Foster parents arrested in boy's disappearance
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The foster parents who held vigils pleading for the safe return of a missing 5-year-old boy with cerebral palsy have been arrested on suspicion of murder, Oakland police said.
Louis Ross and Jennifer Campbell, who is the boy's aunt, were being questioned by investigators in the case of Hasanni Campbell, who disappeared on Aug. 10 after Ross said he briefly left the boy outside his car in the parking lot of an upscale Oakland neighborhood shoe store where Campbell works.
The couple were arrested separately within an hour of each other, police spokesman Jeff Thomason said.
"This is not a missing persons case anymore. This is a homicide investigation," Thomason said outside police headquarters in downtown Oakland.
Gunmen open fire on group at party
BRENTWOOD, N.Y. (AP) — Police say gunmen sprayed bullets into a group gathered for a birthday party on Long Island, hurting four men.
Suffolk County police say about 10 people were on the front lawn of a Brentwood home just after midnight Saturday when seven or eight shots burst from behind a van in the driveway next door. Brentwood is about 40 miles east of New York City.
Police say the gunmen had covered their faces with something white. They ran away.
Three victims in their 20s have been treated at local hospitals and released. The fourth, who is 19, is in stable condition.
Burglar makes 2nd trip to house for TV
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Police in Florida say a burglar who made off with a man's valuables returned to the home later and snatched what he couldn't carry on his first trip: a 100-pound plasma-screen TV.
A Pensacola Police investigator was on the scene when the robber came back hours after the first burglary.
The man who lived at the house, Steve Fluegge, says he was shocked the burglar came back and stole the television. The burglar had already stolen Fluegge's wallet, watch and video game system.
Police and K-9 units canvassed the neighborhood, but couldn't find the burglar or the TV.
Investigators had left the TV in the backyard, where the burglar put it, so they could dust for fingerprints.
Police have offered to pay for the TV.
Police say man took bones from vaults
SUDBURY, Mass. (AP) — Police say a Sudbury man stole a skull, jaw and other bones after breaking into several 19th-century burial vaults at two Sudbury cemeteries.
Leonard Caira was arrested Friday after officers found human bones at his home. Authorities had not determined a possible motive.
Caira, who is 26, has been charged with wanton destruction of property, wanton or malicious defacement of a tomb and violating interment. Caira did not enter a plea at his arraignment Friday at Framingham District Court.
He was released without bail but ordered to stay away from human remains, burglar's tools and cemeteries. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for Oct. 7.
Former lawmakers will face charges
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Federal prosecutors have decided against dismissing charges against two former Alaska lawmakers who say their corruption convictions in a bribery case resulted from prosecutorial misconduct.
In court documents filed Friday in Anchorage, prosecutors and defense attorneys said they couldn't agree on how the cases against former Reps. Pete Kott and Vic Kohring should proceed.
The disagreement leaves U.S. District Judge John Sedwick to decide later this year or in 2010 whether Kott and Kohring should get new trials on charges of taking bribes from an oil-field contractor.
Their convictions were challenged because the same team of prosecutors handled a related case against former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, whose conviction for failing to disclose gifts from the contractor was thrown out because evidence was withheld.
Stimulus promise helps nab fugitives
MIAMI (AP) — Police in Florida are using the promise of a stimulus check to make some arrests.
Authorities in Fort Lauderdale say they sent letters to fugitives offering them stimulus money. The suspects were asked to call a hot line and set up an appointment to pickup a check from an auditorium where "South Florida Stimulus Coalition" banners hung.
When the fugitives arrived, they were identified and about 75 were arrested on offenses ranging from grand theft to fraud to attempted murder.
Police spokesman Sgt. Frank Sousa says the two-day sting was dubbed "Operation Show Me The Money." Sousa says the sting saved man hours.