Author: CNN

WCBS

By Christina Fan, Dick Brennan, Doug Williams

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — A New York University student was attacked while walking to class in Manhattan earlier this week, and police say the man in custody is a repeat offender with a history of assaulting women.

In an emotional video posted on social media, 20-year-old Amelia Lewis recounted the assault and demanded something be done to prevent the suspect from targeting others.

Surveillance video shows Lewis walking to class on Monday morning in Greenwich Village, when a man runs up behind her near Broadway and Waverly and appears to slap her on the backside and then shove her to the ground, knocking off her headphones.

Bystanders are seen frozen in shock before running to her aid.

“Just be aware when you’re walking anywhere right now in New York. I never thought this was going to happen to me, because I’ve seen the stories and I was like, oh that’s so scary. But having it actually happen now, it’s like oh my God,” Lewis said on her social media video.

Lewis then did her first interview, speaking on the “Megyn Kelly Show” on Sirius XM on Wednesday.

“I wanted to report this and after I did tell the cops, I let NYU security know to let students know that this man is going around doing this to other women,” Lewis said. “They also told me they were already aware of the man in the blue towel around his neck running around the city.

“It’s really sad. This is something that happens all the time in New York, and I really want to make sure I use my voice and keep others protected and also help other girls that have maybe gone through the same experience as I,” she added.

Police arrested 45-year-old James Rizzo in the attack and charged him with persistent sexual abuse, forcible touching and assault. According to the New York State Department of Corrections, Rizzo, who police sources say is homeless and has 16 prior arrests, was out on parole after serving time for sex abuse.

Police said Rizzo is also facing charges stemming from a string of four residential burglaries in Manhattan in the early morning hours on Tuesday, as well as two additional and unrelated attacks on women, including the random punching of a 59-year-old woman on Mercer Street in December 2023.

The other attack involved 68-year-old Dianne Brazell, of Houston, who was in New York last week for Thanksgiving. She said she was walking with her family on Fifth Avenue in Midtown when, out of nowhere, a man started screaming obscenities in her face.

“And then he seemed to step back for a moment. I thought he was going to leave, and the next thing I knew, I was slammed into a plate glass,” Brazell said.

She was dazed and bruised as people scrambled to help her.

“I have a laceration in my forehead that required six stitches. I have a bruise on my left leg from my knee to my ankle,” she said. “I have a bruise on my left shoulder. I bit my tongue.”

Despite the attack, Brazell said she has no problem returning to New York. In fact, she was overwhelmed by all the support she got.

“It just renewed my faith that even though there are some very bad people among us, there are many more wonderful people,” she said.

Rizzo was expected to be arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday night.

On NYU’s campus on Tuesday and Wednesday, nearly every young woman had seen the disturbing video.

“My dad sent it to me. He was like, ‘You’ve got to stop walking around with your noise-canceling headphones on, because it could be you in another world,'” student Jules Fang said.

“It was really disgusting to see that happen, because she was literally just like minding her business,” Victoria Valenzuela said.

“I think it’s kind of scary in New York City to be a woman,” Ella Filler said. “I’m actually hoping my parents never see the video because they would freak out.”

“Something happens like that and you just get on your toes a little bit more because you never know what’s gonna happen,” Bela Ahn added.

An NYU spokesperson responded to the incident, saying the school takes it seriously and is continuing to offer support to Lewis.

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WBZ

By Brandon Truitt

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    BILLERICA, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Police in Billerica, Massachusetts delivered more than a dozen Amazon packages that have been found on the road. It happened on two occasions in just as many weeks.

It started the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Billerica Police Officer Sam Hawkes was making his rounds near the Market Basket on Boston Road when he drove up on eight Amazon packages laying in the middle of the road.

Instead of moving them off the street or throwing them away, Officer Hawkes called in back up. He and his fellow officers filled the back of two cruisers and hand delivered the packages themselves.

“They were in the middle of the road, so I got out thinking they were trash and [thought about] just pushing them closer to the dumpsters there. But then I found out they were full packages with orders inside,” said Hawkes. “I didn’t want to just leave them. There was nobody around. No cameras to help see what happened back there. That was the first thing we were looking for.”

One of those packages belonged to John Thomas’s wife. He was watching a football game on TV last week when he got a knock at the door. To his surprise, Billerica police officers were on the other side. “I walked out to get it, and I was like oh boy what happened now,” Thomas joked. “[My wife] came down and I said the police are here for you. I made a joke of it, and she said, yeah that’s my package.”

Cut to this week when officers found another eight Amazon packages laying on the side of Salem Road on the other side of town. The officer who found those packages provided the same courtesy and hand delivered the packages to their rightful owners.

Amazon said they were working with the Billerica Police Department on this but would not comment further.

Officer Tom Cranson helped pick up some of the packages off the road. “We all have to help each other out,” said Officer Cranson. “It is obviously stressful during the holidays so just to get people’s packages back was a huge stress reliever for everybody.”

Their efforts go above and beyond for the people whose deliveries were saved. “They have a lot of other things to do besides delivering packages, and I was very appreciative,” said Thomas.

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WBZ

By Aaron Parseghian

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    IPSWICH, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A woman was severely injured after she was thrown off her horse on a trail in Ipswich, Massachusetts. She said a man on a mountain bike spooked the horse, which later died.

“It’s unfortunate that I’m so incapacitated right now,” Rosie Kennedy said from her bed at a rehab facility in Beverly Wednesday.

Back on November 21, she was riding her 8-year-old horse “Pops” on a trail in Ipswich, when she said a man on a mountain bike zipped past some railroad tracks and turned onto the trail.

“Pops just lost his mind, he was just terrified. He reared and he spun, and he started to gallop,” Kennedy said. She was thrown to the ground and dragged about 10 feet.

“The last thing I remember is hearing Pops galloping away at warp speed, and I never saw him again,” she said through tears. While injured on the ground, Kennedy said she asked the cyclist to identify himself.

“I was probably not polite at that time, I said ‘What are you doing riding along railroad tracks?’ I said it three times and he just left,” she recalled.

Kennedy managed to take a photo of him. She then crawled for a half hour to get back to the barn, where an ambulance picked her up. Pops was found on a farm nearby with life-threatening injuries. A veterinarian determined it was more humane to put him down.

Kennedy ended up with a shattered left ankle and a severely damaged right knee. She said the physical injuries pale in comparison to the loss of her horse.

“Sometimes you can’t control the situation and then a terrible tragedy occurs,” Kennedy said. “It just breaks my heart to think that he ran off running for his life with basically a fatal injury,” she said. “That’s hard to deal with.”

Kennedy chose to speak publicly about the incident to raise awareness about trail safety.

“There have been a lot of bicyclists who’ve moved in the past five or 10 years and have enjoyed our trails,” Kennedy said. “But not every trail is meant for a bicyclist to zoom around corners. Horses have the right of way no matter where they are.”

She added that approaching a horse quickly, whether on a bike or on foot, can be dangerous.

“Under no circumstances should any bicyclist or any pedestrian ever come up fast behind a horse. That is terrifying to them. And it was terrifying to Pops,” Kennedy said. “I think this accident has caused people to think about it very clearly and perhaps make some changes in the way that trails are opened, traversed at home.”

Ipswich police said they are looking into the incident, but no charges have been filed at this point in the investigation.

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WJZ

By Mike Hellgren

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    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A trainee at the Baltimore City Fire Academy was reportedly threatening to harm his classmates, and multiple weapons were found in his vehicle, according to details exclusively obtained by WJZ Investigates.

Police responded to the incident at the academy on Tuesday.

The call came into the Southeast District around noon on Tuesday, police said.

According to sources, a trainee at Baltimore City’s Fire Academy on Pulaski Highway was making threats to harm his colleagues, including that he would be “stacking bodies” and “taking himself out.”

The sources said classmates reported those threats to instructors, who notified police.

Officers reportedly found a cache of weapons inside his vehicle that included 10 automatic weapons and a handgun.

Firefighters’ Union President Matt Coster has seen that photo. He spoke to WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren about the frightening incident.

“Obviously, we train our firefighters and recruits to remain observant and calm in those kinds of situations,” Coster said. “We praise them for their quick action and alerting the fire academy staff to a possible situation that could’ve been very detrimental to the academy.”

Coster called it “an alarming incident.”

Baltimore Police said they responded to “a report of an individual in crisis. Upon arrival, officers spoke with a member of the fire department who informed them that a trainee may require an emergency petition after concerning messages by the trainee were reviewed. Members of the Crisis Response Team responded to the scene, and the trainee was transported to an area hospital for an evaluation.”

An emergency petition is a legal process that allows someone in a mental crisis to be taken into custody to be assessed.

The Baltimore City Fire Department said the incident is under “active investigation.”

“Due to the ongoing nature of the review—and out of respect for the privacy and well-being of the member involved—we are unable to provide additional details,” spokesman John Marsh said. “The Baltimore City Fire Department is committed to handling all personnel matters with the utmost professionalism, confidentiality, and fairness. We appreciate your understanding as we follow our established procedures.”

“We praise the Baltimore City Police Department for their quick action and anything that they did yesterday that would make that situation go away,” Coster added.

WJZ is not naming the trainee.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no criminal charges have been filed stemming from this incident.

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KDKA

By Erika Stanish

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    FAYETTE COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — Those with loved ones at a cemetery in Fayette County are outraged after they said maintenance crews drove heavy machinery right over headstones and graves this week.

At Lafayette Cemetery in Grindstone on Wednesday, KDKA-TV saw several tire tracks in the snow that went right over several headstones, along with damaged American flags and decorations.

“This place, they’ve been out of control. They’re damaging the cemetery like crazy,” said David Bella, who has loved ones buried at the cemetery.

People recount stories of damage at cemetery Bella said this week, maintenance crews were working in the Garden of New Veterans section of the cemetery near the mausoleum where his mother, father and wife are buried. He said crews were digging a new grave in the area where most of the damage is.

“It breaks my heart. I mean, these are veterans. They’re flags. They just plow them over,” Bella said.

He said this is not the first time an incident like this has happened, and he wants to see more respect for those buried at the cemetery and more oversight by management.

“Their equipment’s too heavy. They know it, and they just run over graves,” he said. “They’re breaking headstones. There’s vases that people can’t even get out of their headstones because they’ve smashed them into the headstones. When they buried my wife, they’d run over the vase, and it was smashed into the ground. I literally brought my own tools out, and I managed to fight it, and I got it back up out of there for the people, because they had stuck flowers there. Well, they ran them over with a lawn mower [this summer].”

Another woman said her father’s headstone was cracked two years ago after maintenance crews ran it over with a machine. She said that after repeated phone calls to the office, just last month, the cemetery office called her to let her know crews would repair it.

Bella said he believes there is a protocol that maintenance crews are set to follow when pulling heavy machinery in and out of the gravesites.

“As far as I know, they’re supposed to put plywood down. They carry sheets of plywood, stacks of it. They never use it,” Bella said.

Trying to get answers from management As KDKA-TV was at the cemetery, maintenance crews were seen watching as we filmed before coming over and asking us to move so they could “do their jobs.”

Once KDKA-TV’s team moved out of the way, we saw crews move heavy machinery back into the area that was damaged. Two workers then began pouring what looked like jugs of water on top of some headstones and using a brush to clean them off. One worker also worked to fix a damaged flag.

When KDKA-TV went to speak to management at the office building on the property, workers inside refused to let us in. One worker said she’s “not allowed” and that corporate had to provide a response. When we asked who the corporate office is, she refused to answer.

On a piece of paper posted outside the office door, it states, “Lafayette Memorial Park and its staff are NOT responsible for theft, damage or lost items that have been placed on any grave.”

KDKA-TV reached out to the general manager and was told he was on a leave of absence. Another manager reached for comment hasn’t responded as of Wednesday night.

The vice president of people operations and quality of Everstory Partners, the corporate office, sent this statement:

“Our Park Services teams regularly operate heavy equipment on our grounds, both for interments and for landscaping. While we try to avoid impacts to the grounds, sometimes – particularly during periods of rain and snow – visitors may see tire tracks. We do place seed and straw over any tire tracks as weather permits. And, while our teams attempt to avoid damage from our equipment to any memorials, if we do damage a memorial, we will replace or repair it. Finally, please note that our Cemetery Rules and Regulations prohibit the placement of breakable items on memorials, and we conduct park cleanups twice a year to remove such items. To our knowledge, no memorials have been damaged by park equipment, but if any viewer is aware of a damaged memorial, they should speak to our staff on site.”

KDKA-TV asked Everstory Partners if it was typical that heavy machinery is driven directly on top of headstones and if there was any protocol that maintenance crews follow to prevent damage to headstones. We also asked for an estimated repair timeline if damage was done.

The vice president said, “In this instance, I understand that the heavy equipment had to ‘straddle’ the row of memorials to prevent any damage. Typically, we would use plywood, but here, because of the weather, plywood would have caused slippage, and that is a safety concern. I can’t speak to a repair timeline without having a specific example.”

Pennsylvania Department of State investigations KDKA-TV was informed that several active investigations involving Lafayette Cemetery are underway through the Pennsylvania Department of State. However, a spokesperson for the department said that it cannot confirm or deny whether a complaint has been filed.

“Speaking generally, the Department reviews every potential license violation of which it becomes aware, whether that is through a complaint filed directly to the Department, a notification from local law enforcement, or through media reports,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson went on to say, in part, that anyone who suspects violations of professional standards and governing laws should file a complaint on the department’s website.

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KYW

By Joe Brandt

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    Delaware (KYW) — A Delaware man is in custody and facing federal charges after several guns were found in his home, along with apparent plans to attack the University of Delaware Police Department, prosecutors and federal court documents say.

Luqmaan Khan, 25, was charged last Wednesday with illegally possessing a machine gun, Acting U.S. Attorney Julianne Murray announced in a news release.

Khan, a University of Delaware student, allegedly drew up the layout of a UD police station and made comments to investigators about martyrdom, according to Murray and court documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington.

Authorities say Khan was stopped by New Castle County police officers late on the night of Monday, Nov. 24. The officers were in Canby Park West when they spotted a white Toyota Tacoma truck and stopped the vehicle.

Khan was inside the truck and did not comply with officers’ orders to exit the truck. He was then taken into custody for resisting arrest, Murray said.

“This is a very shocking stop. This is not a routine stop,” Newcastle County Police Master Cpl. Richard Chambers said. “This is a classic example of ‘what they thought was just a person in the park after dark’, which we deal with a lot, and this so happened to be a possible shooter of some sort.”

Inside the truck, officers found a .357 Glock handgun with a stabilizing brace kit attached, along with more magazines and an armored ballistic plate, and a composition notebook.

In the notebook, there were notes about more weapons and how they could be used to attack the University of Delaware Police Department.

“The notebook referenced a member of the University of Delaware’s Police Department by name, and included a layout of a building with entry and exit points under which the words ‘UD Police Station’ were printed,” Murray said.

Khan also referenced “martyrdom” in the notebook and stated in an interview with police following his arrest that being a martyr is “one of the greatest things you can do,” and was a goal of his, the affidavit alleges.

University of Delaware Interim President Laura Carlson addressed the charges against Khan in a statement to the university community Tuesday.

Carlson identified Khan as an undergraduate student and said he has been temporarily separated from the university and banned from campus until his legal matters are resolved.

“There are no known or immediate threats to the University of Delaware community. However, the press release describes evidence of a plan that targeted the University of Delaware Police Department (UDPD). This is frightening to all of us,” Carlson wrote. “The press release contains relevant information about the timeline and the actions of the New Castle County Police, the FBI, the Department of Justice and UDPD. I am incredibly grateful to these teams for their diligent investigation and coordination.”

The FBI and New Castle County police obtained a search warrant and searched Khan’s home in Wilmington on Nov. 25. The search turned up another Glock handgun, which was equipped with a “switch,” also referred to as a “Glock switch.”

This is a modification that can turn a standard semi-automatic handgun into a fully automatic one, according to CBS News Philadelphia’s previous reporting. The court documents referred to the Glock with the switch as a “machine gun.”

A rifle was also found in the home, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in court. There are no weapons registered to Khan in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, the document says.

According to the document, Khan is an American citizen who was born in Pakistan. He has no prior convictions on his record.

Khan is being represented by a federal public defender. Court records show he is in custody pending a detention hearing on Dec. 11, at which time a judge could rule whether to release him on certain conditions or keep him incarcerated until the case is resolved.

CBS News Philadelphia reached out to Khan’s public defender. We have not heard back.

Ross DiMattei contributed to this report.

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KDKA

By Shelley Bortz

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    ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — Residents of Rankin woke up on Tuesday to the first snow of the season and the news that the borough has one public works employee who is not certified to operate a snowplow.

Residents said the borough handled the weather better than expected despite the challenges.

“They didn’t do too bad,” resident Marcus Clay said. “It’s better than it was last year. It was a little worse than this last year. They’re trying at least.”

KDKA drove across Rankin to see what the road conditions were like and found roads that were plowed and easy to navigate.

“This is just a little bit of adversity that we’re dealing with, and we’re working through it,” borough council member Walter Sewell said. “We subcontracted to some local businesses so that way we’re able to get the snow removal done quickly and appropriately.”

On some streets, neighbors pitched in by shoveling and salting their own blocks. In a post on Facebook, Mayor Joelisa McDonald acknowledged the staffing issue and assured residents that the borough is looking to secure help.

“We are a small community working with limited resources, and every decision being made is rooted in responsibility, safety, and transparency,” McDonald said. “If you have questions, concerns, or need clarity please reach out directly to your elected council person.”

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KPIX

By Ryan Yamamoto

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    OAKLAND, California (KPIX) — Since 2007, Oakland resident Frances Moore, better known as Aunti Frances, has devoted her life to a simple motto of taking care of her community.

“We don’t just feed the homeless, we feed the hungry,” Frances said proudly.

Four days a week, she turns Jasper P. Driver Plaza in North Oakland into a food pantry and kitchen, becoming a place where people can receive fresh produce and groceries, and a hot meal on Tuesday afternoons.

“17 years ago, this place was a hot mess here, and then I realized food is something we all need,” said Frances. “I learned how to use food as a tool to organize the community.”

The Self Help Hunger Program is rooted in the legacy of the Black Panther Party, which helped shape and raise her when she was a young cub.

“I joined because I was a young girl in a foster home, and I had no place to go,” she said.

Today, she feeds more than 2,500 people a month, while finding inspiration in the Black Panthers’ food giveaways and free breakfast programs of the past.

“So, providing those needs of our people, instead of waiting for something to drop out of the sky, we do it,” said Frances. “And so, when you say all power to the people, this is evident that there is power in people.”

Cali Joy Sanchez, a community organizer and board member of the Self Help Hunger Program, says Aunti Frances’s work is vital to the neighborhood and keeping the spirit of the party alive.

“I call myself a revolutionary, and that is what Aunti Frances is, a revolutionary,” said Sanchez. “She is a powerful movement. She is fierce. She is a hurricane. If you see her, she doesn’t stop.”

A woman who is always on the move, providing more than just food, but also health and wellness resources, from massage therapy and medical services meant to heal the body and the soul.

“It’s like medicine, because at the end of the day I could say, ‘What did you do today?'” said Frances. “I could say, ‘We fed the people,’ and that’s my medicine.”

A remedy she hopes will one day provide a permanent cure for her community.

The Self Help Hunger Program relies on community donations.

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WCBS

By Jennifer McLogan

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — Mourners on Long Island wore pink to honor 18-year-old Emily Finn, who was allegedly shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend in what police called a botched murder-suicide attempt.

Finn’s devastated parents, brother and grandparents joined the Sayville community at her funeral on Monday amid their heartbreak and tears after the gifted ballerina’s death right before Thanksgiving.

Finn came home to West Sayville from college the day before Thanksgiving and went to her ex’s home in Nesconset to say goodbye and retrieve some of her belongings, according to Suffolk County Police.

After she arrived, the 17-year-old boy shot Finn to death before shooting himself in the face, Suffolk County Police said. His parents then called 911 and he was rushed to the hospital, according to police.

The boy, who has since turned 18, was in critical but stable condition at Stony Brook University Hospital, police said.

He was charged with second-degree murder, but police said his name was not released due to his age at the time of the shooting.

Finn posted pictures of her and the boy together on Instagram months before their breakup.

“I can’t believe this happened to her. She didn’t deserve that. I’m going to miss her so much,” friend Maia Toth said.

Loved ones tied pink ribbons around the trees in their town and wore pink, her favorite color, during the funeral.

“A great young lady. Had the whole world ahead of her and, she’s very loved and she’ll be very missed,” cousin Francis Finn said.

Emily Finn spent years dancing at the American Ballet Studio in Bayport.

Her teacher, Kathy Kairns-Scholz, said she was filled with talent and compassion. The studio will dedicate their “Nutcracker” performances to Finn.

The Youth Peace and Justice Foundation will also sponsor an annual scholarship in Finn’s name. The youth gun violence initiative will also plant a tree in an upstate national forest in her name, memorializing young people whose lives were lost to gun violence.

In October, Suffolk reported domestic violence calls jumped 43% and formed a coalition to help spot red flags and bring resolution.

“Tremendous sadness. Domestic violence is something that we worry about all the time, and the numbers are much too high,” Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said.

“We work very closely with our community-based organization to ensure that we can provide counseling and crisis intervention immediately,” Dr. Sylvia Diaz, deputy county executive for health, human services and education.

Finn attended SUNY Oneonta and dreamed of becoming a teacher.

She was a graduate of Sayville High School.

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