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Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold’s bond set at $1 million in kidnapping conspiracy case

June 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold’s bond set at million in kidnapping conspiracy case

Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold’s bond set at $1 million in kidnapping conspiracy case — Terrion Arnold is seen in a booking photo released by the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office on June 24, 2026. (Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office)

(TAMPA, Fla.) — A judge in Florida set Detroit Lions NFL cornerback Terrion Arnold’s bond at $1 million on Monday, denying the prosecutors’ request that he remain held without bond on charges alleging he orchestrated a kidnapping in which three men were robbed and beaten at gunpoint.

The 23-year-old NFL player is one of seven people arrested in connection with the “targeted armed robbery” last February in Tampa, police said.

Arnold is accused of “coordinating and directing” the codefendants in an alleged conspiracy to “lure” the three men to an apartment, where prosecutors say they were beaten in retaliation for the alleged theft of more than $200,000 worth of Arnold’s personal property from an Airbnb in which he had stayed with friends days earlier in Largo, Florida, according to the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office.

Arnold surrendered to authorities on Wednesday and was initially denied bond following his arrest on multiple armed robbery and kidnapping charges. He faces a potential sentence of up to life in prison if convicted on the charges, prosecutors said.

A county prosecutor alleged during a detention hearing in Tampa on Monday that Arnold was “the reason why this gets set in motion.”

“There’s three individuals that had guns pointed in their faces because of this defendant,” Kevin Riley, an attorney with the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office, said.

Defense attorney Harvey Steinberg asked the judge not to find probable cause. He argued that the evidence presented so far only shows that Arnold was “suspicious” that his phone was taken and wanted to confront someone, but that there is “zero evidence” that he was aware that there was going to be a beating or guns involved.

“Did my client direct them? Nope,” Steinberg said.

Judge Christopher Sabella found there was probable cause, calling the case “serious,” but denied the state’s motion to detain Arnold ahead of trial. He set bond at $1 million, saying the amount was “consistent with the serious nature of the charges.”

Among the bond conditions, Arnold must surrender his passport and is only allowed to leave his residence for work or legal purposes.

The state had asked that Arnold be required to wear an ankle monitor, which the judge denied after Arnold’s defense argued that the monitor would make him unable to work due to strict NFL requirements regarding attire.

“I don’t want to interfere with his ability to make a living,” Sabella said, adding that he suspects Arnold will have a “paparazzi monitor” that will make his whereabouts known.

“If he shows up on a beach in Tahiti, he’ll be on social media,” Sabella said. “If he violates the conditions of his bond, he will be found.”

Arnold, who was in handcuffs during the court appearance, could be seen smiling with his attorneys following the hearing.

The incident occurred on Feb. 4, three days after multiple items belonging to Arnold and others were stolen from an Airbnb he had rented, according to police. On Feb. 3, Arnold and others reported a loss totaling more than $250,000 to the Largo Police Department, police said.

The men, all in their late teens, were allegedly beaten and pistol-whipped by two of the co-defendants, while a third streamed the assault to Arnold and other suspects who were traveling to the apartment, police said. Investigators uncovered a group chat in which Arnold and another suspect allegedly gave directions during the assault, police said.

After arriving at the apartment, Arnold allegedly directed the other suspects to go inside, at which point the victims were robbed during the ongoing assault, police said. Their wallets, phones, jackets, cash and jewelry totaling more than $6,200 were stolen, according to the criminal report.

Nearly two hours after arriving at the apartment, the victims were escorted out by armed suspects and left in their vehicle, police said. Arnold never entered the apartment or interacted with the victims, based on the police statement.

The victims reported the incident to Tampa police and “positively identified the suspects,” police said. The three victims had “visible injuries from being battered,” police said.

Arnold allegedly suspected that two of the three victims were responsible for the theft, though investigators ultimately determined that none of them were involved, Tampa police said.

Cell phone evidence and “corroborating testimony” from the co-defendants also “helped establish Arnold’s role in planning and directing the crimes,” the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office said.

Among the six codefendants arrested in connection with the case, four men are being held without bond, while two women pleaded guilty on Wednesday to robbery and kidnapping charges, according to the state attorney’s office. As part of their plea agreements, they are required to testify truthfully in proceedings related to the case, the office said.

Arnold’s sports management team said he “categorically denies any involvement in the matters underlying the allegations made against him and maintains his innocence.”

“There is no credible evidence linking Mr. Arnold to these allegations,” Denise White, CEO of EAG Sports and Entertainment Agency, said in a statement to ABC News. “Instead, the government appears to be relying on testimony from multiple convicted felons who have admitted their own involvement and may have substantial incentives to shift blame in an effort to lessen their sentences.”

Following Monday’s hearing, White said the the judge’s ruling “confirms that there is very little evidence to even suggest any criminal involvement by Mr. Arnold.”

The Lions said in a statement to ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ that they are “aware of the legal situation” involving Arnold and “will not comment at this time out of respect for the ongoing legal process.”

Arnold, a native of Tallahassee, Florida, played at the University of Alabama and was a first-round pick in the 2024 draft.

Supreme Court limits use of ‘geofence warrants’ amid cellphone data privacy concerns

June 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Monday limited law enforcement’s use of sprawling “geofence warrants” that track a suspect using cellphone location data from a broad swath of users, including people with no connection to a crime.

In a 6-3 decision, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that collection of location data through a geofence warrant implicates the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures — a setback for the federal government, which argued the warrants were a critical law enforcement tool that did not amount to a search at all.

“An individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in records about his cell phone’s location, and police intrude on that constitutionally protected interest when they demand the information — even though for only a limited time, and from a third-party tech company,” Kagan wrote for the majority.

Kagan concluded that location data — which she described as “a personal journal of a user’s movements” — resembles other kinds of private materials such as emails, photographs or documents and should be “shielded from the ‘inquisitive eyes’ of the government.”

“Today’s decision follows from the same judicial obligation, to guard against the same risk of undue encroachment. The Fourth Amendment applies, too, when officials tap into Google’s ‘database of physical location information.’ That database is new, but the principle covering it is not: That principle is instead the one our history has given. The Fourth Amendment must, as ever, protect against unjustified governmental intrusion on the privacy of the individual,” Kagan wrote.

In effect, the ruling requires authorities to obtain a narrowly tailored warrant before examining cellphone data of a broad swath of users in an area.

While the Supreme Court ruled that location data is protected by the Fourth Amendment, the justices did not weigh in on the legality of the search that prompted the legal challenge — instead leaving that issue for the lower courts to reexamine.

The landmark decision stemmed from a case involving a 2019 bank robbery in Virginia. Law enforcement was able to track down the robber using a geofence warrant that included the location data for every cellphone within a 150-meter radius of the robbery.

While Okello Chatrie, the suspect and Supreme Court plaintiff, eventually pleaded guilty to the armed robbery and was sentenced to serve 12 years in prison, his lawyers have argued that the warrant violated his Fourth Amendment rights because it allowed law enforcement to “to search first and develop suspicions later.”

Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett dissented. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Alito argued the ruling was an “irresponsible escapade” and “destabilizes longstanding Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.”

SCOTUS rebuffs GOP bid to block counting of late-arriving mail ballots

June 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — In a ruling with direct bearing on the midterm elections, the Supreme Court on Monday narrowly upheld a Mississippi law allowing tabulation of late-arriving mail-in ballots so long as they were postmarked by Election Day.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the 5-4 majority, wrote that federal election statutes — which say nothing about ballot receipt — do not override states’ ability to set their own policies for handling tardy votes by mail.

“The Framers recognized the difficulty of crafting election laws applicable to every probable change in the situation of the country. So instead of constitutionalizing election law, they decided that a discretionary power over elections needed to be lodged somewhere. Suffice it to say, that power was not lodged in this Court,” Barrett wrote.

The decision is a loss for the Republican Party, which brought the case, and the Trump administration, which has pushed to override state election rules nationwide by imposing strict federal limits on voting by mail.

The president on Monday called the Supreme Court’s decision a “tremendous loss” and again called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, his signature election and voting reforms legislation.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly said there aren’t enough Republican votes for it to pass.

The 29 states that currently accept some timely cast but late-arriving mail-in ballots — sometimes up to several days after polls have closed — will be able to continue providing a grace period.

In dissent, Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, wrote that the decision flouts the meaning of “election day” as set forth in federal law.

“Not only is today’s decision inconsistent with statutory text, legal context, historical practice, and precedent; it also threatens to produce lamentable consequences,” Alito wrote. “The majority’s holding spawns a slurry of troubling election-law questions and risks further undermining Americans’ confidence in election integrity.”

The outcome is a win for Mississippi, which had defended its policy of accepting ballots up to five days after voting had ended, and voting rights advocates who had argued that decades of legal precedent supported the primary authority of states to run their own elections.

Voters heavily reliant on the U.S. Postal Service, such as rural, overseas and disabled voters, had feared a higher risk of having ballots rejected if delivery is delayed, election watchdog groups said.

Lateness is the primary reason mail ballots are rejected nationwide, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC).

During the 2024 election, 28 million mail ballots were cast in the 14 states with postmark deadlines and grace periods, according to EAC. Roughly 725,000 were not counted because they were late.

The Supreme Court ruling comes as Trump has pushed aggressively to increase federal oversight of mail-in voting.

A Trump executive order signed in March 2026 would require states to submit approved voter lists to the U.S. Postal Service, which in turn would be tasked with ensuring ballots are only delivered to eligible residents.

Last week, Federal District Court Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts put the order on hold, writing in her decision, “The Constitution reserves the power to determine voter eligibility to the States alone. Neither the Executive Branch nor Congress may interfere with this power.”

The Postal Service has not yet implemented a proposed policy change to comply with Trump’s order, but a top USPS official confirmed to Congress that his agency would refuse to deliver ballots unless states turn over lists of voters.

“No law enacted by Congress delegates authority to control mail-in voting to USPS. The voting-related guidance currently issued by USPS is not binding on the States, merely recommended,” Talwani’s ruling said.

Luigi Mangione’s federal trial opening statements set for Jan. 25

June 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Accused killer Luigi Mangione will stand trial in Manhattan federal court beginning Jan. 5 with jury selection, followed by opening statements on Jan. 25, Judge Margaret Garnett said Monday.

Garnett said she hoped to hold the trial this fall but Mangione’s state trial, scheduled to begin Sept. 8, makes that “impossible.”

“In my view it’s simply impossible for us to be moving through the jury selection process in this case while the defendant and his counsel are fully engaged in the state trial,” Garnett said.

Mangione, wearing beige jail clothing, did not speak during Monday’s hearing. His appearance was delayed about 20 minutes after he got stuck in an elevator with U.S. marshals.

Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said New York State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro will hold firm to the Sept. 8 start.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he stalked UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson before shooting and killing him in December 2024 in Midtown Manhattan. Mangione has also pleaded not guilty to state charges.

For the federal trial, hundreds of prospective jurors from Manhattan, the Bronx and New York City’s northern suburbs will fill out questionnaires in December. Garnett said she would not post the questionnaire on the public docket until all prospective jurors finish filling it out, saying that the need for a fair and impartial jury overrides the customary expectation of public access to the document.

The defense said it might ask the judge to include additional questions depending on the outcome of Mangione’s state trial.

The jury will be comprised of 12 jurors and six alternates.

JetBlue flight hits drone while landing at JFK: Officials

June 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A JetBlue Airways pilot reported hitting a drone as the flight was on approach for landing at JFK Airport on Monday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The plane landed safely and the FAA said no damage was found during inspections. The agency will investigate the incident, it noted in its statement.

This story will be updated shortly.

Extreme heat forecast: Dangerous heat wave hitting Midwest, Northeast

June 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A dangerous heat wave is bringing prolonged extreme heat to the Midwest and the East Coast this week.

The extreme heat hits the Midwest first. On Monday, the heat index — what temperature it feels like — is forecast to soar to around 105 degrees in Minneapolis and over 100 degrees in Chicago.

By Tuesday, the feels-like temperature in Chicago will be closer to 105 degrees. Indianapolis and Green Bay, Wisconsin, will also feel like the triple digits.

There will be minimal relief overnight, especially in cities, which makes the heat even more dangerous.

Chicago has activated cooling centers throughout the city, including at community service centers, senior centers, libraries, city colleges and police districts.

On Wednesday, the extreme heat moves east, with the temperature forecast to reach near 100 degrees in Detroit and Washington, D.C.

With humidity, it will feel like the triple digits across much of the Interstate 95 corridor in the afternoon.

The heat will peak in the Northeast on Thursday, when the heat index is expected to reach around 105 degrees.

Extreme heat is considered the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S.
At least 13,000 Americans have died from heat since 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Click here for tips on how to stay safe.

ABC News’ Dan Peck and Michelle Simmons contributed to this report.

Supreme Court blocks Trump, for now, from firing Fed Board member Lisa Cook

June 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court has blocked for now President Donald Trump’s unprecedented attempt to fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Lisa Cook, over allegation of gross negligence and without any formal opportunity for her to answer the claims.

The decision means Cook, a Democratic appointee who has 10 years left on her 14-year term, will retain her position. She is the first Black woman to serve on the central bank’s advisory committee.

While the Court has recognized expansive power of a president over executive branch agencies, it has appeared to draw a line at the Fed, which has a long history of independence from direct White House interference.

Federal law allows presidents to remove a Fed governor, but only for cause. The heart of Trump’s appeal before the high court involved what constitutes “cause;” who gets to decide that; and, what due process may be owed.

The president had asserted unchecked power, insisting allegations of mortgage fraud against Cook – raised by a member of Trump’s administration, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte – were sufficient basis alone for her removal.

Trump has claimed Cook illegally filed a mortgage application for a second home as a “primary” residence in an effort to secure more favorable loan terms, at the very least creating an impression of impropriety. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation.

Cook, who refused to resign and has not been charge with a crime, insists through her attorneys that relying on “one stray reference” in a 2021 mortgage document amounts to pretext for a politically-motivated effort to manipulate the Fed’s policy board.

The case was being examined by the court in a very preliminary posture, focusing primarily on Trump’s request to stay a lower court order that Cook be allowed to remain on the job as litigation continues. No lower court has thoroughly considered the legal or constitutional issues connected to the dispute.

The court’s decision is widely seen as a victory for the independence of the Federal Reserve – at least in the near term – in the face of Trump’s extraordinary effort to influence the central bank.

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

Supreme Court allows Trump firing of FTC commissioner

June 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — In a landmark decision that could transform the federal government, the Supreme Court has voted to allow President Donald Trump to remove a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Slaughter, for policy reasons, rolling back 90 years of legal precedent that had prevented at-will removal of independent agency officials and significantly expanding presidential power.

The 6-3 decision came from Chief Justice John Roberts.

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

Woman killed by alligator in Florida river, officials say

June 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

A woman was killed by an alligator while swimming in a river in Florida, officials said.

The victim was in the Econlockhatchee River in Seminole County, just north of Orlando, on Sunday when she was attacked, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

She was taken to a hospital where she died from her injuries, the FWC said.

Efforts to trap the alligator are ongoing, authorites noted.

The FWC said it “extends its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the victim during this difficult time.”

This attack comes two days after a 28-year-old man was killed by a crocodile on a popular beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Supreme Court allows counting of late-arriving mail-in ballots

June 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Monday, in a 5-4 decision, upheld state laws that allow the counting of late-arriving mail-in ballots even if they were postmarked by Election Day.

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

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