Daniel Penny, man who choked subway rider Jordan Neely, faces manslaughter charge

Daniel Penny, man who choked subway rider Jordan Neely, faces manslaughter charge
Daniel Penny, man who choked subway rider Jordan Neely, faces manslaughter charge
Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Daniel Penny turned himself in to New York City police on Friday to face criminal charges in connection with the chokehold death of Jordan Neely aboard a subway train.

Penny was seen walking in to the New York City Police Department’s 5th Precinct in Chinatown shortly after 8 a.m. ET. He did not address the media outside, though his lawyer, Tom Kenniff, spoke briefly to reporters.

“Turned himself in here voluntarily and with the sort of dignity and integrity that is characteristic of his dignity of service to this grateful nation,” Kenniff said. “The case will now go to court we expect an arraignment this afternoon. The process will unfold from there.”

Penny’s surrender came one day after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed that he would be arrested on a charge of second-degree manslaughter.

Neely died following a chokehold on May 1. Video showed Penny, a U.S. Marine veteran, putting Neely in a chokehold following outbursts from Neely on an F train.

Attorneys for Penny said in a statement Thursday night that they are confident that “once all the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic incident are brought to bear, Mr. Penny will be fully absolved of any wrongdoing.”

“When Mr. Penny, a decorated Marine veteran, stepped in to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers, his well-being was not assured. He risked his own life and safety, for the good of his fellow passengers,” said the statement from the law firm of Raiser and Kenniff. “The unfortunate result was the unintended and unforeseen death of Mr. Neely.”

Neely was homeless at the time of his death. Some witnesses reportedly told police that Neely was yelling and harassing passengers on the train, authorities said.

Police sources told ABC News that Penny was not specifically being threatened by Neely when he intervened and that Neely had not become violent and had not been threatening anyone in particular.

In an earlier statement, Penny’s attorneys offered “condolences to those close to Mr. Neely” and claimed “Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel,” and that the Marine veteran and others “acted to protect themselves.”

“Mr. Neely had a documented history of violent and erratic behavior, the apparent result of ongoing and untreated mental illness,” said the statement from the law firm of Raiser and Kenniff. “When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived. Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death.”

In footage of the incident, Penny can be seen holding Neely in a chokehold for nearly 3 minutes, as another man held down Neely’s body.

The Neely family attorneys criticized Penny’s response.

“The truth is, he knew nothing about Jordan’s history when he intentionally wrapped his arms around Jordan’s neck, and squeezed and kept squeezing,” the Neely family attorneys said in a statement.

“Daniel Penny’s press release is not an apology nor an expression of regret. It is a character assassination, and a clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordan’s life,” the statement from attorneys Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards continued.

The Rev. Al Sharpton in a statement Friday called the charges against Penny “just step one in justice.”

“Let’s not forget that there were three people restraining him, and it is vital that the two others are also held accountable for their actions,” Sharpton said. “The justice system needs to send a clear, loud message that vigilantism has never been acceptable.”

Neely had a documented mental health history, according to police sources. Neely had been previously arrested for several incidents on the subway, though it’s unclear how many, if any, led to convictions.

The Manhattan DA’s office spent the weekend and much of this week interviewing and going over the accounts of witnesses who were on the train, as well as reviewing multiple videos of the incident. Prosecutors also consulted with the medical examiner’s office and detectives, and reviewed statements Penny made to detectives on the night of the incident.

The district attorney’s office decided to move forward with charges without first going to a grand jury.

A grand jury will still hear evidence in the case, which will occur in the week following his arraignment.

The maximum penalty for second-degree manslaughter is 15 years.

ABC News’ Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.

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One inmate in custody after disguising himself as woman, one at large after Philadelphia jail breach: Police

One inmate in custody after disguising himself as woman, one at large after Philadelphia jail breach: Police
One inmate in custody after disguising himself as woman, one at large after Philadelphia jail breach: Police
Philadelphia Prisons

(PHILADELPHIA) — One of the two inmates who had escaped the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center has been taken into custody, police said Thursday night.

Nasir Grant was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals, Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore tweeted.

Grant had disguised himself as a woman and was wearing “full female Muslim garb and a head covering” when he was caught, said Robert Clark, Supervisor Deputy Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Clark said a man resembling Grant left a resident wearing the clothing, which “piqued our interest.” Marshals followed him and arrested him during a felony vehicle stop.

The two men were discovered missing from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center during a headcount Monday afternoon, according to Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney. They had escaped through a hole in the recreation yard’s fence, she said.

They escaped Sunday around 8:30 p.m. and were erroneously considered accounted for during three subsequent headcounts, before being discovered missing during the 3 p.m. Monday headcount, according to Carney.

The commissioner identified the escaped inmates as Ameen Hurst, 18, who was brought to the facility in March 2021 on multiple counts of murder, and Grant, 28, who was being held since September 2022 on charges including criminal conspiracy, narcotics and firearm violations.

Hurst remains at large.

A 21-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday for allegedly helping the two men escape. Xianni Stalling faces charges including escape, criminal conspiracy and hindering apprehension, authorities said. The U.S. Marshals took Stalling into custody Wednesday and transported her to Philadelphia Police Headquarters for questioning, Robert Clark, supervisory deputy for the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Philadelphia, said in a statement.

“We are adamant and working tirelessly to get these two dangerous individuals back in custody,” Carney told reporters during a press briefing Monday evening. “We had protocols in place, and those protocols were not followed, so that will be part of our investigation.”

“But the goal here now is to make sure that these two individuals are apprehended promptly and brought back into custody,” she continued.

The Philadelphia Police Department and U.S. Marshal’s Office are involved in the search.

“We are working very quickly to try to get them back,” Vanore told reporters.

Hurst is considered “very dangerous,” Vanore said. The inmate is accused of killing someone in December 2020, fatally shooting two people in March 2021 and, a few days later, fatally shooting a man who had just been discharged from a Philadelphia correctional facility, Vanore said.

Hurst and Grant were housed in the same unit in different cells in the correctional facility and are believed to be together, authorities said.

Blanche said the correctional facility is on lockdown and she has reached out to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to conduct a “facility vulnerability assessment and security assessment as soon as possible.”

The facility is also reviewing security footage as part of its investigation into the breach and reviewing the three headcounts to see “why they did not detect those two individuals missing,” she said.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said a $20,000 reward for each man is being offered for information that leads to their arrest.

“The No. 1 responsibility right now is to get these guys off the street,” Kenney told reporters.

The next priority is to have the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections assess the system, he said.

“Clearly the system screwed up and people didn’t do what they were supposed to do,” Kenney said. “But we’re going to find out exactly who, exactly how often and what we got to do to shore it back up again.”

Kenney said they will get to the bottom of it and “deal with the fallout from there.”

“I’m really angry about it,” the mayor said. “There’s no reason for this.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Woman who allegedly killed bride in drunk driving crash had blood alcohol level three times the legal limit: Police

Woman who allegedly killed bride in drunk driving crash had blood alcohol level three times the legal limit: Police
Woman who allegedly killed bride in drunk driving crash had blood alcohol level three times the legal limit: Police
City of Folly Beach

(CHARLESTON, S.C.) — The woman accused of causing a crash that killed a bride on her wedding night last month in South Carolina had a blood alcohol level three times the legal threshold and was driving 40 miles per hour over the speed limit when she allegedly plowed her Toyota into the back of a golf cart, police documents show.

A golf cart carrying four people was struck from behind near Charleston on April 28, killing Samantha Miller, who had just celebrated her wedding earlier in the day.

Three others, including Miller’s new husband, Aric Hutchinson, were in the golf cart with her, police said. All suffered varying degrees of injuries when the collision propelled the cart roughly 75 yards, according to police.

In a redacted incident report released Thursday by the Folly Beach Department of Public Safety, responding officers described an uncooperative suspect, identified as 25-year-old Jamie Komoroski, who they said seemed to have little idea about what happened or where she was going when the crash happened.

“I was driving and then all of a sudden something hit me,” police said Komoroski told them after the crash, according to the report.

Komoroski has been charged with three counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury/death and one count of reckless homicide.

Officers said Komoroski also told them she was driving toward her house, but they said she had actually been going the opposite direction from her house, toward a dead end, the report states.

A toxicology report released by authorities on Thursday showed that Komoroski had a .261 blood alcohol level — three times the legal limit in South Carolina.

According to the incident report, police said Komoroski told them on the scene that she felt an eight out of 10 in terms of being impaired.

One of the responding officers “smelled an odor of alcohol coming from her breath and person,” he wrote in the report, adding that Komoroski had trouble standing and refused a breathalyzer test, forcing authorities to obtain a signed warrant from a judge to draw her blood.

“We cannot fathom what the families are going through and offer our deepest sympathies,” Komoroski’s attorneys told ABC News in a statement Thursday night. “We simply ask that there not be a rush to judgment. Our court system is founded upon principles of justice and mercy and that is where all facts will come to light.”

According to a GoFundMe created by a woman identifying herself as the mother of the groom, Miller and Hutchinson were being escorted from the reception by two family members when the crash happened.

“I was handed Aric’s wedding ring in a plastic bag at the hospital, five hours after Sam placed it on his finger and they read each other their vows,” Arnette Hutchinson wrote. “Aric has lost the love of his life.”

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University of Idaho murder victim’s family ready to face suspect in court, vows to ‘make sure he doesn’t get away with it’

University of Idaho murder victim’s family ready to face suspect in court, vows to ‘make sure he doesn’t get away with it’
University of Idaho murder victim’s family ready to face suspect in court, vows to ‘make sure he doesn’t get away with it’
Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen. — Courtesy of the Goncalves family

(NEW YORK) — The family of Kaylee Goncalves, one of four University of Idaho students slain in a gruesome attack in November, vows to be there when her suspected killer returns to court next month.

“I can’t wait to see the evidence. … And then I’m gonna bring it,” Kaylee’s dad, Steve Goncalves, told ABC News. “And he’s gonna realize that this … is the family that’s gonna make sure he doesn’t get away with it.”

Kaylee, 21, was killed just weeks before she was set to graduate early from the University of Idaho and move to Texas for a new job.

In the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022, Kaylee; her lifelong best friend and roommate Madison Mogen; a third roommate, Xana Kernodle; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, were stabbed to death inside the girls’ off-campus house. Two other roommates survived the shocking crime that garnered national intrigue.

After a six-week search for a suspect, 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30. Kohberger, who was a Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the murders, has not entered a plea.

The Goncalves, a close-knit family with five kids, said they haven’t been able to establish any connection between their daughter and Kohberger.

“I’ve thought long and hard” about if Kaylee and Kohberger could have crossed paths, said Kaylee’s mom, Kristi Goncalves. “We’ve talked as a family, you know, we’ve done a lot of research on what’s out there. … None of it makes sense.”

As for rumors that Kohberger had attended a party at the girls’ home, the family doubts that ever happened.

“You’re not having just some random stranger at your party,” Kaylee’s brother, Steven, noted. If Kohberger had ever been at the house, “There’s plenty of things that would have quickly [been] noticed and [he’d be] removed from the party.”

Kristi Goncalves said when she saw Kohberger for the first time at an initial court appearance, “I was completely overwhelmed. I actually almost thought I was gonna pass out.”

“My daughter saw him face-to-face and in a very different light than we saw him, sitting there [in court], looking very meek,” she said.

The Goncalves family said they’ll be in court for Kohberger’s June 26 preliminary hearing and the ensuing trial.

“I think a big thing is for us to go in strong, united as a family,” Kristi Goncalves said. “I’ve never been to a preliminary trial before. … I have no idea what to expect, I have no idea what we’re going to hear. … But I know that I’ve got my son, and my daughter will be there, and my sister, and my husband.”

But Kristi Goncalves said she’ll try to avoid the courtroom during any graphic testimony.

“I’m not going to scar myself,” she said. “I have visions of my own that, you know, I have to deal with.”

Asked about any communications with the two roommates who survived the stabbings, Steve Goncalves said he spoke with one of them at a “celebration of life” event.

“We do have some family members that do reach out,” Steve Goncalves said. “It’s good to make sure that everybody going through this has somebody there to help them.”

In February, the University of Idaho announced that the house where the four students were killed will be demolished.

“I’m glad that somebody else isn’t gonna live in it,” Kristi Goncalves said.

But, she added, “It’s going to be very multifaceted for me, honestly, because my daughter lived in that home. She lived a happy life in that home, she loved living there with her friends. And for the real story, to be, like, what happened in that house was so horrific that it has to be torn down — that doesn’t happen that often. … For them to say, ‘No, we don’t want family in here, we don’t want anybody living in here. It’s got to be torn down’ — it’s definitely not happy.”

A memorial, including a garden, will be designed on the university’s campus in honor of the victims.

Graduation at the University of Idaho is this Saturday. The Goncalves will be there to receive Kaylee’s posthumous degree.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Cleveland EMS worker missing for six days found safe

Cleveland EMS worker missing for six days found safe
Cleveland EMS worker missing for six days found safe
Cleveland Police

(CLEVELAND) — Cleveland EMS worker Lachelle Jordan has been found safe, Cleveland Police Department Chief Dispatcher Tina Wickline told ABC News.

Authorities said that Jordan was last seen near Fairfield Avenue in Cleveland on May 6. Her family reported her missing the following day, prompting law enforcement to ask the public for help finding her. She was last seen wearing a blue and white East Cleveland Fire Department sweatshirt.

“We’re all just happy,” her father Joseph Jordan told ABC affiliate WEWS. He said that Jordan “looked to be okay, alert.”

In a surveillance video obtained by WEWS, Jordan can be seen walking into a convenience store barefoot with torn clothes. The convenience store, Open Pantry, is roughly three miles from where Jordan was last seen.

Jahid Islam, who was working in the store at the time, told ABC News that Jordan entered the store at roughly 10:50 p.m. and asked for a phone to call the police. Islam described that Jordan appeared “very weak”

“She asked me to give the phone, then she called the police first,” Islam said.

The circumstances around Jordan’s disappearance remain unclear. Her father Joseph Jordan previously told ABC News that Jordan was being stalked by Michael Stennett, who she was preparing to testify against in a rape an abduction case. Joseph Jordan said that Stennett violated a restraining order multiple times, both when Lachelle Jordan was at home and work. ABC News reached out to Stennett’s attorney Daniel Misiewicz for comment.

Cleveland Police said earlier this week there is no evidence connecting the Michael Stennett case to Jordan’s disappearance.

Yesterday, the Jordan’s family held a press conference to ask the public for help finding the EMT worker.

“We’re here to talk about the love of a family for a daughter who is missing,” Joseph Jordan said at the press conference.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Tornado outbreak hits America’s Heartland, with more in the forecast

Tornado outbreak hits America’s Heartland, with more in the forecast
Tornado outbreak hits America’s Heartland, with more in the forecast
ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A string of reported tornadoes touched down in America’s heartland on Thursday night.

At least 16 tornadoes were reported across five U.S. states overnight — Louisiana, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center.

Some of the worst damage was reported in and around Noble, Oklahoma, about 30 miles south of Oklahoma City, where a tornado struck homes and businesses, according to local ABC affiliate KOCO.

More severe weather is expected to hit the region on Friday with huge hail, some tornadoes and damaging winds in the forecast.

The highest threat for hail and tornadoes will be from Kansas City, Kansas, to Des Moines, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska.

The highest threat for damaging winds will be from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Dallas, Midland and San Antonio, Texas.

Meanwhile, flash flooding will be a threat for five U.S. states on Friday and through the weekend, with alerts issued from Wyoming to Texas.

Some areas in Texas could see up to 10 inches of rain over the weekend into early next week, according to the National Weather Service.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Suspect in Taiwanese church shooting indicted on federal hate crime charges

Suspect in Taiwanese church shooting indicted on federal hate crime charges
Suspect in Taiwanese church shooting indicted on federal hate crime charges
Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

(SANTA ANA, Calif.) — The alleged gunman in a Taiwanese church shooting in California last year that killed one and injured five others now faces nearly 100 federal charges, including hate crimes.

David Chou, 69, of Las Vegas, was arrested following the mass shooting at a Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California, on May 15, 2022. He is accused of pulling out a semi-automatic handgun and firing into a crowd during a luncheon to honor a pastor returning from Taiwan. Investigators said at the time that Chou, a Chinese American citizen, was allegedly motivated by the political tension between China and Taiwan.

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that Chou has been charged with 98 counts of hate crimes, weapons and explosives offenses.

A federal grand jury in Santa Ana indicted Chou on 45 counts of obstructing free exercise of religious beliefs by force, which resulted in the death of one person and included attempts to kill 44 others, and 45 counts of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act “by attacking the church congregants because of their actual or perceived Taiwanese national origin and Presbyterian faith,” prosecutors said.

He was also indicted on six counts of using a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, one count of carrying explosives during the commission of a federal felony offense, and one count of attempting to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce by means of fire and explosives.

If convicted on the federal charges, Chou faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty, prosecutors said. Online court records do not include any attorney information for him at this time.

Chou is already in state custody on charges including murder with an enhancement for a hate crime and five counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting. He pleaded not guilty to the state charges last year.

Chou allegedly tried to superglue the doors shut so victims could not flee, and placed ammunition and Molotov cocktails around the Geneva Presbyterian Church, authorities said. Dr. John Cheng, 52, was killed while trying to disarm the gunman during the attack, and five others were hurt by gunfire. A group of churchgoers was able to detain the shooter and hogtie his legs with an extension cord, authorities said.

Chou is Chinese but an American citizen, officials said. Authorities said at the time they believe Chou’s anger began when he lived in Taiwan, where he felt he was an outsider and his anti-Taiwan views were not accepted. His views became more radical as tensions between China and Taiwan escalated.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ex-head of DHS disinformation governance board sues Fox News for defamation

Ex-head of DHS disinformation governance board sues Fox News for defamation
Ex-head of DHS disinformation governance board sues Fox News for defamation
anouchka/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The former executive director of the Department of Homeland Security’s short-lived disinformation board is suing Fox News for defamation, in the same court where the network just settled its suit with Dominion Voting Systems.

Nina Jankowicz was tapped to lead the Disinformation Governance Board, which was created last spring by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to “protect Americans from disinformation that threatens the homeland” — but the board immediately found detractors in the GOP and some leading civil liberties groups over concerns that Jankowicz and the board would be acting as “truth police.”

Jankowicz, a former Wilson Center fellow who had publicly criticized former President Donald Trump, resigned from the board only a month into her tenure, after the DHS shut down the board pending a review. A DHS panel later concluded that there was no need for the board.

Jankowicz’s lawsuit, filed in Delaware state court, alleges that Fox defamed Jankowicz by telling viewers that the board was out to censor the American public, causing Jankowicz to be “doxed, threatened, harassed relentlessly, and even cyberstalked.”

“Fox’s coverage of Jankowicz was neither news nor political commentary; it was cheap, easy entertainment untethered from the facts, designed to make consumers believe that Jankowicz could and would suppress their speech,” the suit says. “Fox chose to lie about Jankowicz deliberately. Its statements were false and calculated to cause harm, and they did.”

The lawsuit alleges that Fox made those statements despite knowing that the Disinformation Governance Board “had no ability to intervene, respond to, or prevent the spread of disinformation. Nor did it have any power or purpose to silence speech or surveil citizens.”

The network has filed papers to have the Jankowicz case moved from Delaware superior court to the Delaware federal court. A Fox spokesperson, when asked for comment, referred ABC News to their legal filing.

Jankowicz’s suit says that over the course of eight months, Fox talked about Jankowicz 300 times. When the board was first announced, says the suit, “70% of Fox’s one-hour segments mentioned Jankowicz or the board, always in inaccurate, melodramatic, and venomous terms.”

“None of Fox’s false claims about Jankowicz were the product of honest mistakes in its reporting,” the lawsuit says. “Rather, Fox intentionally trafficked in malicious falsehoods to pad its profits at the expense of Jankowicz’s safety, reputation, and well-being.”

Jankowicz was subjected to death threats as a result of Fox News’ coverage, the lawsuit says.

The suit names current and former Fox personalities including Jesse Waters, Judge Jeanine Pirro and Tucker Carlson, among others.

The lawsuit comes three weeks after Fox settled a $1.6 billion lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting System over accusations that the network knowingly pushed false conspiracy theories that the voting machine company rigged the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden’s favor.

Fox agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million and acknowledged “the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”

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California man arrested in crime spree involving armed carjacking, robbery, hoax 911 call

California man arrested in crime spree involving armed carjacking, robbery, hoax 911 call
California man arrested in crime spree involving armed carjacking, robbery, hoax 911 call
Fresno Police Department

(FRESNO, Calif.) — A former Army chaplain was arrested in connection with a California crime spree that involved an armed carjacking, hoax 911 call and bank robbery, authorities said.

The string of incidents occurred Tuesday afternoon in Fresno and Madera counties, authorities said.

Deputies responded to a report of an armed carjacking in Madera around 12:51 p.m. local time, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office said. The victim told deputies he was in his AT&T work van in a business complex parking lot when the suspect approached.

When the victim got out of the van to “confront” the suspect, he “wrestled away” an airsoft pistol and disarmed the suspect, but was then pepper-sprayed, the sheriff’s office said. The suspect fled the scene in the van, according to the sheriff’s office, which said it issued an alert to local agencies about the stolen vehicle.

Around 12:56 p.m., Fresno police officers responded to a 911 call reporting a man with a gun walking onto the Bullard High School campus, the police department said. Officers cleared the school but “quickly determined that was a hoax call,” Fresno Officer Chris Clark told ABC Fresno affiliate KFSN.

About 20 minutes later, officers responded to the report of an armed robbery at Central Valley Community Bank by a man who arrived in an AT&T van, Fresno police said.

“The suspect went into the bank and demanded money and said he was armed,” Clark told KFSN. “In fear of the suspect being armed, the money was handed over and the suspect did take the money and leave the location.”

The suspect then fled in the AT&T van, which was located by police around 1:30 p.m. in Fresno less than two miles from the bank, authorities said. The suspect fled the scene on foot but was ultimately located with the assistance of air support and taken into custody, police said.

The suspect, identified by police as 42-year-old Marcus Banksbey of Sacramento, was booked into the Fresno County Jail on charges including robbery, receiving stolen property, use of a firearm to commit a felony and false report of an emergency.

Police said they traced the 911 call reporting an armed person at the high school to Banksbey’s phone, and that they believe it was made while en route to the bank as a diversion.

“Officers located evidence connecting Banksbey to all three incidents including calling in the hoax call of an armed subject at Bullard High School,” Fresno police said. “Banksbey was never on campus and evidence suggests that it was a diversion call as the suspect was on his way to commit the bank robbery.”

Banksbey will face additional charges of felony carjacking with injury for the incident in Madera, authorities said.

ABC News has reached out to Banksbey for comment.

According to a U.S. Army spokesperson, he served in the California Army National Guard as an information systems operator/analyst from 2000 to 2012 and as a command/unit chaplain from 2012 to 2019 and held the rank of captain at the end of service. He deployed to Jordan from November 2017 to April 2018, the spokesperson said.

Jason Young told KFSN he served with the suspect in Jordan and expressed shock at the arrest.

“For someone like this to … act out in this just unnatural manner, I can’t imagine,” Young told the station.

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Family of Lachelle Jordan urges public for help after she goes missing before rape trial testimony

Family of Lachelle Jordan urges public for help after she goes missing before rape trial testimony
Family of Lachelle Jordan urges public for help after she goes missing before rape trial testimony
Cleveland Police

(CLEVELAND) — The family of Lachelle Jordan, a Cleveland woman who has been missing since Saturday, urged the public to help in the search for the EMT worker, who shared that she was being stalked before her disappearance.

“We’re here to talk about the love of a family for a daughter who is missing,” Lachelle Jordan’s father, Joseph Jordan, told reporters during a press conference on Thursday afternoon outside the Cleveland 5th District police station.

Joseph Jordan said that family, friends, co-workers and Lachelle Jordan’s two children — a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old — want her home and issued an emotional plea for anyone with information about his daughter’s whereabouts to come forward.

“Somebody knows what happened, and I need that somebody — whoever you are, wherever you are — I need you to reach out to law enforcement. Reach out to the media. Contact them. You can remain anonymous,” he said.

“Lachelle Jordan is a somebody. She is an EMT,” he added.

“She is a somebody. There is no way that I am going to rest and let Lachelle become a nobody.”

Lachelle Jordan’s brother William Jordan told reporters that Lachelle’s EMT coworkers canvased for hours today and have continued to help her family in the search efforts.

A spokesperson for the Cleveland Police Department told ABC News on Thursday that “officers have conducted multiple canvasses, searched and have gone door to door.”

Joseph Jordan told ABC News in a phone interview on Thursday that before she went missing, his daughter shared with her family and with coworkers that she was being stalked by Michael Stennett and was set to testify against him this week.

According to Cuyahoga County court records, Stennett was charged with two counts of rape and one count of abduction on May 9, 2022. He entered a not guilty plea and was released on $10,000 bond on May 23, 2022.

According to ABC News Cleveland affiliate WEWS, prior to going missing, Jordan was planning to attend Stennett’s pre-trial hearing on Monday.

Lachelle shared with her family that Stennett started stalking her as they were preparing for the hearings related to his rape and abduction case, Joseph Jordan said.

“She filed a restraining order and [Stennett] continued to violate that restraining order, appearing at both [her] home and work,” Joseph Jordan said.

According to a Cleveland Municipal Court case summary, Stennett was charged with one felony count of menacing by stalking and one felony count of violating a protection order, days before Lachelle Jordan’s disappearance. He appeared in court on May 8.

ABC News reached out to Stennett’s attorney Daniel Misiewicz for comment.

Cleveland police said earlier this week that there isn’t any evidence connecting Stennett to Jordan’s disappearance, according to Cleveland 19 News.

Asked if police have any updates in the investigation, a spokesperson for the Cleveland Police Department told ABC News on Thursday afternoon, “There are no updates at this time.”

Court records reviewed by ABC News show that Stennett is in custody and is being held on a $100,000 bond. His next hearing is set for May 18.

The Cleveland Police Department asked the public to help in the search for Jordan, who was last seen on Saturday and may be in danger.

Authorities said that 30-year-old Lachelle Jordan has been missing since May 6 and was last seen near Fairport Avenue in Cleveland.

Authorities said that at the time of her disappearance, Jordan was last seen wearing “a blue and white East Cleveland Fire Department sweatshirt with ECFD on the back and the Fire logo on the front, green and white tie dye pants and rainbow-colored Croc shoes.”

Joseph Jordan said that he last spoke with his daughter on Friday evening and her twin sister, Rachelle Jordan, was the last person in the family to see Lachelle.

“Her twin sister was home with her on Saturday evening and she was the last one to hear from her because she said she was going out to get something,” Joseph Jordan said. “… and her sister didn’t think nothing of it until she didn’t come back to the house.”

He said that Rachelle Jordan filed a missing person’s report on Sunday.

Mark Barrett, president of the Cleveland EMS Union, told ABC News on Wednesday that Jordan was a new employee and had filed reports with her job that she was being stalked.

Jordan was removed from the truck where she worked and brought to headquarters due to safety concerns for her and her coworkers, Barrett said.

According to an arrest warrant for Stennett obtained by WEWS, Jordan noticed that Stennett followed her multiple times while she was in her personal vehicle when she was working, as well as waiting outside her home.

The arrest warrant stated that, two days before she went missing, Jordan allegedly noticed Stennett sitting outside her home, according to WEWS.

Crimestoppers is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who has information on Jordan’s location. People can leave an anonymous tip by calling 216-252-7463.

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