Out-of-date GPS Causes Man To Drive Off Bridge

An out-of-town driver following his car’s outdated GPS system drove off of a demolished Indiana bridge, killing his wife in the passenger seat, deputies said.

Iftikhar Hussain, 64, drove the couple’s 2014 Nissan Sentra off East Chicago’s Cline Avenue bridge — which closed in 2009 and is barricaded with bright orange barrels and cones. The car burst into flames after the 37-foot-plunge into pavement below, The Times of Munster reported.

His wife, 51-year-old Zohra Hussain, died from burns, police said. Iftikhar Hussain was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injures.

Lake County deputies said Hussain was likely following directions from his GPS navigation system, which instructed him to turn onto a ramp to the now-demolished bridge over the  Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal. The couple, from Chicago, were driving to visit family in Indiana and likely didn’t know the area, Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Patricia Van Til said.

While the road leading up to the bridge is marked with large signs that read “road closed,” orange barrels and other barricades, Hussain was likely paying more attention to his GPS than the road, deputies said.

The Cline Avenue bridge closed in 2009 after deterioration from years of use from heavy semi-trucks made it a safety risk. A year later, officials condemned it. Construction of a new bridge over the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal is scheduled to begin this spring.


Via: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/gps-may-have-told-man-to-drive-off-indiana-bridge-cops/ar-AAacOJs?ocid=DELLDHP

Husband Dies After Grabbing Steering Wheel During Fight

HOUSTON — A man was killed Friday after grabbing the steering wheel of a car his wife was driving as they argued, police said.

The Ford Explorer rolled over just around 1:45 a.m. CT on Interstate 69 here, and the man, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected. He was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition and later died, according to the Houston Police Department.

The names of the couple, who had moved recently to Houston, were not released.

The woman, who was wearing her seat belt, told officers that she and her husband were having a heated argument.

"The female didn't have any injuries," Sgt. J.D. Rossman said. "She was evaluated by a DWI officer and found not to be intoxicated."

Her husband grabbed the wheel from the passenger seat and jerked it, she said to investigators. The vehicle swerved. She lost control. It climbed over the median into oncoming traffic and rolled over, landing on an adjacent access road.

She was trapped inside until rescuers were able to extricate her and was taken to a hospital in stable condition.

No charges are expected to be filed, Rossman said.

Via: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/27/arguing-couple-traffic-accident/70545050/

20 Years in Prison - Wrongfully Convicted Man Dies Just Months After Release

A Brooklyn man who spent over two decades in prison for a crime he didn't commit died less than a year after he was exonerated by the Kings County District Attorney. Sharrif Wilson, 38, passed away on Saturday night at Mount Sinai Hospital; he had been hospitalized since December after complaining of breathing problems. His attorney Adam Perlmutter tells the Daily News, "He was a young healthy man when he went in and he was a sick unhealthy man when he came out."

Wilson and his alleged accomplice Antonio Yarbough spent more than two decades in prison for the 1992 murders of Yarbough’s mother, his 12-year-old sister and another 12-year-old relative. Wilson, who was 15 at the time of his arrest, had confessed to the murders and testified against Yarbough as part of a plea deal, but he later recanted, saying his confession had been coerced.

Yarbough, who discovered the bodies of his loved ones and called 911, later told CNN, "Before you know it, I had this photograph shoved in my face, and I was being threatened and slapped around, and they wanted me to sign a false confession. And I wouldn't." Wilson said, "I was scared, afraid; I was lied to, manipulated into believing that I was going to go home, if I do tell... what they said happened." Watch a powerful interview the two men granted to CNN after their release:

In 2013, DNA testing revealed that blood under one of the victim's fingernails matched DNA found on the body of another murder victim from 1999, Magdalia Ruiz. Both Yarbough and Wilson were already in prison by that time for the Yarbough murders. Last February, the two men were finally released and their convictions overturned following a review of the case that was completed by Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson.

Since ousting longtime Kings County DA Charles Hynes, who lost a nasty reelection bid in 2013, Thompson has been reviewing dozens of potential wrongful convictions that happened on Hynes's watch. And the dubious legacy of homicide detective Louis Scarcella has prompted an investigation into over 50 convictions that may have been won through coerced confessions and discredited witnesses. (Hynes is also being investigated by the feds for allegedly using state asset forfeiture funds to fund his failed 2013 campaign.)

Hynes’s office "resisted requests to reinvestigate" the Wilson and Yarbough case for months, the Times reported last year. When he was finally released last February, Wilson said, "I was young, afraid, not used to being in the precinct and the justice system. I didn’t know much then. It was pretty easy for them to coerce me into giving false statements."

Wilson suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome, which was allegedly exacerbated by his lengthy prison term. "I find it heartbreaking that a boy could serve (21) years for a crime he didn’t commit and finally come home and have only 11 months to spend with his family,” Yarbough said in a statement released over the weekend. "My heart breaks for the family and the mother that lost her son not once but twice."

The murderer of Yarbough's family remains at large. Wilson's lawyer says his family is planning to file a civil suit against the city and New York state.

Hiker Snaps Picture of Bear - Bear Kills Him

WEST MILFORD — The hiker who was killed by a bear in September took pictures of the animal just before the attack.

The pictures show the 300-pound black bear approaching the group of hikers in West Milford’s Apshawa Preserve on Sept. 21, according to authorities, who released the series of five photographs in response to an Open Public Records Act request filed by NJ Advance Media.

The photographs are from the phone of Darsh Patel, the 22-year-old Rutgers University student who was killed by the same bear just a short while later, said Lt. Keith Ricciardi, of the West Milford Police.

The phone was later recovered with a puncture mark from the animal’s teeth, according to investigatory records.

Chief Timothy Storbeck said in previous interviews that Patel and four of his friends had begun walking into the preserve that afternoon when they were met by a man and a woman coming the other way. The pair warned the larger group about a bear following them. The couple walked away, leaving the group of five to talk about what they were going to do. They eventually walked farther into the woods.

The five stopped when the bear was 300 feet away, Storbeck had said.

The five pictures taken from Patel’s phone show the bear from approximately 100 feet, looking toward the hikers but still behind a fallen log, authorities said.

A sixth photo, taken by a friend of Patel’s who was apparently standing next to him, is virtually identical to the five from Patel’s phone. Those were the only six pictures taken by the group, said Ricciardi.

The hikers turned around when the bear kept approaching, authorities said. But the bear caught up with them, eventually closing to within 15 feet, investigators said. When the bear reached that proximity, the group split up running in different directions, they later told police investigators.

Patel at one point lost his shoe, and was last seen climbing a rock formation as he hollered for his friends to continue, with the bear right behind him. The group of four fled the woods and called 911, according to police records.

Emergency responders came upon Patel’s body about four hours later. The bear was in the area, authorities said. Eventually, a police officer shot and killed the bear.

An autopsy showed that Patel was mauled by the bear. Human remains were found in the bear’s stomach and esophagus, and human blood and tissue were found underneath its claws, authorities said.

The death of Patel was the first confirmed instance of a person being killed by a bear in New Jersey. Some 60 such fatal attacks have occurred in North America over the last century, experts said. However, the attacks on Patel can still be considered "one in a million," they added.

Black bears were virtually eradicated from New Jersey by the 1960s, but have since rebounded to a population of about 2,500.

New Jersey’s fifth consecutive bear hunt begins Dec. 8.

 Here are some tips of what to do (and what not to do) if you encounter a bear while on a hike.

Via: http://www.nj.com/passaic-county/index.ssf/2014/11/hiker_snapped_pictures_of_bear_before_fatal_attack_in_west_milford.html#incart_most-read

Man Wanted in Robbery Accidentally Shots Himself Dead

A Brooklyn man wanted in January’s brazen robbery of the Midtown Cartier store freaked out and grabbed a gun when a FedEx man rang his buzzer — then accidentally blew his own brains out trying to hide under a couch, sources said Thursday.Modal TriggerModal Trigger

Ralik Hansen, 28, believed that the driver, who rang every bell at 360 Snediker Ave. in Brownsville to deliver a package on Oct. 31, was a cop, authorities said.

“In his paranoia, he ran to the bathroom and grabbed a .357 and was trying to shimmy under his couch to hide in his apartment when the gun went off,” a law-enforcement source said.

“Hansen erroneously thought it was the police coming to get him,” added Leon Krolikowski, the police chief in New Canaan, Conn., where Hansen and his crew allegedly hit a jewelry store a year ago.

Hansen had faced possible life behind bars on robbery and weapons charges, authorities said.

He was part of a crew that entered the crowded Fifth Avenue store at 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 31 and used hammers to smash open display cases, police say. They stole 16 watches worth a total $709,000.

Hansen was indicted in April. Four other suspects are in custody, and the FBI on Thursday identified two more — Courtney Hardin and Jamal Dehoyos.

They are wanted in heists at Litan Jewelers in Brooklyn, the Atlantic City’s Borgata Casino, and jewelry shops in Richmond, Va., and Cranford, NJ.

Via: http://nypost.com/2014/11/14/man-wanted-in-cartier-robbery-accidentally-shoots-himself-dead/

Garbage Man Killed By Falling Trash Bin

The NYPD says a sanitation worker was killed when a 10-foot trash bin fell on top of him.

Police say the 40-year-old man was found in the rear of the Richmond County Country Club on Staten Island Wednesday night.

Police say the victim was an employee of the Flag Container Service Company. He was killed when the trash bin fell off the back of the truck he was unloading.

The man suffered severe trauma to the head and torso.

He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Via: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Dumpster-Bin-Trash-Falls-Sanitation-Worker-Staten-Island-Richmond-NYC-282537411.html

Man Electrocuted by His Wedding Ring

The man who died after he was electrocuted by his wedding ring has been identified as 33-year-old Jason Ferguson of Port Orange, Fla. As reported by News-Journal Online on Nov. 10 via testimony from police, Ferguson was electrocuted after his wedding ring caught on an unknown object behind a dishwasher he was installing.

CBS News Orlando, Fla., affiliate WKMG, reports that Ferguson was at his in-laws' home on Thursday when the tragic accident occurred. Police said the family was getting ready to eat around 7 p.m. when they noticed that Ferguson was kneeling in front of the appliance with his left arm extended behind the dishwasher.

To their shock and horror, family members noticed that Ferguson began turning red and became unresponsive. They grabbed him by his clothes and began CPR on the kitchen floor, investigators said.

Ferguson was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time after he arrived, Lt. Dan Dietrich said. According to an incident report, the cause of death was listed as “unknown” until the medical examiner’s office did an autopsy and it was ruled that he had died of electrocution.

It is unclear what caused the freak wedding ring electrocution, but police believe Ferguson, who often installs and repairs items at the home, could possibly have touched a copper wire. The man's family is devastated by his sudden death and The Examiner's attempt to reach them for comment was not answered.

via: http://www.examiner.com/article/man-electrocuted-by-wedding-ring-33-year-old-man-dies-tragic-accident?cid=PROG-NewsBlock2-Article-ElectrocutedWeddingRing