SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENT
NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) – Police say a school bus was one of four vehicles involved in an early morning crash that sent three people to the hospital, but no students were on board. The accident occurred just after 7 a.m. Friday on Route 32 in New London near Connecticut College. Three people were hospitalized and two others refused treatment. The extent of their injuries was not released. The driver was the only person on the bus.
The road was closed down for awhile. No names were released.
DO YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT?
One man has been hospitalized after police say a Ford pick-up truck struck the Otrobando Avenue offices of Norwich Aesthetic Dentistry. The crash occurred shortly before noon today. There was some damage to the building. No further information available.
TRIBAL MEMBER TURNS HIMSELF IN
A Mashantucket-Pequot tribal member turned himself-in Friday to tribal police on charges of assaulting a Foxwoods Resort Casino security officer. 28-year old Jukumu Reels-Felder is accused of second-degree assault and breach of peace. Police say he allegedly attacked 35-year old Brooke Wyngaard Sunday morning while she was responding to a disturbance in the Fox Tower. Reels-Felder is out on 50-thousand dollars bond, and is due in court September 11th.
NEW ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LEADER FOR NL
A former state economic development official will now be doing the same thing for New London. Peter Lent worked for the state Department of Economic and Community Development for 23 years, overseeing projects in Eastern Connecticut. He left in 2016, and worked for two years as program administrator in Pasco County, Florida. Lent will be paid a yearly salary of $81, 492 to oversee economic development in New London. Lent also previously worked for the city of Norwich.
SMILE…YOU’RE ON NORWICH POLICE CAMERA!!
Norwich now has eight more police surveillance cameras. Chief Patrick Daley says the additional equipment was installed this summer, and paid-for through Community Development Block Grants. The city now has 29 such cameras, located in the downtown, Greeneville, Oakwood Knoll, North Main Street, and the Westside. Daley says there had been plans to put some cameras in the Taftville area, but it doesn’t qualify for the funding.
DAYVILLE CAR-JACKER SENTENCED
17 years in prison awaits a 23-year old Dayville man who admits to stabbing two people in November, 2016 during two consecutive car-jackings. Christopher Harding will be sentenced October 26th in Danielson Superior Court. Prosecutors say Harding committed the first car-jacking outside the Cumberland Farms store on School Street in Putnam. The second occurred later in the day when he crashed into another car in Thompson. Harding went to the second vehicle, dragged out the two people in it, stabbed them, and took off. A co-defendant from Rhode Island has pleaded not guilty, and is due in court September 7th.
CHILD ABUSER SENTENCED
A former Colchester man will serve 15 years in prison for sexually abusing a child over several years. 40-year old Randall Craig pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine, meaning he doesn’t agree with what prosecutors are saying, but he also doesn’t want to go to trial. Police say an elementary school-age student reported the abuse to a school official in December 2016, and that led to the investigation.
IDENTITY THEFT PLEA
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – An Illinois man has pleaded guilty in Connecticut to obtaining or trying to obtain unemployment benefits from 38 states using the stolen identities of other people. Federal prosecutors say 32-year-old Richard Lach, of Richton Park, Illinois, pleaded guilty Thursday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors say Lach used the names, birthdates and Social Security numbers of identity theft victims that he bought online, some for $1. When claims were approved, the benefits were deposited to Green Dot cards controlled by Lach. Authorities say state agencies approved and paid benefits on 42 claims filed by Lach and others, resulting in the loss of $54,000. Had all 380 claims filed by Lach and others been approved, it would have caused the loss of $3.8 million. He faces sentencing Nov. 27.
FARMERS GETTING THEIR $$
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Nearly nine years after Northeast dairy farmers filed a class-action lawsuit against a national dairy marketing cooperative, thousands of farmers are receiving their checks in the $50 million settlement. ,Dairy farmers of America this week paid an average of $4,000 to nearly 9,000 farms to settle a lawsuit that accused the marketing group of trying to drive down milk prices. The 2009 class-action lawsuit charged Dairy Farmers of America; its marketing arm, Dairy Marketing Services; and Dallas-based Dean Foods with working together to monopolize the market for raw milk in the Northeast. Dean Foods agreed to a separate $30 million settlement in 2011. The deals covered farmers in Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
MORE HOT DOGS ARRESTS
NORWALK, Conn. (AP) – Police in Connecticut have rescued two dogs trapped in cars on one of the hottest days of the summer. The Hour reports two people have been charged with cruelty to animals Wednesday for leaving their dogs in the hot cars in Norwalk. Police found the first dog, a tan labradoodle, trapped inside a car with slightly opened windows around 2 p.m. Wednesday. Authorities say the inside of the car was 104 degrees, and the dog was trapped inside for nearly 30 minutes before it was rescued.
The second dog was rescued by a bystander around 4 p.m. Authorities say the inside of the car registered about 92 degrees. Both pet owners face a $1,000 fine and up to one year in prison.
