Amazon customer out $2,000 after two Garmin watch boxes delivered empty twice: “I don’t have the watch, or my money”

CNN Newsource on May 27, 2026

By Mike Sullivan

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    BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — An Amazon customer is out more than $2,000 after he ordered two expensive Garmin watches, and both arrived at his Carver, Massachusetts home with nothing in the box. After a week battling with Amazon, he still is without his cash or the watch.

“It showed up. I opened the box, and I knew it felt light. The pull tab was ripped off, the box was ripped, and was empty,” said Eric Lapworth.

He bought the watch as an upgrade to his old one. He has barely taken it off in three years, and the distinct tan line on his arm is an indication of it. He joined the Air Force in 2012 and has worn his watch while on duty in the Middle East. Quickly, he contacted Amazon.

“They said they would send a replacement out right away, and that I would have it within 12 hours or so, and it never showed up,” said Lapworth.

Messages with Amazon customer service reps show that they told him there was a shipping delay, despite being able to order a new one on the website and receive it with fast shipping.

“They told me just place an order for another one, and when [the delayed one comes] just refuse the delivery and we will refund it,” said Lapworth.

When the second order arrived, he recorded the interaction with the driver on his home surveillance camera. Again, the watch arrived with nothing in the box. The driver called the company to try to help Lapworth, but nothing came of it. He spent hours on the phone trying to get his money back or the watch, but he still has nothing to show after a week.

“Probably 14 or 15 hours over the course of four to five days hoping someone would want to make it right,” said Lapworth. “Customer service agents have hung up on me. I’ve been texting them in the app, and they have left the chat. It seems like a lot of them don’t want to deal with it.”

Finally, they originally offered him a just $10 credit for his troubles, but after arguments with Lapworth, they raised it to $100. “But I did spend $2,000 and I don’t have the watch, or my money back,” Lapworth said.

When he took his story to social media, he said dozens of people across the country reached out to him with the same story. It’s leading him to wonder if there is a larger situation at play.

“Someone is either swiping them while packing them, or somebody is buying them and returning them empty, and Amazon isn’t weighing them,” said Lapworth.

Amazon spokesperson told CBS News Boston the company is now launching an investigation into the matter. They hope to have an answer in the coming days. In the meantime, Lapworth bought a third watch, only this time he bought it directly from Garmin.

“I was told the watch is in the box, and it’s brand new with a sticker on it,” said Lapworth.

While the third watch order may cover his tan lines, it won’t fill the hole remaining in his wallet.

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

Yuma receives federal grant to explore new ag-tech innovation hub

KYMA on May 27, 2026

Manoah Tuiasosopo

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – A major investment in agricultural innovation could soon help position Yuma as a global leader in ag-tech development.

The Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture, in partnership with the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation and the University of Arizona Yuma Agricultural Center, has received a $300,000 federal planning grant to study the creation of a new agricultural technology business incubator in Yuma.

The proposed incubator would provide startup companies with a dedicated space to build, test, and validate new agricultural technologies before bringing them to market.

Organizers say the project builds on Yuma’s reputation as one of the nation’s most important agricultural regions. During the winter months, the area produces nearly 90% of the country’s leafy greens.

Tanya Hodges, Executive Director of the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture, says the region currently lacks a dedicated space where emerging ag-tech companies can develop and test their ideas locally.

“There’s not a space for young startup companies to come in and work and test and get validated out of the ag center,” Hodges said. “The planning grant will do assessment to see if in fact there is a need, so potentially building some space at the Yuma Ag Center for AgTech companies to come and do business in Yuma.”

Leaders involved in the project say the long-term goal is to attract companies from around the world to test agricultural innovations in Yuma’s desert climate and eventually invest in the local economy.

If the planning phase proves successful, organizers say the partnership could pursue up to $3 million in additional funding to help bring the incubator project to life.

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No injuries reported in Columbia apartment fire

KMIZ on May 27, 2026

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

No injuries were reported after an apartment caught fire Tuesday evening in the 1600 block of Amelia Street in Columbia, according to a social media post from the Columbia Fire Department.

The post says crews were called at 7:13 p.m. and found smoke showing from the second story of a two-story apartment building.

The fire was under control within 12 minutes, the post says. No one was inside the residence where the fire started.

The fire was caused by improperly discarded smoking materials, the post says.

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Person in hospital with serious injuries after crash in Lower Valley El Paso

KVIA on May 27, 2026

Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso Police said one person is in the hospital with serious injuries after a crash involving a motorcycle Tuesday.

Police said they learned about the crash at 5:19 p.m. It happened at Corazal Drive and Giles Road in Lower Valley El Paso near the Chapoteo Water Park.

El Paso Police Special Traffic Investigators went to the scene.

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Caught on Camera: Theft from Marijuana Dispensary

KTVZ on May 27, 2026

Tyson Beauchemin

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A suspected robbery of marijuana vapes was captured on camera. The business, Wacky Tobacky on Greenwood, seeks public assistance in identifying the individual in the video.

In the video, you can see a young man tearing vapes off of the wall. The manager, Jay Burns was just around the corner and gave chase. Outside, security cameras captured the suspect heading towards a car he arrived in, but Burns is too close to him, and he opts to run around the corner. Burns says he hurt his foot, and returned to the parking lot to get in his car. Then, Burns says he was able to catch up with the suspect, who was allegedly changing his shirt when Burns found him.

According to Burns, the suspect offered to return all of the stolen items, but then only returned some of them, before fleeing again.

Wacky Tobacky reports that some product remains missing from the store and is in the process of filing a police report.

Burns, believes the suspected robbery was a planned event, because of how the suspect parked and then waited till he was called to the back of the store by a co-worker.

“Daniel was in the back helping a customer.” Explained Burns, “He called me back there because he needed to know something about one of our products back there. I walked back there and then, right when I walked out, a couple of minutes after or seconds after I walked back there, that kid got out of the car that was parked right there. So I’m assuming they were just watching through the window, saw there was no one up front for a second.”

Employees at Tobacky are circulating the suspect’s picture. They have heard of similar incidents in the area and suspect this individual may have committed other thefts elsewhere.

The store is filing a police report regarding the incident. Employees will continue to show the suspect’s picture around the area as they believe he may be responsible for similar thefts.

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1 person brought to hospital after Mexico house fire where cat died

KMIZ on May 27, 2026

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

One person was injured and a cat died in a fire on Saturday night in the 1100 block of Mansfield Street in Mexico, Missouri, according to a Tuesday press release from the city’s department of public safety.

The release says crews were called at 9:26 p.m. and found flames coming from the living room of the home. The fire was extinguished in that area, which had significant fire damage while the rest of the home had smoke damage, the release says.

The resident made it out of the house, as did a dog, the release says. The resident was brought to Moberly Regional Medical Center for smoke inhalation and minor burns, the releases says. They were treated and released.

The release says the “apparent cause of the fire was careless disposal of smoking material.”

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Ysleta ISD offers free summer meals

KVIA on May 27, 2026

Nina Gallegos

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The Ysleta Independent School District is offering free breakfast and lunch meals to children starting June 1.

The 2026 Ysleta ISD Summer Food Service Program is available for children ages 1-18 from Monday through Friday during the summer break.

Campuses participating in the summer food service program include:

Del Valle High School

Eastwood High School

Parkland High School

Valle Verde Early College High School (919 Hunter Dr.)

Breakfast will be served from 7:30-9 a.m. Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The Summer Food Service Program runs through June 26.

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Regions Bank to pay government $4.9 million in connection with COVID-era loans involving Columbia businessman

KMIZ on May 27, 2026

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Regions Bank on Friday agreed to pay the federal government $4,919,631 to resolve allegations that it received payment it should not have in connection with the bank forgiving a customer’s Paycheck Protection Program loan, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

The bank had been sparring with Greg DeLine, suing the Columbia businessman in March, claiming that his companies had not paid the $1.5 million total remaining on a 2022 loan.

The federal government claimed Regions Bank fully forgave a loan to one of DeLine’s businesses on Aug. 3, 2021. The government alleges the loan was not eligible to be forgiven.

“While we disagree with claims made in this matter, we have settled with the goal of closing this chapter and moving on. Regions facilitated over 75,000 Paycheck Protection Program loans, helping small businesses stay open while keeping hard-working Americans employed during the worst of the pandemic,” Regions Bank wrote in a Tuesday statement. “We are proud of our record supporting small businesses and have resolved this one individual matter regarding one specific loan from that 75,000 total.”

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Domestic violence reports exceed average in Columbia as police miss out on issue-specific staffing grant

KMIZ on May 27, 2026

Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

The City of Columbia saw its average domestic violence reports increase in 2025, with some advocates warning that numbers are continuing to rise.

In 2024, the Columbia Police Department renewed its STOP Violence Against Women Act grant through the Missouri Department of Public Safety. The $195,255 grant helped fund salaries and benefits for two sworn officers and one temporary part-time employee assigned to domestic violence investigations.

The detectives are part of a county-wide Domestic Violence Enforcement Program known as the DOVE unit. The unit’s goal is to decrease the number of incidents in the Boone County area with education, intervention, enforcement, and prosecution. 

CPD has received the grant five times since 2014, with each award funding a one-year contract period. However, when the most recent grant cycle expired in 2025, CPD did not reapply after a mix-up that caused the application process to be missed.

“We did not get an email from the state letting us know the grant was open, so we missed the application period,” Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude told ABC 17 News.  “This did not change anything as far as staffing in DOVE.”

CPD Assistant Chief, Lance Bolinger added there have been no operational changes to the way the department’s domestic violence detectives handle cases. The only change, he said, is administrative, with the salaries of the Domestic Violence Enforcement Unit detectives are now funded through the department’s budget instead of the grant.

According to Columbia’s 2024 Stop WAWA Grant Application, CPD investigated nearly 11,000 domestic violence incidents between 2015 and August 2023, an average of about 1,200 per year. Roughly 4,000 of those investigations were criminal cases, and about 75% involved a female victim.

However, domestic violence reports exceeded that average in 2025. Data obtained from CPD shows officers responded to 1,405 domestic violence reports during the year. Of those, 654 cases, or 46.5%, resulted in an arrest. DOVE handled 165 cases, resulting in 108 arrests, a 65.4% arrest rate.

The entire DOVE unit consists of four prosecuting attorneys, three devoted to female victims and one devoted to male victims, two detectives, and a part-time assistant from CPD, one detective from the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, a victim advocate from True North, three prosecution advocates, two probation officers, a court coordinator and a counselor from the Family Counseling Center. 

Michele Snodderley, Executive Director of True North of Columbia, said that despite not having the grant, CPD’s relationship with True North and the work they do within the DOVE unit have not changed. 

“We have an amazing relationship with our detectives at CPD,” Snodderly said. “I was a little worried because the police department doesn’t have their DOVE grant anymore.  However, we did get confirmation that those services weren’t going to change, so they’re still assisting us with our healthy relationships training. They come in, we have two  DOVE detectives come in and train with us.” 

However, Snodderly said five months into 2026, True North is already seeing an increase in domestic violence cases compared with previous years.

“We are seeing a rapid increase this year. As a matter of fact, in March of 2025, we provided just over 600 support services, and in March of 2026, we were at 1,184 support services,” Snodderly said. “I thought maybe that was just kind of a fluke, and I looked at May’s [2026] numbers, we did 1,300 support services. It was almost double what we did last year.”

Snodderly said True North anticipated an increase in demand after opening its new advocacy center but was surprised by the magnitude of the growth. In April alone, she said, the organization served nearly 600 people.

“I don’t know if we’re seeing an increase in domestic violence or if we’re seeing an increase in our services because we’re removing that stigma,” Snodderly said. “We’ve been increasing our prevention and education, we’ve been increasing community outreach and awareness, so I’m hoping some of that is just because we are seeing people reaching out and they’re not scared to do so anymore.”

According to Bolinger, the DOVE unit’s responsibilities extend beyond investigating domestic violence cases. In 2025, DOVE detectives wrote 533 supplemental reports related to the 165 cases they handled. The unit provides training to law enforcement officers, probation and parole officers, Children’s Division investigators, and other professionals on best practices for domestic violence investigations.

The DOVE team also works with True North to educate the public about the warning signs of unhealthy relationships. In 2025, detectives taught 11 classes at area high schools, four classes for True North volunteers, and six classes for law enforcement officers, reaching a total of 1,095 residents and public safety professionals.

Snodderly said education plays a critical role in helping people recognize the warning signs of abuse and safely leave potentially abusive relationships.

“I also have heard just recently that somebody asked, ‘You were married 12 years. Why are you leaving now if you’re that scared of him?’ And the individual was like, ‘I took care of the children. I’ve taken care of family members and the home, and I didn’t have my own way to escape,’” Snodderly said. “So it’s really about isolation and withdrawal. I think people don’t realize that. I think their first thought is, ‘Well, somebody hits me, I’m going to leave.  It’s not that easy.  So I think that’s where we need to come in with more education.” 

In addition, DOVE partners with True North each year to distribute drink covers, known as Stop Tops, in downtown Columbia to raise awareness about drink tampering and dating violence. Bolinger estimated the event alone reaches more than 1,000 young adults annually, in addition to the 1,095 people contacted through the unit’s training and outreach efforts.

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“The mountains look like they should in July:” Burn Ban to begin a month early

KIFI on May 27, 2026

Hadley Bodell

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – After a dry winter in southeast Idaho, wildfire season has struck early and the Pocatello Fire Department is urging people to take precautions, especially in wildland urban interface areas. They have also pushed the annual burn ban up an entire month, now to start June 1.

Wildland urban interface areas, or WUI for short, is where homes interact with the natural habitat on the edges of city lines.

“Those are our areas of greatest concern here in Pocatello,” said Kim Stouse, Public Information Officer for the Pocatello Fire Department. “It’s not to say we can’t get a fire in a field or a backyard, but if it’s in an interface area, then the potential to grow significantly is much greater than if we can contain it to a backyard or somewhere else.”

In assessing wildfire risk, the fire departments look at the moisture accumulated from the winter season. This year, there was little precipitation at all, leading to hardly any runoff to keep the ground wet. Stouse said they’ve also seen temperatures increasing more quickly than normal.

“The mountains look now, like they normally would in July,” she said.

Stouse also said this year has the potential for more “red flag warnings” which are issued by the fire department when three main factors come together for the highest chance of a rapidly-growing wildfire. The factors are high temperatures, low relative humidity, and high winds.

The legendary Charlotte fire in Pocatello in 2012 was a red flag warning day. “We’re always on guard and ready to go at any time, but we may bring in extra personnel in our brush trucks to drive the mountain just to make sure that if we do see anything, we can get on top of it as quickly as possible,” Stouse said.

Fires can be caused by fallen power lines, blown over by the wind. Experts say these can be especially dangerous, and to never touch a downed line.

“When winds get really high, it can cause damage to the power system,” said Chad Monroe, Wildfire Communication Programs Manager at Rocky Mountain Power. “Often it’s because of debris that gets into the lines or it’s from vegetation, trees and things that have branches fall and cause a power line to come down.”

Monroe says to call 911 immediately or your local power company if you see a downed power line. He also says to be aware that a purposeful power outage may occur during the fire season out of caution for public safety. The public will be notified of these outages.

Tips from the Fire Department

In a high-risk year like this one coming off of a dry winter, people have a few steps to take to stay safe during fire season. Stouse reminded travelers to be mindful if you have to pull to the side of the road not to pull into tall grass where a fire could start from the heat of the car.

She also said to make sure to work in your yard earlier in the morning when the humidity is higher and the temperature is lower. Something as small as a chainsaw spark could cause a fire.

“We know, on average, between 85% and 90% of all wildfires are caused from humans,” Stouse said. “It could be a matter that people are in the outdoors and using a fireplace and not making sure it’s totally out, so it’s about being really mindful.”

The fire department also asks that you call them immediately if you see smoke or flames anywhere. If you recieve an evacuation notice to your phone, follow the orders immediately.

Stouse also says to have a plan in place for your children if they stay home alone during the summer. “Safety is always our number one priority,” she said. “Make sure you can contact your kids if they’re home and you recieve a wildfire notice. We want to get everybody out safely as soon as possible.”

Other tips include maintaining your property per the fire department guidelines found on their website. Dry shrubs and fallen branches left untouched can put your home in more danger of a wildfire spreading.

The Burn Ban

Already this season, several small fires have occured in the mountains surrounding Bannock County. On May 25, the Summit Creak Fire near Burley created a plume of smoke viewable from over one hundred miles away. Stouse said at this point, it’s a matter of time before one strikes closer to our area.

The fire department usually issues a burn ban in July, preventing people from controlled burning or campfire buring any material during the highest risk months. This year, the burn ban will go into effect on June 1.

“It means not allowing people to have any kind of open burning campfires in anything that’s considered a wildland urban interface and it’s county wide,” she explained. “You’re still allowed to use your gas or charcoal commercial cooking equipment, just making sure you’re using it responsibly.”

This is the time of year when people love to go camping, but the fire department says they have to look at the inherent risk and how they can limit fires this season. Stouse recommended finding alternatives for “cooking your marshmallows” like a gas propane heater.

The burn ban is only effective for areas outlined on the wildland urban interface map, seen below. Homes not inlcluded in the yellow or red areas are welcome to continue using backyard fireplaces in a safe manner.

Pocatello Fire Department

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