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"Layaway Angel" Helps 150 People

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An anonymous person paid the layaway accounts of about 150 people at a Toys "R" Us store in Bellingham, Massachusetts, in an act of holiday cheer that covered $20,000 in merchandise.

Emily Burlingame told NECN that she was not expecting such a random act of kindness when she she went to pay her layaway balance.

"I just went to go pay, and [the cashier] said that the 'layaway angel' took care of the balance," she said.

The mystery woman had visited the store Wednesday, Toys "R" Us said. She asked to pay off every outstanding account.

"It's a very nice surprise," Burlingame said. "Thank you to the 'layaway angel.' Very nice."

Other shoppers at the store were overjoyed when they learned what happened.

"I know the feeling of gratefulness when you get the phone call saying, 'somebody paid off your layaway,'" said Christine Roberts, who was on the receiving end of a similar gesture last year.

"It's a really, really nice thing that was done, so a big thank you, very much," Burlingame said.

Toys "R" Us told NECN the act was an incredible display of what the season is all about.

The identity of the "layaway angel" remains a mystery.



Photo Credit: NECN

3 Die After Fire on Cruise

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Oceania Cruises said three people died on the cruise ship Insignia when it had a fire in the engine room while docked in St. Lucia Thursday morning.

The cruise line said the fire was contained to the engine room and extinguished. Three crew members and two contractors who were working on the ship at the time of the fire were taken to a medical facility on the eastern Caribbean island country.

Oceania said two of the contractors and one crew member died as a result of their injuries.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred this morning on Insignia. We have extended our heartfelt condolences to the families of those involved and are offering them our full support. This is truly an emotional time for all of us at Oceania Cruises,” the company said in a statement.

The ship was on a 10-day cruise that left San Juan, Puerto Rico on Dec. 7 and was scheduled to arrive in Miami on Dec. 17.

The rest of the cruise was canceled and charter flights were arranged to bring all 656 guests back to Miami. Oceania said it was also providing hotel accommodations in Miami until flights to the guests’ hometown can be arranged.

Passengers who arrived in Miami early Friday said they heard an explosion and saw smoke.

"It smelled like the bottom of a volcano," said Trish Radeff. "I could not breathe, it was awful."

Elizabeth Barrett said she saw the attempts made to save the victims.

"I saw one fellow they were resuscitating on the dock and he was already expired by the time they got to him, they did try very valiantly to bring him around but it wasn't successful," said Barrett, from Scottsdale, Arizona. "It was a sad day."

The cruise line also said it was giving a complete refund to all of the travelers and a 50 percent credit towards a future Oceania cruise.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Couple Plucked From Raging LA River

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In a Swift Water rescue executed in the wake of driving rain, firefighters pulled a man and his wife from the raging Los Angeles River Friday morning.

The man was rescued first.

The call was reported at 9:41 a.m. and the man was spotted soon after 10 a.m. A Los Angeles Fire Department diver jumped into the swollen river and the department deployed a helicopter for the search, near the Glendale Boulevard overpass close to Interstate 5.

Footage captured by the NewsChopper4 showed him clinging to tree branches inches above the surging water in a section of the river dense with trees and brush between Silverlake and Atwater.

Using a zodiac boat and some rope, the firefighters shuttled the man to the bank of the river.

After rescuers pulled him ashore he told them that his wife was also in the river.

A red and white fire department helicopter hovered low over a grove of trees in the middle of the river, while Swift Water rescuers scoured the water, following reports that a woman's voice was heard nearby.

It took rescuers nearly two hours to locate the woman and bring her to safety. They loaded her into a boat and took her to the bank of the river just before noon, bringing the long search-and-rescue to a close.

The rescued pair are believed to be a homeless husband and wife, possibly living in the riverbed before it swelled with Friday morning's rainwater.

They were taken to a local hospital and are in fair condition, officials said.


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Rain Floods Roads, Parking Lots in Mission Valley

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NBC 7's Nicole Gomez reports from Mission Valley where a large amount of water flowed into the parking lot at the Q.

Storm Debris Slows Traffic on I-5

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NBC 7's Elena Gomez reports from Encinitas where the wet weather is making for dangerous conditions for drivers

Photo Credit: NBC 7 Elena Gomez

Surf Pounds Mission Beach

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NBC 7's Chris Chan reports from Mission Beach where you can really feel the strong winds and high surf.

Photo Credit: NBC 7

Lifeguards Search for Victim in Swollen Aqueduct

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San Diego lifeguards searched a swollen flood channel in central San Diego before calling off the search without locating a victim.

A person was reported to be in the aqueduct on the west side of the State Route 94 at Home Avenue just before 10 a.m. Friday.

Karen Martin was driving on to the highway when she spotted someone in the middle of the flood channel. Water was up to the neck of a man who appeared to be standing in the aqueduct, she told NBC 7.

“No arms were flailing, all I could see was his head,” she said.

She was so surprised to see the man in the water, she called 911.

Crews initially could not locate a victim so they requested CHP shut down Home Avenue on-ramp to SR 94 while they continued to search.

Lifeguards tried to access the aqueduct on the west side of the location, closer to State Route 15.

Because the San Diego Fire Rescue helicopter was unable to fly in the conditions, rescuers requested U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to help in the search.

As of 11:10 a.m., the search was called off without a victim located, officials said.

Martin said she was shocked by how full the flood channel had become in just one day.

Rainfall rates from Friday's storm could reach one half inch per hour, enough to trigger flash floods or debris flows in and below recent burn areas.

Due to forecasts, San Diego lifeguards put their crews on Alert Two, meaning all their staff will be hands-on ready to go if they are needed during the storm and they will have 19 personnel available for swift water rescue.



Photo Credit: NBC 7 Steven Luke

NYC Museum Blaze Forces Evacuations

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The American Museum of Natural History was evacuated Friday afternoon because of a smoke condition inside the iconic building.

Over 3,000 museum attendees and workers poured out onto the street on Manhattan's Upper West Side as firefighters arrived to battle the blaze.

FDNY officials said the fire started at around 3:30 p.m. when a maintenance worker using a blow torch outside the building caused an air conditioning unit to catch fire. The building's heating, ventilation and air conditioning system then sent smoke into the museum.

Eyewitnesses said they saw smoke coming out of light fixtures on the first floor of the museum and then the sprinklers go off.

There were no reports of any injuries.

By 4:30 p.m., officials said the fire had been knocked out and that museum workers were being allowed to reenter the building. It remained closed to the public and an event planned for Friday night had been canceled, the museum's website said.

Museum officials said they were still assessing the extent of the damage inside the museum, which included water damage from the sprinkler system.

The museum is expected to reopen Saturday.




Photo Credit: @eraticjoker/Instagram

FBI: Carjacking Suspect May Be "Chit Chat Bandit"

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A carjacking suspect who led California Highway Patrol on a Riverside County chase that ended on a San Diego freeway may also be the "Chit Chat Bandit," the FBI says.

Jared Levi Hansen was arrested after the Dec. 4 chase and taken back to Murrietta by Riverside County authorities on charges of carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon, felony possession of a firearm, evading police and a slew of other charges related to the pursuit.

The FBI has now reported that Hansen is also suspected of robbing three San Diego banks between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2. The robber was dubbed the "Chit Chat Bandit" because he made small talk with tellers while demanding money at banks in La Jolla and El Cajon.

Hansen started a police chase on the night of Dec. 2 after attempting to carjack an elderly couple in Riverside County, then stealing a mini van from another man when the couple refused to give up their vehicle, the FBI report said.

The chase ended on Interstate 15 near the Mercy Road exit when the stolen mini van was no longer able to drive on its wheels after a police spike strip took out the van's left tires, according to CHP. Once the van finally stopped, Hansen was taken into custody without incident.

He was allegedly armed with a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun which is suspected of being used during both the carjackings, authorities said.

Hansen was booked into Southwest Detention Center in Riverside County on several felony charge related to the carjackings, according to the Riverside Sheriffs website. The website does not yet reflect charges related to the bank robberies, however.

According to arrest information, Hansen has priors and was on felony parole at the time of his arrest. He is currently held without bail and is due in court Wednesday, Dec. 17 in Murrietta.



Photo Credit: FBI
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Sloth Bears Debut at San Diego Zoo

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A pair of sloth bear siblings made their debut at a new exhibit at the San Diego Zoo this week, providing adorable entertainment.

The two bears, named Sahaasa and Kayla, are in San Diego on loan from the Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

They entered their new exhibit on Center Street after completing quarantine at the zoo’s animal hospital. The two were quick to entertain, playing with a box-like object called a puzzle feeder and scampering around the enclosure.

The sloth bears arrived here just in time for the zoo’s annual Jungle Bells celebration, where guests can watch the animals after dark – until 8 p.m. – as well as enjoy holiday entertainment.

Jungle Bells starts on Saturday and runs through Dec. 23, again from Dec. 25 to Dec. 31 and again Jan. 1 to Jan. 4. For more details, go here.

Witness Defends Cop Who Pulled Gun

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A photographer who saw an undercover California Highway Patrol officer point a gun at a crowd during a protest in Oakland said the action seemed to be a justified reaction to what had happened moments before: A protester had hit his undercover partner in the head, and the crowd seemed to be moving in.

"Yeah, it was an appropriate response," Michael Short, 38, of Oakland and a freelance photographer for the San Francisco Chronicle told NBC Bay Area on Friday, two days after the officer pulled the gun at Harrison and 27th streets in Oakland. "I would have been scared if I saw my partner get knocked to the ground. He was justified. I felt threatened by the protesters, too."

He said, before the weapon was pulled, the plainclothes officers had been trying to back away from the crowd, when two protesters shouted, "They're cops, they're undercovers!" At that point, someone in the crowd took off one officer's hat and threw it around, Short said. And then a protester hit the officer in the head.

At a news conference this week, a CHP chief said he was investigating the incident, but in general stood by his officers’ conduct.

The tone of the protests, in response to recent non-indictments of white police officers in the deaths of black men, began to take an ugly turn on Saturday night in Berkeley, when police began to fire tear gas into crowds after small pockets of demonstrators seriously damaged and looted buildings, and set fires in the streets. Over the next few nights, protesters who said they weren't looting told NBC Bay Area they were jabbed with police batons. Several reporters and news photographers have been detained, injured and pepper sprayed during a CHP roundup in Berkeley over the weekend.

The Society of Professional Journalists of Northern California wrote a letter to the mayor and police chief in Berkeley condemning the "outrageous conduct of law enforcement officers." And the organization is drafting a similar letter to the CHP. In turn, police have responded that some protesters have gotten violent and out of hand, as well.

On Friday, Rachel Lederman, president of the National Lawyers Guild, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, said this overall use of "intimidation and use of force" by police violates the demonstrators First and Fourth Amendment rights.

She added: "We are also concerned about CHP's dangerous and indiscriminate use of so called less-lethal munitions during the demonstrations. All of these munitions are potentially lethal or can cause extremely serious injuries and it is unlawful to shoot them into a crowd and at people's heads."

As for the CHP, Lederman said "we are very disturbed that CHP had masked undercover officers with guns provoking the crowd, and actually drawing firearms without even identifying themselves, which is obviously extremely dangerous and could cause crowd members to justifiably defend themselves from these masked armed men."

But Lederman said her guild "will be following up" with Oakland police and the federal monitor, because that department is "responsible for ensuring that mutual aid acts lawfully and in accordance with the OPD Crowd Control Policy."

That policy is part of a federal order that stems from a misconduct settlement that came as result of use of force issues during the Occupy and Oscar Grant protesters in 2010 and 2011.  She said Oakland police can't hide behind mutual aid doing "their dirty work."  Oakland police did not respond for comment.

The CHP also did not respond to email and phone questions on Friday by NBC Bay Area.  However, this week, the CHP defended the agency's use of firing rubber bullets into the crowd, saying that they were just trying to protect themselves from protesters who were hurling bricks and M80s at them and their helicopters.

Golden Gate Division Chief Avery Browne held a news conference with reporters on Thursday, and stood by an old police tactic where officers dress like the crowd to gather intelligence. In addition, it was raining on Wednesday night, and the CHP helicopter wasn't flying overhead.

And much of Browne's version, matched Short's  account, that the officer pulled a gun after his partner had been hit in the head.

Short said, after the officer's partner was hit, the undercover officer, wearing jeans, a brown hoodie and a black Champion vest, pulled out a baton and shouted "Get back, get back." When the crowd didn’t listen and even began to move forward, the officer took his gun out – the image captured on camera.

Meanwhile his partner, dressed in a black mask and gray jacket with a hood, wrestled on the sidewalk with the protester who had struck him on the head. At the news conference, Browne said that man was arrested on suspicion of felony assault on a peace officer.

Browne said the officer later told him: "Chief, I didn't know if I was going to make it out of this thing alive."

Browne also told reporters at the news conference that his officers identified themselves, as is department policy.

But Short told NBC Bay Area that he never heard the officers identify themselves as police officers.  And Short said that neither officer pulled out a badge, as evidenced in the photographs he took.  And at no time did the officers identify themselves as police, Dylan, a demonstrator, told Bay City News.

Short doesn't know how the masked protesters figured out the two plainclothes officers were police. But he said they stood out because they seemed "fit" and "better dressed" than most of the demonstrators.

At the news conference, Browne said the actions of the two plainclothes officers, who he did not identify, would be investigated. But he said he believed they acted appropriately and are on active duty. Both are detectives in the agency's Bay Area auto theft unit, he told reporters.

Still, Browne acknowledged that having a gun pointed at your face at a protest to voice that "Black Lives Matter" could be upsetting.

"The highway patrol is extremely cognizant and very sensitive to the display of a gun," Browne said at the news conference. "It's very disturbing and upsetting to individuals who are attempting to protest, and we recognize that."

Bay City News contributed to this report.

Poway Vehicles Damaged by BB Guns

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Residents in the Poway area should remain on alert after someone shattered multiple vehicle windows with a BB gun last week.

Between midnight and 5 a.m. on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7, car windows were shot out with that appeared to be BBs or pellets, according to the San Diego Sheriff's Department.

The vehicles hit were parked along the curbs of these five streets: 12000 Laja Drive, 13000 Standish Drive, 14000 Frame Road, 14000 Deerwood Street and 12000 Peachwood Court.

One resident told deputies she saw a tan-colored car full of people "driving suspiciously" in her neighborhood the evening before her car was damaged.

Nothing was taken from the cars, and damages are estimated to be nearly $3,000.

Detectives are asking for residents for their help in finding the culprits. Anyone with any information or surveillance video can contact Detective Andrew Peterson at (858) 565-5200.

Accused Abductor Wants Gag Order

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The defense for the man accused of abducting University of Virginia student Hannah Graham is asking the court to enact a gag order in a Fairfax attempted murder case.

Attorneys for Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. want the court to enact the gag order in response to the prosecution speaking to reporters following each hearing in the Fairfax case. The filing notes how prosecutors called the victim "a saint" following the last hearing. It also referrs to media reports about the specific timing of Matthew's transportation between Fairfax and Charlottesville.

The defense also requested $2,000 to hire their own DNA expert, citing DNA as the only link between Matthew and the assault. The filing says the defense was not provided a copy of the certificate of analysis by the commonwealth but instead got it from the Washington Post.

Authorities have said that DNA under a fingernail of the Fairfax victim provided a link to Matthew. According to a search warrant obtained by NBC29, Charlottesville police found a "wooden tip from a cigar butt" inside Matthew's wallet; the document states that the DNA from that tip provides matches to both the 2005 Fairfax case and the case of Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student found dead in early 2010.

Matthew faces an abduction charge in Graham's case and three felonies in the Fairfax case. He has pleaded not guilty to the Fairfax charges. He has not been charged in Harrington's case.

The hearing for the the protective order request will be Jan. 8.

CEO Buys Grocery Chain, Ending Feud

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Arthur T. Demoulas and his family have completed the acquisition of Market Basket, ushering in an end to a years-long boardroom family feud over the grocery chain's future, they announced Friday.

The purchase of the 50.5 percent of the company they didn't already own was completed as of 1 p.m. Friday.

A spokesperson for Arthur T. Demoulas said specifics about the financial terms of the transaction will not be released, since the company is privately owned. Demoulas offered $1.6 billion in the buyout proposal.

Employees and customers of the New England supermarket chain staged protests and boycotts last summer after a family feud came to a head and beloved CEO Arthur T. Demoulas was ousted by his cousin. Artie T., as he is known to employees, bought back the company after the two sides reached an agreement in August.

Since Arthur T. Demoulas' team returned to Market Basket on Aug. 28, three new stores have opened, 1,300 new jobs were created and employee bonuses were paid out.

"Arthur T. Demoulas and the Market Basket team remain fervently dedicated to our customers and our More For Your Dollar commitment to them," said David McLean, Market Basket operations manager. "We eagerly embark on this new chapter for the company, and expect steady growth in both the near and long term. The world witnessed just how incredible our customers and Associates are and the rock solid commitment we have to our 'people first' culture."

Market Basket operates 73 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Founded in 1917, it is based in Tewksbury, Massachusetts.

Semi-Truck Crash Causes Fuel Spill in River

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A semi-truck hit a guard rail on an Oceanside freeway, causing 100 gallons of fuel to spill onto the freeway and into the river below.

The accident happened during the heavy morning rain Friday on Interstate 5 near the Harbor Drive exit, the Oceanside Fire Department said. The crash caused damage to the saddle tanks on the truck, and diesel fuel leaked from the freeway to the San Luis Ray River.

Authorities said Haz Mat crews responded, as well as County Health, County Haz Mat, Camp Pendelton Haz Mat, California Highway Patrol and Cal Trans. Fish and Game, the Coast Guard and National Response Center were also notified for assessment and clean up purposes.

The river is not currently spilling into the ocean on the other side of the sand, but Fish and Game will evaluate the river basin near the harbor's south jetty, the fire department said.

The driver, a man in his 40s, suffered moderate injuries and was transported to Scripps La Jolla trauma center.


High Demand for LL Bean Boots

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L.L. Bean has just added a third shift at its factory in Brunswick, Maine, in an attempt to keep up with demand for its iconic boot.

Orders have quadrupled in the past few years as the boots have become more popular among a younger, more urban crowd.

The company says it saw the trend coming and tried to prepare, but orders outpaced projections. They expect to sell 450,000 pairs of boots in 2014.

People hoping to have the boots in time for Christmas are likely going to be disappointed. The boots are back ordered through February and even March.

"I've been told it's a good problem to have but I"m disappointed that customers not getting
what they want as quickly as they want," said Senior Manufacturing Manager Royce Haines.

Customers like, Mary Clifford, tried to order boots on line, but they were back ordered until January.

"I was very surprised this is what they are known for and at Christmas time you can't get them when you need them," said Clifford.

People who do have boots are trying to capitalize on the shortage and are selling them on Ebay at a much higher cost.

L.L. Bean says it has hired dozens of new boot makers, but it takes up to six months to train someone to make a boot.

The company has also spent a million dollars on new equipment to try and keep pace with demand.

Some customers are having luck at the retail stores. They have a separate inventory, and while sizes are limited, those stores have boots on the shelves.
 

Local POW's Perspective on CIA Torture Report

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A former prisoner of war who was subjected to dislocated shoulders and frigid cold gave his take on a U.S. Senate report that outlines brutal CIA torture — a word he said he is hesitant to use.

Jim Bedinger, now a retired Navy commander, was captured during the Vietnam War on Nov. 22, 1969. He spent his first month in solitary confinement at the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison.

He remembered the bitterly cold nights.

“They took my flight suit and flight boots away at night and left me in my jockey shorts on the bare ground,” said Bedinger.
 
He was then moved to a cell with another prisoner.

“I am very thankful that I ended up with a cellmate like Ernie Brace,” he said, “and of course we had John McCain on one side and Admiral Stockdale to the other side. We had pretty good communication.” The group would communicate in code.

Bedinger said while America has historically taken the high road in the treatment of POWs, our enemies have not — from World War II to North Korea to Vietnam.

“They get your arms tied behind and your wrists are tied together and then push your head down between your knees, then they pull your arms over to the point where both of your shoulders come out of the scapula joint. It's extremely painful,” Bedinger described.

He said he never went through that kind of treatment as the end of the war neared, but others did.

“The torture that many of the American prisoners of war endured in Vietnam have left them with limbs that don't move right, knees that are fused, backs that were broken,” said Bedinger.

The torture is closer than previously thought to the tactics used by the CIA, according the Senate torture report released earlier this week.

It revealed the enhanced interrogation method of waterboarding was used more widely than first thought and that interrogators force fed suspects through their rectums.

“This is not to condone some of the actions that are said in the report, but war is an ugly business,” said Bedinger, who later served in the Pentagon.

“We've got to understand that our warriors often are rough men that go into the dark of night to protect us while we sleep at home with our families,” he added.

To protect those warriors and Americans is the ultimate goal, Bedinger said, and he talked with people who felt the situations gave several documented cases of actionable intelligence that prevented another 9/11 in the U.S.

However, Bedinger acknowledged that as he witnessed in Vietnam, in many cases, torture doesn't produce truth.

“They're going to inflict such pain that you will sign and admit to anything simply to stop the pain,” he said.

Bedinger was freed after serving three years and four months as a Vietnam POW.

His biggest take-away from the experience is similar to that of fellow POW John McCain: “We always want to strive for what is high and more noble … I'm all for truth, and the truth always comes out in the end, but I think when you're dealing in defending this country there are certain things that we need to protect because if we don't, our enemies will use that to their advantage and do us harm.”

NYPD Union: No Mayor at Funerals

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The city's police union is asking Mayor de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito not to attend funerals of NYPD officers killed in the line of duty, saying the pair doesn't "support and respect" police.

A petition letter, shown below, was sent to the mayor's office Friday, the Patrolman's Benevolent Association confirmed.

The petition, titled “Don’t Insult My Sacrifice,” reads in part:

“Due to Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito's consistent refusal to show police officers the support and respect they deserve, I believe that their attendance at the funeral of a fallen New York City police officer is an insult to that officer's memory and sacrifice.”

The PBA has criticized city lawmakers after some council members have come out against a recent grand jury decision not to indict an NYPD officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed man.

Earlier this week, council members said they would ask the city's new police watchdog to investigate how the NYPD tracks abuse complaints against officers. The city's Civilian Complaint Review Board will also create community outreach offices across the city so New Yorkers can file complaints about police conduct.

PBA President Pat Lynch has issued a statement lambasting the city council's decisions and calling their rhetoric "double talk."

"They praise police with words and then take actions that clearly demonstrate their true lack of support for the very people who protect them and make their communities safe," Lynch has said.

Meanwhile, spokesmen for the mayor and speaker criticized the PBA's petition, calling it divisive and incendiary.

“This is deeply disappointing,” says the joint statement from spokesmen Phil Walzak and Eric Koch. “Incendiary rhetoric like this serves only to divide the city, and New Yorkers reject these tactics. The mayor and the speaker both know better than to think this inappropriate stunt represents the views of the majority of police officers and their families.” 



Photo Credit: AP Images
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Philly Spends $700K on Protests

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The Philadelphia Police Department has spent nearly $700,000 on overtime for policing recent protests in the city related to the deaths of unarmed black men Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

In a two week span, the overtime tab to have officers shut down streets, blockade highway entrances and ensure safe demonstration by protesters has reached approximately $683,000, Philadelphia Police spokesman Lt. John Stanford tells NBC10.

The demonstrations began on the evening of Nov. 24 after a Missouri grand jury declined to indict former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Brown, a unarmed black teenager. A little more than a week later, a grand jury in New York City declined to indict a New York Police officer in the chokehold death of Garner. The 43-year-old father was unarmed and the chokehold was caught on video.

Hundreds of people took part in the loud, but peaceful protests that included marches around Center City Philadelphia, North Philadelphia and die-in demonstrations inside 30th Street Station and outside Lincoln Financial Field. During the die-in protests, demonstrators lay down for 4 minutes and 30 seconds to represent the 4 hours and 30 minutes Brown’s body was on the ground after his death.

The protests, similar to ones held in cities across the United States, have questioned police treatment of African-Americans and sparked a national debate about race.

Philadelphia Police were out in force for these demonstrations. There were Civil Affairs officers, Strike Force officers, bicycle police and, at times, air support from the department’s helicopter fleet.

“Clearly, it’s a significant expenditure, but a necessary one to maintain public safety for all of those who are exercising their First Amendment rights and others who are impacted by demonstrations,” Mark McDonald, spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter, said on Friday.

In the past, police have spent big bucks on overtime for both planned and unplanned events.

The department spent more than $1 million in overtime covering the Phillies World Series victory parade on Oct. 31, 2008. For the first five days of Occupy Philadelphia in 2011, the city spent $164,000 in officer overtime. An audit by City Controller Alan Butkovitz last year said the city spent nearly $64 million in police overtime overall in 2012.

The protest-related overtime bill will most likely grow before the end of the year.

The numbers were tabulated by the department at NBC10’s request. They account for police overtime worked for demonstrations through Sunday, Dec. 7, when demonstrators held a die-in outside the Philadelphia Eagles game. There have been at least two other protests since, including a die-in by medical students at the University of Pennsylvania and a march and demonstration at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.


Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.



Photo Credit: Bastiaan Slabbers for NewsWorks

Why Deputies Chose Non-Lethal Force in Amber Alert Standoff

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A dramatic standoff with a father holding his four sons hostage on an East County overpass ended peacefully Thursday with the help of a bean bag.

The deputies’ decision to use non-lethal force in the arrest of Daniel Perez comes as national protests over two officer-involved homicides rock the country.

While law enforcement involved was certainly aware of events in Ferguson and New York, San Diego County Assistant Sheriff Mark Elvin says the protests had nothing to do with the split-second decision made on the San Diego freeway.

On Thursday, a sheriff’s SWAT team used two armored BearCat vehicles to block in Daniel Perez’s car on the transition from State Route 125 to State Route 52. When the suspect emerged with his four boys, Perez was hit by a bean bag deployed by a deputy. Soon after, he was tackled by multiple people and taken into custody.

Sheriff’s officials declined to comment specifically on Thursday’s incident, but Cpt. Todd Frank talked about the mindset of deputies during similar standoffs.

“You're worried about yourself. You're worried about any uninvolved parties. You're also worried you're not gonna make a mistake, you don't want to do something incorrect,” said Frank.

Elvin, a one-time SWAT supervisor, said deputies are trained to focus on the moment and the suspect’s movements. They depend heavily on that training and experience.

The deputy who deployed the bean bag is a 17-year veteran, and he has been on the SWAT team for three years.

A decision to use lethal or less-lethal force can be impacted by hostages, as was the case Thursday. In a split second, even as Perez appeared to think about jumping over the bridge with his son, the deputy chose less-lethal force: the bean bag. However, it certainly could have ended much differently.

“When you have an uninvolved person in a situation like that, it's not inappropriate to have a lethal response if you believe that uninvolved person is in danger, in other words if they're in danger of serious injury or of death,” said Elvin.

Perez has been booked into Montebello Jail on suspicion of kidnapping and murder after his wife’s body was found in the trunk of the family’s second car. His arraignment is scheduled for Monday.

The children were unharmed and have been reunited with family.



Photo Credit: NBC 7
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