Shootout with fugitive leaves 3 dead
DALLAS— Two bounty hunters and the fugitive they were tracking shot each other dead Tuesday in a hail of bullets that sent customers and employees fleeing at a Texas car dealership, authorities said Wednesday.
Ramon Michael Hutchinson, 49, listed in court records as a resident of St. Paul, Minn. , had been sought since March when he failed to appear for a court hearing in that state, said Stew Peters, a bail investigator with the private company U.S. Fugitive Recovery and Extradition, based in Minnesota. Hutchinson was facing several charges that included assaulting a law enforcement officer.
Tuesday’s shooting was the second time in about a month in the U.S. when violence erupted as private groups were attempting to apprehend fugitives.
Authorities in Tennessee say seven people they described as bounty hunters shot at four men in a car April 23 in Clarksville, killing one and injuring another. The seven bounty hunters apparently targeted the wrong vehicle. All have been indicted on first-degree murder charges. None of the men in the car was wanted on outstanding charges.
Corn mill had been cited
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin corn mill that exploded Wednesday night was cited by federal safety inspectors six years ago for not taking precautions against dust explosions, which are a major hazard in handling grain, records show.
The blast at the Didion Milling Plant in Cambria left at least one person dead. Emergency workers were still searching for two employees as of Thursday afternoon. Nearly a dozen others were taken to hospitals.
The cause of the blast was unknown as of Thursday afternoon, Didion officials said. U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators were on the scene.
Girls testify about abuse
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — Several girls who were sent to live with a man now on trial on charges he raped them testified Thursday he had sex with them and they considered him to be their husband.
Prosecutors outside Philadelphia say Lee Donald Kaplan, 52, sexually assaulted six daughters of a couple who had “gifted” them to him because he helped them financially. Kaplan fathered two children by the eldest daughter, who is now 19. Kaplan denies the charges.
The girls’ parents, Savilla and Daniel Stoltzfus, got financial help from Kaplan when they fell on hard times after breaking from their Amish faith, according to authorities and interviews with relatives and neighbors.
Also in the nation …
Nooses have appeared recently around the nation’s capital — including the Smithsonian’s new African-American history museum — in a rash of incidents that experts say shows the growing use of hate symbols in the U.S. to try to intimidate minorities. … Puerto Rico’s governor unveiled a budget Wednesday that prioritizes pension payments for tens of thousands of retired government workers who depend on a public pension system that is crumbling amid a deep economic crisis. … A Mississippi Army National Guardsman was killed and three others injured Monday during a combat training exercise at a Mojave Desert training facility in California.