Page 19 - Florida Sentinel 9-5-17

National
Spider-Man Makes It A Little Easier For Young Harvey Victims
HOUSTON, TX— Resi- dents of Houston are still grappling with the horrific devastation brought on by Hurricane Harvey last week- end, with many families being displaced and living in designated shelters in the city. But one friendly neigh- borhood Spider-Man is out there trying to at least com- fort the kids and bring smiles back to their faces during this frightening time.
Twitter video shared by a reporter from local media outlet Spectrum News
An unidentified man was Spider-Man and gave out stickers to young Houston residents.
showed the unidentified hero going around cheerfully handing out stickers and en- tertaining some of the hurri-
cane’s youngest victims at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Hous- ton.
Man Lies To Police That He Was Stabbed Due To His Neo-Nazi Haircut
SHERIDAN, CO — Sheri- dan police arrested a man after he admitted cutting himself and making up a story about being stabbed by someone who asked if he was a “neo-Nazi.”
Joshua Witt, 26, told po- lice on Aug. 16 that he was stabbed in the hand by a Black man who approached him outside a Steak ‘n Shake.
Witt told police the man asked if he was a neo-Nazi and then tried to stab him. Witt claimed his hand was injured as he tried to protect himself.
Witt, a U.S. Navy boatswain’s mate who lives in San Diego, posted photos of his injured hand on his Face- book page and shared the fake story about being stabbed.
Police became skeptical of Witt’s story when they re- viewed surveillance video. However, video from a nearby sporting goods store
Joshua Witt claimed a Black man stabbed him be- cause he worn a neo-nazi haircut. He lied.
showed Witt purchasing a small knife.
When police confronted Witt with that information on Aug. 24, he admitted acci- dentally cutting himself with the knife.
Witt was booked on a charge of false reporting to authorities and released. A conviction on the charge can result in a fine of up to $2,650 and up to one year in jail.
Detroit Man Exonerated After Spending 25 Years In Prison Sues Officers Who Framed Him
DETROIT, MI— In June, after 25 years in prison, Desmond Ricks was exoner- ated for a murder he did not commit. Now free, getting reacquainted with a family he barely knows, Ricks is grateful but also still seeking justice.
Ricks and his family gath- ered at the law office of Wolf- gang Mueller and filed a $125-million civil rights law- suit in lae August.
Seeking compensatory and punitive damages under fed- eral and state law, the lawsuit names the 51-year-old and his two adult daughters, Akilah Cobb, 32, and Desire’a Ricks, 25, as plaintiffs; De- sire’a was only five days old when her father was arrested for the murder, Akilah was seven years old.
As defendants, the lawsuit names two retired De-
Desmond Ricks was set free after being imprisoned for 25 years.
troit police officers: David Pauch, the evidence techni- cian on the case, and Donald Stawiasz, the officer in charge of the investigation that led to Ricks' wrongful convic- tion.
The lawsuit argues that the duo framed Ricks by fabricat- ing bullet evidence — swapping out the bullets taken from the
victim's body with bullets test- fired from a gun belonging to Ricks' mother.
The Detroit police crime lab, which helped in Ricks' convic- tion, was shut down in 2008 after an audit performed by the Michigan State Police high- lighted sweeping errors in bal- listics testings.
In 2015, the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic, which had been working on the case since 2012, obtained pho- tographs of the actual bullets that came from Bennett's body.
The clinic sent the photos to Townshend, the court-ap- pointed ballistics expert from Ricks' 1992 trial. Townshend gave an affidavit asserting that the photos did not show the same bullets Stawiasz had given him.
As a result, the Innocence Clinic got the case re-opened.
Atlanta Cop Tells White Motorist: ‘Remember, We Only Shoot Black People’
A Cobb County police officer stops a white female mo- torist in July and his conversation was caught on his body camera.
Walking Trio Hit By Driver Charged For Not Wearing Reflective Clothing
ATLANTA, GA -A white Cobb County police lieu- tenant has been moved to administrative duty for telling a white woman dur- ing a traffic stop, “Remem- ber, we only shoot black people.”
The Cobb branch of the NAACP said Thursday the officer’s statements, cap- tured on police video footage, were disturbing, but the branch president said she wanted to know more about the incident.
Channel 2 Action News re- ported that its request for body camera footage of the traffic stop prompted an in- ternal investigation of Lt. Greg Abbott, who has been on the Cobb force for 28 years.
The woman tells Abbott that she is afraid to reach for her cellphone because “I’ve
just seen way too many videos of cops ... ”
At that point, Abbott cuts her off.
“But you’re not black. Re- member, we only shoot black people,” the police veteran of nearly three decades can be heard saying. “Yeah. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you’ve seen, have you seen the black people get killed?”
Officer Allowed To Retire
Cobb Chief of Police Mike Register announced on Thursday that Abbott, a veteran of the department, had received a proposal to terminate as a result. Ab- bott was also notified of the decision on Thursday.
However, it has been re- ported he was allowed to re- tire.
VILLE PLATTE, LA — Three young men from Ville Platte, La., are recovering from their injuries after being hit by a truck while walking. How- ever, to add insult to injury, the three are now facing charges, while the driver is not.
Deonte Williams, 21; Cody Mayes, 19; and Tevin Wil- son, 17, are all nursing scrapes, bruises and staples, but they are even more upset that they have been fined for not wearing reflective clothing at night and are also facing charges of obstructing a public passage.
Police are pointing the fin- ger at the trio for being in the roadway and not wearing re- flective gear, citing a city ordi- nance that requires pedestrians to wear reflective garments after dark if walking.
Police say the motorist who struck the teens stayed at the
Cody Mayes, Deonte Williams and Tevin Wilson are all facing charges after being hit by a truck while walking along a Louisiana roadside.
scene and said that he had been blinded by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.
However, Williams and the teens refute the statement, in- sisting that the driver was at fault and that they were not in the middle of the road when they were hit.
Williams said that he and the others were walking on the side of the road near the grass when they were hit from be-
hind.
Wilson told another news
station, KADN, that if it weren’t for the fact that nearby residents started coming out of their houses after the incident, the driver probably would have left the scene.
According to KADN, Ville Platte Police Chief Neal Lar- tigue said that the case is still under investigation.
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