August 12, 2020 • No Comments • National News

ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — The Northeast is expected to have another hot and humid day with flash flooding possible.

A Heat Advisory has been issued from New York City to Hartford, Providence and Boston with temperatures near 90 degrees and, with humidity, it will feel like its 90 to 100 for most of the I-95 corridor.

Thankfully much cooler and drier air is moving into the Northeast Thursday and into the weekend.

In addition to the heat, a flash flood watch has been issued from Virginia to New Jersey including Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.

Already Wednesday morning, areas just southwest of D.C. have seen 2 to 4 inches of rain with flash flooding reported there.

As a very slow moving cold front stalls in the area, more flash flooding is expected in the Mid-Atlantic states and some areas could see up to 4 inches of rain in a short period of time.

Meanwhile in the West, it’s very dry, windy and extremely hot.

The Grizzly Creek Fire continues to burn in western Colorado and Interstate 70 is still shut down after several communities in the area had to be evacuated on Tuesday.

The wildfire is now down to 3,200 acres and no containment with 211 personnel fighting the fire.

Also, a brush fire broke out outside of Los Angeles Tuesday, near Chatsworth, right next to freeway 118.

Up to 150 personnel were fighting the fire and it was finally under control by the evening hours.

There is bad news for wildfire fighting in the west as more dry, gusty winds are now forecast.

Most of the western states from California to Montana are now on alerts for either fire danger, extreme heat or gusty winds.

Temperatures are expected to hit close to 120 by the end of the week in the Southwest from southern California to southern Arizona.

Elsewhere, Tropical Depression 11 could become Josephine later Wednesday which would make it the earliest “J” named storm in recorded history in the Atlantic Ocean.

At this time, it is expected to strengthen with winds of 60 mph by Friday morning, but the good news is that it looks like it will miss the Caribbean islands, including Puerto Rico.

After that, conditions are expected to become unfavorable and the system is expected to weaken and possibly recurve and miss the U.S. completely.

It is still worth watching, however, since this has been a very active year in the Atlantic Ocean.

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August 12, 2020 • No Comments • National News

Obtained by ABC NewsBy ALEX STONE, IVAN PEREIRA and MATTHEW FUHRMAN, ABC News

(LOS ANGELES) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says it is investigating an incident last week in which deputies were recorded on video pointing their guns, including at least one rifle, at a pair of unarmed Black teenagers who witnesses said had been the victims of a crime.

In video of the incident, which occurred Friday around 5 p.m. in Santa Clarita, about 30 miles north of Los Angeles, deputies are seen brandishing their weapons at the two teens while onlookers plead with the deputies to stop.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told ABC News a caller reported two Black men in their 20s were fighting and hitting a man with a skateboard, and the call was dispatched as an “an assault with a deadly weapon.”

But in a video of the incident posted to Instagram, witnesses told the officers that the two teens were actually victims of a crime and had only been defending themselves after they were attacked.

The video was posted by Tammi Collins, the mother of one of the teens, who did not take the video herself. Collins wrote in her post that her son and another teen were confronted by someone who was allegedly homeless.

“The guy became so aggressive that he took his shirt off pulled out a knife and whip them tried to stabbed [sicthem,” Collins wrote. “His friends only had their skate boards to cover them from the knife and whip so they held it out to keep distance from this guy.”

When deputies arrived, they tried to secure the scene by detaining possible suspects who matched the caller’s description, the sheriff’s department said. The teens were held at gunpoint and released after the deputies determined what had unfolded.

In the 11-minute video, the deputies are seen with their handguns drawn and at least one officer points a rifle at the teens while their hands are in the air. One deputy asks the person filming to get out of the way. Bystanders are heard shouting at the deputies to put their guns down and diffuse the situation.

“It was the other guy,” someone is heard shouting. “They didn’t do nothing at all.”

Although deputies briefly detained the two teens, there were no arrests, according to the sheriff’s office.

In a video message posted on Twitter Tuesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he saw the video, which went viral on social media, and that the incident is under investigation.

“I have concerns about the tactics deployed,” Villanueva said in his video.

Late Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Department announced on social media that they would also be reviewing their policies governing the use of the AR-15 rifle, one of which was utilized in the incident.

Santa Clarita Mayor Cameron Smyth said in a statement he was also concerned about the incident and ordered that the investigation be expedited.

“In addition, we have asked that the deputy be removed from the field pending the outcome of the investigation,” he said in a statement.

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August 12, 2020 • No Comments • National News

DNY59/iStockBy IVAN PEREIRA, ABC News

(AURORA, Colo.) — The family of Elijah McClain filed a lawsuit against the city of Aurora, Colorado, on Tuesday that accuses several officers and paramedics of violating the 23-year-old’s civil rights and negligently causing his death nearly a year ago.

Attorneys for the family contend the city hasn’t done enough to discipline the officers and paramedics involved in an Aug. 24, 2019, incident that led to McClain’s death on Aug. 30, three days after doctors pronounced him brain dead and he was removed from life support.

McClain is said to have shouted, “I can’t breathe,” while officers, responding to a recent 911 call about a “suspicious person,” put him in a chokehold during an arrest. McClain later went into cardiac arrest and was hospitalized.

“Even though Elijah had committed no crime and the police had absolutely no reason to suspect that he had, APD officers subjected Elijah to a lengthy, torturous use of force for 18 minutes — 15 of which Elijah was handcuffed and lying on the ground,” Mari Newman, the family’s attorney, said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Aurora said in a statement to ABC News that the city is reviewing the suit and is unable to comment at this time.

The suit names 16 total defendants, including the city, which stands accused of working to justify the actions of first responders who injected McClain with a powerful sedative after he vomited at the scene. Among 13 cops named in the lawsuit are four former officers who took and shared photos in October mocking a memorial at the site of the incident.

McClain had gone to a convenience store to buy a soft drink and was wearing a ski mask, which he often wore, his family said, because he had anemia, a blood condition that makes some people feel cold more easily.

A caller to 911 reported a suspicious person and referred to McClain as “sketchy,” but added “he might be a good person or a bad person,” according to the suit.

“The caller assured the 911 operator that he had not seen Elijah with any weapons, and that neither he nor anyone else was in danger,” the suit said.

Officers Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema stopped McClain on his way home, and one of the officers is heard in a body camera footage telling him that he was “being suspicious.” McClain told the officers he was going home and they grabbed him.

“Upon seeing Elijah, they observed that he was Black, and although he exhibited no suspicious behavior, the officers nonetheless elected to contact him and almost immediately decided to use force against him,” the lawsuit said.

The suit contends that the officers threw McClain against a brick wall even though he wasn’t aggressive toward them. Woodyard and Rosenblatt placed McClain’s neck in a carotid hold, and he began to vomit. The officers ultimately handcuffed him and waited for other officers and paramedics to arrive.

Aurora Fire Rescue paramedic Jeremy Cooper and Lt. Peter Cichuniec injected McClain with ketamine to calm him down without properly vetting his condition, the suit contends.

“AFR Defendants compounded Elijah’s worsening medical condition by giving him a dangerous overdose of ketamine, which, combined with the acidosis caused by the excessive force, caused Elijah’s death,” the suit said.

The suit also charges the city with suppressing public protests against the police in light of McClain’s death. Attorneys cited a June 27 incident in which officers in riot gear deployed pepper spray and used batons on people holding a “violin vigil” in honor of McClain, who played the instrument.

No charges were brought against the officers involved in the incident, but they were placed on administrative leave. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed state Attorney General Phil Weiser as a special prosecutor in June to investigate Elijah McClain’s death.

Three of the officers who took and shared the photos at the memorial site were fired in July. The fourth officer resigned.

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