Domestic violence suspect leads police on pursuit, shuts down I-5

By KUSI Newsroom SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – A lengthy overnight police pursuit that began near Mission Valley and ended early Wednesday morning on Interstate 5  Continue Reading »

By KUSI Newsroom

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – A lengthy overnight police pursuit that began near Mission Valley and ended early Wednesday morning on Interstate 5 in San Onofre turned into a standoff that shut down the freeway for hours before the domestic violence suspect who had led the chase fatally shot himself inside his SUV.

The events that prompted the cross-county pursuit began about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the San Diego Police Department received a call regarding an assault victim in the 3600 block of Central Avenue, SDPD Lt. Carmelin Rivera said.

When detectives contacted her, the 25-year-old woman told them her boyfriend had violently abused her over a two-day period, hitting her on the head with an ax, choking her, tying her up inside his apartment and sexually assaulting her.

“While she was being held captive, he told her that he was going to buy a gun and (that) if the police were called, he would kill her,” Rivera said.

When the alleged assailant left the apartment, the victim — who had suffered two broken ribs, swelling to her face and bruises all over her body — managed to escape and alerted neighbors, who called the police, Rivera said.

About five hours later, patrol officers spotted the suspect’s white BMW X5 on Interstate 15, near Interstate 8. When they tried to pull the man over, he refused to yield and continued heading north.

As police and California Highway Patrol officers pursued the 28-year- old suspect to the north and west, he ran over several spike strips officers had laid out in his path on Interstate 5, near Del Mar Heights Road and Carlsbad Village Drive. Still, he would not pull over, Rivera said.

About 3:30 a.m., the SUV finally rolled to a stop on Interstate 5 near Cristianitos Road in the far northern reaches of San Diego County, its tires shredded.

The CHP shut down both sides of the freeway as the man hunkered down in his disabled vehicle, refusing to give himself up.

“Officers negotiated with him for about an hour and tried to convince him to surrender,” Rivera said. “Despite the officers’ efforts, the suspect drove off again, crossed into San Clemente, and then (doubled) back southbound on I-5, near the Basilone Road exit.”

There, Orange County sheriff’s deputies in SWAT vehicles were able to box in the suspect’s SUV.

“At about 6:15 a.m., the suspect attempted to drive off again, but the armored vehicles stopped him,” Rivera said. “Before officers could get the man to surrender, he shot himself in the head.”

Paramedics took the suspect to an Orange County hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name was withheld pending family notification.

The freeway was fully open again at the site of the standoff by 8 a.m., according to the CHP.

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THREE KIDS DIE AFTER TRYING TIKTOK “BLACKOUT CHALLENGE”

By Dunja Djudjic A life-threatening TikTok challenge has reportedly been going around. It’s called “Blackout Challenge” and it encourages kids to choke themselves until they  Continue Reading »

By Dunja Djudjic

A life-threatening TikTok challenge has reportedly been going around. It’s called “Blackout Challenge” and it encourages kids to choke themselves until they pass out. Sadly, many have attempted to do it, and at least three of them have lost their lives so far.

The “Blackout Challenge” is also called the “Passout Challenge,” “The Game of Choking,” “Speed Dreaming” or “The Fainting Game.” It encourages kids to choke themselves until they lose consciousness, apparently to get the feeling of being “high.”

Before writing this article, I saw the recent news about Massachusetts boy Nate Squires who lost his life after choking himself to death. He was reportedly found unresponsive last Monday after attempting the infamous TikTok challenge. The eighth-grader lost his life, and despite their grief, his family shared the story. They wanted the world to know of this challenge and how dangerous it was, hoping to change the minds of anyone who thinks of trying it.

To my great shock, as I googled the trend, two more stories came up. In March this year, twelve-year-old Joshua Haileyesus was found struggling to breathe on the bathroom floor after trying the same challenge. According to WWLP, his twin brother attempted to resuscitate him before neighbors and an ambulance arrived. He ended up on life support and was in critical condition. Unfortunately, after fighting for 19 days, Joshua also passed away. His family set up a GoFundMe campaign to cover medical and funeral expenses for the boy, also warning the public of the dangers of the TikTok challenge that cost him his life.

The third child is also the youngest, and she lost her life in January. An Italian ten-year-old girl was also found unresponsive after attempting the “Blackout Challenge.” Doctors said they did all they could to save her, but she was already “too far gone,” Daily Mail writes. She was declared brain dead on 19 January in a hospital in Palermo.

I was deeply saddened to find out about the death of three kids because of something idiotic they saw on TikTok. Unfortunately, this definitely isn’t the first dangerous challenge that’s been going around. Remember the “Gallon Challenge” or the “Cinnamon Challenge,” or the “Tide Pod Challenge?” All of these affected children’s health, and even their lives.

I was also shocked to read that the “Blackout Challenge” has been around for quite a while now. In January, when the girl from Italy lost her life to it, it was one of the most trending challenges on TikTok, according to Daily Mail.

However, after Joshua’s death, a TikTok spokesperson told Newsweek that the challenge wasn’t trending. When users searched it, they would reportedly be directed to the app’s community guidelines or to self-harm resources, which Newsweek confirmed.

“At TikTok, we have no higher priority than protecting the safety of our community, and content that promotes or glorifies dangerous behavior is strictly prohibited and promptly removed to prevent it from becoming a trend on our platform,” said the TikTok spokesperson. “We also block related hashtags and searches to discourage people from participating in or sharing potentially dangerous content.”

I installed TikTok just to check this, and indeed – when I searched for “Blackout Challenge” or “Passout Challenge,” I was redirected to community guidelines and got no results. Searching for the alternative terms returned some results, but they were usually related to gaming or some cringe-worthy dance moves. I also checked Instagram for these terms, and I was redirected to self-harm resources. However, there are tons of accounts named something like “passout.challenge” that share videos of passing out.

Still, it’s possible that the blackout challenge was a thing on TikTok before they received enough reports and figured out they should ban it. There also might be some other terms for it that I don’t know of. But whatever the case may be, I’m not pointing fingers and saying TikTok itself is to blame, or the kids’ parents, or the kids alone. After all, all this reminded me that some sort of “pass out game” was popular when I was a teenager, and we didn’t even have social media. I guess my generation was just a bunch of little morons, but thankfully, no one lost their life to this “game.”

The bottom line is that all these stories are tragic and utterly sad. Kids are just kids, often unable to think of the consequences of their actions. So it’s our responsibility to educate them above all, and pay attention to their online activities so tragedies like this never happen again.

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‘The time has come.’ Supporters tell Ohio lawmakers why strangulation should be made a felony

By Sarah Buduson COLUMBUS, Ohio — During a hearing Tuesday afternoon, Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee members heard testimony from proponents of S.B. 90, a bill  Continue Reading »

By Sarah Buduson

COLUMBUS, Ohio — During a hearing Tuesday afternoon, Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee members heard testimony from proponents of S.B. 90, a bill to make strangulation a felony in Ohio.

The hearing comes one month after a News 5 report found Ohio is just one of two states that does not recognize strangulation as a felony, a violent act that is often part of domestic violence and sexual assault cases, and that studies have found is also a precursor to murder.

RELATED: Betrayed: How OH fails to protect the public from some of its most dangerous criminals

What proponents said

During the hearing, Toledo resident Paula Walters was one of several supporters who explained the dangers of strangulation to lawmakers.

Being strangled by her ex-boyfriend in 2006 left Paula with a permanent brain injury.

“I spend two hours each day working my brain so I can appear as I do to people today. Just fine. Normal,” she said. “Anyone who can stand before you and tell you that strangulation should not be a felony has clearly never encountered the act. ”

“This is a law that would help protect the citizens of Ohio from the most dangerous people in society. The people who do an act that silently screams to the public, I am a future murderer,” Walters said.

What we found

Other supporters also echoed what News 5 found in our investigation. Stranglers don’t only murder their intimate partners. Studies have linked stranglers to the murder of police officers and mass shootings.

Among them:

  • June 12, 2016: Omar Mateen, Pulse Nightclub shooting, Orlando, Florida
  • November 5, 2017: Devin Patrick Kelley, First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, Texas
  • August 4, 2019: Connor Betts, (near) Ned Peppers Bar, Dayton, Ohio

Medical experts said being strangled for just seconds can increase the risk of strokes and seizures, and can cause permanent injuries and death.

Strangulation is also common.

Sandy Parker, Director Of Services, Rape Crisis Center of Summit and Medina Counties, said many of the survivors she encounters were strangled.

“The last three General Assemblies could not get it done. The time has come and I hope this committee is willing to prioritize this legislation,” Parker told lawmakers.

What’s next

An amendment was introduced Tuesday to make the legislation more likely to pass. It gives judges discretion during sentencing, instead of imposing a mandatory minimum sentence for strangulation.

OH Sen. Nathan Manning (R-District 13) said it is unlikely the bill will receive a committee vote prior to the legislature’s summer break, which begins next week.

Manning said he hopes to work on the bill over the summer, including drafting language that would allow the legislation to apply to more strangulation victims. Right now, the law would only apply domestic violence survivors.

The bill, introduced in February, makes strangulation a third-degree felony. It is the fourth proposal to create a felony offense for strangulation in Ohio.

Similar bills were introduced in 2015, 2017 and 2019. Each time, Ohio’s legislative session expired before the bills were voted on by both chambers.

RELATED: Betrayed: How OH fails to protect the public from some of its most dangerous criminals

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Santa Clara County Allocates $750K to Program for Domestic Abuse Victims

By Bay City News The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved an allocation of $750,000 on Tuesday to expand the county’s strangulation response program.  Continue Reading »

By Bay City News

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved an allocation of $750,000 on Tuesday to expand the county’s strangulation response program.

The money would be used to provide victims with forensic medical exams, advocacy and other forms of care like an advocate who would accompany them to the exam.

A county pilot program, started in January 2020 and later expanded in March 2021, found that conducting a forensic medical exam in domestic abuse cases helps increase the chance of charges being filed and determined as felonies.

In cases where medical forensic exams were conducted, the criminal case supported the filing of more serious felony charges over misdemeanor charges 86.6 percent of the time. For cases without medical exams, the rate was 28.8 percent, according to a recent report by the county’s Office of Gender-Based Violence Prevention.

Forensic exams in cases of intimate partner violence also provides an opportunity for follow-up medical care for victims and prevent homicides, Supervisor Cindy Chavez said.

“Intimate partners who are victims of non-fatal strangulation are seven times more likely to die by homicide than those who have not been strangled,” said Chavez. “The research has been clear for a decade now that choking strongly predicts future homicide.”

This recent allocation is one of several county efforts to combat domestic abuse. In the last few weeks, the county approved adding one attorney and one investigator position in the District Attorney’s Office that would focus on seizing firearms from perpetrators of domestic abuse — ensuring court-ordered gun prohibitions are enforced in criminal domestic abuse cases and family court domestic violence restraining orders.

The county also expanded the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement task force — which helps guide survivors through medical treatment, evidence collection and testify, if appropriate — by adding four nurses and two staff positions.

The Children’s Advocacy Center, which was unveiled in April, was also allocated the funds needed to have a full staff available — including medical personnel and prosecutors — during all hours.

“We must continue to commit the resources necessary to both support the victims of intimate partner violence and bring their abusers to justice,” Chavez said.

To view the original article, click here.

Monrovia man gets 15 years for strangulation case

By Mary Grace Keller A Frederick County judge on Thursday sentenced a Monrovia man to 15 years in prison for strangling a woman and threatening  Continue Reading »

By Mary Grace Keller

A Frederick County judge on Thursday sentenced a Monrovia man to 15 years in prison for strangling a woman and threatening her with a knife.

Circuit Court Judge Scott Rolle sentenced Everett Leroy Barton Jr., 61, to 25 years with all but 15 years suspended in the Division of Corrections, according to the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office. Upon his release, Barton must serve five years of supervised probation to include GPS monitoring. A jury found him guilty of first- and second-degree assault June 3.

Frederick County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a Monrovia residence at about 11 p.m. April 19, 2020, and learned Barton attacked the woman after an argument. The state’s attorney’s office said he grabbed the woman’s arms, strangled her and punched two holes through a wall on either side of her head while holding her neck, causing injury. When a relative intervened, Barton went upstairs, got a kitchen knife and threatened the woman, according to the news release.

“Strangulation is a terrifying form of abuse and strongly linked to future risk of intimate partner homicide,” State’s Attorney Charlie Smith wrote in an email. “Offenders that prey on those more vulnerable are the worst, and should receive these harsher penalties.”

For Barton’s crimes, the state sought a sentence of 10 years in prison. Maryland sentencing guidelines recommended two to seven years for this particular defendant, SAO spokesman Will Cockey wrote in an email.

Barton’s attorney, public defender Matthew Frawley, asked for a sentence equivalent to time served (430 days) and suggested that his client would be willing to waive credit for an 18-month local sentence with work release.

“We are very disappointed that Judge Rolle chose to stray so far from the sentencing guidelines,” Frawley wrote in an email. “We have identified several areas that we believe are ripe for appeal and we will be filing an appeal shortly.”

Smith said Barton showed no remorse.

“The State and the Victim asked the Court for a sentence that would give her justice and protection and the Court did just that,” Smith wrote.

In handing down the sentence, Rolle cited “protecting the victim” and “the facts” of the case, according to Cockey.

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