Author: CNN Newsource

By Madilyn Destefano, Pattrik Perez

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    SANFORD, Florida (WESH) — A South Florida HVAC worker has been fired and arrested after Sanford police say he kicked a homeowner’s dog, knocking it unconscious.

Police say Richardson Noel, 43, of Broward County, turned himself in Thursday. He is charged with aggravated animal cruelty.

A camera inside the home captured what happened, and police used that video to help build their case.

Ryan Menzies was at work when his girlfriend sent him the video, recorded on their Furbo pet camera, showing what happened to their 12-year-old Chihuahua, Boomer, on Monday morning.

“I was standing in the parking garage at work, and I said out loud, ‘Oh, my God,’ and almost started crying,” Menzies said. “And then anger took over, because I knew I had to get home.”

According to an arrest report, Noel was at the home on a service call for ElDante HVAC Services LLC when Boomer approached him while barking. Investigators say that as the dog retreated, Noel walked toward him and kicked him in the head with his work boot, sending him sliding across the floor and immediately knocking him unconscious.

“He gave a 100-pound kick to an animal that’s 5 pounds,” Menzies said. “So [Boomer] flipped over, slid along the floor, and was unconscious for over a minute, after which he woke up and had a seizure for five minutes.”

Within the 65-second video, Noel can be seen returning twice, first moving Boomer’s head around with his boot and then turning him over. Boomer remained limp for the remainder of the recording.

“If you had literally done it in any other spot, I would have no idea, no indication, no nothing,” Menzies said. “But you decided to do it right in front of the only camera that’s on the inside of the house.”

Boomer is doing OK now, according to Menzies. A veterinarian told him nothing broke, but he may have internal bruising.

Boomer and the couple’s other dog, also a Chihuahua, were secured in another room, Menzies said, but it’s unclear how Boomer got out. Moving forward, he said he and his girlfriend will take more precautions, and he recommends other pet owners do, too.

“Either be home when the maintenance guy is going to be there, if it’s an hour or two, whatever it is, or keep them in a closed-door room,” Menzies said. “Don’t rely on any makeshift barriers.”

Noel’s bond was set at $8,000. He bonded out of jail Thursday night, according to jail records, hours after turning himself in.

WESH 2 reached out to ElDante HVAC Services LLC to find out if it will be paying Boomer’s vet bills but has not heard back. The company posted the following statement on its website, confirming Noel’s termination:

“First and foremost, we offer our deepest and most sincere apologies for the incident involving one of our technicians. As pet parents ourselves, we fully understand the emotional gravity of witnessing a beloved dog being subjected to physical harm. We are truly sorry for the distress and pain this incident has caused.

While the technician has shared that he has had negative experiences with dogs in the past, his actions are absolutely not justified. The behavior he displayed was completely unacceptable and does not reflect the values, standards, principles, or professionalism that we hold our company and our team to.

We have taken this matter extremely seriously. The technician’s employment was terminated immediately after we reviewed the circumstances and the available evidence. Criminal charges have also been pursued, and we are cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities regarding this matter.

When we first became aware of the incident, we immediately questioned the technician about what had occurred. In his initial account, he stated that the dog had attempted to bite him twice. After reviewing the recorded evidence later that same day, we determined that his account did not accurately reflect what had occurred. This further confirmed our decision to terminate his employment that same evening.

We also want to emphasize that we have a strict company policy that no technician is permitted to enter a property when unattended pets or minors are present. In this situation, the technician failed to follow our established safety protocol and proceeded on his own rather than contacting his supervisor for guidance. This was a serious violation of our company policy.

We have personally extended our sincerest apologies to the tenants and offered our assistance in any way we can during this difficult time. We sincerely hope their beloved dog makes a full and speedy recovery.

May God watch over their sweet fur baby and bring healing and comfort to their family. Our thoughts and prayers remain with them during this difficult time.”

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 Bob Hazen

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    ORANGE COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — An Orange County judge granted bond for suspended Palm Beach County Clerk Michael Caruso on Friday, as doubts about the case against him were raised during a court hearing.

Caruso, a former state lawmaker, is accused of repeatedly molesting a young child, including an incident in November 2024 and another on a cruise ship a year ago.

The child’s family lives in Orange County, and it was revealed in court that the child would have been about 3 years old during the first alleged instance.

During the hearing, an FDLE agent testified about allegations from other individuals connected to Caruso’s family that reportedly date back years.

“This child victim, did he call that particular instance any sort of name?” the agent was asked. “I believe it was Ticklemonster, I believe,” the agent said.

Prosecutors also raised prior allegations of similar conduct against Caruso. However, Caruso’s lawyer challenged the credibility of those claims, getting the agent to confirm that there was no proof the incidents ever occurred.

“Were they reported anywhere?” the lawyer asked.

“I believe there were some DCF reports that were unfounded,” the agent said.

“Unfounded,” the lawyer reiterated.

Caruso’s lawyer also questioned the timeline of the alleged abuse, pointing out that more than a year had passed between the last alleged incident and when law enforcement was contacted.

Caruso was present at the hearing, which determined that he could post bond and be released from jail.

The judge set Caruso’s bond at $160,000 with several conditions, including no contact with the victim, surrendering his passport and not returning to Orange County except for court appearances.

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 Adam Rife

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    FOND DU LAC, Wisconsin (WDJT) — A 47-year-old Fond du Lac County man has been charged with felony stalking after investigators say a yearslong pattern of unwanted contact led them to a rural home containing serial killer memorabilia, skeletal remains and disturbing writings about the woman he is accused of stalking.

Benjamin C. Larson is charged with one count of stalking, a Class I felony. If convicted, he faces up to 3½ years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.

According to a criminal complaint, the woman contacted law enforcement July 31 and reported concerning behavior from Larson dating back to 2013.

The woman told investigators she dated Larson for about two months in 2013 after meeting him through mutual friends. At the time, she lived in Madison and Larson lived in Fond du Lac. She described the relationship as intense and said Larson expressed an obsession with Ed Gein, death and gore. The relationship ended after Larson allegedly called her and said he was suicidal with a gun to his head.

The woman moved to Canada later that year and did not give Larson her new address. She said Larson subsequently sent several letters to her mother’s home in Madison and continued trying to contact her in the years that followed.

In a 15-page email sent in 2015, Larson allegedly told the woman he had tattooed “their symbol” and her initials on his body and wrote extensively about his inability to let go of their relationship.

“My will to care about you is just too strong. I simply don’t let go, and I don’t forget,” Larson allegedly wrote.

The complaint says Larson also told the woman he had kept numerous items from their brief relationship, including letters, an earring he said was still tangled with her hair, a pressed flower, cards and a voicemail.

The woman told investigators the unwanted contact intensified again in 2025.

In November, she received a handwritten card from Larson at her business office in Dane County. Larson allegedly acknowledged that she did not want to speak with him but wrote that he would continue trying to reach her until she responded, including potentially calling or “just knock[ing] on your door someday.”

A month later, the woman received another card at her home address. The “Nightmare Before Christmas”-style card featured the phrase “Season’s Creeping” and included a letter in which Larson allegedly wrote about wandering around Madison and possibly encountering her.

“That would be a memorable encounter, surely… I’ll keep my eyes open,” Larson allegedly wrote.

The complaint says Larson ended the letter by referring to the woman’s husband and child by name. The woman told investigators that was especially distressing because she and her husband had been careful not to post information about their child on social media, and she did not know how Larson obtained her home address.

Larson also allegedly filed complaints against the woman, who works as a therapist, with professional licensing boards. The woman told police Larson had never been her client. In one complaint, Larson allegedly accused her of refusing to provide “closure” over the relationship, which had ended more than a decade earlier.

The woman told officers through tears that she “just wants this to stop” and said she feared what Larson might do next, including what could happen to her child. She later told detectives she “just wanted to disappear,” because that had been the only way Larson stopped contacting her.

Investigators executed a search warrant Aug. 14 at Larson’s Fond du Lac County residence, where authorities reported finding an extensive collection of items related to murders, serial killers and the woman.

At the bottom of the basement stairs, investigators reported seeing a grave rubbing bearing the name “Edward Gein.” Inside the basement were glass shelves containing memorabilia connected to several notorious killers, including 10 binders labeled “Edward Gein Book,” items purportedly from Gein’s grave or home and .22-caliber cartridges displayed with a sign claiming they were the same type used by the Zodiac Killer.

Investigators also reported finding a jar accompanied by a sign claiming it contained a piece of John Wayne Gacy’s brain, a mummy and bottles labeled with names including arsenic, strychnine, cyanide and ricin. The complaint does not establish whether those labels accurately identified the objects or substances.

Authorities also reported finding skeletal remains in a glass casket, a skull displayed in a glass case and additional skulls on shelves.

The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office said an anthropologist conducted an initial examination of the remains and determined many are likely ancient Native American remains. Authorities said additional testing is needed to determine more about their origin.

Investigators also searched a padlocked room in the basement after a passcode Larson provided did not work and officers forced their way inside.

Authorities described the room as a bedroom containing a lifelike silicone doll and what appeared to be a painting of a nude woman resembling the alleged stalking victim. Papers bearing the woman’s name were also found on the bed.

One note allegedly described a plan to send letters under another person’s name and mail them from a different area to prevent the woman from immediately recognizing their origin. The writer also discussed heating the letters and envelopes to destroy fingerprints and DNA.

Investigators reported finding five skulls and part of another skull on shelves in the room, two large bones arranged in the shape of a cross and what appeared to be a human jawbone on a dresser.

They also found a tote and garbage bag containing numerous items allegedly connected to the woman, including letters, pressed flowers, bottles and a clay head investigators said appeared to depict her.

Among the books discovered was one about a woman stalked for 13 years before being kidnapped and held in a soundproof storage container. Other books dealt with private investigation, finding information about people and the psychology of stalking.

Investigators also recovered a 25-page collection of writings that repeatedly referenced the woman, her husband and their child.

In one passage, the writer expressed anger over the woman’s life with her family and wrote about wanting “to take their skulls.”

Assistant District Attorney David Olson highlighted that passage during a court hearing.

“The defendant discusses aching to take the skulls of the person, who again in context, is the victim and her partner,” Olson said.

Another passage described traveling to the woman’s home at night while dressed in black with gloves and a mask. The writer described circling the block, sitting outside the home with the vehicle’s lights and engine turned off and holding a machete while watching the house.

The writer also described approaching the property, taking bags of garbage and wanting to experience the feeling again. The passage characterized the behavior as “creepy, strange, stalker-ish, potentially dangerous,” but said it did not bother the writer.

Larson’s attorney, Sara Christensen, emphasized during the hearing that the allegations have not been proven and questioned whether the writings reflected events that actually occurred.

“We don’t know if there is anything that connects those writings to being an actual event or if they are just writings,” Christensen said.

Christensen also said Larson has no prior criminal history, has lived in the same home for more than 20 years and has known his wife for more than 25 years.

The judge described the allegations as “very disturbing,” while noting that they remain allegations.

“It’s not normal behavior for a rational person that’s alleged here,” the judge said. “I understand they’re just allegations.”

Larson was given a $15,000 cash bond. Court records show he posted the bond and was released from custody.

He is scheduled to return to court Sept. 11.

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 Ashley Paul

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    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A Baltimore City Police Officer is being held without bond in Harford County after allegedly raping a domestic violence victim he was called to protect.

Now, Harford County Sheriff Jeffery Gahler worries public trust is tainted after his deputies arrested 32-year-old Baltimore Police Officer Daniel Oxendine Thursday afternoon.

In a statement from Baltimore City Police, the department said it is aware of the investigation, adding, “His police powers were previously suspended, and he is now suspended without pay. While the Harford County Sheriff’s Office conducts its investigation, BPD is fully cooperating with the investigation.”

On June 3, investigators from Harford County responded to the Greater Baltimore Medical Center for reports of a rape and learned the suspect was one of their own.

According to charging documents, Oxendine was one of several officers who responded to a home in Baltimore on June 2 for a domestic violence incident, and with permission from his supervisor, he agreed to drive the victim and her son back to their home in Edgewood.

Along the way, he allegedly stopped at a liquor store so the victim could get alcohol and a snack, before dropping them at their home.

But according to documents, he entered the victim’s home and instructed the victim’s son to stay outside while he made sure the home was safe.

That’s when “the officer took his camera and belt off,” “unzipped his pants,” and demanded the victim perform oral sex on him before forcing her to have unprotected sex with him.

Charging documents say the officer “…at all points during this incident remained on duty and in uniform.”

During the investigation, surveillance video showed the police cruiser assigned to Oxendine at the home for an extended period of time.

DNA evidence collected from the scene and the rape kit at the hospital also matched a sample from Oxendine.

Oxendine is facing several charges, including rape and a law enforcement officer engaging in a sexual act with a victim or witness.

“We are concerned; this is a police officer, this is a person with a public trust,” Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said. “Overall, we have a million police officers across the country, plus or minus, and overall the men and women go out and do an exceptional job. I think the gatekeeping in our profession is second to none, but nothing is perfect.”

“I don’t agree with a lot of things our legislature has done, but they have made it an extra crime for a police officer to have sexual relationships, even if they’re consensual, sexual relationships with victims or witnesses in domestic incidents,” he added.

Gahler worries there could be more victims.

“Just the boldness of the act, without going into the details, the audacity, if you will, just causes someone with 40 years of law enforcement experience to believe, as I’ve said in other cases, that this couldn’t have been the first time. I pray it was, but if there are other victims who were afraid to come forward for some reason, we want them to reach out and talk to our investigators,” Gahler said.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.

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 T.J. Anthony

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    SNELLVILLE, Georgia (WUPA) — For some people, old clothes can hold powerful memories. A metro Atlanta quilt maker is turning those memories into something families can keep forever.

Remetta Wiggins, who lives in Snellville, found purpose in creating keepsakes families could hold.

“It just makes me feel good that I’ve been able to make somebody else feel good and to give them something that’s long-lasting and that they will have forever,” Wiggins said.

Wiggins has been stitching quilts for about 30 years. The first memory quilts she made were personal.

“The first one was of my mom. I made one for all my siblings out of all my mother’s clothes,” Wiggins said. “I ended up making one for my sister, my seven brothers and myself.”

She spends her days transforming clothing from other families into memory quilts, carefully preserving the details that make each one a keepsake.

“I try to keep as much of the article as I can so that you’ll know what it is,” Wiggins explained.

For Stephanie Evans, that attention to detail made one of her quilts especially meaningful.

“It was like love from heaven and love here on Earth,” Evans said.

Evans lost both of her parents in 2024, three weeks apart. Wiggins transformed their clothing, including dresses, pajamas and shirts, into a quilt Evans calls a gift.

Wiggins also makes quilts for athletes, college graduates, fraternities and sororities.

Her customers send clothing from across the country. Most find her through word of mouth.

“From the West Coast to the East Coast, to the North, to the South — I get boxes. I get baskets of clothes,” Wiggins said.

She said she has made about a dozen memory quilts and wants to make more.

“That’s where I want to get to — the thousands,” Wiggins said. “Yes, yes, I want to grow.”

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 Dean Fioresi

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    LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — Los Angeles police arrested an alleged robbery suspect following a pursuit and then a foot chase that ended inside a San Fernando Valley home on Friday morning.

Police haven’t yet said where the chase began, but said that they were in pursuit of a green Ford Mustang with a driver wanted for robbery. They followed the suspect along the 101 Freeway into Valley Glen, where the suspect parked the car and began to run.

Aerial footage showed the suspect running through several yards and into the backyards of some homes. Eventually, he ran into a house near the 12800 block of Welby Way in North Hollywood. SkyCal was overhead as a woman and dog ran from inside the house moments after the suspect entered.

LAPD officers quickly rushed to the front door with firearms drawn. They walked the suspect out of the house in handcuffs minutes later. Officers later identified him as Joshua Villareal.

Chloe Conwi, the woman seen running out of her home, said she found Villareal sitting in her shower. She said Villareal tried to calm her down and coax her to walk closer to him.

“I just started sprinting out, and I’m like yelling,” she said. “I’ve never yelled that loud and been that scared in my entire life.”

Brother Martin Conwi said he was walking out of his bedroom when he found Villarreal in his family’s hallway. He said he immediately took Villareal down to protect his family.

“I grabbed him by the collar, strike him on his neck and drag him down,” Martin Conwi said.

Martin Conwi said he dragged Villareal to the family’s living room, where his brother jumped in to help. They said the family’s pug Kumo also jumped on the suspect as the brothers held him down for police. The brothers said Villareal tried to convince them to let him go.

“He was like, ‘Save me. I’m trying to hide from the officers,” Martin Conwi recalled.

Chloe Conwi said her brothers’ actions did not surprise them.

“They’ve always been overprotective and stuff,” she said. “I’m scared for the guy, not even for my brothers.”

Martin Conwi said he learned the takedown technique when he was an explorer for the California Highway Patrol. The 20-year-old said he’s currently applying for the CHP.

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 Tony Aiello

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — An engagement ring was recovered from the Hudson River after slipping off a bride-to-be’s finger.

The ring slipped off Denise Rivera’s finger on the deck of Billy Joe’s Ribworks restaurant in Newburgh, New York, on Tuesday.

“It slipped off. And when it slipped off, onto the table, kept going, hit the floor and I just saw it go overboard,” Rivera said.

It plunged 12 feet down in the Hudson River.

“It was a horrific feeling. I don’t think anybody wants to experience that,” she said.

Her heart sank right along with that ring. But her horrible luck was about to take a happy turn. Students from the Hudson River Commercial Diver Training Center saw what happened, and heard her screaming “my ring, my ring.”

Wednesday, they spent more than two hours searching the river bottom by hand, feeling for the ring.

“The mud is about six inches deep. As soon as you hit bottom, it stirs it up. You can’t see your hand in front of your face,” said training center owner Christian Dougherty. “Every couple of minutes, she kept looking at me to see if we got it or not. Had to keep giving her the nod, ‘no, not yet, not yet.'”

They switched to a bucket to bring up big scoops of muck.

“I was swirling the sand around and there it was. I saw it. It was great,” Dougherty said.

“It just restores your faith in people. Actually good people out there. They had no other intention than finding that ring for me, making me happy. Someone they don’t even know, a stranger,” Rivera said.

Not all angels have wings. Some have wetsuits.

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.