Three things for September 22
1. Police K9 in critical condition following shooting at Toyota of Cleveland dealership
Early Wednesday morning, a Bradley County Sheriff deputy made contact with suspects at the Toyota of Cleveland dealership. During the encounter, the deputy’s K9 was shot and critically injured. The K9 handler, Deputy Eduardo Choate, left the scene uninjured.
The suspects fled, stealing a blue and silver 2009 four-door Lexus IS 250 sedan. Four suspects were inside the vehicle.
The K9, named Joker, is in surgery and is in critical condition.
The suspects are armed but not a threat to the public at this time.
2. Haitian Immigrants set to be released from Texas border town
Many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released, according to two U.S. officials
Many have been released but are expected to appear at an immigration office within 60 days.
“The releases in the U.S. were occurring despite the signaling of a massive effort to expel Haitians on flights to Haiti under pandemic-related authority that denies migrants an opportunity to seek asylum. A third U.S. official not authorized to discuss operations said there were seven daily flights to Haiti planned starting Wednesday,” reports AP News.
The criteria for deciding who is flown to Haiti and who is released in the U.S. is unclear, but U.S. officials said single adults were the priority for expulsion flights.
3. Suspects in Kristin Smart disappearance face trial
Kristin Smart was last seen in 1996 at the end of her freshman year of college at California Polytechnic State University and presumed dead in 2002.
The man last seen with Smart before she vanished will stand trial on a murder charge in her suspected death, a judge ruled on Wednesday, Sept. 22. His father faces trial as an accomplice for allegedly helping bury her body. In the preliminary hearing, prosecutors presented evidence indicating Smart’s body had been buried under Ruben Flores’ deck, then later moved. Smart’s body has never been recovered.
“Paul Flores, 44, a former California Polytechnic State University student, is charged with murder and his father, Ruben Flores, 80, is charged as an accessory for allegedly helping to bury her body. Both have pleaded not guilty,” reports AP News.
“When Flores first spoke with police, he downplayed his interactions with Smart at the party and on the walk home. He said she was walking to her dorm under her own power, though other witnesses said Flores was helping hold her up and she had been passed out earlier in the night,” reports AP News.
For more information on the trial, read this article from AP News.
