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(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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(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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(NEW YORK) — Daniel Penny is expected to turn himself in as soon as Friday to face criminal charges in connection with the chokehold death of Jordan Neely aboard an F train, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

“We can confirm that Daniel Penny will be arrested on a charge of Manslaughter in the Second Degree,” a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. “We cannot provide any additional information until he has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, which we expect to take place tomorrow.”

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

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.

Attorneys for Penny 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.

Neely’s death following the chokehold has been ruled a homicide by the city’s medical examiner’s office.

Penny, 24, was questioned by detectives and released, according to police. He told police he was not trying to kill Neely.

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

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

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(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump has signaled his intent to appeal the verdict in the civil lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, according to a court filing Thursday.

Trump filed a notice of appeal, a precursor to a formal appeal to come with the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Trump was found liable for battery and defamation and ordered to pay Carroll $5 million in damages after a jury decided he sexually abused the former Elle magazine columnist and then defamed her.

Carroll, who brought the lawsuit in November, alleged that Trump defamed her in his 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!” when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.

Carroll added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he raped Carroll or defamed her.

Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, previously signaled his intent to appeal on grounds related to evidence and judicial fairness.

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(COLUMBUS, Ga.) — The U.S. Army training base formerly known as Fort Benning was renamed Fort Moore on Thursday to honor a late lieutenant general and his wife and remove ties to a Confederate general.

The ceremony to rededicate the base to Lt. Gen. Harold “Hal” G. Moore Jr. and Julia “Julie” Moore was held at the Doughboy Stadium near Columbus, Georgia. Their children were present as officials honored the “We Were Soldiers Once and Young” author and his wife as part of a broader campaign to rename bases that commemorated the Confederacy.

“Together, Hal and Julie Moore embodied the very best of our military and our nation, and the renaming of this installation as Fort Moore is a fitting tribute to their lifelong dedication to the army and its soldiers and their families,” said Maj. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, who added that Moore was a “courageous leader who served with distinction” in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

While Moore was applauded for his distinguished career across the three conflicts, speakers at the ceremony emphasized that his wife was instrumental to his success.

“General Moore accomplished many things in his life, but none would have been possible without the love and support of his wife Julie,” Buzzard said at the ceremony. “Much like her husband Julie Moore was a visionary. A crusader of seeing things done right.”

Julia Moore was a proud military wife who worked with the American Red Cross, advocated for military families and spearheaded changes at the Pentagon, according to the speakers at the event.

“She had a hand in improving services for spouses and family. Her leadership and commitment to supporting soldiers and their families led to the development of what we now know today as Army Community Services and the modern-day casualty notification process,” Buzzard said.

The couple’s son, Col. David Moore, served for 27 years before his retirement and described himself as “proud to be an Army brat.”

“Our family is deeply grateful that our parents will be honored, remembered and held as role models for the generations of Army soldiers in these stands and to come,” he said at the ceremony. “They loved each other. They loved us. They loved the Army and their beloved troopers, so much so that my father’s last wish was to be buried among his troopers here at the post cemetery — the same troopers, my mother referred to as their sons and brothers and with whom she is buried as well.”

The renaming of Fort Benning is part of national campaign to change the names of nine U.S. Army installations, as recommended by the Naming Commission’s panel to erase symbols that commemorate the Confederate States of America. On Tuesday, the U.S. Army base formerly known as Fort Hood in central Texas was changed to Fort Cavazos, and Fort Lee was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in April, among other changes.

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