In the news
■ Kristina Perkins, 37, faces multiple charges after authorities in Port Charlotte, Fla., said she went into a store’s restroom and removed ceiling tiles so she could climb into the ceiling to avoid a shoplifting arrest, leading to a five-hour effort to catch her.
■ Damian Howard, 24, of Washington, D.C., was arrested after officers were called to a towing company in College Park, Md., and found Howard holding Tarreak Butler, 41, in a choke hold in a dispute over a towing fee, leading to Butler’s death later at a hospital, according to police.
■ Charles Lowy, 69, of Jersey City, N.J., convicted of reckless manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of 77-year-old retired teacher Anthony Bello during an apparent dispute over feeding pigeons in a park, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
■ Kim Crawford, 43, a school bus driver in Taylortown, N.C., was charged with reckless driving after Zion Baker, 12, said Crawford took off when his backpack became stuck in the doors as he was getting off the bus, and that he was dragged until he freed himself and dropped onto the road, where his left arm was run over and fractured.
■ Darcy Krueger, 17, was turned away from a homecoming dance for homeschooled students in the Tampa, Fla., area for wearing a dressy black jumpsuit, with organizers saying the outfit was in violation of the event’s dress code, which stated that young women were required to wear dresses.
■ Godofredo Rivas-Melendez, 60, a Canadian citizen who was born in El Salvador, pleaded innocent to human smuggling charges after he was accused of running an organization that smuggled people into Vermont and New York from Canada.
■ Luisa Cutting, 21, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after telling police in Radford, Va., that she was on an array of drugs the night she fatally stabbed her roommate, 20-year-old Alexa Cannon, including cocaine, mushrooms, Xanax and Adderall.
■ Kimla Lowery, a police chief in Old Monroe, Mo., was indicted on forgery and financial exploitation charges after authorities said she took control of the finances, property and medical decisions of a 96-yearold woman with dementia.
■ Chika Nwankpa, a former university professor in Philadelphia, repaid more than $53,000 after he was accused of spending federal grant money on strip clubs and sports bars over a period of 10 years, prosecutors said.