Category: Crime & Public Safety

New ‘Cardboard Envelope’ Tax Scam Is Targeting Taxpayers: IRS

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a warning to taxpayers about a new scam mail scheme that attempts to trick people into believing the government owes them money. “The new scheme involves a mailing coming in a cardboard envelope from a delivery service,” the IRS said in a statement on July 3. Inside the…


Explosions Hit DC Businesses As Bombing Suspect Remains On The Loose

Authorities in Washington, D.C. are seeking public assistance in locating the suspects behind three bombing attacks on Sunday morning. Bombs hit a bank, a retail outlet, and a grocery store within 15 minutes on July 2, causing damage. Three stores in Northeast Washington reported attacks with explosive devices, according to a statement from the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD)…


Ex-Pfizer Employee Faces Insider-Trading Charges on COVID-19 Drug Trial

The Department of Justice has accused a former Pfizer employee and his friend and business partner in participating in an insider-trading scheme based on confidential information about the results of clinical trials of a medicine used to treat COVID-19. Prosecutors in New York have accused 44-year-old Amit Dagar, of Hillsborough, New Jersey, of buying call…


California Woman Gets 90 Days in Jail for False Report of Kidnapping Attempt

A California woman and Instagram “mom influencer” has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after lying to authorities about a Latino couple allegedly trying to kidnap her children, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. Kathleen Sorensen, 31, was sentenced to jail on June 29 for a single count of knowingly making a…


Car Crashes Into a New Hampshire Restaurant and Injures Several Customers, Fire Department Says

LACONIA, N.H.—A car crashed into a busy restaurant and injured several patrons in a lakeside town in New Hampshire Sunday afternoon, emergency officials said. The vehicle struck the Looney Bin Bar & Grill a little after 12:40 p.m. Firefighters who arrived on the scene found the car inside the restaurant, the Laconia Fire Department said…


Atlanta Rapper Suspected of Role in Fatal Shooting Arrested, Charged With Murder

ATLANTA—An Atlanta rapper signed to Young Thug’s record label has been arrested and charged with murder for his suspected role in the fatal shooting of a man outside an apartment complex. Atlanta Police on Saturday said 20-year-old Jakobe Moody, who goes by FN DaDealer, was taken into custody and charged with felony murder and possession…


Atlanta Police Motorcycles Burned in Fire Started by ‘Incendiary Devices,’ Officials Say

ATLANTA—Atlanta Police Department motorcycles were damaged in an intentional fire caused by devices set inside a training facility early Saturday, officials said. The Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department responded to reports of a multi-vehicle fire around 2:20 a.m. and found multiple motorcycles on fire, WANF-TV reported. Firefighters at the scene found “incendiary devices” used to…


Illinois Businessman Convicted of Price-Gouging N95 Masks During Early Weeks of Pandemic

CHICAGO—A Illinois businessman has been convicted of price-gouging in connection with the sale of N95 masks during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Krikor Topouzian, 62, of Winnetka, was convicted Thursday in federal court in Chicago following a bench trial, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. He could face up to a year in prison when…


3 of 9 Enter Pleas in Burglary Ring in Theft of Art, Sports Memorabilia

SCRANTON, Pa.—Three of nine people have pleaded guilty to federal charges in a burglary ring that authorities in northeastern Pennsylvania say stole artwork—including works by Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock—as well as antique weapons, sports memorabilia, and other items from museums and other institutions over two decades. Ralph Parry, 45, and Francesco “Frank” Tassiello, 50,…


At Least One Person Dead in Fiery Small Plane Crash in South Carolina Beach Resort

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—A single-engine plane carrying five people crashed Sunday near a golf course in the South Carolina coastal resort community of North Myrtle Beach, killing at least one person, police and federal officials said. The Piper PA-32 went down northwest of the city’s Grand Stand Airport shortly after 11 a.m., the Federal Aviation…