Crime and Incidents

Edith “Edy” Schwartz, whose support of her adopted hometown took many forms, was recently honored by the Moraga Town Council for her decades of community work. Schwartz, 75, died Sept. 8 in Moraga. She was a community activist in Moraga for almost 45 years, starting with her work for the town’s incorporation drive in 1974. […]

Three suspects are being sought for the theft of approximately $6,000 worth of cell phones, tablets and other devices on the night of Sept. 17, from a T-Mobile store in Concord’s Park ‘N’ Shop shopping center, police said. Concord police Lt. Kristen Thoms said the three men went into the store at 1701 Willow Pass Road […]

A tragedy was averted thanks to the timely intervention of a Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office volunteer who acted quickly after spotting a dog tied to a moving semi. The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) said a member of its “Volunteers in Protection” (VIP) program was at a gas station in Ash Fork, Arizona, on Sept. 8, […]

NEW YORK—Elizabeth Smart says she’s been assured that the woman who helped kidnap her when she was 14 and stood by as she was sexually assaulted will be watched when she’s released from prison. In an interview on “CBS This Morning,” on Sept. 18, Smart says she believes Wanda Barzee remains a danger. Barzee is […]

WILMINGTON/FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.—Deeper flooding loomed in the hours and days ahead from rivers in the Carolinas swollen by Tropical Depression Florence, which has killed 23 people, even if rain-weary residents got a brief glimpse of sunshine on Sept. 17. The slow-moving storm, a hurricane when it hit the North Carolina coast, has dumped up to 36 inches of […]

Residents and supporters of San Jose Hope Village, a privately funded homeless tent encampment near Mineta San Jose International Airport, said they’ve been told the camp will be cleared out by the California Highway Patrol starting at 8 a.m. on Sept. 17. Meanwhile, a CHP spokesman said on the night of Sept. 15, that there won’t […]

Police in Salinas is investigating the theft on the night of Sept. 14, of a puppy from the Monterey County Animal Services shelter. Staff at the shelter discovered the young Labrador mix was missing on the morning of Sept. 15. The thieves broke into the shelter overnight and kidnapped the puppy. The puppy is black with […]

Police in San Jose is investigating two recent armed robberies that occurred at businesses in the same shopping center and are releasing photos and video of the suspect. At 10:26 a.m. on Aug. 31, a woman entered a business in the 100 block of Branham Lane, presented a note demanding money and pulled a gun […]

It took firefighters about 40 minutes to put out a fire in Bay Point on the evening of Sept. 16 that started with a barbecue unit and spread to an adjacent building, a Contra Costa County Fire Protection captain said. The two-alarm fire at 57 Water St. in the unincorporated community of Bay Point west […]

A 30-year-old man was struck and killed by a vehicle in the unincorporated Santa Cruz County area of Corralitos on the night of Sept. 16, according to the California Highway Patrol. The collision was reported at 9:06 p.m. on Corralitos Road north of Varni Road. A 27-year-old woman driving a 2016 Honda Fit south on […]

NEW YORK— The Fire Department of New York says dozens of vehicles were damaged in a parking garage fire that sent thick black smoke billowing over a Brooklyn neighborhood. The department says 21 people were injured as the fire raged in the Mill Basin neighborhood on Sept. 17. All but three of them were firefighters. […]

WICHITA, KANSAS—A 12-year veteran of a Kansas sheriff’s office and a suspected vehicle thief were fatally shot when a fight broke out during the suspect’s arrest in a rural area of Wichita, authorities said. Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter said Deputy Robert Kunze was shot on the afternoon of Sept. 16, after receiving a call about […]

A 22-year-old has been charged with capital murder after killing three teens in Central El Paso, on Sept. 14. According to the El Paso police, Juan Frausto Cazares shot three victims, two male and one female, while Cazares was suffering from stab wounds. The officers arrived at the scene of the crime, 3633 Lincoln, just before 6 […]

WILSON/WILMINGTON, N.C.—Deadly storm Florence drenched North Carolina with more downpours on Sept. 16, cutting off the city of Wilmington, damaging tens of thousands of homes, and threatening worse flooding as rivers fill to bursting point. The death toll rose to at least 15 from Florence, which crashed into the state as a hurricane on Sept. […]

At the time that Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel in May 2017, the FBI didn’t have evidence to determine whether the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia, according to excerpts of a closed-door interview between congressional investigators and former FBI attorney Lisa Page obtained by The Hill and Fox News. Page became one of […]

The House Intelligence Committee in the next few weeks will release dozens of transcripts of depositions it conducted as part of the Russia investigation, according to committee chairman Devin Nunes. The committee interviewed 73 witnesses (pdf) as part of its 14-month Russia investigation that concluded in March. Though around 70-80 percent of the interviews are not […]

On Sept. 14, the St. Paul Police identified the teen that robbed and assaulted an elderly man in St. Paul, Minneapolis on Sept. 11, TwinCities.com reported. People gave them tips after the police released surveillance footage of the assault. The police said on Sept. 14, that they believe they have identified him through tips provided […]

HOUSTON—Authorities say two men arrested in the fatal shooting of a North Texas undercover police officer during a bar robbery will face capital murder charges. Samuel Mayfield and Timothy Huff remained jailed without bond on Sept. 15. Fort Worth police say that because Officer Garrett Hull died overnight, authorities expect to upgrade the charges faced […]

SALT LAKE CITY—Once an accomplished organ player in Salt Lake City, Wanda Barzee became a disturbing figure for members of her own family after she helped in the 2002 kidnapping of then-teenager Elizabeth Smart. Days before the 72-year-old woman is released from prison, looming fears about whether she remains a threat and calls to keep […]

ST. PETER, Minn.—A man and woman in southern Minnesota are accused of dropping off a 5-year-old boy in the woods as punishment for wetting himself. Lynda Michel, 42, and Gregory Wilson, 32, were charged Friday in Nicollet County District Court with child neglect. Authorities say the boy is Wilson’s biological son and that Michel lives […]