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What we know about the pilot accused of trying to bring down a Horizon Air jet

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

Joseph David Emerson is facing 167 charges after authorities say he tried to shut down the engines of a plane bound for San Francisco while he was off-duty and in the cockpit. Emerson, 44, is an FAA-licensed pilot who lives in Pleasant Hill, California. He is now accused of attempting to murder 83 people who were onboard the passenger flight Sunday evening, according to jail booking records. Neighbors described Emerson as a "positive, very friendly, upbeat," father of two.On a quiet street in Pleasant Hill, Emerson, his wife, and two young sons live in a one-story house decorated with Halloween ghosts, tombstones, and skeleton displays on the front lawn. Pilot on California-bound flight tried to shut down engines mid-air, authorities say One neighbor, Karen Yee, told KTLA sister station KRON4 that the pilot's children sometimes go over to her house to play. "We still can't believe it. We are still shocked. It doesn't sound like Joe at all. I don't know what happened to him mentall...

Authorities identify Santa Barbara Main Jail inmate who died after apparent suicide

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

Authorities with the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office have identified the male inmate who died in custody from an apparent suicide on Saturday.The deceased inmate has been identified as 64-year-old Paul Howard Gillett of Santa Barbara.Gillett was booked at the Main Jail on Sept. 29 for assault with a deadly weapon and battery. He was also held on court remand for violating probation by driving under the influence. Gillett’s bail was set at $45,000, officials said.At approximately 6:20 a.m., jail staff found Gillett unresponsive in his cell, and when they entered the cell, they found a piece of linen tied around his neck, a news release said.Medical staff and paramedics responded to the scene and performed life-saving measures, but the inmate did not recover and was pronounced dead at 6:30 a.m.While Gillett died from an apparent suicide, the final cause and manner of death will be released pending toxicology results.

Why Bob Melvin does — or doesn’t — make sense as SF Giants’ next manager

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

When the San Francisco Giants made the decision to fire manager Gabe Kapler with three games left in the season, Farhan Zaidi said they planned to “cast a wide net” and look beyond candidates with ties to him, the organization or the Bay Area.They have looked as far as Boston and a candidate who has spent his baseball life there, on the opposite coast, in a different league. They have widened their search to groundbreaking parameters, the first club in MLB history to formally interview a woman for their managerial post. One candidate finished his 36th season in the organization; another celebrates his 39th birthday next week.All roads, it turns out, lead back to the most obvious candidate all along, the one who was in the opposite dugout for Kapler’s 543rd and, it would be announced almost 48 hours later, final game as Giants manager.With the Padres granting the Giants’ request to interview Bob Melvin, as The Athletic first reported, the three-time manager of...

Trump slams Biden, compares himself to Nelson Mandela

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

By Holly Ramer and Jill Colvin | Associated PressCONCORD, N.H. — Former President Donald Trump compared himself to anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela on Monday as he cast himself as the victim of federal and state prosecutors he alleges are targeting him and his businesses for political reasons.Returning to New Hampshire to register for its presidential primary, Trump held a rally where he railed against President Joe Biden’s response to the Hamas attack on Israel and vowed to build an Iron Dome-style missile defense shield over the U.S.But he focused much of his dark and at times profane speech on the criminal and civil cases against him, at one point suggesting he would go to prison like the former South African president who spent 27 years in prison for opposing South Africa’s apartheid system and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.“I don’t mind being Nelson Mandela because I’m doing it for a reason,” Trump told am amped-up crowd of supporters...

Letters: Real emergencies | Recall Price | Capitalism’s role | Children’s lives | West’s candidacy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Real emergencies don’thappen on a scheduleRe: “Quake alert test rattles thousands” (Page B1, Oct. 20).The quake alert last Thursday that was erroneously sent out at 3:19 a.m. instead of the scheduled time of 10:19 a.m., may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. An earthquake does not strike at convenient times. A 3:19 a.m. alert is realistic. If you slept through it then you just learned a valuable lesson and should be thankful it was only a drill. Learn from it. That’s what tests are all about.If only school districts can learn this lesson too as they schedule fire drills only during convenient times. Ask any child, “When was the last time your school conducted a fire drill during recess or lunch?” The answer will be “never.” Sadly if a drill occurred during recess, we probably would see young children, already safely outside, and not knowing any better, ...

‘He shed very sincere and real tears’: Oakland man acquitted in hectic gas station shootout that killed bystander

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

OAKLAND — An Alameda County jury has acquitted an Oakland man of murder and attempted murder in a hectic 2022 shootout at a local gas station that left a bystander dead and a woman paralyzed with gunshot wounds.Stavon Moore, 29, did not contest that he killed 64-year-old Rodney Davis, nor that he paralyzed 22-year-old Tyja Braswell in the shootout. But he argued that his actions were the direct result of Braswell reaching into her fanny pack to pull her pistol out and attempt to kill Moore, and that he only fired his gun as a last result.Moore was convicted of a felony gun possession count, which carries a maximum of six years behind bars. When he’s sentenced for that he’ll almost certainly receive credit for the 18 months he has spend behind bars awaiting trial.The verdict, announced Monday, ended a two-week trial where nearly all of the relevant conduct was captured by surveillance footage. Moore took the stand in his own defense, expressing remorse for DavisR...

‘Super fog’ blamed for deadly crashes outside New Orleans

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

By Mary Gilbert and Macie Goldfarb | CNNAt least two people are dead and 30 are injured after “super fog” caused pileups on a stretch of Interstate 55 in Louisiana.The fatalities and injuries resulted from about 25 different vehicle crashes Monday along I-55 west of New Orleans between Ruddock and Manchac, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre told CNN affiliate WVUE. The stretch of highway runs between Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain.Tregre said two fatalities were confirmed as of Monday afternoon.In the northbound lanes, about three 18-wheel trucks collided and were fully engulfed in flames, Tregre told WVUE. In the southbound lanes, there were two reported multi-car pileups, one of which was also producing flames.Tregre said one vehicle was pushed over the railing of the interstate, but those inside “appear to be fine.”According to Tregre, all first responders are on foot because the crashes have left the area “completely gridlocked.” He said rescue efforts “will t...

Oakley PD responded to house party half hour before teen shot and killed

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

OAKLEY, Calif. (KRON) -- Police in Oakley are working to track down the person who shot and killed a 16-year-old boy during a house party Saturday night. Three other victims were wounded but are expected to survive their injuries.At this point, the Oakley Police Department says it appears there was only one shooter. That person left the area before office returned to the scene.On Monday afternoon, the street was quiet. But the circumstances were much different Saturday night. A half hour before shots were fired on Shannon Way in Saturday night, police officers responded to a noise complaint at a home where an 18-year-old woman was hosting a party. Who is pilot Joseph Emerson? Pleasant Hill neighbors say he’s ‘very friendly’ Police say the woman said she was trying shut it down and did not need help doing so. The officers left and then just after 11 p.m., shots were fired outside the home.Joshua Laine lives across the street and his doorbell camera captured the sounds of the gunsho...

Santa Rosa ice cream street vendor also sold cocaine, police say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

(KRON) -- A Santa Rosa street vendor who sold ice cream and chicharrónes to children around the neighborhood near an elementary school was caught selling more than tasty snacks, police said Monday. Victor Martinez-Diaz, aka Siro Gilberto Ambrocio-Santos, is a 49-year-old Santa Rosa resident. According to police, he periodically pedaled a tricycle with a mobile street vendor snack cart around Abraham Lincoln Elementary School on 9th street. The Santa Rosa Police Department Narcotics Team suspected that the ice cream man was also a local cocaine dealer. During SRPD's investigation, an undercover detective bought a gram of cocaine from Diaz close to the school, police said.A few days later, detectives saw Diaz getting into a white van. When police stopped the van to search it, they found a street vendor tricycle, snacks, cocaine, methamphetamine, cash, a digital scale, and hundreds of small plastic baggies.Two more local street vendors, 29-year-old Marcos Ambrosio-Cortes and 21-year-ol...

Arrest made in smash-and-grab at Sam's Jewelers in Sun Valley Mall

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

(KRON) -- A Pittsburg man has been arrested in connection to a May smash-and-grab robbery at Sam's Jewelers in the Sun Valley Mall, the Concord Police Department said Monday. Concord PD received a 911 call on May 18 regarding a robbery in progress at the store. Employees, according to police, reported that a man armed with a hammer was inside the store. He reportedly confronted staff, began smashing the glass and took approximately $25,000 worth of jewelry. Who is pilot Joseph Emerson? Pleasant Hill neighbors say he’s ‘very friendly’ Before officers arrived, the suspect had fled in a vehicle. The Concord PD Financial Crimes Unit took over the case. After several months of follow-up, the suspect was identified as 35-year-old Bryant Donquile Gray of Pittsburg.The case was then forwarded to the Contra Costa County District Attorney. The DA filed the following felony charges against Gray:Second degree robberyGrant theft of personal propertySecond degree burglarySpecial allegations reg...