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Man who attacked Lancaster County officers with his own urine, feces sentenced up to 12 years in prison, DA says

CNN Newsource on December 12, 2025

By Rachael Lardani

LANCASTER, Pa. (WGAL) — A man was sentenced to up to 12 years in state prison after attacking officers with his own urine and feces in Lancaster County, the district attorney’s office announced in a recent release.

Robinson Pena, 39, pleaded guilty on Nov. 20 to the following charges after “viciously assaulting several city police officers and attempting to disarm one of them,” the district attorney said.

Five counts of aggravated assault Three counts of assault of a law enforcement officer Two counts of institutional vandalism Disarming a law enforcement officer Resisting arrest Disorderly conduct Single summary offense Violent attack On April 4, 2025, Pena was arrested in the first block of East Chestnut Street in Lancaster City after ignoring a crosswalk signal and continuing to shout at people in the area despite officers’ warnings to stop, according to police.

Once he was in his holding cell, Pena smeared his feces on himself as well as the walls, the floor, the door, the intercom system and a camera, according to the district attorney.

When officers attempted to place Pena in handcuffs to stop him, Pena attacked the officers, kicking one of them in the chest and scratching another on the arm, officials said.

“During the struggle, Pena bit one officer’s hand with such force that he broke through a nitrile glove and skin. The same officer was spit on in the face five times during the encounter with Pena,” the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office said. “Pena struggled so much during the incident that he tore apart another officer’s Tyvek suit that was intended to provide protection from Pena’s urine and feces.”

Once Pena was placed in handcuffs, investigators said he continued to struggle by biting, head-butting, kicking and spitting on officers.

According to the district attorney, it took crews more than an hour to clean Pena’s holding cell.

Attempted to disarm officer Pena was taken to Lancaster General Hospital after he fought the officers, according to investigators.

While at the hospital, police said Pena tried to take one of the officer’s handguns with such force that Pena cut his own fingers, causing blood to get into the holster and around the exterior of the firearm.

Sentenced to up to 12 years Pena, an unhoused man, was sentenced to five to 12 years in state prison.

During his sentencing, Pena chuckled at Judge Thomas Sponaugle and said he was “ready to upstate,” according to the district attorney.

Judge Sponaugle told Pena that he behaved “like an animal” and that his actions were “self-evidently despicable,” the district attorney said.

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

Please note: 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.

Tucson traffic stop yields $5.5M in fentanyl — more than 1 million pills

CNN Newsource on December 12, 2025

By Don Davis

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MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson police and members of the Southern Arizona Counter Narcotics Alliance (CNA) announced Wednesday that a traffic stop in the I‑10 and Cortaro area resulted in the recovery of what authorities described as more than 1 million fentanyl pills.

In a social media post, the Tucson Police Department said CNA members discovered roughly 245 pounds of fentanyl during a vehicle search — a quantity the department estimated has a street value of about $5.5 million. Police said the defendant in the case has pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges.

Officials emphasized that fentanyl remains a significant public‑safety concern for Tucson and that the department and partner agencies are committed to removing the drug from the community. The CNA, which coordinates investigations and interdictions across the region, handled the traffic stop and follow‑up investigation, according to police.

The seizure comes amid a series of fentanyl enforcement actions reported across the region this year. KGUN9 has documented several large busts in 2025: in June, Tucson police said they recovered more than 2,500 fentanyl pills in a Southside drug bust, as well as over 1,000 pills following a Midtown traffic stop.

KGUN9 also reported larger multi‑jurisdictional actions in the state this year — including investigations that led to seizures measured in the hundreds of thousands to millions of pills. In one case, federal authorities seized an estimated 700,000 pills linked to a Phoenix investigation. Also, in January, AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the seizure of over 75 pounds of fentanyl at a residence in the Tucson area.

Public health experts and law enforcement warn that fentanyl — often pressed into counterfeit pills or mixed with other drugs — is highly potent and has been a key driver of overdose deaths nationwide. Police said the latest seizure will be forwarded to prosecutors and investigators for continued work on trafficking networks connected to the case.

Tucson police encouraged anyone with information about fentanyl distribution to contact CrimeStoppers or the department’s narcotics unit.

The Southern Arizona Counter Narcotics Alliance (CNA) is a multi-agency law enforcement task force that investigates and disrupts illegal drug trafficking operations. It operates as part of the Arizona High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (AZHIDTA) program. The CNA is composed of detectives, officers and agents from multiple federal, state and local agencies. Key participating agencies include the Tucson Police Department (TPD), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Pima County Sheriff’s Department (PCSD) and Marana Police Department.

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Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity sues to remove Trump’s face from National Parks pass

CNN Newsource on December 12, 2025

By Don Davis

Click here for updates on this story

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KGUN) — The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity filed suit Dec. 10 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeking to block President Donald Trump’s image from appearing on the 2026 National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands America the Beautiful annual pass and to force the government to restore the contest-winning photo of Glacier National Park to the main pass.

The complaint alleges the Department of the Interior violated the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004 by replacing the contest-winning Glacier image — which federal law requires the government to use each year — with a close-up of the president’s face, moving the Glacier photo to a newly created “Nonresident” pass and creating Resident and Nonresident passes that the law prohibits. The America the Beautiful pass, which costs $80 annually, provides entry to national parks and many federal recreation areas, including sites used by Tucson residents such as Saguaro National Park and portions of the Coronado and Santa Catalina public lands.

“Blotting out the majesty of America’s national parks with a closeup of his own face is Trump’s crassest, most ego-driven action yet,” said Kierán Suckling, the Center’s executive director, in the group’s press release. “The national parks are not a personal branding opportunity. They’re the pride and joy of the American people.”

The Center argues the substituted photo was not taken on federal land and was not entered in the National Parks Foundation’s public lands photo contest, which the law makes the official source for the annual pass image. The suit seeks enforcement of the statute’s requirements and a halt to what the plaintiffs call the politicization of federal public-lands branding.

The lawsuit will have a local impact for residents of Tucson and southern Arizona who use the America the Beautiful pass to visit nearby federal lands. The pass covers entry to Saguaro National Park — whose two districts flank the city — as well as federal recreation sites and national forests in the region. For many Tucson-area outdoor enthusiasts, the litigation raises questions about how the government manages national symbols and whether design changes could affect the pass program or how passes are sold and distributed.

The Center for Biological Diversity describes itself as a national nonprofit with more than 1.8 million members and online activists dedicated to protecting endangered species and wild places. The group’s involvement puts a local organization at the center of a national legal fight over imagery and the scope of federal authority to design and issue recreation passes.

The case underscores a broader debate over the role of public lands imagery and whether federal property should be used to promote or reflect political leaders. The suit asks the court to require the Interior Department to follow the contest process mandated by Congress and to restore the Glacier National Park photograph to the main America the Beautiful annual pass.

The lawsuit includes these images of the contest-winning Glacier National Park photo and the main 2026 America the Beautiful Annual Pass created by Trump.

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

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Dozens of cows presumed stolen in Northern Colorado, costing ranchers hundreds of thousands of dollars

CNN Newsource on December 12, 2025

By Jesse Sarles

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COLORADO (KCNC) — Dozens of cows from Northern Colorado ranches have gone missing and are presumed to be stolen. The cattle have largely gone missing from ranches in Weld County, around the Greeley area.

Three cattleman in Northern Colorado confirmed to CBS News Colorado that they are among the many who have noticed their herd has missing cows of late. Now, law enforcement at the local and state levels are investigating.

Chad Sanger, owner of Turnkey Cattle Company, invited CBS News Colorado to his property where he spoke about how he noticed something was wrong.

“The first week of October we always precondition our calves,” Sanger said, explaining that his calves needed immunizations.

He said all of his herd was accounted for when he administered the first dose of immunizations. However, there is a need for a booster shot. When he returned weeks later to administer the booster shots he noticed that he was missing several cows.

“When we went back 30 days later that is when we started noticing,” Sanger said. “I’ve brought a lot home from the ranch, thinking maybe I have numbers mixed up. But, they are just gone.”

Sanger lets his herd graze on thousands of acres of property, making it difficult to keep an eye on all of the cattle at one time.

He said he scoured the property looking for the missing cows, saying he even considered that they may have been killed by lightning or predators. However, he never found any trace of the missing calves.

That is when he turned to searching the edges of the property to see if there were any holes in the fence or other ways for the cows to escape.

“But there was nothing left open, or fence down, where they could have gotten out,” Sanger said. “I was hoping to find carcasses or something, but it never crossed my mind that someone was taking them.”

Sanger said he ended up asking a neighboring ranch if there was any chance his cows had somehow joined their herd. That is when he learned he was not the only one missing property.

“When they did their full gather, none of mine were with theirs. In fact, they were missing some of their own,” Sanger said. “It hit me at that point, we got something going on here.”

As word spread around about the missing cows, so too did the concern from ranchers. More people started reporting that they were also missing cows.

Sanger noted that all of his missing cows are either cows or heifers, none are steers or bulls. He said that lead him to believe these animals were being taken to breed and not to process for food.

“With the cost of cattle right now, it is not surprising,” Sanger said. “There is money to be made to take them. Those are worth anywhere from $3,000 to $4,200 (each).”

Sanger said the American herd is down more than 38% at the moment, leading not only to spikes in price for beef but also a greater demand for ranchers to increase the size of their herd.

The Weld County Sheriff’s Office is investigating and seeking information as to what happened to the missing cows.

Sanger said he speculates that they were transported out of state to other states like Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

In Colorado it is illegal to transfer, sell or process a cow without certification from the brand inspector. However, Sanger said that states like Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas do not have as strict of supervision, making it easy for people to steal cows and sell them to other ranchers looking to expand their herd.

“It is kind of silly that ranching has changed this much. That you go back 200 years and have to worry about wrestlers again,” Sanger said.

Sanger is among the many ranchers who have recently invested in video surveillance systems which operate off of cellular networks, allowing them to monitor their herd.

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

Please note: 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.

Dozens of cows presumed stolen in Northern Colorado, costing ranchers hundreds of thousands of dollars

CNN on December 12, 2025

KCNC