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u.s. news Diamars 8 Juni 2021

2 arrested in California road rage killing of 6-year-old

(AP) — A man and a wom- those responsible for Aiden’s online jail records show. immediately known.
an have been arrested in Highway patrol officials death,” California Highway Their relationship was not
connection with a road said the road rage incident Patrol Commissioner Aman-
rage shooting that killed a stemmed from “a perceived da Ray said in Sunday’s state-
6-year-old boy last month unsafe lane change.” ment.
on a Southern California
freeway, authorities said. According to accounts from Watson added: “The De-
the mother and witnesses partment has been in regu-
Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, who stopped to help her, an- lar contact with the victim’s
and Wynne Lee, 23, were other car cut her off and she family and I assure you they,
detained Sunday outside a responded with a hand ges- like us, are committed to see-
home in Costa Mesa south ture and the car slipped in be- ing justice served.”
of Los Angeles, the Califor- hind her and someone inside
nia Highway Patrol said in a fired a shot through the rear The arrests came a day af-
statement. of her car. ter the memorial service for
Leos, who was remembered
“They are expected to be A reward offered for informa- as a child with a vocabulary
charged with murder,” a tion leading to an arrest had beyond his years who exuded
highway patrol news release grown to at least $500,000, warmth and tenderness.
said. It wasn’t known Mon- Southern California News
day if they have attorneys Group reported. “He gave us such joy, giv-
who could speak on their be- ing us purpose to our life. I
half. “On behalf of Border Divi- felt so honored to be Aiden’s
sion Chief Omar Watson, mommy,” his mother, Joanna
Aiden Leos was fatally shot and the Santa Ana Area, we Cloonan, said during the ser-
in the abdomen on May 21 are deeply grateful for the vice Saturday.
while seated in the back seat professionalism and tireless
of a car driven by his mother, commitment of our investi- Eriz and Lee were being held
Joanna Cloonan in the city of gators who have worked on in an Orange County jail for
Orange. this case from day one to find lack of $1 million bail each,

Water polo players get $14 million in sex abuse settlement

(AP) — A dozen female club. abuse by coach Bahram Ho- victims were not aware they ers. It said it suspended him
water polo players who ac- jreh from 2012 to 2017. were being molested because from the organization when
cused their coach of sexu- The athletes alleged that In- the coach said the “touching it first got reports about his
al abuse will split nearly ternational Water Polo Club In an April ruling involving served a professional pur- alleged abuse in January 2018
$14 million after settling and the national governing taekwondo competitors who pose.” from SafeSport.
a lawsuit against USA Wa- organization for the sport once aspired to represent the
ter Polo and a California failed to protect them from U.S. at the Olympics, the The suits said USA Water Scandals involving sexual
California State Supreme Polo was negligent for fail- abuse of young athletes have
court said that sports govern- ing to act upon reports in reverberated across the sport-
ing organizations have a duty the summer of 2017 that ing world and hit several
to protect athletes. Hojreh’s players at the In- of the 61 Olympic govern-
ternational club had sexu- ing organizations, including
The $13.85 settlement filed ally abused opponents dur- USA Swimming and USA
Friday in Orange County ing matches and that allowed Gymnastics. The highest-
Superior Court with USA him to get away with abuse profile case involved Larry
Water Polo and International for about eight more months. Nassar, a doctor for the U.S.
Water Polo Club is being paid gymnastics team imprisoned
by the insurer for both orga- The Orange County Register for assaulting minors that in-
nizations. reported that girls on oppos- cluded several gold medalists.
ing teams had emerged from
“We have heard the plain- the pool accusing Hojreh’s Hojreh has been permanent-
tiffs’ testimony, and their al- swimmers of trying to grab ly banned from water polo
legations are heartbreaking,” and penetrate their genitals by SafeSport. He’s one of 10
Christopher Ramsey, CEO underwater. At one match, people affiliated with USA
of USA Water Polo, said in a another coach accused Ho- Water Polo banned from the
statement. “We hope that this jreh of teaching that tactic to sport since 2018 due to crim-
allows them to begin a new his players and a fight nearly inal matters.
chapter in their lives.” erupted on the pool deck
with angry parents yelling A criminal defense lawyer for
Hojreh, 45, has pleaded not and threatening each other. Hojreh, who still faces several
guilty to 34 counts of sexual lawsuits, previously told The
abuse involving 10 victims, In a court filing, USA Water Associated Press he never had
nine of whom were children Polo said it forwarded those a blemish on his record after
at the time of the acts. The al- complaints from June and working with hundreds of
leged crimes occurred during July 2017 to the U.S. Center children over two decades.
one-on-one coaching ses- for SafeSport, the watchdog
sions, prosecutors said. formed in 2017 to handle Hojreh coached for nearly a
sex-abuse cases in the Olym- quarter-century and said he’d
Charges filed by the Orange pic realm. developed “multiple Olym-
County district attorney in- pians.” Until 2018, he served
clude lewd acts on a child, At the time, however, USA on the board of directors
sexual penetration with a for- Water Polo said it had not for the Southern California
eign object and sexual battery received complaints that Ho- chapter of USA Water Polo.
by fraud, which alleges the jreh sexually abused his play-