Category: CNN Regional

By Michele Gile

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    ORANGE COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Orange County beachgoers notice that there’s a lot of stingrays lately, and lifeguards say the warm water, especially in places where the surf is relatively calm, is contributing to a dramatic increase in the number of stingray incidents.

More than 3,100 people have been stung at Bolsa Chica and Huntington State Beach so far this year, which is at least double last year’s total.

At Huntington city beach, 80 swimmers and surfers were injured just this week alone.

“Bolsa Chica has slightly a different angle at their beach and they’re not as exposed to that south-facing swell direction that we experience here at main beach, so it doesn’t surprise me that they’ve had an increase in stingray activity,” Huntington Beach Marine Safety Battalion Chief Derek Peters said.

Last Friday, researchers from Cal State Long Beach’s Shark Lab brought a net to Seal Beach and collected a few hundred stingrays in just one area.

Experts say there’s a marine heatwave off parts of the West Coast. It’s the third time on record that such a large swath of the Pacific Ocean has stayed warm for so long.

Newport Harbor High School students Marigold Kulik and Audrey Lauritzen made it out of the water at Huntington’s main beach without seeing one stingray.

“They’re scary, though. I don’t like them,” Kulik said.

Thermal bags are stored in the toolboxes on Huntington lifeguards’ trucks. Anyone who has felt the sharp barb of a stingray knows that scalding hot water is the treatment. Water poured into the bag for a foot bath brings much-needed relief.

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 Jessica Baltaxe

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    MODESTO, California (KOVR) — Five men and one juvenile were arrested as part of a months-long human trafficking investigation involving minors in Stanislaus County, law enforcement officials said Thursday.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said they will not release additional information on the victims due to their ages and California’s confidentiality laws.

The suspects were identified as Adonis Lartigue, 20, from Reno; as well as Haywood Moye, 21; Isaiah Amador, 18; Raginald Williams, 19; Terris Austin, 20; and one juvenile, all from Modesto.

The sheriff’s office said its Human Exploitation and Trafficking Task Force investigated subjects believed to be involved in commercial sex trafficking and rescued several sex trafficking victims over months. With the help of the Stanislaus County Probation Department and the Modesto Police Department, detectives say they connected the alleged operation to a Modesto apartment, where they said the suspects lived with the victims.

The five adult men were booked into the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Detention Center on suspicion of human trafficking of a minor and other sex trafficking-related charges, officials said. The underage suspect was booked into Stanislaus County Juvenile Hall on similar charges. All subjects are being held on different bail amounts based on their charges.

This year, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office Human Exploitation and Trafficking detectives said they have rescued nine minor human trafficking victims, resulting in nine arrests.

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 Carlos E. Castañeda

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    OAKLAND, California (KPIX) — The Oakland Police Department on Thursday released a compilation video of officer body camera footage of the fatal shooting last month of a man wielding two homemade spear-like devices at officers.

The incident happened at 2:12 p.m. on July 13 in a strip mall parking lot at 40th and International Boulevard in the Fruitvale neighborhood of East Oakland.

Minutes earlier, officers had responded to a call from California Highway Patrol officers who had encountered a man at a homeless encampment along State Route 185 next to 42nd Avenue and south of San Leandro Street. CHP bodycam video showed the man, identified as 43-year-old Jose Castillo, refusing an officer’s command for him to drop his weapons, which were two large knives each attached to long poles.

“You’re detained right now,” the officer says. “You need to drop those right now.”

The man instead held up the makeshift spears and verbally threatened the CHP officers, prompting the other officer to point his service weapon at Castillo, who then walked away toward SR 185. Oakland police officers then found him in the area of 12th Street and 41st Avenue, and he continued to refuse multiple commands to drop the weapons while threatening officers and quickly walking away from them.

At one point, the video shows a bystander and two young children crouching behind a tree on the sidewalk on 41st Avenue as Castillo walked toward them just before an officer holding a stun gun blocked his path. Other officers also converged at the location along 41st Avenue to follow him as he kept refusing commands to drop the weapons.

“I don’t have to do nothing,” Castillo is heard saying. “Leave me alone! I’m leaving!”

As he approached International Boulevard, Castillo walked into a strip mall parking lot and then turned around to face the officers, at least two of whom shot him with their stun guns.

The video shows Castillo temporarily becoming disabled, but he then takes off the backpack and begins swinging the spears at the officers, who opened fire on him multiple times from about 15 to 20 feet away.

Castillo was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said investigators were seeking the public’s help in finding his next of kin.

On the day of the shooting, Oakland Police Chief James Beere said two officers discharged their firearms. The officers were not identified.

Police said as per protocol, the shooting will be investigated separately by the department’s internal affairs unit and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. The city’s Community Police Review Agency is also investigating the shooting.

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 Joe Donlon, Edie Kasten

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — The kindness of strangers can change lives. A downstate Illinois restaurant owner was shocked by the number of people who reached out to help him when he needed it most.

Nick Bohn is a husband and father, and he’s very independent.

“I’ve never been one to ask for anything, I’d just rather try to do it myself,” he said.

Molly Clyden is a wife and mother, and by nature a helper.

“I’ve always been the person on the giving end. I’ve always been the one to … I want to help others,” she said.

Bohn and Clyden said it’s darn pretty great that they found each other.

In late June, Bohn got an amazing gift from Clyden – one of her kidneys. The process began back in November.

“My doctor thought I had a gallbladder issue, and so she sent me in for an ultrasound and bloodwork,” he said. “She called me the next morning at like 7 o’clock in the morning, and was like, ‘Your ultrasound came back fine, your gallbladder’s fine, but you’ve bloodwork showing you have kidney disease.'”

Bohn said he went to the emergency room and was told he was in stage 5 renal failure.

“It just hit us like a ton of bricks,” he said.

His best option was finding a living donor for a kidney transplant.

Bohn isn’t one to ask for help, but his wife, Lindsay, posted his story on Facebook. He said the number of people who offered to donate blew him away.

“I was getting messages from Indiana, from Florida, from Virginia,” he said. “We got interviewed by the local paper, and the guy, the reporter doing the story was like, ‘Yeah, my wife signed up to donate to you.’ I was like, I didn’t even know the guy, I didn’t know her.”

Clyden just happened to be on Facebook that evening.

“Didn’t even read the full post, I just read that he needed one, and I shot off a message right away,” she said.

But Clyden wasn’t one of the far-away folks. She lives in the next tiny town over from Bohn.

You wouldn’t know it by seeing them now, but they had never met before.

“There’s a one in 100,000 chance that she was that perfect of a perfect match without being my sibling,” Bohn said.

“I’ve had jokes on people. ‘Are you sure you’re not related, like a family tree somewhere?'” Clyden said.

The transplant surgery was performed at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Bohn’s wife was at his side. Clyden’s entourage included a stuffed dinosaur.

“It’s my middle daughter’s. So, she wanted me to have it with me,” she said.

Clyden wore a t-shirt saying “Kidneys are made to be shared.”

In pre-op, Bohn and Clyden were in adjacent rooms. After lots of hugs from loved ones, it was showtime.

The delicate surgery took about four hours. It was a laparoscopic procedure, meaning smaller incisions, and it went without a hitch.

“When the doctor, the surgeon took her kidney out, she said it was a perfect kidney,” Bohn said.

“She said it was beautiful,” Clyden said.

“After two weeks already, my bloodwork’s showing that it’s working perfectly, like better than probably my other two have ever worked,” Bohn said.

“I was happy it was done and I did it, able to give him a nice kidney,” Clyden said.

Bohn could finally breathe easy after months of pain, anxiety, and dialysis, and he has a new friend – “kidney buddies for life,” as Clyden put it.

“She’s an amazing, awesome human being to want to do this for a stranger. I will never be able to thank her enough,” Bohn said.

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 Dave Savini

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — More violations at Chicago’s Bohemian National Cemetery and Crematorium have surfaced, which is now under investigation for its role in mishandling bodies connected to the family that ran South Chicago Chapel.

More than 50 decomposing bodies were found at the Far South Side funeral home last week. Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation records showed South Side Chapel’s funeral director was listed as Johanna Morgan and her husband Clark Morgan as its president.

Clark Morgan previous owned and operated Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, which was shut down in 2025 and was accused of mishandling the bodies of people who had recently died.

CBS News Chicago Investigators have now obtained disturbing photos being examined by state regulators showing further apparent misconduct at Bohemian National Cemetery and Crematorium. The photos are graphic in nature, and while CBS News Chicago has blurred some of them, they give a clear picture of how bodies were being handled there in 2025.

The photos show remains left outside of refrigeration units with body parts exposed, unsanitary conditions, bodily fluids on the floor, even a deceased dog left on top of a cooler in front of a fan. Photos of the outside cemetery show flooding and floating debris. One photo even appears to show part of a bone lying in the grass.

Along with the 56 bodies found at South Side Chapel, investigators also recovered more than 50 boxes of cremains. All have been sent back to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office where only 12 have been identified.

After Heights Crematory was shut down in 2025, Clark and Johanna Morgan lost their crematory license, but faced no criminal charges. They were able to keep operating their funeral business, as well as Planet Green Cremations in south suburban Glenwood.

After the Morgans lost their cremation license, they used Bohemian National Cemetery Crematorium to carry out the cremations they promised to families at South Chicago Chapel. Twenty-two bodies connected to the Morgans were found at Bohemian last week.

The Illinois State Comptroller’s Office confirmed they found other problems in recent years at Bohemian, including broken cremation equipment. There is also a record that staff there was improperly emitting particles through their smokestack.

Bohemian faces fines and suspension, and have agreed to shut down while the state continues its probe.

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 Joseph Buczek, Paula Wethington

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    DETROIT, Michigan (WWJ) — The FBI Detroit Field Office has announced the addition of a man previously charged with wire fraud and money laundering to the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters List.

Federal authorities say the man, Darren Anthony Robinson, is connected to a federal fraud investigation in which investors lost a total estimated at about $100 million. The tip that led to the investigation came into the FBI Detroit office, and dozens of the victims of the scheme were from Michigan, Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said during a press conference on Thursday morning.

Robert Kuszynski, IRS Criminal Investigation Detroit Acting Special Agent in Charge, also spoke at the press conference to discuss allegations, a federal indictment and efforts to locate the fugitive.

The Most Wanted Fraudsters List is separate from the FBI’s long-promoted Most Wanted List. The fraudster list launched in June and has resulted in four arrests so far, Runyan said.

Runyan and Kuszynski said a $150,000 reward has been posted for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Robinson.

According to details provided at the press conference, hundreds of people fell victim to what Runyan called a Ponzi scheme. Earlier investors were paid by later investors, while funds were diverted to other purposes, including “Robinson’s personal lifestyle,” the FBI said. QYU Holdings purported to be a professional investment company trading in the foreign currency exchange market, the FBI said. Federal authorities accuse Robinson of raising about $100 million from investors in the United States, Canada, Panama and other countries.

The victims included retirees, families saving up for college expenses and business owners, Runyan said.

The impact, she added, was “significant financial harm.”

The IRS got involved, Kuszynski said, because “money laundering is essentially tax fraud in progress.”

Robinson, age 56, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and has traveled extensively both within the U.S. and internationally, the FBI said. He is known to have connections to Panama, the United Arab Emirates and Colombia.

The FBI said in 2023 that Robinson was a principal and operator of QYU Holdings, and that the investment activities under investigation started around 2010 and continued through 2023.

The circumstances that led to his escape from authorities, Runyan said, are that Robinson was released on bond and on approved travel when he was able to get the GPS tether removed. A federal arrest warrant was issued for him in January 2024 from the U.S. District court for the Eastern District of Michigan after Robinson was charged with 11 counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

“Someone knows where he is,” Runyan said.

“Darren Robinson – if you are watching this press conference, turn yourself in,” she urged.

Those with tips to submit are asked to contact the FBI tipline at 800-CALL-FBI or their local FBI office.

Those who believe they may be victims in the case may contact the FBI at a special page for the QYU Holdings investigation.

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By Conor Wight

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    HOPKINS, Minnesota (WCCO) — About two weeks ago, a parent connected to an in-home daycare in Hopkins said that she received a notice from the owner. The owner intended to close due to relationship troubles with her husband.

This week, that man killed her, their 7-year-old daughter and a 78-year-old relative before taking his own life.

The possibility of marital trouble is one of several details revealed in a search warrant related to the domestic violence murders carried out in two cities on Wednesday morning. While the document contains names of those involved, WCCO is not reporting them here to allow authorities to contact next of kin.

According to the document, a man was dropping off his two children at the daycare on the 200 block of Tyler Avenue North when he heard the sound of children screaming from inside. He told police that when he entered the back door, which is the typical drop-off point, he witnessed the male suspect stabbing his wife and his daughter with a screwdriver.

From there, the man — who called 911 — said that he grabbed his own children and two others and fled. He said that he got the notice about the woman intending to close the daycare due to “relationship issues” with the suspect about two weeks ago.

Investigators said that the six other children inside the home did not suffer physical injuries. They found the victims on the bottom floor, but said that the man was on the top level of the home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A shotgun was still in his hand, according to the search warrant.

Prior to the events in Hopkins, investigators believe the man killed his 78-year-old relative at her home in Burnsville. He had been living there temporarily.

Police are still trying to pin down a motive. The idea that the relationship was ending sets off alarm bells for experts like Nikki Engel, who serves as the co-executive director of Violence Free Minnesota.

“Attempts to leave a relationship are associated with higher rates of lethality,” Engel said.

While there are plenty of unknowns, Engel said that the horrific acts carried out in Hopkins and Burnsville are in line with available data about family murder-suicides.

Violence Free Minnesota has tracked at least 231″intimate partner violence related homicide-suicides” in Minnesota since 1989. Of the 231 perpetrators, 229 were men; 207 of the victims were women killed by a current or former male partner.

“How do we bring into public conversation the role of male entitlement and misogyny? Because if we’re going to solve this issue we have to diagnose it accurately, or we’re never going to get to the solution,” Engel said.

Engel said it’s also not uncommon for other family members to be targeted. What stands out to her in this case as a statistical anomaly is the stabbings; according to Violence Free Minnesota, a gun is used in 85% of intimate partner homicide-suicides.

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By Bryan Lynn, Mike Hellgren

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    BALTIMORE, Maryland (WJZ) — A Baltimore County police officer will not face criminal charges in connection with the death of 56-year-old Samuel “Big Sam” Brown, Maryland’s Attorney General announced on Thursday.

Officer Derek Hadel was placed on administrative leave following the Feb. 16 encounter at a Woodlawn intersection. Brown died at a hospital nearly two weeks later on Feb. 27. The State’s Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the manner of death a homicide in March.

Body cam footage showed incident The Maryland Attorney General’s Office released the police-worn body camera footage in March.

Investigators said the Baltimore County officer found Brown asleep behind the wheel at a stoplight in the area of Whitehead Court and Security Boulevard in Woodlawn around 3:30 a.m. on February 16.

The video shows footage of Brown getting out of his vehicle during a conversation with the officer. The video then shows Officer Hadel pushing Brown back two times.

A verbal altercation continues, and Brown is then seen shoving the officer’s hands down.

The officer is then seen throwing two punches, and Brown falls back and hits his head on the concrete. The Attorney General’s report said Officer Hadel requested emergency medical services (EMS) and rendered medical aid to Brown until EMS arrived to transport him to the hospital.

A statement issued by Attorney General Anthony G. Brown concluded by saying that “after completing its investigation and evaluating all the available evidence, the Office of the Attorney General has determined that the subject officer did not commit a crime under Maryland law.”

Family’s reaction Brown’s family told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren Thursday they are “incredibly disappointed” by the attorney general’s decision and said their lawyers will be giving a detailed response next week.

In March, Billy Murphy, the attorney for the Brown family, told WJZ, “At the time of the attack, ‘Big Sam’ was obviously drunk. He was defenseless because he was standing still with his arms at his side when he got hit. His hands were empty. He had no weapon, and you can see that Officer Hadel’s violent attack was completely unnecessary, inexcusable, and in fact criminal.”

Murphy said Brown suffered a fractured skull and broken bones in his face.

The veteran attorney told WJZ, “Instead of de-escalating the situation as he was required by law and departmental policy to do, he chose to escalate the situation illegally by sucker punching big Sam in his face.”

Brown’s daughter, Deja Brown, wept during the March news conference.

“He was ‘Big Sam’ to everyone else, but he was just ‘Dad’ to us, and this didn’t have to happen. It’s wrong. It’s devastating to all of us,” she said. “He was loving. He was caring. He was whatever we needed him to be whenever we needed him to be it, and my family just prays that justice will be served.”

“Big Sam” Brown often worked with DJ Quicksilva, who said no one truly understands the pain Brown’s loved ones are feeling.

Why no charges? In their report, investigators for the Maryland Attorney General wrote, “There is insufficient evidence to prove the officer in this case intended to use force that exceeded what was necessary and proportional to protect himself.”

The investigators determined Brown was so close to the officer that using pepper spray or a Taser to de-escalate “would have been unadvisable.”

They noted the officer did lightly push Brown and give verbal commands.

The report stated, “Mr. Brown’s refusal to comply with law-enforcement commands, his continued approach towards the officer, and his multiple slaps at the officer’s hand presented an imminent threat to the officer’s safety.”

The medical examiner previously ruled Brown’s death was a homicide.

The attorney general’s report said, “The evidence here is insufficient to defeat a claim that the subject officer acted in self-defense. Specifically, we cannot prove that it was unreasonable for the subject officer to believe that Mr. Brown posed an ongoing threat to his safety, as Mr. Brown had defied commands, confronted the subject officer, and twice slapped at the officer’s hand. With these facts—and evidence that Officer Hadel acted in accordance with his BCPD training on defensive tactics—we cannot prove that the use of force demonstrated a reckless disregard for Mr. Brown’s life. Nor can we prove, considering Mr. Brown’s proximity and assaultive conduct, that the use of force was more than reasonably necessary to stop the threat presented.”

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.