Arizona
Elderly man gets probation in wife abuse van death
PHOENIX (AP) — A man who admitted to abuse in his wife’s death in the back of a filthy van carrying 35 emaciated animals has been sentenced to two years of probation.
Alva Conrad Stout, 79, was the first of three family members who will be sentenced for abuse in the July 14 death of 73-year-old Lola Mae Stout.
A Maricopa County Superior Court spokesman says Alva Stout was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Warren Granville.
Alva Stout and his two sons told investigators that they were traveling from the western Arizona community of Quartzsite to Phoenix when Lola Mae Stout collapsed as she was being loaded into a van.
The three family members didn’t seek medical care for her and instead drove to Phoenix, where she was pronounced dead.
She had health issues, including earlier strokes, high blood pressure and schizophrenia.
Authorities say Alva Stout and his two sons endangered Lola Mae Stout’s health by putting her in unsafe conditions in the back of a van with 22 cats, 12 dogs and 1 pigeon. Animal feces, cockroaches and spiders were found inside the van, and police said the animals were malnourished and neglected.
Gregory Stout told investigators that they drove to Phoenix without pulling over and discovered that his mother had died once they arrived in Phoenix. He said they removed her from the van and performed CPR.
Over the last month, Alva Stout and his sons, 42-year-old Alan C. Stout and 44-year-old Gregory Randy Stout, have each pleaded guilty to one charge of vulnerable adult abuse and one animal cruelty charge.
Their plea agreements call for probation in which each man will be forbidden to have control of an animal.
The sons are scheduled to be sentenced Monday.
Pennsylvania
Officer receives reprimand for teacher’s arrest
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A recommendation to reprimand a white police officer for arresting a black teacher who commented about the officer’s driving has been deemed too harsh by the city’s police union and not harsh enough by the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a civil rights lawsuit over the incident.
Sgt. Michael LaPorte, president of the Fraternal Order of Police union, believes the recommended reprimand for Officer Jonathan Gromek should be appealed.
“Everything he did on the scene was appropriate,” LaPorte told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The (police) bureau is under a lot of criticism and I believe that is influencing their decision-making.”
But Witold Walczak, the ACLU’s legal director in Pennsylvania, said, “it’s hard to imagine ... a stronger case of misconduct.”
The city’s Office of Municipal Investigations, which investigates citizen complaints of police misconduct, recommended a written reprimand of Gromek. He has been assigned to duty in the warrants office — a desk job often reserved for officers being investigated for misconduct — since shortly after the incident on June 26.
That’s when teacher Dennis Henderson left a meeting of the Community Empowerment Association, which seeks to address problems in poorer black neighborhoods. That night, the group had discussed ways to improve communication and trust between the black community and the police.
Henderson was speaking to a photographer for the New Pittsburgh Courier, a newspaper that covers the city’s black community, in the street next to Henderson’s car when Gromek’s patrol car drove by close enough that Henderson and the photographer pressed against Henderson’s car for safety.
According to his lawsuit, Henderson said, “Wow!” — referring to the speed with which the officer was driving down a narrow street.
Gromek then turned around, stopped and confronted both of them and asked Henderson, “Do you have a problem?” eventually arresting the teacher when he and the photographer started using a cellphone to record the encounter as others gathered around. Henderson was handcuffed and spent 12 hours in jail on disorderly conduct and other charges that police eventually dropped.
Gromek contends in court papers that he handcuffed Henderson and took the other actions only for his own safety as the crowd gathered.
Walczak suggested Gromek should have been fired.
“His own kids and his students saw how he was humiliated,” Walczak said of Henderson. “And for that (Gromek) gets a written reprimand and that’s still too stiff for the FOP?”
The ACLU’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for claims including false arrest, malicious prosecution, excessive force and retaliation against someone for his speech.
Washington
Man charged with fraud in banana peel fall, lawsuit
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Maryland man accused of staging a fall on a banana peel in a southeast Washington Metro station elevator has been charged with fraud.
Metro says 42-year-old Maurice Owens of District Heights sued the transit agency for $15,000, claiming he injured his left leg and hip in a fall at the Potomac Avenue station in August.
Surveillance video shows Owens dropping a banana peel as he looks in the direction of the camera. He steps on the peel as the elevator door opens, and the video shows him appearing to thrusting himself forward and falling to the ground.
The claim against Metro was thrown out, and Owens has been charged with felony second-degree fraud. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
A listed number for Owens is someone else’s phone.
Nebraska
Bar accused of violating music copyrights
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A suburban Omaha bar is being accused of violating copyright law by playing songs like “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Born to Be Wild” for customers at its Waterloo location.
Broadcast Music International leads a list of music industry plaintiffs on the lawsuit filed Friday against the Fire Barn Sports Bar & Grill.
Neither the lawyer representing the music licensing agencies nor the bar’s manager responded immediately to messages about the case.
Federal law says writers and publishers of music are entitled to be paid for public performances of their music. Bars and other businesses usually pay an annual fee to groups such as BMI for a blanket license to their songs.
The lawsuit says the Fire Barn played the songs without a proper license to do so.
