similarly, an online centralized hub of resources and updated information can be found at mauinuistrong.info. There, people can find out how to donate, volunteer, or receive services in connection with the tragedy.
(WASHINGTON) — Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit in a Washington, D.C., federal court against the Internal Revenue Service over alleged “unlawful disclosures” made by a pair of whistleblowers who accused government prosecutors of mishandling their investigation into the president’s son — a claim the Justice Department has denied but nonetheless breathed fresh life into Hunter Biden’s legal tribulations.
Attorneys for Biden, 53, accused Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, both veteran IRS investigators, of waging a campaign to “to embarrass and inflict harm on Mr. Biden” by improperly sharing his private taxpayer information in media interviews.
“During these interviews, Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler provide unsubstantiated and selectively chosen allegations of nefarious and potentially criminal behavior,” wrote Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell.
The IRS “failed to take reasonable steps to prevent its personnel from unlawfully disclosing” Hunter Biden’s confidential taxpayer information in violation of the Privacy Act, Lowell argued.
After a nearly five-year probe, Hunter Biden was indicted last week on felony gun charges, two months after a plea deal he had negotiated with prosecutors fell apart under questioning from a federal judge.
Those developments happened in the wake of troubling claims made by Shapley and Ziegler, who approached Congress in April with allegations that senior Justice Department officials blocked efforts to bring more serious charges against Hunter Biden, limited their investigative scope, and refused to grant special counsel status to the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney who oversaw the case.
The Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland have denied those claims, defending U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ independence over the matter. Weiss himself wrote lawmakers in June to clarify that he had “full authority” to bring charges whenever and wherever he chose.
But those denials have done little to blunt concerns that the Justice Department offered the younger Biden a “sweetheart deal” from prosecutors, as congressional Republicans have claimed. Nearly half of Americans said they were not confident that the Justice Department has handled its probe of Hunter Biden in a fair and nonpartisan manner, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll from earlier this month.
In the course of their “media circus,” as Lowell framed it, Shapley and Ziegler made statements that fell “well outside the bounds of the whistleblower protections.”
Congressional Republicans voted in June to release the transcripts of interviews they’d conducted with the two whistleblowers. But in subsequent television and podcast interviews, the whistleblowers made statements not included in their testimony, Lowell wrote — despite instruction from the committee not to share what was discussed in the interview “to individuals not designated to receive such information.”
As a result, according to the lawsuit, the IRS shirked its responsibility to protect Hunter Biden’s tax information from being made public.
“The IRS has never instructed Mr. Shapley, Mr. Ziegler, or their representatives to refrain from publicly and unlawfully disclosing Mr. Biden’s confidential tax return information, much less taken reasonable steps to prevent its personnel from unlawfully accessing and disclosing Mr. Biden’s tax return information,” Lowell wrote.
Attorneys for Hunter Biden are seeking $1,000 in damages for each “unauthorized disclosure” of his tax information, a declaration that the IRS “willfully, knowingly, and/or by gross negligence, unlawfully disclosed Mr. Biden’s confidential tax return information,” and any documents in the IRS’ possession related to Hunter Biden’s tax information.
(LOS ANGELES) — A person of interest has been detained in the fatal shooting of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy Saturday night, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Investigators described the murder as an ambush.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was fatally shot after a gray Toyota Corolla pulled up alongside the patrol car he was driving, investigators said.
Clinkunbroomer, who had been on duty, was stopped at a red light outside the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station at about 6 p.m. on Saturday.
After the Corolla drove away, Clinkunbroomer’s cruiser remained at the light, where a “Good Samaritan discovered him unconscious in his vehicle and promptly alerted Palmdale Station personnel,” police said.
Clinkunbroomer, 30, was hospitalized and later died of his injuries, police said.
“This coward of cowards took his life while he waited at a red light,” Sheriff Robert Luna said during a press conference.
Homicide investigators with the Sheriff’s Department on Sunday asked for information about the Corolla, which they described as a dark-colored sedan with a model year between 2006 and 2012.
It was being sought as a “vehicle of interest” as part of the investigation into the murder of the deputy, according to a special bulletin.
“A widely circulated video from the incident also captured a secondary vehicle traveling alongside Deputy Clinkunbroomer’s patrol vehicle, which is of significant interest to our ongoing investigation,” the department said in a statement. “We ask for the public assistance locating the vehicle and its occupants.”
The bulletin included stills of the vehicle taken from that video, officials said. Homicide investigators found the video as they began “actively conducting interviews, scrutinizing evidence, and reviewing surveillance footage,” police said.
Authorities also announced a $250,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
ABC News’ Amanda M. Morris and Marilyn Heck contributed to this story.
(MORGANTOWN, Pa.) — Nine inmates who escaped from a Pennsylvania juvenile detention facility were taken into custody on Monday following a manhunt, authorities said.
The inmates, all of who were male, fled the facility on Sunday wearing white and gray shirts and shorts, the Robeson Township Police Department in Berks County.
The escape happened following a riot at the academy, according to another local police agency in Berks County. State and local law enforcement regained control of the detention center, authorities said, but some of the offenders escaped.
Authorities said they believed they were able to escape the youth detention facility after overtaking two female guards and stealing their keys.
All nine escapees, whose ages range between 15 and 17, were found within about two hours on Monday morning, said David Beohm, a public information officer with the Pennsylvania State Police.
At 5:45 a.m., four of the boys were tired, cold and “basically gave up,” Beohm said. They decided to knock on a door of a home selected at random on Oak Grove Road in Morgantown, Pennsylvania. The homeowner then called the authorities.
At 6:36 a.m., officials received reports of a stolen vehicle and trailer on Oak Grove Road. Inside were the other five escapees, Beohm said.
Troopers pursued with the stolen vehicle and apprehended four of the juveniles, police said. The fifth ran into a nearby field but was soon found by police. All the juveniles were taken into custody in a state that was visibly dirty, with some missing footwear, officials said.
All nine will be charged with escape, in addition to any other crimes they may have committed overnight, Beohm said.
The escapees are expected to be interviewed by a criminal investigator later Monday.
Berks County borders Chester County, the location where authorities searched for and captured escaped inmate Danelo Cavalcante after a 14-day manhunt.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds contributed to this story.
(LOS ANGELES) — In the moments before Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was fatally shot, a gray Toyota Corolla pulled up alongside the patrol car he was driving, investigators said.
Clinkunbroomer, who had been on duty, was stopped at a red light outside the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station at about 6 p.m. on Saturday.
After the Corolla drove away, Clinkunbroomer’s cruiser remained at the light, where a “Good Samaritan discovered him unconscious in his vehicle and promptly alerted Palmdale Station personnel,” police said.
Clinkunbroomer, 30, was transported to nearby Antelope Valley Medical Center, where he died of his injuries, police said. Investigators described the murder as an ambush. No suspects have been publicly identified.
“This coward of cowards took his life while he waited at a red light,” Sheriff Robert Luna said during a press conference.
Homicide investigators with the Sheriff’s Department on Sunday asked for information about the Corolla, which they described as a dark-colored sedan with a model year between 2006 and 2012.
It was being sought as a “vehicle of interest” as part of the investigation into the murder of the deputy, according to a special bulletin.
“A widely circulated video from the incident also captured a secondary vehicle traveling alongside Deputy Clinkunbroomer’s patrol vehicle, which is of significant interest to our ongoing investigation,” the department said in a statement. “We ask for the public assistance locating the vehicle and its occupants.”
The bulletin included stills of the vehicle taken from that video, officials said. Homicide investigators found the video as they began “actively conducting interviews, scrutinizing evidence, and reviewing surveillance footage,” police said.
Authorities also announced a $250,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
ABC News’ Amanda M. Morris and Marilyn Heck contributed to this story.
(MORGANTOWN, Pa.) — Four inmates were taken into custody early Monday after nine had escaped Pennsylvania’s Abraxas Academy, a juvenile detention facility, the day prior, authorities said.
The inmates are male and wearing white and gray shirts and shorts, according to the Robeson Township Police Department in Berks County. Several were taken into custody near Morgantown, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
“Four of the 9 escapees were taken into custody on Oak Grove Road at 5:47 a.m.,” David Beohm, a public information officer with the Pennsylvania State Police, said on social media early Monday.
The escape happened following a riot at the academy, according to another local police agency in Berks County. State and local law enforcement regained control of the detention center, authorities said, but some of the offenders escaped.
Police have advised those in the vicinity of I-176 and Route 10 to be vigilant.
Berks County borders Chester County, the location where authorities searched for and captured escaped inmate Danelo Cavalcante after a 14-day manhunt.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds and Victoria Arancio contributed to this story.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Two people have been hit with multiple charges after a 1-year-old boy died and three other young children were hospitalized after suspected opioid exposure at a Bronx, New York, day care on Friday.
Drug production equipment was also found inside the day care following the death Nicholas Dominici and the hospitalization of three other young children, according to the New York City Police Department.
Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, and 36-year-old Grei Mendez, now face 11 charges, including murder, manslaughter and assault.
A kilo press was discovered by police executing a search warrant inside 2707 Morris Avenue following Nicholas’ death, police said
“This is an item that is commonly used by drug dealers when packaging large quantities of drugs,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said during a news conference.
It is unknown what type of drugs were potentially being manufactured or how the children came into contact with them. New York City Mayor Eric Adams would only say the four children “appear to have come into contact with an opioid.”
“We don’t know exactly what happened to those babies,” Police Commissioner Edward Caban said.
New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said the victims somehow came in contact “with a powerful substance, which can, through either inhalation, ingestion, or in touching of the skin, intoxicate the recipient. We don’t know what happened in this case.”
The Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and doctors will take urine and blood from the surviving children to try to figure out what drugs they were exposed to.
The day care, for children between 6 weeks and 12 years old, recently opened in January and just passed a surprise visit from city inspectors last week with no violations found, officials said.
Investigators said the children appear to have been exposed to the unknown opioids over an extended period on Friday. A 2-year-old boy who went home at around 12:15 p.m. was later found by his mother to be “acting lethargic and unresponsive.” The mother rushed him to the hospital, where the opioid-reversal medication Narcan saved his life, authorities said.
The children who stayed at the day care ate something at around 1 p.m. and took a nap. When workers went to wake them up at 2:30 p.m., three were unconscious, police said.
“All three children were unresponsive and demonstrating symptoms of opioid exposure. Narcan was administered to all three of these children in an attempt to save their lives.” Kenny said. “Two children survived. Unfortunately, one male, 2 years old passed away at Montefiore Hospital at 3:29 p.m.”
All the children who were hospitalized live nearby in the Bronx. None are related, authorities said.
