U.S. Marshals tracked a fugitive wanted in a deadly hookah lounge shooting to Arizona and took him into custody, officials announced Friday.
Neil Downey, 26, had a $2 million warrant out for his arrest in the death of Rodney Harmon, who was fatally shot at the Crown Hookah Lounge in San Diego last year.
After police announced they were looking for Downey, a tip in August led them to believe the suspect may be living in the Phoenix or Mesa areas.
Since then, members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force identified multiple places where Downey could be living. They ultimately found him Thursday in Phoenix.
Marshals positively identified him as he left a home near 21st Avenue and Turney Street. They closed in, made contact with Downey and arrested him without incident, officials say. He has been booked into an Arizona jail as he awaits extradition to San Diego.
Downey’s is the fourth arrest made in Harmon’s death. Police say last November, Harmon was at the hookah lounge just after 4 a.m. when those inside heard loud banging on the door.
When Harmon got up to answer it, he was shot several times in the chest and collapsed in the nearby alley. He died a short time later.
Other suspects arrested in the shooting include Pierre Verenee Readus, 28; Carl Antuan Martin, 33; and Nicholas Edward Davis, 24.
San Diego law enforcement is searching for the person who shined a green laser at an airplane headed for Lindbergh Field earlier this week. According to officials, stunts like this are a growing problem.
This latest incident comes as the FBI and FAA release alarming statistics about laser strikes reported in San Diego.
The FAA tells NBC 7 San Diego's number of reported lasing incidents is not only higher than in most cities – it is on the rise. In fact, the number of lasing incidents is nearly 40 percent higher in just three years.
Through training videos, the FAA attempts to educate pilots and the public about so-called “lasing.”
It is a dangerous distraction especially at takeoff and landing.
FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor said San Diego is a hot bed of such criminal activity because more people spend their time outside, and San Diego's flight path is over a dense population.
FBI statistics indicate that by August 2015, a total of 92 laser strikes were reported. There were 78 reports in all of 2014, and 61 in 2013.
“The price [of lasers] has come down. Availability has gone up. The power of these devices has gone up tremendously,” Gregor said.
Pilots flying as high as 20,000-feet have reported lasing.
Pointing a laser at a commercial airliner is a federal offense, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $11,000.
In June 2014, the FBI increased the reward to $10,000 for information leading to arrests of those responsible for such incidents.
While the number of lasing reports are increasing, the FAA says so are the number of arrests.
“Some police agencies are getting quite sophisticated in their apprehension techniques. Also, the FBI has formed laser task forces in various parts of the country,” Gregor said.
FAA research indicates only a few individuals are responsible for the large number of laser strikes. Making information leading to even one arrest that much more valuable.
The plane reporting a laser strike in San Diego Thursday night was SkyWest flight 6639 and was hit eight miles from Lindbergh Field around 6 p.m.
The flight landed at the Commuter Terminal with no further problems, and no injuries were reported.
One man is dead after a rollover in Poway Friday afternoon, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Officials say the driver, who was the only person in his Ford Explorer, was driving west on Poway Road at a high rate of speed.
Investigators believe he lost control, failed to turn right onto Espola Road and crashed into an open area at about 2:30 p.m.
The SUV went airborne as it reached a nearby embankment and rolled. The man inside died at the scene. Espola Road between Range Park and Poway Road were shut down while deputies investigated.
Presidential candidate Jeb Bush drew a rebuke from the president for comments he made Friday about the university shooting that left nine people and a gunman dead in Oregon the day before.
Speaking at a campaign stop in South Carolina, Bush urged caution on the government's reaction to the Umpqua Community College shooting, using the phrase "stuff happens" in reference to crises.
"I resist the notion -- and I had this challenge as governor -- 'cause look, stuff happens, there's always a crisis and the impulse to do something and it's not necessarily the right thing to do," Bush said.
Bush called the shooting "heartbreaking," but was speaking about the larger issue of how to set rules in the face of tragedy.
"We're taking people's rights away each time we do that and we're not necessarily focusing on the right challenge," he said.
He said "the best laws" are usually at the state level.
Bush's campaign addressed the outrage over his comments in statement:
“It is sad and beyond craven that liberal Democrats, aided and abetted by some in the national media, would dishonestly take Governor Bush’s comments out of context in a cheap attempt to advance their political agenda in the wake of a tragedy. Taking shameless advantage of a horrific tragedy is wrong and only serves to prey on people's emotions.”
President Barack Obama was asked to respond to Bush’s comments at a news conference Friday afternoon.
"I don’t even think I have to react to that one. I think the American people should hear that and make their own judgment based on the fact that every couple of months we have a mass shooting. And they can decide whether they consider that 'stuff happening,'" Obama said.
Bush, pressed by a reporter in Greenville about the phrase "stuff happens," said the choice of wording was not a mistake but about tragedies in general. He cited as an example an "impulse" to pass a law about fencing after a child drowns in a pool.
Prosecutors say the woman accused of plowing into a family and killing a mother with her car had sake, a shot of Fireball and a vodka drink before driving.
Katie Ellison, 21, appeared in court Friday for her arraignment with a bandage around her face, covering her nose. Ellison pleaded not guilty to all four felony counts against her, including DUI and second degree murder. Her bail was set at $3 million.
Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright said Ellison admitted to investigators she had a prior DUI from when she was 17, for which she spent six months with Alcoholics Anonymous taking classes.
On Friday, Sept. 25, Ellison got off work and went to a restaurant, where she says she had one beer. However, Bright said Ellison instead had a vodka mixed drink and a shot of fireball.
She followed that by taking four shots of sake at a sushi bar, according to Bright, and then drove to Lakeside.
California Highway Patrol officials said as Ellison drove onto Woodside Avenue, she was going fast and without her lights on.
Bright said a car flashed their lights at Ellison to let her know hers were off, but she continued driving down the road, toward Lorraine Kennedy and her husband David Sandel, who were leaving dinner with their son and his girlfriend.
Their son, Travis had already crossed the street with his girlfriend before Kennedy and Sandel began crossing. They didn't see the Toyota Yaris coming toward them because the lights were off.
The prosecutor said Ellison slammed into the couple, throwing Kennedy through the windshield of the Yaris from the impact. Officials confirmed Kennedy succumbed to her serious injuries the next morning, dying in the hospital Saturday.
When Ellison was taken to the hospital, she had a blood alcohol level of 0.12, Bright said.
Sandel is still in the hospital with multiple broken bones and will be undergoing surgery. Prosecutors say the force of the impact threw him more than 100 feet from where they were walking.
Kennedy and Sandel were visiting from Texas, in town to spend time with their son, Travis, and for his daughter's birthday.
Travis attended the arraignment Friday and wept as the hearing proceeded, comforted by his girlfriend beside him.
Ellison was released Saturday evening from the hospital and has been jailed at the Las Colinas Detention Facility.
She faces 15 years to life plus six years if convicted.
A raging fire engulfed a detached garage in El Cajon, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the surrounding neighborhood and spreading to cars parked nearby.
The building — which looked large enough to be a home — in the 2300 block of Charles Way caught fire at 4:45 p.m.
Soon, the flames grew and began to threaten the main house, where 83-year-old Earvin Brundege was home alone.
Neighbors soon became concerned for his safety.
"We're trying to call him to the door. 'Open the door, open the door!'" recalled Mike Dorendorf. "He's just looking at us, deer in the headlights."
Brundege's family told NBC 7 he suffers from dementia and Parkinson's disease.
When they saw he was not making a move to get out, Dorendorf and a friend used a rock to smash the front window. His friend climbed into the house and let Dorendorf in through the front door.
"We both went in and were trying to talk him out and he didn't want to go," he said. "So we picked him up and carried him out and got him across the street."
As the fire department declared it a second-alarm incident, at least five fire engines, a brush unit and many firefighters rushed to the scene to fight the flames.
Meanwhile, Brundege's family arrived, thanking the man's rescuers.
But his son-in-law, Don Steward, was anguishing over a mistake he had made.
"I'm upset because I know how it started and it's negligence on my part," he said.
Steward explained that he had been working in his embroidery and screening workshop in the garage.
While there, he said he bumped a piece of machinery which stayed on under a piece of wood. It threw off flames that were high enough to catch the garage on fire.
Firefighters were able to get a handle on the fire by about 5:30 p.m.
Dallas police say they have arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a Dallas dentist last month at her Uptown apartment parking garage.
Kristopher Love, 31, is charged with capital murder and is being held on a $2.5 million bond, Dallas Police Maj. Max Geron announced in a Friday evening press conference.
Love also faces a federal charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Geron said when Love was arrested, he was allegedly in possession of the weapon believed to have been used in the murder.
Jail records did not list an attorney for Love Friday.
Geron said an alleged accomplice, 33-year-old Brenda Delgado, is wanted on a capital murder charge and is considered a fugitive.
Murder in Uptown Parking Garage Sept. 2
Kendra Hatcher, 35, was fatally shot Sept. 2 in the parking garage of her Uptown apartment complex.
Geron said investigators believe the motive in the deadly shooting was murder-for-hire. Delgado is suspected of having a role in the planning of the murder, Geron said.
Police said Hatcher pulled into the garage at her residence, the Gables Park 17 apartments on Cedar Springs Road, and parked her vehicle at about 7:45 p.m.
Sometime before Hatcher arrived home, the driver of a Jeep Cherokee followed another driver into the garage and parked, according to Geron, with the Dallas Police Department's Crimes Against Persons Division.
While Hatcher parked, Geron said, someone got out of the Cherokee and appeared to approach Hatcher. Police said witnesses then described hearing a gunshot and the person who exited the Cherokee then returned to the vehicle and drove away.
Hatcher was found deceased next to her car.
Woman Arrested on Capital Murder Charge
Dallas police said 23-year-old Crystal Cortes admitted her involvement in the murder.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Cortes told detectives she was behind the wheel of the Jeep Cherokee spotted by a witness on the the night Hatcher was shot and killed.
Cortes told detectives she was paid $500 to drive a man to that parking garage for a robbery. She also said that man she drove is the shooter, according to the affidavit.
According to an arrest affidavit, Love admitted to his role in the robbery which resulted in Hatcher's death.
Cortes was arrested Sept. 4 and also faces a capital murder charge.
Gov. Cuomo has created a scholarship and fellowship honoring former aide Carey Gabay, who was fatally shot after being caught in gang crossfire.
The scholarship will be awarded annually to five students at State University of New York schools and will cover the full cost of attendance.
The fellowship is open to attorneys interested in public service. Winners will spend two years in the office of the counsel to the governor focusing on issues relating to violence and poverty.
To be eligible for the programs applicants must come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Gabay was shot in the head during a predawn party celebrating the West Indian Day Parade Sept. 7. He died Sept. 15. No arrests have been made.
The 43-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer served as first deputy general counsel at the Empire State Development Corp.
Students from a school in Carlsbad far exceeded their goal for a recent food drive that will help the hungry.
Known as the “St. Pat’s Angels,” students from St, Patrick’s Catholic School originally set their sights on collecting 5,000 items for their food drive.
Instead, the Angels managed to gather more than 15,000 items, with a first grade class alone collecting 4,000 of those goods.
All of the food was donated to the organizations Bread of Le and Got Your Back, and will help feed hungry families in need.
The heavily armed gunman who slaughtered nine people at an Oregon college left a hate-filled note at the scene of his rampage and "felt the world was against him," law enforcement officials confirmed Friday.
Two officials familiar with the contents of the note say 26-year-old Christopher Harper Mercer, who was killed in after an exchange of gunfire with police Thursday at Umpqua Community College, wrote that he would be "welcomed in Hell and embraced by the devil."
He wrote that he was "in a bad way," one official said. "He was depressed, sullen."
The officials said Mercer lamented the fact that he did not have a girlfriend. "He said he had no life," another official said, adding: "He felt the world was against him."
Residents in a National City neighborhood were evacuated from their homes early Saturday morning after a DUI suspect crashed his van into a house, shearing off a gas line.
According to officials, the crash happened around 2:15 a.m. in the 300 block of East 31st Street. Two men – both suspected of being under the influence – were in a van that slammed into a home.
No one was in the house at the time of the crash, officials said, and no one was injured.
When police arrived, they realized a gas line had been impacted in the collision. As a precaution, officers evacuated residents along the entire block while San Diego Gas & Electric crews worked to repair the line.
The late-night evacuation lasted about three hours.
The men inside the van were arrested at the scene on suspicion of DUI. Their names were not released.
The NFL is going to be back in Los Angeles one day. After about nine months of speculation, talk, rumors, land sales, meetings, threats and Roger Goodell quotes, that is pretty much all we know.
If we apply the 5 W’s (and How) of Writing to this situation, it would be woefully short of complete:
Who: ?????
What: Move an NFL team back to the Los Angeles market
When: ?????
Where: ?????
Why: $$$$$
How: ????? (Although by alienating a fan base and filling up a bunch of moving vans would technically work here)
One rumor has the Chargers joining the Rams in a stadium to be built by Rams owner Stan Kroenke in Inglewood. It would make sense on the surface but a recent report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests the Bolts would be loath to move in with the Rams because of a business deal gone bad.
The story (which you can read in its entirety here) says in 2013 Chargers owner Dean Spanos called Kroenke asking if they would like to join together in establishing a stadium on the Inglewood/Hollywood Park site. According to the story Kroenke then went ahead and bought up all the land himself, eliminating Spanos.
If that is the case it would be near impossible for the Chargers to overlook such a bad business deal and be roommates with Kroenke’s Rams. However, the Bolts say that is not the case.
“No, Dean did not call Kroenke about a land purchase,” said Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani. “Dean never made any effort to buy the land from Walmart.”
Walmart was the owner of a 60-acre parcel of land next to a nearly 250-acre spot owned by Stockbridge Capital Group. Dean Spanos and Stan Kroenke did sit down to have dinner prior to Kroenke purchasing the land but according to Fabiani, “Dean made no effort to acquire the 60 acres of land” before, during or after that dinner.
Kroenke’s purchase of those 60 acres was publicized in early 2014 and his company partnered with Stockbridge Capital to form the Hollywood Park Land Co. From the partnership the “City of Champions Revitalization Project,” which includes the proposed stadium, was born. However, the notion that Spanos is feeling jilted by Kroenke and the Rams may not have legs.
“The Chargers have never asked the Rams to join the Chargers in a stadium pursuit,” said Fabiani.
That would suggest the NFL could very well get the Rams and Chargers together in Inglewood, one of dozens of possibilities still alive in the NFL’s ongoing stadium soap opera.
A gas stove is the suspected source of an explosion Saturday that killed a woman, injured three passersby and devastated a three-story building in Brooklyn, New York.
The 1 p.m. blast tore the facade from the front of a building on 42nd Street and 13th Avenue in Borough Park, fire officials said.
The explosion might have been sparked while a high-end stove was being disconnected from a gas line, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said during a news conference with Mayor de Blasio. Investigators believe the blast occurred on the second floor, he said.
The woman who died was found in a stairwell near the second floor, the commissioner said. Her identity wasn't disclosed. Firefighters believe she was the only person in the building.
A 33-year-old man and his 10-year-old son and a 27-year-old man were injured by bricks and other debris blown onto the sidewalk as they walked past the front of the building, Nigro said. They are expected to survive their injuries but were taken to area hospitals.
Approximately 200 firefighters responded to the fire, which was quickly brought under control. Five firefighters sustained minor injuries, Nigro said.
It appears that the building is home to housewares store and several apartments. The building was severely damaged and could collapse, fire officials said.
"We will be doing a full investigation," said de Blasio.
The incident prompted Gov. Cuomo to direct the state Department of Public Service to investigate the cause of the explosion.
"This explosion is the latest in a disturbing trend of incidents that occurred in Harlem and the East Village," he said. "On behalf of all New Yorkers, my thoughts and prayers are with those who have been impacted by today's explosion, especially the friends and family of those lost or injured."
On March 26, a gas line exploded at a Sushi restaurant in the East Village. Two men were killed and 25 others were injured. Evidence indicated that someone had tampered with the gas lines or meters, investigators said at the time.
The East Village incident occurred one year after a similar blast killed eight people in an East Harlem building. Federal investigators released a a report a few months ago that blamed the explosion on poorly crafted pipe-joint and an old sewer line that cause a gas line to break.
Lorenza Cardenas and her two daughters, 8-year-old Alexis and 11-year-old Mercedes finally feel safe.
They're now living in a small apartment in Logan Heights – a stark contrast to the place they once called home.
"I feel good. I feel better than over there. I feel the hope again. Over there I had no hope," said Cardenas.
NBC 7 first met Cardenas in November 2014, when she and her daughters lived in a small storage unit inside of a junkyard located on Commercial Avenue in Logan Heights.
Several other people lived inside the junkyard, in makeshift dwellings and trailers. They all shared one bathroom.
It also was packed with unwanted cars and bicycles, along with discarded appliances, wood planks, and pipes.
Cardenas said she was worried about her two young daughters when they lived there.
That's not the case anymore.
Mercedes said she's happy to live in a better environment, where she also has other kids to play with.
“I feel we don't have to be scared of going outside," the girl said.
The junkyard wasn't visible from the street because it was enclosed with a solid, metal fence and locked. Only residents could get inside.
Then last fall, the Cardenas family got help.
San Diego police officers responded to a radio call inside the junkyard.
Officers witnessed the living conditions and returned with an electric stove they purchased with their own money.
San Diego Police Department (SDPD) Officer Ricardo Rivas, a 16-year veteran of the department, said he had never seen anything like the living conditions at the junkyard.
"It was just devastating. It broke our hearts," Officer Rivas said.
The officers kept in touch.
They gave the family donated goods and even helped the family look for another place to live.
Cardenas said she and her girls are so grateful for the help from the officers.
"I never expected to be important to anybody else," the mother said.
The family moved out of the storage unit earlier this year, when Cardenas said she was told everyone had to leave.
She eventually found another place to live by walking the neighborhood. Cardenas said it took a while because she wanted her two daughters to be able to stay at their same schools.
"I think the continued support, me helping her, answering her questions, helped her, motivated her to continue fighting for her children," said Officer Rivas.
Police tell NBC 7 it's important for them to build trust and relationships in the community because what they do now can sometimes last for years, and even generations.
"Those kids, hopefully they'll grow up to be good citizens in our community too, from the positive contact with us," said Officer Rivas.
NBC 7 recently went back to the junkyard in Logan Heights. It's now empty, the graffiti on the fence covered with gray paint.
NBC 7 contacted the City of San Diego about that property. Police officers had responded to the address numerous times for nuisance activity and medical response.
A city spokesperson told NBC 7 that once the SDPD told them about the property, code enforcement officers at the Development Services Department began an investigation.
The property is developed as a single-family dwelling with a large undeveloped area in the rear, accessed by an alley.
"Reportedly, the tenants in the front dwelling had, over time, allowed numerous squatters and transients to occupy the rear portion of the lot," explained Lynda Pfeifer, the city's Supervising Public Information Officer.
"Our inspector immediately contacted the property owner who was seemingly unaware of the condition of his property. The property owner was ordered to take the necessary legal steps to evict the uninvited squatters and transients and to clean out the entire rear portion of the property," she added.
The illegal occupants vacated by June and the property owner cleaned out the rear portion of the property. The city closed its case in July.
A 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged in connection to 15 robberies near Drexel University in Philadelphia in August and September.
During an incident on Sept. 29, a woman and another victim had just gotten into her car around 11:15 p.m on the 3900 block of Baring Street. The woman told police she tried several times to close her car door but believed it was stuck. She then heard the other victim repeatedly yell, “Mom,” police said. The woman told investigators she then looked up and saw the teen boy holding a gun.
The boy then allegedly told her, “Get out of the car you f****** b****,” several times. The woman and second victim then fled into a nearby home while the boy entered their car, police said. After a few moments, the teen exited the car and fled in another direction.
While the boy didn’t take anything during that incident, during other robberies the teen stole cellphones, cash, credit cards, house keys, and medication, police said. He also allegedly pistol whipped a victim during an incident on Sept. 18 on the 500 block of North 34th Street and punched a woman twice in the face during an incident on Sept. 30 on the 400 block of N. Preston Street.
On Sept. 30, detectives interviewed the victim of a robbery on the 400 block of N. Preston Street. Investigators told the woman, who is a student at Drexel, to log into her Discover Credit Card account to cancel her stolen card. While she was logging in the woman received an email stating that a suspicious transaction occurred at a business on the 700 block of N. 38th street around 7:24 a.m. that day, police said.
An investigator went to the business and recovered surveillance video of the teen suspect using the woman’s credit card at the ATM machine inside the store, according to police. Investigators then retrieved still images of the suspect.
On Friday police officers spotted the suspect riding a purple bicycle on 37th Street and Fairmount Avenue, investigators said. The officers noticed the teen looked like the suspect in the surveillance video and that he was riding a purple bicycle that was described in some of the previous robberies. The teen was taken in for questioning and officials obtained a search warrant for his home.
As they searched they found clothing he wore in previous robberies as well as other bicycles he used, police said.
The teen was arrested and charged with 15 counts of robbery and other related offenses. Police believe he used a BB gun during the robberies.
The robberies occurred at the following times at the following locations:
A Dunkin' Donuts employee is apologizing after telling a police officer waiting to buy coffee that a Connecticut location doesn't serve cops, police said.
A West Hartford police officer was waiting at the back of the line in the Dunkin' Donuts at 1234 Farmington Ave. to buy a cup of coffee at the coffee franchise when one of the employees said loudly before a room of several customers, "He didn't get the message. We don't serve cops here," police said.
The officer immediately left without another word from any workers. On his way to his cruiser, the franchise manager brought the employee outside to apologize to the officer for the comment. The employee told the policeman the statement was a joke, according to the police report.
The officer told the employee to apologize to the customers who appeared offended instead of to him, so the employee went inside with him and did so. The worker offered the officer a free cup of coffee to make up for it, but he declined and said he would get one elsewhere, police reported.
The manager apologized for her employee's behavior and notified the regional manager, telling the officer she would handle the situation. Dunkin' Donuts corporate office was also notified.
"We are aware of the situation at the Dunkin’ Donuts at 1234 Farmington Avenue in West Hartford," Michelle King, senior director of global public relations for Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. said in a statement released to NBC Connecticut. "The crew member exhibited poor judgment and apologized immediately to the police officer. The franchise owner, a long-time supporter of local police, has also reached out to apologize on behalf of the restaurant. Dunkin’ Donuts and our franchisees share a commitment to the well-being and fair treatment of all guests."
Hundreds from across the county came out Saturday to run and support a Rancho Penasquitos teenager battling cancer.
"There's people here I don't even know that showed up and are here to support me and it's…it's so amazing,” said Kasey Harvey, who has been battling a rare form of cancer since last November. After 42 tough weeks of treatment, she is in remission.
The Harvey family of Rancho Penasquitos were the first to bring concerns about the former president and CEO of a San Diego cancer charity, Brianna King, and the charity, WishWarriors, to NBC 7 Investigates. They said after their daughter, Kasey, was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma cancer last year, WishWarriors reached out and promised the family financial support if the organization could highlight them.
They agreed, but have never seen any money from the organization.
On Sept. 1, King pleaded guilty in San Diego Superior Court to grand theft in connection to her time at the helm of nonprofit WishWarriors. The district attorney’s office opened a criminal investigation into King after an NBC 7 Investigation revealed children profiled by the charity never received the donations they were promised. It was in early July a WishWarriors board member confirmed most of the money raised by the charity appeared to be gone.
Susan, Kasey’s mother, said it’s hard for her daughter not to smile after overcoming one obstacle after another.
“Cancer costs a lot of money,” Susan said. “Whether it's Kasey eating correctly, or physical therapy, you know the gas back and forth to the hospital four times a week.”
Nearly 500 people from across the county – friends, family and complete strangers – all touched by Harvey’s story, came to Saturday’s event to offer a helping hand in the form of a charity 5K run, appropriately called the “5-Kasey Fun Run and Walk”.
"They have insurance, but it doesn't cover one of the parents having to quit their job to be [there] 7/24 taking care of a very, very sick little girl,” said family friend Nadra Hess.
Hess and several others organized the event. “She needed to be there for her [Kasey] so we needed to be there for her,” she added.
For Susan, the community support has been overwhelming.
"The community and these people have lifted us and have carried us through this journey and that's the honest truth, they really have,” said Susan.
Saturday morning, Susan gave out high fives to those participating in the 5-K while focusing on the positive.
"This celebration today is helping put a closure on that chapter. After today, it's a new life,” she shared.
The 14-year-old athlete said she’s looking forward to getting starting something she missed: soccer.
“I've missed that a lot throughout the whole year and that's one thing I really want to get back to,” said Kasey.
Even organizers said they exceeded their goal, raising more than $12,000. IF you would like to donate, you can do so by visiting Kasey's website here.
According to Deputy District Attorney James Teh, if King pays at least $10,000 in restitution to WishWarriors by December, prosecutors will not oppose her request to serve jail time in San Diego. He said that $10,000 figure gives you an idea of the amount she admitted to stealing.
NBC 7 Investigates first reported on King’s criminal history in July. In San Diego County, King was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty in 2004 to four misdemeanor counts for using fraudulent checks and burglary. Though she was ordered to pay $2,905, probation documents show she never paid the full amount.
A New Jersey church priest pointed a musket at an 8-year-old child inside his church and threatened him with it over an apparent sports rivalry, prosecutors say.
The 54-year-old priest at St. Margaret of Cortona Roman Catholic Church in Little Ferry was arrested Friday on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault by pointing a firearm, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said.
The priest allegedly approached the boy before Mass services at the church on Sunday, Sept. 13, and asked to see him in one of the rectory rooms, according to prosecutors.
Once they were in the room, the priest allegedly had the boy stand against the wall, then retrieved a musket and pointed it at him, prosecutors said, citing several witnesses.
"As he raised his weapon and pointed it at the boy, he said, 'I'm going to shoot you,'" Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli told NBC 4 New York Friday.
The boy was not hurt, Molinelli said.
One of the parishioners who witnessed the incident contacted Newark Archdiocese officials on Sept. 25, and the Archdiocese in turn contacted the prosecutor's office on Sept. 28.
The prosecutor's office began investigating along with Little Ferry police, and on Friday, interviewed the priest at the rectory. A search of the room turned up the weapon that was allegedly used -- a functioning Civil War-style musket -- as well as gunpowder, ammunition and other associated items for the gun, authorities said.
Prosecutors said the priest, a Giants fan, was apparently unhappy because the boy planned to root for the Cowboys in a game against the Giants later that day.
"The young boy was apparently a fan of a particular football team, the priest was not. So perhaps we have indication it started out as that," said Molinelli.
"There's no such thing as joking around with a weapon when you're dealing with an 8-year-old kid," he added.
The Giants lost to the Cowboys 26-27 on Sept. 13.
The priest, Kevin Carter, was jailed on $15,000 bail. He was still in custody at Little Ferry Police headquarters Friday night and could not be reached; it wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.
The Archdiocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The prosecutor's office says Carter was ordained in Newark in November 1986 and has since worked at various Roman Catholic churches across the Archdiocese. He has been at St. Margaret of Cortona since February 2013.
