Free Republic

A social media-savvy Louisiana pastor and author was convicted of stealing over $340,000 from his congregations to fund his gambling and personal expenses.Dale Sanders, 56, was found guilty of a 25-count indictment charging him with wire fraud, access device fraud, and obstruction of a federal investigation after a five-day jury trial last week, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Sanders, of Kenner, withdrew funds held in one church’s bank accounts and ltransferred them to his own pocket to subsidize his lavish personal expenditures — including gambling, dining, and living expenses, prosecutors said. Sanders worked...

Residents at two swanky North Carolina communities have sounded the alarm over alleged trespassers taking over their pools, claiming that their homeowners associations (HOA) are not doing enough to stop the rowdiness. The complaints have emerged at Edge of Auburn in Garner and Trace at Olde Towne in nearby Raleigh, with residents saying they have become afraid to use their amenities funded through hefty HOA dues. Dramatic footage from one of the pool areas showed a spat between residents and nonresidents, WRAL reported. It was not clear how or why the confrontation started, but homeowners described how it embodied the...

A Washington state mother has been accused of killing her disabled toddler after allegedly turning on the bathtub faucet and leaving him face-down in the water for nearly 15 minutes, prosecutors say. Nakeeya Arbogast, 25, of Seattle, was arrested Monday in connection with the death of her two-year-old son after prosecutors alleged she left him alone in a rapidly filling bathtub, despite later admitting she knew it was 'unsafe.' The toddler, identified only by the initials KOA in court documents, fought for his life in the hospital for two days before succumbing to brain injuries caused by the near-drowning. Arbogast...

A violent criminal on parole was charged with attempted murder for allegedly tossing an elderly woman onto Midtown subway tracks in a terrifying weekend attack, cops and sources said. Zaki Smith, 36, was picked up by eagle-eyed cops during the Monday evening rush and charged in connection to the 11:30 a.m. Saturday attack at the 57th Street and Seventh Avenue station that left the 70-year-old victim with a head wound, police said. Smith — who has 14 previous arrests — was also charged with felony and misdemeanor assault in the senseless shove, authorities said. Commuters who witnessed the attack heroically...

Two tourists have ignited fury after being seen walking perilously close to the boiling waters of a world-famous hot spring. Footage shot by Tanya Saueressig, of Livingston, Montana, showed the moment inside Yellowstone National Park when two women began approaching the Grand Prismatic Spring around 7pm local time Sunday after veering off-track. The women nonchalantly walked on the spring's colorful microbial mats, which shine hues of yellow, orange and red thanks to the heat-loving bacteria around the edges of the pool. Saueressig said she stopped in her tracks when she spotted the women near the 160-foot-deep spring, which has a...

Less than 24 hours after a triple homicide at a St. Paul apartment complex, prosecutors have charged a tenant with murder.Deputies arrested 30-year-old Tsegaab Binessu in the Iron Range Monday night. He was formally charged Tuesday afternoon with the murders of 25-year-old Nansi Fuentes Zambrano, 56-year-old Dena Silcox and 43-year-old Adam Wilwerding. St. Paul police found those three dead from multiple gunshot wounds at around 4:10 p.m. Monday. Authorities say several people called 911, reportedly hearing screams and gunshots at an apartment complex near the intersection of St. Paul Avenue and West Seventh Street in the city’s Highland Park neighborhood....

A receipt checker at a Florida Sam’s Club has been accused of letting a man walk out with stolen televisions and other high-end merchandise nearly 50 times — in a con pilfering $58,000 in goods. Brenda Jacqueline Gayle Archer, 57, manned the door of the wholesale store in Sunrise, Fla., and would rubber-stamp the receipts of Troy Sidney Lawrence, 36, after he bought low-priced items and used the receipt to walk out with high-ticket items, NBC Miami reported, citing arrest records. Archer, of Lauderhill, and Lawrence, of Sunrise, were arrested Tuesday for the “recurring scheme in which the same male...

An Arizona In-N-Out Burger turned into an unexpected fight club after a physical altercation broke out inside the fast food location, with video capturing one man being knocked to the floor by a single punch as customers scrambled to get out of the way.

HINESVILE, Ga. — A former Georgia housing authority executive director and a Savannah man have been indicted on federal fraud charges stemming from what prosecutors say is a yearslong scheme that allegedly cost a public housing agency more than $2.5 million. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, Melanie S. Thompson, 55, of Savannah, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 19 counts of wire fraud, and two counts of making false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims. Toriono L. Byrd, 52, of Savannah, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Federal prosecutors say the...

A 15-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy are facing charges after their desire to be in a relationship led them to execute five members of the girl's family and wound two others over the weekend, a relative and authorities said. The 15-year-old girl, who authorities have not named, and 16-year-old Ja'ymier Davis were both arrested and are facing charges, including first-degree murder, in connection to the shootings that took place around the East St. Louis area on Sunday, state police announced on Tuesday. Authorities said human remains of three people were found by Illinois State Police on Sunday at the Samuel...

A teenager in Mississippi knew the elderly couple he's accused of killing before sparking a standoff with law enforcement, according to new testimony in court. Cordarius Hobbs, 17, is charged with killing 74-year-old Billy Blair and his 71-year-old wife Virginia Carol Blair during a home break-in on June 3 in Mendenhall, Mississippi. Family members of Hobbs testified during the Thursday preliminary hearing that he knew the couple.

Five people were killed and two others were injured in what Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly described as a targeted mass shooting against one family over the weekend in East St. Louis. Two suspects, ages 15 and 16, have been arrested in connection with the investigation. Authorities said the suspects were taken into custody at Holten State Park. As of Sunday evening, their names had not been released. The shootings took place at three different places in the city — Jones Park, a residence in the area of 39th and Summit and the Samuel Gompers Homes. “The picture is...

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WBAY) - A 32-year-old Green Bay woman is in custody in Polk County, Fla., where she’s accused of intentionally hitting a security guard with a car at a rented condominium. Polk County deputies say Tayquanna Butler, 32, was arrested at the Orlando Airport, where she was getting a flight back to Wisconsin. Deputies say the incident happened on the night of July 4. A security guard at Windsor Island Resort said a woman drove past the entry after she was warned that she needed to be on a list of approved visitors or provide identification. The guard...

Downstate Illinois Democratic state representative Carol Ammons is facing allegations she steered state grants to a family member and lied to the FBI, among other misdeeds. Paris Schutz reports.

A mother who was vacationing at a Minnesota lake is accused of trying to kill her daughter after the two argued over a cell phone. Court documents obtained by Law & Crime allege Jasmine Marie Laws, 35, of Baltimore, threw her 15-year-old daughter’s phone into a lake in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. The daughter went into the water to get the phone, and when she retrieved it, she got into an argument with Laws. Laws allegedly struck the daughter first, with the daughter allegedly retaliating by grabbing Laws’ hair. The two continued to fight, and Laws allegedly put the daughter...

A 21-year-old Augusta woman has been arrested after Columbia County investigators say she targeted two homes displaying Donald Trump signs by slashing tires, vandalizing property, dumping trash in a yard and leaving threatening letters warning one homeowner to “get ready for so much worse.” Armani Faith Obregon is charged with terroristic threats and acts, unlawful dumping and two counts of second-degree criminal damage to property following a series of incidents that unfolded over several days in late June in a Martinez neighborhood. According to investigators, the alleged campaign began on June 28, when two neighboring homes were targeted in the...

A female police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, was attacked and beaten by a mob during an apparent teen takeover-style event at a July 4 block party on Saturday. The North Charleston Police Department released a statement on the CRIMEWATCH platform, addressing the viral video of the incident in the Chicora-Cherokee community. “A neighborhood block party had been permitted by the city of North Charleston in advance of the holiday,” they said. “Earlier that day, police leadership met with event organizers to discuss the event, including traffic and parking plans to ensure emergency vehicles could safely access the area...

Law enforcement officials say three people were shot and two are dead after a shooting at Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Michigan, Friday afternoon. Dearborn police confirmed that there is an active investigation at the mall and ask that people avoid the area. Michigan State Police are on the scene alongside Dearborn police. The mall has been placed on lockdown. Henry Ford Medical Center - Fairlane is also currently on lockdown, according to hospital officials. Sources say shooting victims have been taken to Corewell Health Dearborn Hospital. Authorities have not released any further information on the shooting. The mall is...

Eighteen-year-old Leotha Bush thought, allegedly, that he was going to get one up on a group of workmen at a Memphis, Tennessee, home when he pulled a pistol on them earlier this month. In the end, he was the one who ended up tied to the rails of the front porch of the home. According to WREG-TV, Bush allegedly tried to rob the work crew in the Highland Heights neighborhood on June 8 using a BB gun that looked like a semi-automatic pistol. Bush had apparently walked up to the house and asked for a cigarette lighter, the station reported....

A speeding driver who held a shameless online fundraiser for himself after killing a Los Angeles cop and a Whole Foods worker in a fiery highway wreck has been hit with murder charges over the horrific crash. Mario Bickham, 36, of Los Angeles was charged with two counts of second-degree murder Monday for the killing of LAPD Sgt. Shiou Deng and Jesus Garcia, 34, in the June 23, 2025 collision on the busy 405 Freeway. ... LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said Bickham was driving his Nissan sedan at more than 112 miles per hour when he slammed into Deng, who...