A man pulled a knife on security at Home Depot in North Haven Sunday afternoon.

[[512331301,c]]

54-year-old Noel Santiago was with another man when he pulled a knife and waved it frantically at security while in close proximity, according to police.

Both suspects fled on foot before police arrived to the scene. Police apprehended Santiago a few hundred yards away after fighting with officers.

Police were unable to locate the second suspect.

Santiago faces charges including first degree robbery, interfering with officers and carrying a dangerous weapon, according to police.

He is expected to appear in Meriden Superior Court on Monday.

For a lot of kids summer is just getting started, but for students at one school in Hartford it's already time to go back to school.

Students at Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford are heading back to school on Monday.

Their school operates on a year round calendar for kids in Kindergarten through 12th grade.

The Yard Goats mascot along with dozens of people from the community will be at the school this morning to welcome the students back to class.

The students will have another short break in August before starting up again in the fall.

There are billionaires and a self-help guru, mayors and a former vice president, current and former governors and a bunch of senators. Keep track of the contenders for 2020 in the interactive graphic below with information about their past experience in public service positions, educational background and other biographical details.

Read the latest in our political coverage here.

LifeStar transported one person to the hospital after a crash closed Route 6 in Brooklyn on Monday morning.

State police said Route 6 is closed near Prince Hill Road.

According to the state Department of Transportation, two vehicles are involved in the crash that happened around 6:30 a.m. 

Authorities did not release details about how many people may be injured or the severity of their injuries.

Police said one person was transported to the hospital by LifeStar.

The Connecticut State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Squad has been called to the scene and is investigating the crash.

There is no estimate for when the road may reopen.

Motorists are urged to alternate routes while traveling in the area.

Southington police have arrested a man who is accused of using a Jaws of Life to pry open ATMs and steal money from them.

Officers said they arrested Joshua Moore, of Shelton, on Friday in connection to a burglary at a Dunkin Donuts on West Street in 2016.

Investigators learned that the ATM machine inside of the restaurant was the primary target. According to police, Moore used a battery powered hydraulic spreader, also known as the Jaws of Life, to gain access to the ATM.

Police said the incident at Dunkin Donuts was not an isolated incident, but was rather one of many similar burglaries that involved someone using a Jaws of Life to pry open ATM machines within the region.

Multiple law enforcement agencies worked together to investigate the burglaries and eventually Greenwich police developed Moore as a suspect, officers added.

Search warrants show that Moore purchased a Jaws of Life from eBay prior to the burglaries, authorities said.

Officers estimate that Moore stole between $200,000 and $300,000 in cash from the ATMs.

Greenwich police secured an arrest warrant for Moore in January and took him into custody. Several other agencies have also served arrest warrants and Moore was being held on a total of $550,000 bonds.

On Friday, Moore was arrested at Bristol Superior Court. He is facing charges including burglary, criminal mischief and larceny. He was held on a $25,000 bond in relation to the case.

A young girl died Sunday after falling from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico, officials confirmed.

Telemundo Puerto Rico reports the 1-and-a-half-year-old girl was being held by her grandfather when she slipped out of his arms and plunged from the 11th floor of the Freedom of the Seas ship to the concrete on the Pan American dock II in San Juan.

The family is reportedly from Indiana, according to the local news outlet.

Puerto Rico's Department of Public Safety said numerous agencies were dispatched to the incident on Sunday.

"We regret the sad event that occurred on the Freedom of the Seas cruise and we sympathize with the family of the girl who died," the department said in a statement.

Puerto Rico's secretary for public affairs said the agency is "working on the case with the seriousness and sensitivity it requires."

"Unfortunately, the news of a baby's accident on a cruise ship is true," Public Affairs Secretary Anthony Maceira Zayas wrote on Twitter. "We pray God fills with strength this family who is living today a real tragedy."

In a statement, Royal Caribbean said it dispatched a Care Team to assist the child's family.

"We are deeply saddened by yesterday’s tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the family," Royal Caribbean's communications manager Owen Torres wrote in a statement. "Out of respect for their privacy, we do not plan to comment further on the incident."

Jeffrey Epstein’s background, his past guilty plea, his connections to high-profile U.S. and foreign government leaders and his federal non-prosecution agreement have been continually reported on for nearly a decade. But who is this billionaire, who owns an island and is now facing a federal sex trafficking indictment in New York City? Here’s a primer on the man -- and how we got here.

WHO IS JEFFREY EPSTEIN?

Jeffrey Epstein was born January 20, 1953, and has reportedly made his billions first as an options trader in the late 70s working for the now defunct Bear Stearns and later as an investor for his own financial management firm. One of his routes to success, according to an interview in Vanity Fair, was to be the primary investor and money manager for Limited Brands founder Leslie Wexner. (Limited Brands owns Victoria’s Secret, PINK, and Bath & Body Works). Epstein apparently parlayed his wealth and his success to go on to establish numerous political and social contacts in the Palm Beach area and across the globe. 

Some of those political connections include President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton. Trump spoke of Epstein in a 2002 interview with New York Magazine saying, “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy, adding, "He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life." 

Former President Clinton flew on one of Epstein’s planes on several occasions according to flight records reviewed by NBC News. 

Epstein maintains addresses on his own island in St. Thomas, the Upper East Side in New York City, Paris, New Mexico, and Palm Beach, according to his sex offender registration in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement index. 

He has a Rolls Royce, a Bentley, several Harley Davidson motorcycles, and nine Mercedes-Benzs registered or owned in his name, according to Florida law enforcement records reviewed by NBC News. 

THE EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION

Jeffrey Epstein was formally put under investigation by the Palm Beach Police Department on March 15, 2005. According to a Palm Beach Police Department case file obtained by NBC News through a public records request,  investigators sought to charge Epstein, and his assistants Sarah Kellen and Haley Robson with crimes tied to Epstein’s alleged sexual behavior with underage girls at his home. According to the police files, Palm Beach investigators interviewed five victims and 17 witnesses. 

The police files state that Epstein brought the women to his house under the guise that they would give him massages. Police say those massages would turn sexual. Some of the underage victims told police that Epstein would use sex toys on them while he received a “massage.” In another instance, one girl was allegedly paid to have sex with one of Epstein’s female assistants. 

One witness stated that Epstein had a dozen roses sent to the local high school for one of the girls who allegedly had given Epstein a massage. According to the police files, a former housekeeper told law enforcement that  Epstein would receive three massages a day. 

The files also state that Epstein would pay the victims $200-$1,000 per massage and that Epstein had several covert cameras installed in clocks in his residence. 

Ultimately, by the spring of 2006, the Palm Beach Police Department sought to have Epstein arrested and charged with four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation. 

In May 2006, Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter wrote to then State Attorney Barry Kirscher saying, “I must renew my prior observation to you that I continue to find your office’s treatment of these cases highly unusual.” Reiter wrote the letter when presenting the probable cause affidavits for Epstein’s arrest and the arrest of his two assistants. 

At the same time, federal prosecutors and the FBI in Miami started to work the case. Most of the details of that investigation have yet to be made public. 

In the end, the case concluded in October 2007 with Epstein pleading guilty to procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and felony solicitation of prostitution as well as felony solicitation of prostitution, according to the plea agreement. In addition, Epstein would have to register as a sex offender. 

In addition to that, Epstein signed a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office based in Miami, with then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta (now Secretary of Labor for the United States of America). 

NBC News has a copy of that agreement from a civil lawsuit lawsuit, which states that the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office found that from 2001 to September of 2007 Epstein conspired with others to knowingly persuade or entice minor females  to engage in prostitution, conspired with others to travel minor females across state lines for the purposes of engaging in illicit sexual conduct, and knowingly recruited or enticed a minor across state lines or across countries so that the person would  engage in a commercial sex act, among other similar charges.  

EPSTEIN SIGNED A NON-PROSECUTION AGREEMENT (NPA), SO WHY IS HE BEING PROSECUTED BY THE FEDS? 

Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida contains the following paragraph: 

“Therefore, on authority of R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, prosecution in this District for these offenses shall be deferred in favor of prosecution by the State of Florida, provided that Epstein abides by the following conditions and the requirements of this Agreement set forth below.”  

This key paragraph, which is often found in similar NPAs, limits the scope of the agreement to only the Miami area, which includes Palm Beach. 

This means that if Epstein’s alleged illegal activities took place in other parts of the country, including New York City, Epstein’s NPA no longer protects him. 

A man has life-threatening injuries after police said he jumped into the bed of a pick-up truck and jumped out while it was still moving in Wilton on Friday morning.

Officers were called to the Ridgefield/Wilton line around 9:24 a.m. after getting a report of a naked man that had jumped out of a pick-up truck while it was still moving.

Police said the incident started in Ridgefield when a man was driving south on Danbury Road by the Days Inn and saw what he thought was a dead deer on the side of the road.

According to police, the man slowed down to look at the object next to the road when he said he realized it was a naked man laying on the ground.

The naked man then jumped up and leaped into the bed of the man's pick-up truck, authorities added.

The man in the pick-up truck continued to drive south on Danbury Road and called 911. While he was still driving on Danbury Road in Wilton, the driver said the naked man jumped out of the pick-up truck while it was still moving and landed on the side of the road.

The naked man was transported to Danbury Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The man who was driving the pickup truck was released from the scene without charges, authorities said.

The incident remains under investigation by Wilton and Ridgefield Police Departments.

A man who is wanted for homicide has been arrested after a chase in Stonington on Sunday night.

State police said a vehicle was stopped for speeding on Interstate 95 southbound just south of exit 92 around 9 p.m.

According to police, the passenger of the vehicle was identified as 33-year-old Robert Donell Annunziata, of Georgia. Annunziata was a fugitive of justice with an active, fully extraditable, felony warrant for homicide out of Atlanta.

Annunziata fled the traffic stop and was later found in the woods by state police K9s near North Anguilla Road and I-95, police said.

He was taken into custody and transported to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital to be treated after officers said the K9 bit him.

Annunziata's bond is set at $500,000 and he is due in court in New London on Monday.

It's been one month since toxic firefighting foam flowed into the Farmington River putting neighbors and wildlife in the area at risk.

On Monday, Senator Richard Blumenthal and Governor Ned Lamont will address those concerns and provide more details on the clean up and recovery processes.

Fifty thousand gallons of firefighting foam containing a chemical called PFAS leaked from an airport hangar at Bradley International Airport into the Farmington River.

PFAS is a toxic chemical used to fight fires, but Senator Blumenthal said it can cause serious health effects including cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility and increased risk of asthma and thyroid disease.

Last week, people who live in Windsor packed town hall and demanded answers as to how this happened and why they weren't notified.

State officials said the latest testing of the river reveals a dramatic reduction in the presence of PFAS, but they are still recommending that if you caught fish in the river, you don't eat it.

Concerned environmental leaders want PFAS banned, but leaders at Bradley International Airport said the Federal Aviation Administration requires it because of its effectiveness.

State officials are expected to continue testing the river this week.

Officers found 67 canisters of nitrous oxide and dozens of balloons in the street and on the sidewalk near Boston's Fenway Park on Friday.

A large group of people were filling the balloons with nitrous oxide -- also known as laughing gas -- and then inhaling the gas to achieve a high before a Phish concert, police said.

Officers responding to the scene confiscated the 67 canisters, which were then turned over to the Boston Fire Department's Hazardous Materials Unit for additional processing.

There was no word of any arrests in the incident.

West Haven police said they are looking for the person who set a small dog on fire, killing the animal.

Firefighters and police responded to Beach Street near Second Avenue and Third Avenue on Friday around 10 a.m. for the report of a fire in the Sandy Point Beach parking lot.

When they arrived, they put out the fire and found a small dog, possibly a miniature schnauzer, dead at the scene, according to police.

Investigators said it appears the dog was set on fire and abandoned in the parking lot. They said they believe an accelerant was used as well.

Police are asking anyone who may have seen the fire or witnesses suspicious activity in the parking lot between 10 p.m. on July 4 and 1 a.m. on July 5 to call them at (203) 937-3900.

Also, they want anyone who may be missing a small dog in the area to give them a call.

California Rep. Eric Swalwell is expected to drop out of the 2020 presidential race.

The fourth-term congressman from California will instead run for reelection to the House, the Los Angeles Times first reported Monday.

Swalwell will hold a news conference Monday afternoon. He will become the first presidential candidate who made the first debate cut to leave the race.

This is a developing news story. Updates to come.

State police have arrested a driver who they say hit a motorcyclist on I-84 on Saturday morning before leaving the scene.

The crash happened in the eastbound lanes of I-84 near Exit 39 around 4:45 a.m. on Saturday.

Police said the motorcyclist had pulled into the right shoulder and stopped for a brief time before pulling back out into traffic. That's when police say a Ford Explorer driven by 26-year-old Michael Rios, of Hartford, collided with the motorcycle.

The motorcyclist was thrown from his motorcycle and suffered serious injuries. A teenager on his way to the airport helped save the victim by using his belt as a tourniquet, according to the teen's family.

Rios took off, and abandoned the Explorer on the Exit 39 off ramp, according to state police. He was found a short time later by Farmington police and taken into custody.

Rios was charged with evading responsibility, reckless endangerment, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, improper use of license plates and operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance.

The motorcyclist suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

Migration to the United States from Honduras and its neighboring “northern triangle” countries — El Salvador and Guatemala — has climbed in recent years. The reasons are complex, including poverty, unemployment and violence, NBC News reports. But the increase in migration also coincides with a drought, which began in 2014, and those living in Central America’s so-called dry corridor, which is adjacent to El Rosario, say lack of food is the primary reason people leave, according to a United Nations report.

Last summer, the Honduran government declared an emergency because of food shortages, joining governments in El Salvador and Guatemala, which issued similar alerts. Almost 100,000 families in Honduras and 2 million people across the region lacked adequate food. Making matters worse, a pathogen that scientists believe is worsened by climate change has ravaged the country’s coffee plantations, which means that migrant farm laborers who count on the coffee harvest for income can’t find work.

Researchers and international aid workers say that for Honduran family farmers, like those in El Rosario, to survive, they need support to adjust to the climate’s rapid changes, including instruction in planting drought-resistant crops and help conserving water.

Like all medical marijuana patients in Connecticut, William Purvis had to get a prescription from his doctor and state certification card before he could enter Affinity Health & Wellness, the state’s 14th medical marijuana dispensary which recently opened in New Haven.

“This is a blessing for those that live in this area,” said Purvis.

Purvis has been battling liver cancer for two years. He said he struggled to keep food down during treatments, but that changed after he started lighting up. He had been traveling to Milford to get his prescription for medical marijuana.

“It saves time, money, effort,” said Purvis, who said he has visited the New Haven dispensary three times since it opened two weeks ago.

Not all patients smoke marijuana. In fact, some of the products sold at Affinity don’t even contain THC, the main ingredient in cannabis, known for giving the sensation of a high.

“There’s tablets, there’s capsules, there’s films that you can put under your tongue, there’s creams, there’s lotions, there’s edibles,” explained Ray Pantalena, the owner of Affinity Health & Wellness.

Still, some people living nearby think that those who want the drug will circumvent the system.

“There are ways. Lots of them have ways to get their prescriptions,” said Eleanor Sear.

“I think there should be strict guidelines on who gets to use that product in that building,” added Frank Kerson.

Kerson has lived in the neighborhood since the 1960’s.

“I’m afraid that people who don’t need it will be using it, getting it, and causing problems in the area,” he cautioned.

Pantalena said the stigma surrounding medical marijuana is their biggest obstacle.

“Everyone thinks you can just come in, you pick out what you want, and you leave like a candy store. It’s so far from the truth,” said Pantalena. “It’s gonna take a while for the general public to understand that hey this is something new, it does work, you’ve just to have an open mind.”

The words “medical marijuana” are nowhere to be found around the outside of the Whalley Avenue dispensary. Pantalena said state law requires these dispensaries operate just like any other medical facility and without advertising.

Also, no one is allowed to walk through the doors without a medical marijuana card or visitors pass, both of which are issued by the state of Connecticut.

Another security measure required by the state of Connecticut is that all of the drugs are kept behind a vault.

Connecticut is also one of only a handful of states that requires a licensed pharmacist to dispense medical marijuana. Pantalena says he spent 30-years in traditional retail pharmaceuticals.

His dispensary manager, Brian Essenter, moved into medical marijuana four years ago. He said he was tired of battling insurance companies during the decade he worked in the retail pharmaceutical industry and feels like he’s helping patients more now.

“It’s something I get goosebumps from on a daily basis,” said Essenter. “The elation on their faces when they would come in high fiving, hugging, crying at times was something you can’t possibly get anywhere else.”

There are 31 conditions that qualify, but five more were recently recommended. The discussion to expand the use to chronic pain was tabled at a recent hearing. The pharmacists says the expansion could double and quite possibly triple their business.

Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday announced the formation of a state task force to examine the presence of PFAS chemicals in Connecticut.

The task force, led by the Departments of Public Health and Energy and Environmental Protection, comes exactly one month after the chemicals found in firefighting foam used at Bradley International Airport spilled out of the airport and into the Farmington River following an accidental release.

“Connecticut’s going to be there, we’re going to have a report back on October 1 we’ll see whether this is something we’ve got under real control -- with the testing of our water supply on a more regular basis --just to give the citizens of Connecticut the confidence that we’re ahead of this and we’re going to be here to tell you what we’ve got to do,” Lamont said.

An advisory warning people against eating anything caught in the river remains in effect, though state and local health officials say that general recreation in and around the river has been deemed safe.

Earlier on Monday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal joined Windsor Mayor Donald Trinks and several other environmental advocates to call for more federal funding to pay for cleanup and testing of the Farmington River.

It’s believed 50,000 gallons of firefighting foam and water contaminated the river during the accidental release in June.

“That kind of federal assistance is absolutely critical. There’s no reason that PFAS should not be designated as a hazardous substance. It must be recognized for what it is,” Blumenthal said.

Preliminary findings of the state task force are expected on October First.

A police SUV crashed through a fence and ended up on a retaining wall in Meriden on Monday afternoon.

The incident happened on Maple Street. That road was closed from Main Street while police investigated.

It was not clear was caused the accident.

Police at the scene told NBC Connecticut that the officer involved was expected to be alright.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said recently he opposes paying government reparations to the descendants of American slaves, has a family history deeply entwined in the issue: Two of his great-great-grandfathers were slave owners, U.S. census records show.

The two great-great-grandfathers, James McConnell and Richard Daley, owned a total of at least 14 slaves in Limestone County, Alabama — all but two of them female, according to the county “Slave Schedules” in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, NBC News reported.

Slavery experts have stressed that descendants of slave owners should not be held personally responsible for the deeds of their forebears. But they have also argued that the families that descended from slave owners, like McConnell’s, are likely to have benefited from the labor of slaves that propped up farm families in earlier generations — a point made by many reparations supporters, who have said that descendants of slaves were never compensated for the economic benefit their forebears made to white families.

A family from Southington was driving to the airport when the car in front of them hit a motorcyclist and kept driving. What they did next may have saved the man's life.

Carla Keim and her 19-year-old son Devan were traveling eastbound on Interstate 84 around 4:45 a.m. when they saw the crash.

From the passenger’s seat, Devan noticed a motorcycle on the right shoulder.

A few seconds later, he says a ford explorer sped by and collided with the motorcyclist. 

“The car behind us ran into him,” said Tillotson. “The guy on the motorcycle went flying.”

Devan rushed out of the car to help the motorcyclist by using his belt to tie a tourniquet around the man's leg.

Tillotson says he was simply at the right place at the right time.

"We all worked together but it was Devan who had complete control of the scene," Keim said in a Facebook post.

State police arrived six minutes after the family called for help.  Troopers said the driver is 26-year-old Michael Rios.  According to the police report, investigators say Michael Rios sped off after the collision and abandoned the SUV, but was later arrested and taken into custody.

Keim said that her son kept the man alert by talking to him and applying pressure to the wound.

"I begged Devan to get out of the road and let me take over but he refused. 'Mom, I've got it,'" Keim said.

As the ambulance left with the motorcyclist, one of the troopers told Devan that he saved the man's life.

"I am in shock and I am so sad for this man. I am also in awe of my son, in complete awe of a nineteen year old kid who just saved a life," Keim wrote.

"If we were 10 seconds ahead, we wouldn't have seen it,” said Keim. “I was in shock, I was scared.”

Despite being afraid herself and fearing for her son just feet away from the other traffic, Keim says it’s her son’s military training that saved the victim’s life.

"I was astonished of how he (Devan) remained so calm and knew exactly what to do," said Keim. "He was an outstanding man before the accident and I was super proud but he's even more of a man now and very capable and trained very well.”

Police have not released the victim’s name, but Keim did speak with his family who says he’s recovering from surgery.