Author: CNN Newsource

By Madeline Bartos

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    CLEVELAND (KDKA) — Agents from a human trafficking task force arrested 12 men in northeast Ohio during an undercover sex sting, authorities announced on Friday.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office said the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force conducted an operation on Thursday in the Warrensville Heights area near Cleveland, targeting men seeking to buy sex and working to identify potential victims of human trafficking.

In addition to the 12 arrests, the attorney general’s office said seven potential victims of human trafficking were identified.

“Ohioans should be shocked at the prevalence and proximity with which human trafficking is occurring,” Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said in a press release. “This scourge is happening within our midst every day. We will continue working with our partners to identify traffickers, hold offenders accountable and protect vulnerable Ohioans.”

The attorney general’s office identified those arrested as Taylor Black, 39, of New Franklin; Todd Hively, 47, of Canfield; Uhuru-Kenyatta Hunter, 56, of Canton; Gary Medvetz, 59, of Silver Lake; Viktor Moskaluk, 57, of Parma; Ritesh Patel, 51, of Mentor; Timothy Quinn, 48, of Tallmadge; Ross Stahl, 40, of Elyria; Forrest Theken, 24, of Coventry Township; Terrance Vanderbosch, 56, of Avon Lake; Mitchell Warholic, 63, of Cleveland; and Jeasung Yoo, 57, of Euclid.

The suspects were charged with engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools, the attorney general’s office said.

The Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force is led by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department and organized under the attorney general’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission.

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.

By Julia Avant

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    DETROIT (WWJ) — A Red Baron worker’s frustrated reaction to a social media prank at a White Lake market has gone viral and drawn thousands of donors to an online fundraiser.

The man was restocking frozen pizzas when a social media user, filming themselves, played the Apple Pay payment sound, leading him to think he’d been scammed out of $10. The person filming had been approaching random people with the same stunt, making them believe a stranger had just taken their money.

The worker didn’t laugh.

“I don’t have time for this. My life is hard enough as it is,” he says in the video. “You’re probably making money off this. I can’t pay my mortgage, and I got four kids at home.”

Many viewers sided with the worker instead of the person filming, and social media users began donating. In just two days, thousands of people gave amounts ranging from $10 to $30,000 to the father of four.

The fundraiser had passed $400,000 at last check, and the goal has since been raised to $700,000.

The account of the person who filmed the encounter has been deactivated.

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.

By John Rupolo

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    ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — Police rescued more than 100 cats in poor health from a bus parked behind a home in the 1700 block of Cornell Drive in Albuquerque on Wednesday, as a detached garage at the property caught fire during the operation.

The incident began the day before when police arrested Christopher Hart, a wanted felon, after his vehicle was found blocking an alley at Ross Avenue and Cornell Drive.

Officers returned to the area the next day to investigate a bus parked behind a house associated with Hart. Detecting a foul odor, they discovered the cats inside.

“There’s a lot of cats in there,” said Hart.

A person at the home told officers the bus and cats belonged to Hart’s girlfriend.

While Albuquerque police and animal control were collecting the cats, a detached garage on the property caught fire, drawing attention from neighbors.

“What do you make of all this? It’s bizarre. It’s like this. What a strange story this is,” one neighbor said.

On Thursday afternoon, a man who identified himself as Hart’s brother, Michael, was still rounding up more cats at the scene.

“I own the house, and the garage comes with the house,” said Hart.

When asked about the fire that destroyed the garage, Michael said, “I don’t know what caused the fire.”

Police said it took seven hours to collect all the cats, which were taken to Animal Welfare’s Westside Shelter.

“A lot of them were very sick. A lot of them had sort of breathing issues. A lot of them had eye issues, and a lot of them were severely malnourished,” said Jeremy Asiaksen Albuquerque Animal Welfare

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By Denzen Cortez

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KCRA) — Sacramento City Unified School District trustees are calling for better communication with city police following immigration enforcement activity near Ethel Phillips Elementary School, saying the district was not notified despite their understanding that officers knew about the operation.

In a Facebook video recorded outside the school, Trustee Jasjit Singh said ICE agents detained an individual near La Superior, a business in the surrounding neighborhood. Singh confirmed that no immigration agents entered the campus and no children were detained.

“It is our understanding that Sac PD was aware of ICE activity, and yet our district was not made aware by Sac PD,” Singh said.

The Department of Homeland Security told KCRA 3 that ICE arrested Oscar De La Rosa-Nunez during a targeted operation in south Sacramento on Oct. 27. DHS said he was previously deported in 2022 and later reentered the United States illegally.

The agency disputed claims that the arrest happened directly outside Ethel Phillips Elementary School, saying it occurred a quarter-mile away. It was not immediately clear whether the arrest DHS described was the same incident referenced by trustees.

Trustee Chinua Rhodes told KCRA 3 that district officials learned about the activity through their own Safe Schools staff rather than Sacramento police.

“What we feel we should have heard is actually from our local police department ahead of time,” Rhodes said.

Sacramento City Unified has designated its schools as Safe Havens for years. Earlier this year, trustees voted 6-0 to approve an updated policy governing the district’s response to immigration enforcement.

However, those policies do not require Sacramento police to notify the district about federal enforcement activity occurring off campus.

Trustees are also urging undocumented parents to take precautions when dropping off and picking up their children.

“We ask you to really take precautions and make sure that if you’re doing school drop-offs, school pick-ups, to figure out someone who is going to be the safest person to come pick up or drop off your children,” Singh said.

Rhodes reassured families that students are safe on campus but said greater cooperation with city officials is needed.

The incident also drew a public response from Sacramento City Councilmember Caity Maple, who said her office received reports of an individual being detained by ICE in front of the elementary school.

KCRA 3 asked Sacramento police whether officers knew about the ICE activity, assisted federal agents or notified the district. The department did not directly answer those questions, instead referring inquiries about the federal operation to federal authorities.

Rhodes said trustees want city leaders to consider a policy requiring Sacramento police to alert the district when officers become aware of immigration enforcement near schools.

He said the goal is to improve coordination between the city and school officials so the district can better prepare and protect its students and families.

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By Rachael Perry

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    PALM BEACH COUNTY, Florida (WPBF) — Surface-to-air missile systems have been deployed at Mar-a-Lago and Donald J. Trump International Airport at the request of the U.S. Secret Service, according to federal officials.

The systems are designed to defend against aerial threats, including aircraft and drones.

Officials have not disclosed a specific reason for the deployment.

In a statement, a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson said the agency is operating in a heightened threat environment.

“The U.S. Secret Service is operating in a heightened threat environment, and we continuously adapt our protective operations to incorporate cutting-edge tools, technology, and methods to safeguard our protectees. At the request of the U.S. Secret Service, NORAD and U.S. Northern Command are providing Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System capabilities in support of our protective operations,” the statement said.

NORAD and U.S. Northern Command also confirmed the deployment in a statement, saying the systems were placed in and around Mar-a-Lago at the Secret Service’s request.

“At the request of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and under NORAD and USNORTHCOM authorities, NORAD and USNORTHCOM deployed ground-based air defense assets in and around Mar-a-Lago, Florida. Due to security considerations, we cannot provide tactics, techniques and procedural specifics. For further detail, we refer you to the USSS.”

Aviation expert weighs in on deployment

Michael Leighton, an aviation expert and pilot, said he believes the deployment signals concern about a potential confirmed threat, although federal officials have not confirmed that is the reason.

“The only reason that they would do that is that they had a credible threat,” Leighton said.

Leighton said the growing use of drones in warfare has increased concerns about how adversaries could use the technology to target protected locations.

“Drone warfare has become a big thing and for the Department of Defense, their biggest concern is that an enemy, domestic or foreign, would use a drone guided by our GPS signals, the same GPS signals that you have in your car and on your cell phone, which are extremely accurate,” Leighton told WPBF.

Why surface-to-air defense systems are used

The systems are designed to detect and counter aerial threats. Leighton said ground-based missile systems can provide a faster response than scrambling a fighter jet to intercept a potential threat.

“They’re concerned about if we don’t have enough time to scramble an F-16 to intercept, because it takes a few minutes for that F-16 to get there, whereas if a target was identified and there was a problem, a ground-based surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile could be launched in seconds,” Leighton said.

Leighton said he feels the deployment of the systems is likely also a deterrent.

“These missiles were put in place in public where people could see them for a reason, and I wouldn’t be alarmed. I would be relieved,” he said.

He said it’s a sign that federal officials are taking every step possible to prevent something from happening.

“Those Missiles are manned the whole time, and so if they identify a threat that the missile is designed to deter, they’re going to use it, and as an American citizen, I would be happy for that to happen. I don’t want anybody to get hurt,” he said.

Federal officials have not publicly identified a specific threat connected to the deployment at Mar-a-Lago or Donald J. Trump International Airport.

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By Jamy Pombo Sesselman

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    BOSTON (WCVB) — Boston University on Friday is hosting its annual pumpkin drop, during which students hurl more than 30 pumpkins 70 feet off the roof of the Metcalf Science Center to the plaza below.

The physics department hosts the annual event and provides lessons in gravitation, velocity and energy transition.

This year’s event began at 2 p.m. and Sky5 was overhead for a firsthand look at the demonstrations.

All pumpkins will be composted after the event by BU Sustainability.

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.