Pilots Warn of a Growing Danger in the Skies

Getty(WASHINGTON) -- Airlines pilots and the government have sounded the alarm over a growing and dangerous problem: hand-held lasers aimed from the ground right at the cockpits of airplanes.

The numbers are staggering. Through Oct. 20, there have been 2,795 reports of lasers pointed at helicopters, small planes and commercial jets this year. That pace means 2011 could break last year’s record of 2,836 laser strikes.

“Over the last few years, the reported incidents of lazing have doubled and doubled and doubled again,” said Sean Cassidy, vice president of the Air Line Pilots Association. “They’re not toys when they’re getting shined against an airplane; they’re very, very dangerous.”

At the very least, a bright laser suddenly lighting up a cockpit can distract a pilot.

At the worst, it can damage their eyes, temporarily blinding them. This can be especially hazardous during takeoffs and landings. There have been cases where pilots have had to go around for another landing attempt or hand off the controls to their co-pilots.

Luckily, no accidents have been blamed on laser incidents, but pilots worry that could happen.
Officials believe the increasing number of incidents can be traced to the easy accessibility of high-powered lasers, which have come down substantially in price and can be purchased online.

The cities with the most reported incidents this year are Phoenix, followed by Philadelphia and Chicago.
This summer the Federal Aviation Administration enacted fines of $11,000 for laser incidents, and there’s a move in Congress to make it a federal crime. Some states already can prosecute those who shine lasers at aircraft.

Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it is starting a new website to make it easier for pilots to report laser incidents. Those who’ve studied the problem say some of the laser incidents are intentional, while others are not.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

California Teen Convicted in Burning, Dismemberment of Friend

Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock(HEMET, Calif.) -- A southern California teenager was convicted Thursday of dismembering and then burning his 17-year-old friend’s body in November 2009.

A Riverside County jury found Jose Manuel Campos guilty of murdering Adrian Rios, 17.

Campos, 19, and three other people were at a home in the city of Hemet, Calif., to view a football game on Nov. 15, 2009.

Officials said Rios got into an altercation with Ivan Ruiz, who was in the house, where Rios “punched Ruiz in the nose,” according to a Riverside County District Attorney news release.

Campos then later shot Rios with a .22 caliber rifle.

Campos and Ruiz took Rios’ body and lit it on fire and later placed it into a shallow grave in the Campos’ backyard, authorities said.

Neighbors initially told KABC that they noticed a foul smell the night the teens came together to watch the game.

Officials also recovered human remains from Canyon Lake that matched Rios’ profile.

Campos was arrested in connection with the murder after he fled to Mexico.

He faces as much as 50 years to life in state prison and is expected back in court for formal sentencing on Dec. 19, 2011.

Ruiz was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years of probation after he pled guilty to being an accessory to the crime.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Loss of Life Possible in Major Cyber Attack, Warns Homeland Security

Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday that a major computer attack against critical U.S. infrastructure could result in a loss of life and massive economic damages.

“The network intrusion that shuts down the nation’s critical infrastructure … could cause loss of life but also a huge economic loss,” Napolitano said at a cybersecurity event sponsored by the Washington Post. “We’ve seen attempts on Wall Street, transportation systems, things of those sorts.”

Cybersecurity experts have long warned that hackers could target electrical grids and power plants, which could affect hospitals and water treatment plants.

Napolitano added that DHS offices had been probed in computer intrusions by hackers attempting to infiltrate the department’s systems. She declined, however, to comment on the details of the intrusions or specify if the intrusions had targeted her office.

Napolitano discussed a wide range of computer security issues at the event and urged Congress to push forward with cybersecurity legislation that the White House proposed in May. Napolitano said she hoped the legislation could gain strong bipartisan support.

“Cyber attacks are increasing in frequency, in complexity and in consequence,” Napolitano said. “In [fiscal year] 2011 alone, our U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, CERT, responded to more than 100,000 incident reports and released more than 5,000 actionable cybersecurity alerts and information products.”

Although the DHS secretary declined to address specific instances, there have been a slew of high-profile hacking intrusions in the past two years:

• The FBI and U.S. Secret Service are investigating intrusions into computer systems run by NASDAQ-OMX, the parent company of the NASDAQ stock exchange, which were compromised last year.
• Earlier this year RSA, the security division of the EMC Corp., suffered a computer intrusion that resulted in a breach of its firm’s intellectual property, Secure ID, which provides encrypted authentication services.
• During 2009, groups in China were behind a highly sophisticated hacking of Google and more than 30 other companies that went undetected until January 2010.

“We are in a constant state of seeing activity against critical infrastructure,” said Greg Schaffer, DHS assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications, who also spoke at Thursday’s event.

U.S. officials believe that China had been behind many of the infiltrations; members of Congress have recently mentioned this, but diplomatic and security officials are more reluctant to attribute the infiltrations to China.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Police: Missouri Shooting Possibly Gang-Related

David De Lossy/Thinkstock(WELLSTON, Mo.) -- At least two people were shot and at least one has died because of shootings at or near a food market in Wellston, Mo., police said.

A Wellston police dispatcher said the shootings were likely gang-related.

The shootings involved three separate scenes in the area around the Wellston Food Market in the 6200 block of Page Avenue, according to local news station KPLR.

The Wellston Food Market, where the shooting was first reported shortly after 3 p.m., is a police sub-station. Police said they are looking into whether the incidents a few blocks apart are related.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Woman Accused of Seeking Hitman to Kill Love Rival

Comstock/Thinkstock(LYNDHURST, N.J.) -- A New Jersey woman accused of offering a hit man $10,000 to kill a love rival pleaded not guilty in court Thursday.

Nicole Faccenda, 42, of Lyndhurst, N.J, wanted the new girlfriend of her ex-boyfriend, with whom she has one child, “shot in the head,” according to a complaint released by the United States District Attorney.

Faccenda allegedly was so intent on having the woman killed that she didn’t care if the woman’s children were collateral damage. When asked on a recorded phone call about the possibility of something happening to the children, Faccenda said, ‘Oh well, I’m sorry,’ according to the complaint.

Faccenda was arrested Wednesday night after an elaborate, week-long sting.

Officials refused to name the intended victim or Faccenda’s ex-boyfriend.

She first reached out to a trusted acquaintance in Florida on Oct. 19, asking him to help her find a hit man.

“She told this acquaintance she had a black dress ready to wear to the intended victim’s funeral and would ‘spit on the casket,’” the complaint said.

The friend reported the conversation to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which listened in on his conversation with Faccenda on Oct. 20, when she was told the friend had found a person to commit the crime.

On Oct. 24, Faccenda met with her Florida acquaintance in the parking lot of a Secaucus, N.J., gas station and gave him a down payment of $2,000 for the hit man, along with the name, photo and license plate of the victim, the complaint says.

Two days later, the friend called Faccenda and informed her the victim had been shot dead and that the crime scene was fashioned to “look like a robbery.”

Faccenda was arrested at her place of employment on Wednesday evening.

“I believe she feels she was scammed,” Faccenda’s attorney, John Bruno, told ABC News. “I can’t go into more detail, but when all of the facts come out it will be clear what exactly occurred.”

Faccenda has worked in sales and catering at a food and beverage company for 17 years, according to Bruno.

“There have never been any issues with her,” he said. “She has an unblemished background. This is really an unfortunate misunderstanding.”

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Rescued Zanesville Animals Quarantined at Columbus Zoo

Jay LaPrete/Getty Images(REYNOLDSVILLE, OH) -- There is a possibility that Marian Thompson, the widow of Terry Thompson, will be reclaiming the six animals that survived last week’s tragedy at the couple’s farm in Zanesville, Ohio, but not any time soon.

Three leopards, two Celebes macaques and a grizzly bear have all been in the care of experts at the Columbus Zoo since they were rescued. The 49 other animals that were released by Thompson before his suicide were shot and killed by law enforcement personnel because they posed a serious threat to public safety.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture has issued a quarantine order for the six animals currently at the zoo due to the possibility that the animals could be infected with disease as a result of the conditions in which they were reportedly held.

This order indefinitely prohibits the Zoo from moving or releasing the animals to their owner until they are deemed no longer a potential disease thereat.

Marian Thompson can appeal the quarantine order and may request a hearing within thirty days.

According to a press release, the zoo had no legal rights to the animals and removed them from the farm with permission of Marian Thompson.

The Columbus Zoo has been working with the state government to draft a law that would enact stronger Ohio laws restricting private ownership of such exotic animals.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Vulgar Pantyhose Phonecalls Lands PA Man in Jail

Upper Allen Township Police(HARRISBURG, PA) -- A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to nine months in prison for making thousands of vulgar phone calls about pantyhose.

Rip Alan Swartz, 43, told police he “got his jollies” from making the phone calls, sometimes as many as 400 in one day. Swartz reportedly made over 6,000 calls in about 50 days in September 2010.
Swartz would call hotels, banks, restaurants and call centers. He made calls all over the United States and as far away as the Philippines.

“The verbiage was the same on every phone call,” Det. Sgt. Thomas Kauffman of the Upper Allen Township Police Department told ABCNews.com. “He would ask them how their day was going, be really polite and then say, ‘I bet you can’t wait to get home and get those pantyhose off,’ and would keep talking and getting more graphic.”

Kauffman was the lead investigator on the case that began when two restaurant employees contacted police saying that a man was calling repeatedly to talk about the weather before drifting into pantyhose talk.

As Kauffman began his detective work, he discovered that several other police departments were investigating the same situation. Police tracked the phone number and found out it was purchased under a fraudulent name that led them to a man in Texas who was not involved.

The big break in the case came when Swartz called a hotel in Virginia and the woman who answered decided to play along and try to get information from him. He threw out his real name in conversation and mentioned he lived in Harrisburg, Pa.

Police were relieved to find there was only one Rip Alan Swartz in the state of Pennsylvania and began watching him and tracking calls, and they soon had enough information for an arrest.

“All he would do would get phone books and call places out of the book or places he saw on TV,” Kauffman said. “He wasn’t as sophisticated as we thought.”

“I asked him why he did this and he said that’s how he ‘gets his jollies,’” Kauffman said. “He told me that a lot of the time he was unemployed and would sit around and make constant phone calls.”
Kauffman said Swartz was cooperative and confessed to what he had been doing, but didn’t realize it was a serious problem.

“It was a challenge to him,” Kauffman said. “He wanted to see how long he could keep them on the phone and get them into conversation. He estimated that out of 100 calls he could get two women to stay on the line and talk to him.”

Swartz was charged with dozens of counts of harassment from different counties. While some counties dismissed the charges or sentenced him to probation, at least one sentenced him to prison time. He is currently in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Bacteria Fighting Mom Banned from McDonald's

Tim Boyle/Getty Images(CHANDLER, Ariz) -- An Arizona mom who has been banned from eight McDonald’s restaurants because she kept swabbing their play areas in a search for bacteria says she won’t let it keep her from her anti-bacteria campaign.

Erin Carr-Jordan, a university professor specializing in adolescent development, received a hand-delivered letter from a lawyer on Monday listing eight McDonald’s locations where she is no longer welcome.

“It doesn’t mean much to me personally,” Carr-Jordan told ABC News. “I’ve gotten positive responses from parents who said, ‘Hey, I’m not banned, give me swabs!’”

Carr-Jordan, who is a mother of four in Chandler, Ariz., said all eight of the locations are owned by Ernie Adair, who ABC News could not immediately reach for comment.

Her crusade began after she complained to a McDonald’s manager about unsanitary conditions in an indoor play area, and came back a few days later to find nothing had changed.

At that point, Carr-Jordan began swabbing indoor playgrounds around Arizona, and said what she found was alarming.

“Many of these play places are in disgusting condition.  I’ve seen rotting food, hair, stuff stuck to the wall, second-story windows broken,” Carr-Jordan said.

She claims she also found pathogens that can cause a host of serious health issues, including meningitis, gastrointestinal disease and nausea, to name a few.

It’s a subject she feels so passionately about, she’s visited states across the country collecting samples from fast food play areas, spending  “thousands and thousands of dollars” of her own money, and not just at McDonald’s.

“They’re all the same,” she said. “And there are no regulations.”

Through her ‘Kids Play Safe’ movement, Carr-Jordan is hoping to influence lawmakers at the state and federal levels to pass a regulation requiring indoor play places to be regularly disinfected and monitored for safety hazards.

Legislators in California and Illinois have introduced legislation, and Carr-Jordan said she hopes many more will follow suit.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

More Than a Dozen Charged in LIRR Disability Pension Scheme

Joe Raedle/Getty Images(NEW YORK) – Federal agents have charged more than a dozen suspects including a doctor, a union president, and Long Island Railroad retirees, in a disability scam that reportedly cost taxpayers as much as billion dollars. Ten of these individuals were arrested on Thursday.

The FBI uncovered hundreds of fake pension claims after the bureau started investigating why the cash-strapped LIRR had a disability rate three to four times that of the average railroad. 

The fraud was first exposed in a New York Times investigation and government action began soon after, with raids to seize documents and records at pension fund offices.

A network of doctors allegedly prepared false medical records and helped the workers file claims in exchange for cash payments. 

They face 20 years in prison if convicted. 

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

More Arrests at Occupy Wall Street Protests

Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The “Occupy” protests taking place across the country heated up as demonstrators in Oakland, Calif. -- who had been evicted from their camp over safety concerns -- returned amid heavy police presence, while New York protesters were arrested in a clash with officers during a late-night solidarity march.

At least 10 people were arrested in New York late Wednesday, according to NY1, after several tussles broke out as protesters marched up from Zuccotti Park to Union Square in a show of solidarity with demonstrators in Oakland.

Wednesday night’s march began with a general assembly meeting where Occupy Wall Street protesters agreed to release some of their funds and some tents to the protesters in Oakland -- the movement sits on a bankroll of nearly $500,000. The demonstrators then began marching from Zucotti Park around City Hall up Broadway and into the heart of New York’s Soho neighborhood to cheers -- and some jeers of “get a job.”

The march quickly turned into a game of cat and mouse between the NYPD and protestors, some of whom were goading police with screams of “no justice, dirty pigs, cops come here.”

Several people were arrested as police unsuccessfully tried to keep protesters on sidewalks.  Officers were able to keep demonstrators from marching across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Protesters removed rope lines which police had set up, and eventually the cops allowed them to march and they left the scene.

Once the march reached the West Village neighborhood police reappeared behind the protesters who began to splinter off into smaller groups until eventually the action died down.

In Oakland Wednesday, protesters returned to a relatively peaceful scene where for the previous 24 hours several violent clashes had broken out, leading police to repeatedly use tear gas to disperse crowds.  Tuesday morning, authorities forcibly removed the tent city in Frank Ogawa Plaza that had been their camp for several weeks.

Crowds grew steadily in Oakland throughout Wednesday and around 7:30 p.m. protesters began to knock down the fences that had been erected around the lawn at Frank Ogawa Plaza, according to ABC News Bay Area affiliate KGO-TV.  By 10:30 p.m. Oakland’s City Center BART Station had been blocked off by police.

A crowd of roughly 1,000 gathered at Frank Ogawa Plaza and listened to speakers criticize city officials while urging the protesters to remain peaceful.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio