Month: November 2025

By Brett Rains

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    FORT SMITH, Ark. (KHBS, KHOG) — Dr. Timothy Maryanov, a Fort Smith neurosurgeon who, according to his independent practice website, specializes in pain management, was arrested Monday night on two felony counts of aggravated assault on a family or household member involving a firearm, according to police and court records.

During a preliminary court hearing Thursday, Maryanov pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released from the Sebastian County Detention Center that afternoon on a $5,000 bond. He is scheduled to return to court in January.

According to police reports, two people inside a residence told officers that after a physical and verbal altercation, Maryanov pointed a gun at himself and then at them. One person told police that Maryanov was on new medication and woke up angry, and an officer reported that he smelled of alcohol. Police recovered a loaded 9mm handgun from inside the home, the report stated.

Online state records indicate Maryanov’s medical license remains valid. 40/29 News has reached out to the Arkansas Medical Board and the Department of Health to ask whether they are aware of the arrest; as of Thursday night, neither agency had responded. Maryanov has not responded to calls or text messages seeking comment.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

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By Erin Lowrey

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    NEW ORLEANS (WDSU) — An appellate court has quintupled damages awarded to a New Orleans family who accused the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office of not identifying their loved one in a timely manner.

WDSU Investigates reported on the death of Benjamin Pfantz back in May.

Pfantz’s parents alleged in a lawsuit that although his body was sent to the morgue, staff denied that his body was there.

For eight months, his parents searched. After a call from his mother, it was revealed by an employee that they did have his body.

WDSU learned Pfantz had been cremated without the family’s knowledge.

In the Pfantz case, Judge Kern Reese noted that NOPD “obtained fingerprints and provided the coroner with Benjamin’s date of birth, state ID number, but misspelled his last name, Pfantz, as Peantz.”

He found the coroner’s failure to conduct a further investigation to identify Benjamin as “reckless and outrageous misconduct.”

The appellate court upheld this ruling following an appeal, and quintupled the damages awarded to the family to $50,000, according to court records.

In May, Orleans Parish Coroner Dwight McKenna said his office was provided the wrong name by police, resulting in the delay of Pfantz being identified.

“When you look at the facts of this case, that we started with a bad name, the police department gave us incorrect information,” McKenna said. “He disparaged me personally and the people in my office. We are appealing his decision. I disagree with everything he said. I don’t know what his motives were, what we were provided in that case, with a bad name to start with. He’s not God, he’s not the pope, he’s not infallible. That opinion was a disgrace.”

The judgment said despite McKenna’s office blaming the New Orleans Police Department, his office “acted with callous indifferences” to the Pfantzes, denying them closure.

“The Coroner’s Office failed to take reasonable measures to correctly identify him and notify his next of kin. For these reasons, we amend the general damage award to each of the Pfantzes to $25,000.00, for a total award of $50,000.00,” the court records read.

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By Jason Burger

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    COGAR, Okla. (KOCO) — A family in Cogar is asking for help to find a stolen vintage sign from a historic service station that was featured in the 1988 movie “Rain Man.”

Cheryl Lockstone, the niece of the property owner, shared memories of the filming.

“They stopped the traffic going down the highway. And my grandparents sat across the street and watched the filming from the movie there,” Lockstone said.

Cheryl’s grandparents bought the gas station and general store in 1958, and several family members worked there for decades. She even grew up in the house behind the building for a few years.

The station closed in the late 1980s, but it remains a significant landmark due to its appearance in “Rain Man.” Dustin Hoffman once described the local people as “the loveliest people you could ever hope for.”

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Cheryl is now asking for help after the iconic “APCO” sign that stood tall on the property was stolen.

“It’s a big gaping hole where that sign is missing right now, and that is the first thing people noticed, is what happened to the sign, and why is it gone,” she said.

Cheryl believes the theft was deliberate, noting that the sign was removed from its frame and the bolts were undone.

“They have reached out and said, there’s no way the wind could have blown that out, you needed a lift, or ladder, some bolt cutters — you had to know what you were doing, and it’s very heavy,” she said.

The sign, considered a collector’s item, went missing around Oct. 26 or 27. Cheryl hopes someone might have seen or recorded something that could help recover it.

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“If they have dash cameras or if anyone around here has security cameras that might see the sign in the back or a truck, or a travel trailer,” she said.

Cheryl spoke of the importance of the sign to her family and the community.

“I don’t want them to collect our property thinking it’s abandoned or derelict, or unloved or unused, because it does mean something to our family and the community here in Cogar,” Lockstone said.

As of Thursday night, the sign has not been found.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate partner and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.