National Roundup

California
Comic sued over his recent nude stage breakdown
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Comic Katt Williams is being sued over his onstage meltdown and aborted performance in Oakland.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports it’s the second Alameda County lawsuit filed over Williams’ bizarre 10 minutes on stage earlier this month at Oakland’s Oracle Arena.
The suit filed by 35-year-old Brian Herline, of Modesto, says he and hundreds of fans were disappointed when Williams took off his clothes and challenged people to fight.
Herline is seeking class-action certification in an effort to get ticket money back for all audience members.
A representative for Williams has refused to comment.
The Williams meltdown came two days after he was arrested on charges of attacking an aspiring rapper on his tour bus outside a downtown Oakland hotel.

Pennsylvania
Police: Couple fought over Dr. Phil show episode
AMBRIDGE, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania man is charged with assaulting his girlfriend when they argued about an episode of television psychologist “Dr. Phil.”
Online court records don’t list an attorney for 20-year-old Joseph Reefer, of Ambridge, who faces a preliminary hearing Friday on charges of simple assault and harassment. Reefer also doesn’t have a listed phone.
The Beaver County Times reports Reefer was charged Thursday after arguing with his girlfriend over custody of their baby. The woman tells Ambridge police the fight began while they were watching the television psychologist’s show about former relationship partners, prompting her and Reefer to argue about their own exes.
Police say Reefer acknowledged arguing with the woman, but denied assaulting her. But police say she had scratches and bruises and they found a broken vase that supported her claims.

Arkansas
Young neighbor arrested in killing of abused girl, 6
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A neighbor has been arrested as a suspect in the killing of a 6-year-old Arkansas girl whose high-profile child abuse case last year sent her father and stepmother to prison, police said.
Jersey Bridgeman was reported missing the morning of Nov. 20. Minutes after a search for her began, Jersey’s body was discovered in an abandoned house two doors from her home in Bentonville.
Zachary Holly, 28, who lives next door to where Jersey was staying, is being held in the Benton County Jail on charges of capital murder, kidnapping and residential burglary, police Chief Jon Simpson said Monday night.
Simpson said Holly will have a bail and probable cause hearing Wednesday, during which a probable cause affidavit will be released. At that point, “many questions related to this investigation and arrest will be answered,” Simpson said.
He did not release details of how Jersey died or what led police to Holly. Simpson said work by the State Crime Lab helped speed the arrest.
Jersey’s short life was checkered with discomfort. About a year before her death, her father and stepmother were charged with abuse after investigators discovered they had chained her to a dresser to stop her wandering around the house at night. David Bridgeman, Jersey’s father, told investigators he restrained his daughter to prevent her from getting into medication and other things around the house.
David and Jana Bridgeman, Jersey’s stepmother, pleaded guilty in June to false imprisonment, permitting abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor.
Jana Bridgeman is serving a 12-year prison sentence, plus three years for a probation revocation. David Bridgeman is serving an 18-year prison sentence.
Police Capt. Justin Thompson said there was “no reason ... for the community to be worried at this point,” but otherwise revealed little more about the homicide investigation in Bentonville some 215 miles northwest of Little Rock.
Thompson said the girl died sometime between midnight and 6:53 a.m. on the day her body was found. He would not say who called 911 to report her missing. Investigators later searched the home where she lived and the house where her body was found, as well as the homes in between.

Rhode Island
Woonsocket man to be paroled early in murder
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Woonsocket man convicted of a 1999 slaying has been granted parole and is scheduled to be released from prison next month.
Alfred Brissette pleaded no contest to murder charges in the killing of Jeanette Descoteaux of Woonsocket.
He and Marc Girard beat Descoteaux with a lug wrench and shovel.
The 38-year-old Brissette was sentenced to 60 years with 35 to serve and was scheduled to be released in 2034. WPRI reports he received more than 1,600 days of credit, advancing his release to 2028. The state Parole Board granted the release earlier this year.
Girard was sentenced to life plus 10 years.
The Supreme Court described the murder as a brutal, barbaric and senseless thrill kill.

New Mexico
Man sues state police over son’s shooting death
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico state police have been sued by the father of a Glorieta man who was fatally shot by officers last year as they responded to a reported road-rage incident on Interstate 25.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the wrongful death lawsuit was filed Wednesday in state district court by 34-year-old Samuel Pauly’s father.
State police spokesman Robert McDonald declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Pauly died in October 2011after he was shot in the chest by state police officers who were responding to a reported road-rage incident involving Pauly’s brother, Daniel Pauly.

Massachusetts
Dancers sue Dartmouth strip club over wages
DARTMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Two dancers at a Dartmouth strip club have sued the owner for back pay they say is owed to them and about 100 other workers.
Lawyers for the dancers at Kings Inn say the women were denied minimum wage and other labor protections even though they earned up to $900 per night.
The lawyers tell The Standard-Times of New Bedford that the dancers were employees of the club, but were incorrectly classified as contractors.
They say if more Kings Inn employees sign on, it could lead to millions of dollars in back pay.
A lawyer for the club says the dancers were independent contractors who paid fees to use the club, a common practice in the industry. He says the owner plans to fight the suit in court.