Category: Police
MLB umpire chases down, fights teen thug who allegedly stole his phone on Philly street: Police sources
A Major League Baseball umpire chased down and fought a teenager who allegedly stole his phone on a Philadelphia street earlier this month, KYW-TV reported, citing police sources.
Multiple law enforcement sources identified the umpire as Brock Ballou, who has been an MLB umpire since 2022, the station said.
‘They ended up on the ground, at which time the victim struck his head, causing injury. The male continued his assault, violently punching him.’
Police released surveillance video of the suspect, KYW noted. Police said the suspect is a teenage male with brown complexion wearing a light blue sweatshirt and black pants.
Police said the suspect approached Ballou from behind in the 1600 block of Walnut Street in the downtown section of the city around 7 p.m. April 9, stole Ballou’s phone while the umpire was looking at directions, and then ran off, the station reported.
“The suspect approached the male and snatched his cell phone out of his hands,” Capt. Jason Smith told KYW. “The victim went chasing after the male, at which time they got involved in a physical altercation at 16th and Walnut.”
Investigators told the station that when Ballou tried to take his phone back, the suspect punched him several times in the head. KYW said surveillance video it reviewed shows the suspect repeatedly punching Ballou.
“They ended up on the ground, at which time the victim struck his head, causing injury,” Smith added to the station. “The male continued his assault, violently punching him.”
The suspect then ran away without the phone, which was returned to Ballou later by someone on the street, police told KYW.
Ballou’s injuries were not serious, police added to the station.
Ballou was in Philadelphia to work the Phillies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks series last weekend, KYW said, adding that Ballou umpired at first base the night after the incident and was behind home plate two days later.
KYW said MLB declined to comment.
In addition, police told the station the same suspect about a half-hour previously had entered a 7-Eleven just a few blocks away in the 1200 block of Chestnut Street and allegedly stole several items. Police told KYW that an employee confronted the suspect, after which the suspect punched the employee multiple times before the suspect fled the store.
Police are asking those with information about the crimes to contact the department’s central detective division at 215-686-3093/3094, the station said.
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Female slashes face of 3-year-old boy she kidnapped at Walmart — and officers open fire: Police
A female slashed the face of a 3-year-old boy she kidnapped at a Walmart in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday morning — and officers opened fire on her, police said.
Officers responded to the Walmart in the 1600 block of South 72nd Street after receiving 911 calls — one caller indicated a woman was armed with a “large kitchen knife” and was with a young child, police said.
‘The responding officers acted with professionalism and direct action to intervene and save a child’s life.’
A two-officer patrol unit arrived at the location where officers approached the armed woman — later identified as 31-year-old Noemi Guzman — who was standing by a shopping cart with a 3-year-old boy in the cart, police said.
Guzman was making multiple threats with the knife, police said, and officers gave multiple verbal commands for Guzman to drop the knife.
Police said she refused to drop the weapon and cut the boy.
With that, the patrol officers fired their service weapons striking Guzman.
The child’s guardian, along with a bystander, immediately removed the child from the cart and rendered aid to him, police said.
Officers began lifesaving measures on Guzman, but police said she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Omaha Fire Department medics took the boy to Children’s Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The child’s parents identified the boy as Cyler Hillman, KETV-TV reported. Deputy Police Chief Scott Gray added to the station that Cyler suffered a cut on the left side of his face and on his hand.
Investigators later determined through store surveillance video that Guzman had shoplifted the knife from inside the store, police said. She then approached the child and guardian in a shopping aisle, brandished the knife, and forced the guardian to walk ahead of the cart while the child remained inside, police said.
Gray told KETV that Guzman kidnapped the child.
Guzman then directed them through the store and into the parking lot, and soon officers intervened, police said.
“The responding officers acted with professionalism and direct action to intervene and save a child’s life,” Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said.
Police told KETV that Guzman and the child’s caretaker did not know each other.
The investigation remains ongoing, police said.
Various aspects of this incident were captured on officers’ body-worn cameras and other available surveillance, police said.
The involved officers have been placed on paid critical incident leave, per department policy, police said, adding that they will be interviewed at a later date.
Police said they’re asking witnesses who may have observed or recorded Guzman’s actions during the incident to contact the department at 402-444-4877 and reference report number AA31063.
Police said Guzman in 2024 was accused of dousing her father with a flammable liquid and stabbing him — and then breaking into St. Francis Cabrini Church in Omaha and destroying property in the rectory.
According to a separate KETV story, Guzman was later found not responsible by reason of insanity.
The above KETV news video indicates that a judge ordered Guzman to undergo evaluation but in an outpatient capacity. A month later, a court ruling indicated Guzman was suffering from mental illness, including schizophrenia, the station said.
The court ruling stated that Guzman “remains a danger to herself or others, and should remain under the jurisdiction of the court” and that she can “continue to reside in the community with family support unless otherwise recommended by her community treatment team,” KETV said in the video. A one-year review was scheduled to take place less than a month prior to Tuesday’s incident, the station said.
Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson told KETV in 2024 that the state lacks the infrastructure to help patients like Guzman.
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Dad rushes home to protect child, pregnant wife from unhinged male screaming death threats at door, demanding it be opened
A Northern California father rushed home to protect his 5-year-old child and pregnant wife from a male stranger who was caught on the Fairfield home’s doorbell camera screaming death threats and demanding that the homeowner open the door.
Video from last Tuesday’s terrifying incident shows the male standing on the porch of the home in the 1700 block of Burbank Court in Fairfield and talking to the homeowner through a Ring doorbell camera and demanding entry, KTVU-TV reported.
‘Open the door. This is my neighborhood. … Now. Or I’ll f**king end you. Do you understand me?’
Fairfield is about 45 minutes southwest of Sacramento.
“I just want to make sure that everything’s OK,” the man is heard saying, the station reported. “There seems to be something going on.”
“What do you mean?” the homeowner replied while repeatedly asking the male to leave.
The homeowner had just left his residence minutes before, KTVU said. However, he was able to observe and talk to the male stranger — and immediately returned home, police said.
Things only got scarier.
The male is seen on video kicking the door and shouting, “Where’s your daughter? Who’s in there with you? Open this f**king door, or I’m breaking it down!” KTVU said.
Things also got downright bizarre.
At one point, the male identified himself as a fictional wizard and private investigator from an urban fantasy series, the station said.
“My name is Harry Dresden, motherf**ker,” the male is heard saying on camera. “Open the door. This is my neighborhood. … Now. Or I will f**king end you. Do you understand me?”
Soon the male pulled down a decorative doorbell, repeatedly bashed the door with it, and continued to demand to be let inside “or I’ll f**king kill you,” KTVU said.
All the while, the homeowner’s pregnant wife and 5-year-old child were inside the home, but they managed to hide in the garage, the station said.
Unable to get in through the front door, the male stranger soon broke a gate and entered the home through a sliding glass door, KTVU reported.
Video from inside the home shows the intruder moving through rooms and yelling, “Where the f**k is she?” the station said.
But soon the homeowner is seen on video back inside his residence — and armed with a shovel. KTVU said that while video doesn’t show the physical altercation between the homeowner and the intruder, a commotion can be heard.
The homeowner is heard telling the intruder, “I’m giving you a chance — get the f**k out of my house,” the station reported.
Authorities confirmed to KTVU that a physical confrontation occurred between the intruder and the homeowner, and both sustained head injuries.
Arriving officers found the intruder outside the home, and the station said he was taken to NorthBay Medical Center for treatment and later booked into the Solano County Jail.
Police said they “want to recognize the actions of the homeowner, who worked to protect his family while officers were responding to the scene.”
Jason Nichols, 30, was arrested on suspicion of burglary, vandalism, and making criminal threats, KTVU reported, adding that police on Monday added a charge of annoying or molesting a child.
The station said that during Nichols’ court appearance Monday, he seemed to take issue with some of the charges as Superior Court Judge William Pendergast read the complaint.
Nichols did not enter a plea, KTVU reported.
Authorities would not say if Nichols was targeting any child related to the homeowner, the station said, but they did say Nichols lives behind the family’s home, although the family does not know him.
Nichols’ bail was set at $250,000. While jail records indicate Nichols remained behind bars Tuesday afternoon, the charge of annoying or molesting a child was no longer listed among the charges against him. Nichols’ next court date is scheduled for April 23.
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Punk with attitude on overdrive caught on cop body cam allegedly trying to steal car — but not even a taser can slow his roll
Bodycam video from Daytona Beach Police showed an officer driving to an auto dealership on Jan. 14 and noting a suspect there was “actually trying to get into a car that’s occupied.”
Not surprisingly, the officer said he didn’t want the suspect to “carjack somebody.”
‘Get me out of these cuffs, or you lose your job tomorrow. Do it.’
With that, the officer exited his cruiser and removed keys from a truck’s ignition just before a male — later identified as 18-year-old Jayden Brown — ran from behind the truck to the driver-side door.
The officer ordered him to “get on the ground” — but the male twice replied, “Oh, yeah?”
It seemed like a taunt.
Well, the officer wasn’t having it and deployed his taser, and the most Brown could muster was an agonized moan as his body stiffened like a board at an angle against the open car door:
Image source: Daytona Beach (Fla.) Police Department video screenshot
Image source: Daytona Beach (Fla.) Police Department video screenshot
In the ensuing moments, Brown seemed relatively under control, and officers put handcuffs on him.
But then his attitude returned with a vengeance.
Image source: Daytona Beach (Fla.) Police Department video screenshot
“I’ll be out by tomorrow,” he told cops surrounding him. “It’s all good.”
An officer asked him his age.
“I could be 20,” Brown replied. “I could be 21. How do you know?”
Cops decided to run the vehicle’s tags, but the skin-and-bones thug remained full of attitude.
“Whatever. Do it. It’s not mine,” Brown declared to the officers. “It’s stolen, so now what? And there’s no VIN, so now what? You can’t trace it back to nobody, now what? I get thousands of guns from who I know in the military … now what? Everybody in my family my whole life has all been federal agent workers; that’s why we all have so much money to do everything we do, wow! I didn’t steal anything yet. I was just trying to find out where my car was.”
Soon he started yelling out a plea apparently for someone to record the encounter on Instagram live.
Image source: Daytona Beach (Fla.) Police Department video screenshot
Then he demanded that officers remove the handcuffs.
“Get me out of these cuffs, or you lose your job tomorrow,” Brown said. “Do it.”
The cops, undaunted, read him his rights — and the boasting continued.
“By day I’m trading millions and trillions of dollars a day,” Brown told the officers.
Image source: Daytona Beach (Fla.) Police Department video screenshot
Police played along: “Good for you, man.”
“In 18 years, I made your income times 20 billion, so do something about it,” Brown continued.
Soon officers put Brown inside a police vehicle — and his attitude still didn’t let up.
“You’re the one who put me in this van — and guess who’s getting out tomorrow while you’re still working at your job?”
Image source: Daytona Beach (Fla.) Police Department video screenshot
Below is the police department’s video of the encounter with Brown:
In the end, police said Brown was charged with three counts of grand theft auto, burglary of an occupied dwelling, and criminal mischief.
Image source: Daytona Beach (Fla.) Police Department
If you’re hoping that Brown got an attitude adjustment as the result of his arrest, you might be disappointed.
At Brown’s first appearance in court the following day — Jan. 15 — a judge indeed found probable cause for charges of burglary of an occupied structure, criminal mischief of less than $200, and three counts of attempted grand theft of a motor vehicle, WKMG-TV reported, citing records, adding that he was released on recognizance.
Remember one of Brown’s over-the-top boasts to officers on the day of his arrest?
“I’ll be out by tomorrow,” he said. “It’s all good.”
Brown even added while in the police vehicle, “You’re the one who put me in this van — and guess who’s getting out tomorrow while you’re still working at your job?”
An official at the Volusia County Correctional Facility confirmed to Blaze News that Brown was set free Jan. 15 — the day after his arrest.
He’s due back in court in February for arraignment, WKMG added.
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12-year-old boy strikes woman in face with screwdriver after beating her in robbery, police say
A 12-year-old boy struck a woman in her face with a screwdriver in a robbery over the weekend, Seattle police said.
Just before 7 p.m. Saturday, officers responded to a robbery near 23rd Avenue South and South Jackson Street and found an injured 43-year-old woman, police said.
‘Are they going to release him again so he can kill someone next time? Just curious.’
Police determined that a juvenile suspect wearing a “hot pink ski mask” had just robbed the woman at the Amazon Fresh store, police said.
The suspect “attacked the victim, hitting her multiple times in the face with his hands,” police said, after which he struck the woman in the face with a screwdriver.
The suspect rifled through the victim’s handbag in a parking garage — and then returned to the victim and assaulted her again before running off, police said.
While police located the suspect, he fled from them on foot, police said.
However police recognized the suspect based on previous interactions — as well as his age and unique clothing description — and went to his family’s house and got a search warrant for his arrest, police said.
Officers took the suspect into custody without incident and recovered the screwdriver, police said.
The suspect was booked into juvenile detention at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children & Family Justice Center.
Commenters under KCPQ’s video report about the incident were livid:
- “Some woke judge will let him go and say we need [to] utilize restorative justice,” one commenter said. “It is a joke. Zero accountability in Seattle.”
- “Arrest the parents, too, or whoever the guardian is!” another user insisted.
- “Are they going to release him again so he can kill someone next time?” another commenter wondered. “Just curious.”
- “Where did a 12yo even get the idea of armed robbery in his head?” another user asked.
- “Charge that little demon as an adult,” another commenter suggested.
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When Law Enforcement Becomes Political
“I have a message for ICE. To ICE, get the f*** out of Minneapolis.” That line was delivered publicly and…
Utah police report claims officer shape-shifted into a frog
There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why, on paper, a local Utah police officer allegedly turned into a frog.
The claim comes from the Heber City Police Department in Heber City, Utah, where officers are reportedly looking to save time on their paperwork, as writing police reports typically takes personnel between one and two hours per day.
‘I’m not the most tech-savvy person, so it’s very user-friendly.’
In order to save on man-hours, Heber City PD began testing new software that can take bodycam footage and generate a police report based on the audio and video.
The new artificial intelligence program did not take long to malfunction though, as just a few weeks into its trial in December, a police report stated that one of the local officers had shape-shifted into a frog during an investigation. It turns out the software picked up on audio that was playing on a TV screen present during the incident.
“The bodycam software and the AI report-writing software picked up on the movie that was playing in the background, which happened to be ‘The Princess and the Frog,'” Sergeant Rick Keel told FOX 13 News, referring to the 2009 animated Disney film.
Keel then stressed, “That’s when we learned the importance of correcting these AI-generated reports.”
Photo by Michael Kovac/FilmMagic
The department reportedly began testing two AI programs in early December, named Draft One and Code Four.
Draft One comes from company Axon, founded by American Rick Smith. On its website, Axon promises to “revolutionize real-time operations,” but is responsible for generating the Disney-themed police report. The program reportedly works for both English and Spanish languages — and apparently for princesses too.
Blaze News reached out to Axon for comment.
Sgt. Keel told reporters that he has saved about six to eight hours per week since employing AI to do his paperwork.
“I’m not the most tech-savvy person, so it’s very user-friendly,” he said.
Code Four, however, was created by two MIT dropouts who are just 19 years old: George Cheng and Dylan Nguyen. That program also claims it can transform “bodycam to reports in seconds.”
Code Four reportedly costs $30 per officer, per month.
Photo by Scott Brinegar/Disney Parks via Getty Images
According to Dexerto, AI policing programs have already caused issues elsewhere in the United States. For example, the outlet reported last October that armed police officers swarmed a 16-year-old student outside of a high school in Baltimore after an AI gun-detection system falsely claimed the boy had a firearm.
It turned out after police arrived on scene that the teen was actually holding a bag of Doritos.
Blaze News reported on the increased use of AI monitoring software in schools in early 2024, when an Arkansas district announced it would use over 1,500 cameras at its schools.
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California Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Steyer Funds Pro-Hamas Group That Calls Cops ‘Pigs’
Tom Steyer, the billionaire environmentalist running for California governor, bankrolls a left-wing nonprofit that refers to police officers as “pigs” and has spouted anti-Semitic tropes in defense of Hamas.
The post California Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Steyer Funds Pro-Hamas Group That Calls Cops ‘Pigs’ appeared first on .
Person of interest ID’d in deadly Brown U. shooting; warrant issued: Multiple reports
A person of interest has been identified in connection with the deadly Brown University shooting Saturday, a warrant has been issued, and authorities are investigating possible ties between the Brown shooting and the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor days later, according to multiple reports.
The New York Times — citing a law enforcement official briefed on the matter who wasn’t authorized to speak about the investigation — reported Thursday that authorities have identified a person of interest in the Brown shooting and are investigating a possible connection with the MIT professor’s fatal shooting.
‘A shooting in a state where it’s so hard to even have a gun?’
Both CBS News and the Associated Press reported similarly to the Times; both CBS News and Fox News reported that a warrant has been issued.
The Times reported that the official said investigators are searching for the individual as well as a car that the person is believed to have rented — and that authorities believe the rented vehicle is the same make and model of a car identified in connection with the shooting of the MIT professor, the official said.
Authorities have not publicly identified a suspect in either case, the Times also said.
Blaze News reported that MIT professor Nuno Loureiro was fatally shot in his Brookline, Massachusetts, home Monday night and died in a hospital early Tuesday.
Brookline — a Boston suburb that’s less than a half hour from MIT — is about 90 minutes northeast of Providence, Rhode Island, where Brown University is located.
The FBI had told the AP it knew of no connection between the deadly shooting at Brown and the fatal shooting of Loureiro. However, WPRI-TV reported that multiple people familiar with the investigation said they discovered evidence showing the two crimes may be linked.
WBZ-TV said in its video report that Loureiro, 47, was shot several times in the foyer of his home; a neighbor said he lived in a first-floor apartment.
A reporter suggested to the neighbor on camera that the crime is atypical for Brookline, and the neighbor replied that it was a “surprise … and a shooting in a state where it’s so hard to even have a gun?” The neighbor also said fellow neighbors noted a nearby car was “parked in the wrong direction” and “seemed to be waiting.”
The Jerusalem Post reported that Loureiro was Jewish and a vocal pro-Israel nuclear scientist. However, the Post added that it could not confirm speculations by Jewish organizations that Loureiro was targeted for his political affiliations.
Blaze News earlier Thursday reported that Providence police said the Brown University suspected shooter’s DNA had been gathered and that images and video of a person of interest match eyewitness descriptions.
A person of interest was initially detained over the weekend before law enforcement determined they had the wrong guy.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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Brown U. suspected shooter’s DNA gathered; images, video of person of interest match eyewitness descriptions: Police
The DNA of the Brown University suspected shooter has been gathered, and images and video of the person of interest in Saturday’s deadly shooting at the Rhode Island Ivy League college match eyewitness descriptions, police told the Providence Journal.
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said law enforcement has DNA of the suspected shooter “from inside” that could be used to confirm his presence at the scene once officials have someone to compare it to, the Journal reported.
‘All video imagery has been turned over to law enforcement.’
The shooting took place in a first-floor classroom in the school’s Barus and Holley building, which houses the School of Engineering and the physics department. Two students were fatally shot; nine others were wounded.
Attorney General Peter Neronha added to the Journal that DNA is “powerful” evidence because it can confirm the identity of a subject or rule people in or out after it’s entered into a nationwide system.
RELATED: At least 2 killed, more wounded in shooting at Brown University
Perez also told the paper that witnesses and surviving students gave a description of the shooter that matches the person of interest as seen on video and in still images that law enforcement has distributed.
Neronha told the Journal that investigators are being protective of what witnesses have said about the shooter or the shooting so they can protect witnesses from being swayed by outside information.
“As we interview witnesses, we don’t want them to learn facts from these press conferences. We want them to relay the facts that they have in their heads, including a person of interest,” Neronha said during a news conference, according to the paper. “We don’t want a person of interest to shape what they’re telling us. … So we’re being careful about the facts that we’re sharing for that reason, so that when we talk to witnesses, what we’re getting is their factual recitation.”
More from the Journal:
Authorities have struggled to convince members of the public that, despite Brown University’s vast resources, there was no camera working in the Barus & Holley Building that captured the shooter entering the building before opening fire.
Brown Provost Francis Doyle III said the school has 1,200 cameras on campus, including some in the old section of the building where the shooting occurred. But that does not mean the cameras captured an image of the shooter.
“All video imagery has been turned over to law enforcement,” Doyle added, according to the paper.
A person of interest was initially detained over the weekend before law enforcement determined they had the wrong guy.
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