Thursday, September 17 top news briefs
It is Thursday, September 17. Here are today’s top news briefs.
At least two deaths from Hurricane Sally
At least two people died from Hurricane Sally. One died in a home in Atlanta when a tree fell on it during heavy rains. The second death happened in Alabama, but it is not clear what happened.
There are evacuation orders in some parts of Florida’s panhandle because rivers and creeks were rising to dangerous levels. About 400 people in Florida and Alabama were rescued from floodwaters. Downtown Pensacola was inundated with three feet of water. 600,000 people are without power.
Jerry Harris from “Cheer” arrested for producing child pornography
Jerry Harris, a well-known cheerleader who is featured in Netflix’s “Cheer” docuseries, was arrested by the FBI and charged with producing child pornography. USAToday did an interview with 14-year-old twin brothers who said said Harris contacted them on Snapchat and asked them to send nude videos and to meet up for sex. At that time, Harris was 19 and the boys 13. Harris is now 21 years old. Harris was arrested in the Chicago, Illinois area. If convicted, he faces a minimum penalty of 15 years in prison. The boys’ family is filing a lawsuit against Harris and three cheerleading organizations, alleging that the organizations didn’t protect the boys from abuse.
Utah police officer charged for ordering K9 dog to bite Black man
A police officer in Utah was charged with second-degree felony assault for ordering his K9 police dog to bite a Black man named Jeffery Ryans while he had his hands up. There is a body camera video of the arrest, which occurred in April. The officers were responding to a domestic violence call. The officer who was charged, Nickolas Pearce, shouted for Ryans to get on the ground or he would get bit. Ryans did kneel with his hands up and as he moved down to the ground, the officer ordered for the dog to bite. In the video, Ryans said, “I’m on the ground, why are you biting me?” The Salt Lake City District Attorney’s office said Ryans was not resisting arrest and did not pose a threat. The officer said he ordered the dog to bite because he saw that Ryans had his hand on a fence and he thought he would rise up to fight. The Salt Lake City Police Department said they will conduct a full internal affairs investigation.
LA deputies still searching for gunman
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said they are still searching for the gunman who shot two deputies in an ambush last weekend in Compton. A 31-year-old female deputy was shot in the jaw and arms, is still in the hospital, but is expected to recover. The second deputy is a 24-year-old man who was shot in the arm. He went through surgery and will soon be released from the hospital, but will need more surgeries in the future. There is a $300,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.
Family of UPS driver who died in police shootout files lawsuit
The family of a UPS driver who died when he was in the middle of a shootout between two robbers and police officers in Fort Lauderdale, Florida during a hostage situation on December has filed a lawsuit against six Florida law enforcement agencies. The lawsuit accuses the officers of being negligent for chasing the UPS truck and opening fire on a suburban street.
What happened on that day on December 5? Two men, who were cousins, robbed a jewelry store. Police showed up and there was a shootout. The two men fled to a nearby street and hijacked a UPS truck, held hostage the UPS driver, Frank Ordonez, and drove the truck through highways and streets until it came to a stop in the middle of rush-hour traffic. Multiple officers swarmed in and opened fire in another shootout. The two robbers and the UPS employee were killed. A 70-year-old man named Richard Cutshaw was killed by a stray bullet.
It is not clear if the UPS driver died from a police bullet or from the robbers or both.
The attorneys are representing Cutshaw and another man who was injured while sitting in his car. The attorneys said they want to receive monetary damages and obtain police radio transmissions and body camera video.
AP News quoted policing experts who said the officers were in a tough position because the robbers, if they opened fire from the UPS truck, were endangering other people. The officers also had to be sure the robbers wouldn’t run to another vehicle and take more hostages.
But there were causalities and we have this lawsuit and this situation.
That’s all the news for today. Stay with the light.
https://weather.com/news/news/2020-09-16-hurricane-sally-latest-news-alabama-florida-gulf-coast
https://apnews.com/ddece56b7df6ed1cf477de14bd5eefe9
Salt Lake Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF6OtvxJBXo&feature=emb_title