National Roundup

Washington Man accused of mistreating 106-year-old woman KETTLE FALLS, Wash. (AP) -- Authorities say a bedridden woman who turns 106 on Wednesday is doing well in a Colville, Wash., nursing home after she was found begging for food in a filthy house. The Spokesman-Review reports a deputy went to the home in Kettle Falls, Wash., last month looking for a man because neighbors reported his horses were starving. The 78-year-old man, John Friedlund, was a caretaker for the woman, Frances Swan. When a deputy found her in a bedroom of the filthy house, she asked for food and said she hadn't eaten in a day. Friedlund says Swan had been fed but didn't remember. He was charged Monday with criminal mistreatment. New Jersey Professor accu sed of running prostitution site MADISON, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey college professor has been arrested in New Mexico and accused of operating a prostitution website. David Flory teaches physics at Fairleigh Dickinson University's campus in Teaneck, N.J. On Sunday, police arrested the New York City resident in Albuquerque, N.M., on 40 counts of promoting prostitution. Police say Flory owns a vacation home in Santa Fe. Albuquerque Police Lt. William Roseman told The Record newspaper Flory's website, Southwest Companions, was designed to give users access to more women once they gained Flory's trust. Roseman says Flory told police he didn't make money off of the website and saw it as a hobby. A Fairleigh Dickinson University spokeswoman says the school was saddened by the arrest, but did not say if the professor has been suspended from his job. New York Prosecutors: NYC mom fatally beat son who broke TV NEW YORK (AP) -- Prosecutors say a New York City woman beat her 5-year-old son to death because he broke the television while playing a Nintendo Wii video game. Kim Crawford was charged with murder and manslaughter in Bronx Criminal Court on Tuesday. She was ordered held without bond. Prosecutors say she admitted hitting the boy hard in the back and stomach over the broken TV. Police found her son, Jamar Johnson, unconscious and not breathing at their Bronx home on Friday. An autopsy revealed internal abdominal injuries. Defense attorney Camille Abate told the Daily News that Crawford shouldn't have been charged with murder. She says the facts do not establish that Crawford tried to kill her child. New York Housekeeper su es Indian diplomat in NYC over wages NEW YORK (AP) -- The top diplomatic official at India's consulate in New York is being sued by a longtime housekeeper, who says she was coerced into a year of "forced labor" at his U.S. home. The lawsuit against Consul General Prabhu Dayal (PRUH'-boo deye-AHL') was filed Monday at a federal court in Manhattan. Housekeeper Santosh Bhardwaj (SAHN'-tohsh BARD'-wahj) says she was promised $10 an hour to move to the U.S. and work in Dayal's home. She says Dayal confiscated her passport and had her sleep in a storage room. She says he worked her from morning to night, seven days a week, for only $300 per month. Bhardwaj says she fled in 2010. Dayal's lawyer, Ravi Batra, says the woman's claims are "fraudulent fabrications." He says she was paid $400 per week. Ohio Jury selection resumes in trial over 11 slain CLEVELAND (AP) -- Lengthy jury selection is reaching a key point in the aggravated murder trial of a man charged with killing 11 women and dumping their remains in and around his Cleveland house. Jury selection in the trial of 51-year-old Anthony Sowell (SOH'-wehl) is in the third week. There was a break Tuesday because of a death in the family of an attorney, but the process will resume Wednesday. Nearly 80 prospective jurors questioned in private about their views on the death penalty have been cleared for a second round of general interviews with the judge and attorneys. The court hopes to seat a jury in the next few days. Sowell, who has pleaded not guilty, could face the death penalty if convicted. The trial could last six weeks. Louisiana Officer who testified in Glover trial sues NOPD NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A police detective who testified against fellow officers in the case in which a man was shot and his body burned, is suing the New Orleans Police Department and members of its internal affairs unit for allegedly violating his civil rights. The Times-Picayune reports former Sgt. Ronald Ruiz claims in a lawsuit filed last week in state court that members of the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau illegally stopped and questioned him late last year. Ruiz is seeking unspecified damages from the defendants. A spokesman for the police department said the city has not been severed with the lawsuit. Three former NOPD officers were convicted in December of having roles in the post-Hurricane Katrina police shooting of Henry Glover, the burning of his body and a subsequent police cover-up. Pennsylvania Judge's recorder leads to 'joyboating' arrest KITTANNING, Pa. (AP) -- Police have charged a western Pennsylvania man with joyriding in three stolen boats after they say they found a judge's stolen cassette recorder in one of the boats -- on which the suspect recorded an account of his crimes. State police say 21-year-old Jesse Shipley, of South Bend, remains in a hospital psychiatric unit. He'll be arraigned on theft and other charges once he's released. Online court records do not list an attorney for Shipley. Police tell the Leader-Times newspaper that Shipley drove the boats on the Allegheny River on Friday, two days after he allegedly stole the recorder from the office of Kittanning District Judge James Owen, about 35 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. A fanny pack found on one of the boats contained the recorder, on which police say Shipley recorded his account of the events. Published: Wed, Jun 22, 2011