LUBBOCK, Texas (EverythingLubbock) — Larry Pearson, 36, was sentenced by a Lubbock jury on Wednesday to 70 years in prison after he was found guilty on 2 counts of harassment of a public servant for spitting at Lubbock Police officers.
“You’re not going to get 70 years for something like this when you’ve never been in trouble before,” Prosecutor Jessica Gorman said.
Gorman said that Pearson was arrested in May of 2022 for domestic violence after a victim flagged down an officer in the 200 block of Zenith Avenue.
The victim told police that Pearson hit her several times & that he had a gun. Gorman said that firearm turned out to be an airsoft gun. A police report at the time stated the victim had “multiple visible injuries” on her face. Gorman said after Pearson was taken into custody, he was upset the victim was not arrested instead.
Gorman said Pearson started kicking at the doors in the officer’s vehicle. When the officers opened the door to tell him to stop, Gorman said he spit at both officers. Gorman said Pearson kept spitting after he arrived at the Lubbock County Detention Center.
During closing arguments of the sentencing phase of Pearson’s trial, Gorman asked the jury to consider a number that would “send a message” to Pearson & society. Gorman that Pearson had prior convictions of aggravated robbery & continuous family violence. Due to those convictions, the minimum sentence Pearson could have received would’ve been 25 years.
Heavy rhyme spitter Osirius and ill producer DIVINEMI7K, together known as Reason Over Treason, present volume 2 of their "How To Cut a Diamond" album series.
1. Never Starve 2. All We Got 3. Fast Life 4. If I Could (feat. Aaron Proper) 5. Bang It Out 6. Field Nigga (Black Bodiez) 7. War In Heaven 8. SoulSyphr 9. Get Engaged 10. See No Color 11. 70 A.D.
NEW YORK (AP) — Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, a founding member of the long-running soul-funk band Kool & the Gang known for such hits as “Celebration” and “Get Down On It,” has died. He was 70.
He died peacefully in his sleep Saturday in New Jersey, where he was a resident of Montclair, according to a statement from his representative.
Thomas was the alto sax player, flutist and percussionist. He served as master of ceremonies at the band’s shows. His last appearance with the group was July Fourth at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
Born Feb. 9, 1951, in Orlando, Florida, Thomas was known for his prologue on the band’s 1971 hit, “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight.” Known for his hip clothes and hats, he was also the group’s wardrobe stylist. In the early days, he served as their “budget hawk,” carrying their earnings in a paper bag stuffed into the bell of his horn, the statement said.
In 1964, seven teen friends created the group’s unique bland of jazz, soul and funk, at first calling themselves the Jazziacs. They went through several iterations before settling on Kool & the Gang in 1969. The group’s other founders are brothers Ronald and Robert Bell, Spike Mickens, Ricky Westfield, George Brown and Charles Smith.
Ronald Bell died Sept. 9, 2020, at home in the U.S. Virgin Islands at age 68.
The band has earned two Grammy Awards and seven American Music Awards. They were honored in 2014 with a Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award. Their music is heavily sampled and featured on film sound tracks, including those for “Rocky,” “Saturday Night Fever” and “Pulp Fiction.”
Among those Thomas is survived by are his wife, Phynjuar Saunders Thomas, daughter Tuesday Rankin and sons David Thomas and Devin Thomas.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed & sent a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard late Monday, killing at least 23 people & injuring about 70, city officials said. Rescuers initially searched a car left dangling from the overpass for anyone who might be trapped.
Those efforts were suspended early Tuesday, however, because of safety concerns for those working near the precariously dangling car. A crane was brought in to help shore it up.
“We don’t know if they are alive,” Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said of the people possibly trapped inside the car following one of the deadliest accidents for the city’s subway system, which is among the busiest in the world.
Earlier Sheinbaum said someone had been pulled alive from a car that was trapped on the road below. She said 49 of the injured were hospitalized, & that seven were in serious condition & undergoing surgery.
“There are unfortunately children among the dead,” Sheinbaum said, without specifying how many.
The overpass was about 16 feet above the road in the borough of Tlahuac, but the train ran above a concrete median strip, which apparently lessened the casualties among motorists on the road below.
“A support beam gave way” just as the train passed over it, Sheinbaum said.
A driver survived when his pickup truck plunged about 70 feet off a slippery interchange exit ramp in Wisconsin.
A Wisconsin Department of Transportation camera captured the Milwaukee-area crash. The video shows the pickup hitting snow on the right shoulder before flipping over the barrier wall and plummeting to Interstate 94 below as cars pass by.
When deputies arrived, they found the pickup upright in the right shoulder of the westbound I-94 lanes, the sheriff’s office said. Two people were already trying to help the driver, who was conscious and breathing.
The man was taken to a hospital to be evaluated, sheriff's officials said.
Illinois and New York state joined California on Friday in ordering all residents to stay in their homes unless they have vital reasons to go out, restricting the movement of more than 70 million Americans in the most sweeping measures undertaken yet in the U.S. to contain the coronavirus.
The states’ governors acted in a bid to fend off the kind of onslaught that has caused the health system in southern Europe to buckle. The lockdowns encompass the three biggest cities in America — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — as well as No. 8 San Diego and No. 14 San Francisco.
“No, this is not life as usual,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as the death toll in the U.S. topped 200, with at least 35 in his state. “Accept it and realize it and deal with it.”
Cuomo said that starting Sunday, all workers in nonessential businesses must stay home as much as possible, and gatherings of any size will be banned in the state of over 19 million people. California likewise all but confined its 40 million residents on Friday, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a similar order set to take effect on Saturday for the state’s 12.6 million people. The governor of Connecticut, New York’s neighboring state, said he also was poised to issue a comparable directive.
Exceptions were made for essential jobs and errands, such as buying groceries and medicine, as well as for exercise.
The lockdowns sent another shudder through the markets, where many fear a recession is a near certainty. Stocks tumbled on Wall Street, closing out their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 900 points, ending the week with a 17% loss.
The increasingly drastic measures in the U.S. came as gasping patients filled the wards of hospitals in Spain and Italy, and the global death toll surpassed 11,000, with the virus gaining footholds in new corners of the world. Over a quarter-million people worldwide have been infected, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University, though close to 90,000 of them have recovered.
The private jet Juice WRLD flew to Chicago on was loaded down with 70 pounds of marijuana ... and cops say people on the plane told them the rapper had popped several pills prior to suffering seizures.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the FBI confiscated the huge stash of weed from several suitcases that were on board the flight. We obtained this photo of the marijuana and luggage in the private jet terminal at Midway.
According to law enforcement, several members of Juice's team aboard the flight -- which landed around 1 AM Sunday -- told them Juice had taken "several unknown pills" prior to the seizures which led to him getting rushed to a hospital.
Further, we're told one of Juice's associates told authorities the 21-year-old rapper has a Percocet problem. Our law enforcement sources also say a bottle of codeine cough syrup was found on the plane.
Juice's cause of death hasn't been determined ... the Cook County Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy on Monday.
Two men -- Chris Long and Henry Dean -- were arrested for possession of handguns. We're told cops recovered 3 guns in total. Dean was released without bail, and Long is out after posting a $1,500 bond.
We're sorry to report that Bobby Womack has died at the age of 70. The legendary soul singer's sister told TMZ that he passed away in his sleep Friday, June 27.
An official cause of his death has not been released, but Womack has battled health problems for a number of years including colon cancer, diabetes, pneumonia and the beginning stages of Alzeimers.
Womack's career began in 1952. He remained active by continuing to tour and record new music. His latest album entitled The Best Is Yet to Come is set to be released later this year via XL Recordings.
In 2009 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The singer's catalog is filled with classic songs including "Across 110th Street" and "If You Think You're Lonely Now."
The Wu Tang Clan were one of the featured performers at Quebec's Festival d'ete on Friday, July 5. The group opened their set with the classic song "Bring Da Ruckus" in front of a packed crowd of 40,000 fans at the Bell Stage on the Plains of Abraham. Peep the footage below.
Rome (CNN) -- The Italian captain of the cruise ship that ran aground -- killing three people and injuring 20 more -- was arrested late Saturday and is being investigated for abandoning ship and manslaughter, said a local prosecutor in Grosetto, Italy.
Abandoning ship is the more serious of the potential charges, authorities said.
The captain, Francesco Schettino, had been earlier interviewed by investigators in Porto Santo Stefano about what happened when the 4,200-passenger Costa Concordia struck rocks in shallow water off Italy's western coast, said officer Emilio Del Santo of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno.
Authorities were looking at why the ship didn't hail a mayday during the accident near the Italian island of Giglio on Friday night, officials said. The ship is owned by Genoa-based Costa Cruises.
"At the moment we can't exclude that the ship had some kind of technical problem, and for this reason moved towards the coast in order to save the passengers, the crew and the ship. But they didn't send a mayday. The ship got in contact with us once the evacuation procedures were already ongoing," Del Santo said prior to the announcement of the arrest.
Giuseppe Orsina, a spokesman with the local civil protection agency, said 43 to 51 people were missing, though authorities are reviewing passenger lists to confirm the exact figure.
"These people could be still on the island of Giglio, in private houses or in hospitals," Orsina said.
The coast guard said 50 to 70 people could be missing.
Authorities said earlier Saturday they believed everyone was accounted for, but that they did not have a definitive list of names.
"Fear and panic are comprehensible in a ship long over 300 meters with over 4,000 passengers," Del Santo said. "We can confirm that the ship has a breach on the hull of about 90 meters, and that the right side of it is completely under water."
Two French tourists and a crew member from Peru were killed, Port authorities in Livorno said. One of the victims was a 65-year-old woman who died of a heart attack, according to authorities.
A surviving crew member, Rosalyn Rincon, 30, of Blackpool, England, said she wanted to know why the cruise ship was sailing so close to shore. She described a harrowing grounding of the vessel, whose tilting and rising water evoked the film "Titanic," she said.
"I'm pretty much angry, and I want to know why we were so close to the coast," said Rincon, who works as a dancer on the ship and was entertaining passengers by performing a trick inside a box with a magician when the accident occurred.
Nautilus International, a maritime employees trade union, called the accident a "wake-up call" to regulators.
"Nautilus is concerned about the rapid recent increases in the size of passenger ships -- with the average tonnage doubling over the past decade," said Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson in a statement. "Many ships are now effectively small towns at sea, and the sheer number of people onboard raises serious questions about evacuation."
The ship was 2.5 miles off route when it struck a rocky sandbar, according to the Italian Coast Guard. Local fishermen say the island coast of Giglio is known for its rocky sea floor.
Gianni Onorato, president of Costa Cruises, expressed "deep sorrow for this terrible tragedy," but said the cruise line was unable to answer all the questions that authorities are now investigating.
"On the basis of the initial evidence — still preliminary — Costa Concordia, under the command of Master Francesco Schettino, was sailing its regularly scheduled itinerary from Civitavecchia to Savona, Italy, when the ship struck a submerged rock," Onorato said in a statement before the announcement of the captain's announcement.
"Captain Schettino, who was on the bridge at the time, immediately understood the severity of the situation and performed a maneuver intended to protect both guests and crew, and initiated security procedures to prepare for an eventual ship evacuation," he continued.
"Unfortunately, that operation was complicated by a sudden tilting of the ship that made disembarkation difficult," Onorato said.
Some passengers fell into the chilly waters during the rescue, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.
The huge ship, which was lying on its side in shallow water Saturday evening, was carrying about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members when it ran aground around dinner time.
Initial reports suggested as many as six people had been killed, but it was unclear why the number dropped. About 1,500 of the people aboard the ship were on their way home Saturday, the Civil Protection Authority said.
Passengers described how the lights went out and it then became clear the ship had hit something, prompting scenes of chaos.
Laurie Willits from Ontario, who was watching a magic show with her husband at that moment, told CNN: "We heard a scraping noise to the left of the ship and then my husband said 'we're sliding off our seats.'"
The couple ran to their cabin to get coats and life jackets before making their way to a lifeboat. Emergency instructions in English were hard to hear, Willits said.
Panic spread as people scrambled to find lifeboats in the dark as the ship quickly leaned to one side. Access to some lifeboats was hampered by the ship's tilt into the water, adding to the confusion.
Willits and her husband, who managed to get into a lifeboat about an hour to 90 minutes after the alarm was raised, watched from a pier on the island as the ship slowly sank until it was at an almost 90 degree angle in the water.
"I'm exhausted, I haven't had any sleep, I'm hungry," Willits said, but added that she was relieved to have been able to call her family thanks to the help of people on the island.
The coast guard said three helicopters were used to rescue some passengers from the ship.
Adm. Ilarione Dell'Anna, head of coastal authorities for the port city of Livorno, said an investigation is under way.
"There has probably been a technical blackout," he said. "The ship was dangerously near the coast. We worked all night in a state of maximum emergency.
"Fortunately the sea conditions have helped us, otherwise -- given the high number of people to rescue, 4,231 -- we could have had a completely different scenario: a real tragedy."
Many of those rescued in the early hours were taken to small churches and other buildings around the island for shelter. Some were still wearing the pajamas and slippers they had on as the ship went down, as they waited for help Saturday morning at reception centers set up on the island.
Costa said it was focusing on the final stages of the emergency operation and helping passengers and crew return home.
"It is a tragedy that deeply affects our company. Our first thoughts go to the victims and we would like to express our condolences and our closeness to their families and friends," Costa said on its website.
The Concordia, built in 2006, was on a Mediterranean cruise from Rome with stops in Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo, according to the cruise line. It was unclear how far into the cruise the grounding occurred.
Most of the passengers on board were Italian, as well as some French and German citizens.
CNN affiliate America Noticias, in Peru, said a group of 32 Peruvians were also onboard. Brazil's state-run Agencia Brasil said 53 Brazilians were on the cruise ship: 47 passengers and six crew members, according to the foreign ministry. An estimated 126 Americans were also on board, according to the U.S. State Department. There were no reports of injured Americans.
The United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office was working with Italian authorities to identify British nationals on the cruise, a spokesman said.
Another Costa ship was involved in a deadly 2010 accident when the Costa Europa crashed into a pier in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh during stormy weather, killing three crew members.
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