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East Hartford Teen Killed in Glastonbury Crash

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An 18-year-old East Hartford man was killed in a crash on Route 2 West in Glastonbury on Thursday morning.

State Police identified the teen as Erik Brandon Blades, 18, of East Hartford and said he lost control of his 1999 Honda Accord near exit 5D and hit a tree just after 5:30 a.m.

LifeStar medical transport helicopter was called, but then canceled, officials said. Blades was pronounced dead at the scene.

Route 2 West was closed from exit 5D to Route 17, but has since reopened.

Anyone with information about the crash should call state police at 860-534-1000.



Photo Credit: Connecticut Department of Transportation

Angry Orchard Recalls Hard Cider Over Broken Bottle Risk

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Angry Orchard Cider Company is recalling two batches of Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Hard Cider across the country, following customer reports of broken bottles and bottles overflowing when opened.

The recall affects select cases of 24, 12-ounce bottles, 12-packs and six-packs of the cider, according to the company. The batches were produced on June 15 and June 29.

Angry Orchard insisted that its cider poses no health risk if consumed, but issued the voluntary recall “to ensure that products available to consumers meet their high quality standards.”

The impacted cases of the cider were shipped to certain wholesalers in 22 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

To determine whether a bottle of Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Hard Cider has been impacted:

• For a case or 12-pack: Look for the "Freshness Matters" code printed on the top or side panel of the case or 12-pack. If that code begins with "June 2016 1665C" and is immediately followed by four digits between the range of 0001 through 0700 or "June 2016 1805C" and is immediately followed by four digits between 0001 through 0545, those bottles may have been impacted.

• For an individual bottle, use extreme care: Locate the inkjet code printed directly on the glass, on the "shoulder" of the bottle just below the neck label. If that code falls within the ranges of C16650001 through C16650530 or C18050001 through C18050415, that cider may have been impacted.

The release also said that no illnesses or injuries had been reported and instructed consumers to handle bottles “with extreme care and dispose of the product immediately in an outside container.” The company is issuing full refunds on all affected products. 

Those with questions can contact Angry Orchard here or call 1-800-362-7110.



Photo Credit: FDA

Route 117 Reopens in Ledyard After Moped Crash

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LifeStar rushed a 24-year-old man to the hospital after he was involved in a moped crash in Ledyard just before noon on Thursday.

The Ledyard Fire Department responded to Route 117, near Village Drive, at  about 12:10 p.m. after receiving a report of a crash with injuries involving a moped and car. They found the man lying in the road. He had sustained serious injuries, so emergency officials requested that LifeStar respond.

A Ford Taurus was headed southbound on Route 117 in the same direction as a Puch Maxi-Lux when the two vehicles cross paths at the Village Drive intersection.

An ambulance transported Jeremy J. Traxler, 24, of Ledyard to the landing zone near Ledyard Center School, then LifeStar flew him to Hartford Hospital.  He was driving the Puch Maxi-Lux. The other driver wasn't injured.

The Gales Ferry Fire Company and American Ambulance paramedics assisted.

Ledyard Police are investigating. Route 117 was closed between Route 214 and Church Hill Road, but it has since reopened.

The crash remains under investigation.



Photo Credit: NBC10

Man Arrested After Giving 'Wet Willy' to 4-Year-Old: Police

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Police have arrested a homeless man who is accused of giving a "Wet Willy" to a 4-year-old boy in the waiting room of a Connecticut business on Tuesday.

Michael Migani, 34, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with second-degree breach of peace and second-degree reckless endangerment.

Police said he allegedly approached a 4-year-old boy playing with his mother in the waiting room of a business, stuck his finger in his mouth and then put it in the boy's ear.

He drove off when confronted by the child's mother and employees of the business. Police pulled Migani over to confirm his identity and later arrested him for the alleged inappropriate contact with the boy.

He was released on $500 bond and is due in court Aug. 19. It's not clear if Migani has an attorney.



Photo Credit: Shelton Police Department

Boy's Tombstone Mystery at Bus Stop

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Police were called to an NJ Transit bus terminal in New Jersey Tuesday after a worker found a tombstone with an 8-year-old boy's name on it.

The tombstone was found by a maintenance worker in the NJ Transit bus depot in Nutley. Authorities are looking into which cemetery may be missing a headstone. The name on the tombstone is Max Ferreira, born June 16, 1990, died Sept. 29, 1998.

Nutley detectives are calling local cemeteries to ask them about the tombstone and a police alert was sent to surrounding agencies. Police say the stone may not have been reported missing.

"We've reached out to a number of cemeteries and they're all looking," Nutley Police Det. Sergeant Anthony Montanari said. "They're all trying to help, but to date we haven't been able to find the cemetery where it was taken from." 

It's not clear if it's a real headstone. Nutley Police Chief Thomas Strumolo said until authorities can determine how and why it was left at the bus terminal police can "only speculate that it was removed from a human grave."

"If this was the loss of a child, his parents must have been devastated, and to learn that someone would intentionally remove his headstone is unnerving," said Nutley Mayor and Police Director Alphonse Petracco. "I hope that someone can identify where this occurred so that we can return it to where it belongs."



Photo Credit: Handout

SAT to Replace SBAC Exam for 11th Graders

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High school juniors will be taking the SAT rather than the 11th grade Smarter Balance Assessment, or SBAC exam, as of next fall, according to the governor’s office.

Last fall, Gov. Dannel Malloy requested federal approval to waive the SBAC exam to cut down on the amount of standardized testing public high school students have to take and it was approved today, according to the governor’s office.

As of fall of the 2015-2016 school-year, the SAT will be used instead of the SBAC. The test, which usually costs more than $50 will be free for all Connecticut students.

“While exams that test college readiness are essential to helping us gauge where we are as a state and help guide instruction, we are doing our part to mitigate over-testing – a common concern among parents. There’s a balance to be struck, and we’re working to reach it,” Malloy said in a statement. “We know individualized teaching and instruction works, and we know that student-by-student data can help. But that doesn’t mean we should be overburdening our kids. That’s why we first devised this idea and submitted this waiver last fall, and that’s why we’re so thrilled to be able to deliver for families across Connecticut today.”


 

On Its 50th Anniversary, Obama Calls for Voting Rights Act Update

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President Barack Obama called for an updated version of the Voting Rights Act Thursday, 50 years after it was first passed, amid what he said is a steady effort to roll back the landmark law.

Obama proclaimed September 22 "Voter Registration Day," acknowledging a three-year-old effort to register voters across the country. The Voting Right Act was signed on August 6, 1965, 

"Citizens: Seize the power that you have. Make this democracy work," Obama said at a newsconference Thursday afternoon. "Heroic things happen when people get involved."

On Thursday, Obama linked his current office to the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed racial discrimination at the ballot box through obstacles like literacy tests. Writing in an op-ed published on the website Medium, Obama thanked the civil rights leaders whose work led to the law,

"We owe them a great debt. I am certain I wouldn’t be where I am today without their sacrifices," he wrote.

Along with Martin Luther King Jr., one of those leaders he thanked was Congressman John Lewis, who joined Obama on a videoconference Thursday afternoon. 

Obama said that more needs to be done to shore up the voting rights of Americans of all races, arguing that the Voting Rights Act has been weakened in state legislatures and U.S. courts to defend against voter fraud, despite little evidence of fraud in in the country.

"Almost nobody wakes up and says 'I'm going to go vote in somebody's name,'" he said. 

For example, a Texas state law requiring prospective voters to show a state ID was overturned on Wednesday, with an appeals court ruling it violated the Voting Rights Act.

If similar efforts are allowed to continue, Obama said, "the decisions that are made in the corridors of power all over this country begin to reflect the interests of the few instead of the interests of the many." 

The Associated Press contributed to this story.



Photo Credit: NBC10

Cashier Charged Customer for Bogus Sales: Cops

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The cashier of a Glastonbury grocery store was arrested after police said she charged unsuspecting customers for gift cards they never bought and kept the proceeds for herself.

Tanisha I. Ortiz, 18, of East Hartford, is accused of charging customers for more than a dozen gift cards while she was working as a cashier at Stop and Shop between April 21 and April 30.

Ortiz was charged with 18 counts of sixth-degree larceny and turned herself in on a warrant. She was released after posting a $500 surety court-set bond.
 



Photo Credit: Glastonbury Police

Man Who Claimed He Was Carjacked Is Arrested

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The investigation into a crash that badly injured a 21-year-old almost two years ago has led to the arrest of another man who told police he was carjacked and pulled from his vehicle.

Hamden police responded to a car crash on Mather Street around 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 15, 2013, shortly after 3:30a.m. and found an unconscious 21-year-old Hamden resident who’d been thrown for the car.

He suffered extensive injuries, including a broken neck, hip and leg, and he was transported to
Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Police said the 21-year-old was one of three passengers inside of the car Noel Garcia, 23, of Hamden, was driving.

Police investigated and determined that the car went off the road and hit a tree and Garcia and the other two passengers allegedly told the 21 year-old injured person that they would call for help, police said.

Around an hour later, Garcia filed a report with the New Haven Police Department saying he was “carjacked,” four people dragged him from his car and the 21-year-old was kidnapped, police said.

New Haven Police then tried to find Garcia’s cell phone and determined that it was at the crash site, where police found the unconscious victim, then called Hamden Police, who continued the investigation.

On Aug. 3, Garcia, who had turned himself in. He has been charged with reckless endangerment, reckless driving and evading responsibility, detained on a $25,000 court-ordered bond and is scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on Aug. 17.



Photo Credit: Hamden Police

Children Found Safe, Mom Arrested After Amber Alert

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Two children believed to have been kidnapped by their mother on Thursday morning have been found safe, according to police.

The children - Nathalia Portela Coelho, 7, and her brother, Nathan Portela Coelho, 8 - were reportedly kidnapped by their mother, 33-year-old Bruna Gomes. She was arrested in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, around 3:48 p.m.

The children were at their father's apartment at 94 Walnut St. in Abington around 9:20 a.m. when Gomes allegedly knocked on the door and announced "Abington Police - open the door!"

When the door opened, Gomes sprayed pepper spray in the eyes of the person who opened it. She then forcefully entered the apartment and physically removed her two children, police said.

"They protested," said Mike Szymanski, an attorney representing their father, Bruno Coelho. "They didn't want it to happen."

An Amber Alert was issued on Thursday afternoon. Police said they were concerned for the health and welfare of the children due to the violent manner in which they were taken.

"Based upon the manner of the way this person entered the apartment, took the children, assaulted a person inside the apartment... certainly based on all that evidence we're certainly concerned about the welfare and safety of the children," Abington Police Chief David Majenski said about an hour before the children were found.

Szymanski called it a very scary situation.

"We're going to get the kids now. DCF is with the kids, a judge ordered dad full custody," he said. "We're going to go down, pick them up now, and bring them home."

"I feel bad for the kids, they were probably scared to death," said neighbor Eleanor Coburn.

Gomes, who has a last known address of 3 Orient Avenue in Everett, Massachusetts, has ties to the Weymouth and Stoughton, Massachusetts, areas and it was believed that she might have been heading to the area of Cape Cod or Martha's Vineyard.

Pings on Gomes' cell phone led investigators to the area where she was found. An officer spotted her blue Nissan Quest minivan in traffic, but when he tried to get to her, she was gone.

A manager at the Econolodge motel in Yarmouth recognized Gomes' vehicle and called police, who entered her room with a key.

"I was making sure I wasn't just mixing up the numbers, to make sure it was the same," said Sanket Bhagat. "I spent probably a minute, like, reading one at a time, making sure it was the same one."

When officers arrived, they found Gomes, her baby, Nathalia Portela Coelho, Nathan Portela Coelho.

Only the two older children were the subject of the Amber Alert - the baby has a different father.

"Prior to the Amber Alert, 10 minutes earlier, they were in the pool, swimming," said Bhagat. "Just a family enjoying life on the Cape."

Police say Gomes would not answer questions from investigators and quickly hired an attorney. Her attorney said there would be no statements Thursday night.



Photo Credit: Abington Police
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Storm Likely to Miss Connecticut This Weekend

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Sun will mix with high clouds today as temperatures only peak in the lower-80s.

High pressure over the northern Great Lakes region has enough influence on New England to keep the weather dry both today and tomorrow.

Temperatures will remain below average tomorrow with highs reaching near 80 degrees.

A storm will pick up steam off the Carolina coast and head north and east this weekend. The consensus is that the track will be hundreds of miles off the southern New England coast and therefore miss in terms of rain.

Saturday looks dry with partly cloudy skies as the storm remains well out over the Atlantic Ocean. Temperatures will be near 80 degrees.

Even brighter skies are likely on Sunday as the storm pulls away, with mostly sunny to partly cloudy conditions anticipated. The humidity remains low with high temperatures in the lower-80s.

Coastal storms aren’t typical in the summer months but they happen occasionally. The jet stream currently has plenty of kinks in it; therefore, the pattern is favorable for a storm such as the one that will pass by well south and east of the region this weekend.

Beyond this weekend, the weather pattern remains unsettled.

A lull between storms likely arrives on Monday, meaning lots of sunshine and temperatures in the 80s. However, given the jet stream continues to have plenty of troughs and ridges, another storm is possible on Tuesday into Wednesday.

Some indications are the storm in the middle part of next week tracks to the west of Connecticut, which would mean very moist air flows into Connecticut. Storms would be possible in that scenario.

Stay with the NBC Connecticut First Alert weather team for the very latest forecast on-air, online and on the app.

Police Investigating Bank Robbery in West Hartford

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West Hartford police are investigating a bank robbery at TD Bank in West Hartford.

Police responded to the 143 South Main Street bank at about 2:08 p.m. Thursday after receiving a report of a robbery.

A man, about 40, came into the bank and gave the teller a note demanding money.

The man left the bank after he was given an undetermined amount of cash.

It's unknown whether he left on foot or in a vehicle.

A Farmington police K9 unit helped search for the man, but he wasn't found.

Police said the man was wearing white golf shorts with large checkered stripes and that he was tan with a slender build. He was about 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10 and had short, dark brown hair.

No injuries are reported.
 



Photo Credit: West Hartford Police Department

Russian Hackers Target Pentagon Email Systems: Officials

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The Pentagon took its Joint Staff unclassified email system offline nearly two weeks ago, after detecting a "sophisticated cyberattack" by alleged Russian hackers, U.S. officials told NBC News on Thursday.

According to the officials, the intrusion occurred sometime around July 25 and affected about 4,000 military and civilian personnel who work for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The officials said the suspected Russian hackers coordinated the cyber attack via social media accounts. It's not clear whether the attack was sanctioned by the Russian government or was the work of individuals.



Photo Credit: File/AFP/Getty Images

Police Seek Truck and Motorcycle Thief

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East Windsor police are seeking the community's help in identifying a man suspected of stealing a truck and motorcycle from a business in town.

Police released a still image from surveillance video that captured a man breaking into Labrecque Autocraft a gated business at 63 Newberry Rd., on Aug. 2. He stole a Dodge dump truck and Yamaha motorcycle from the business, police said. Police did not release the name of the company where the vehicles were stolen.

The man in the surveillance footage is described as a white male who is 25 to 35 years old with balding, short blond hair. He was wearing glasses at the time of the incident. 

East Windsor police are asking the public to share the photo of him that they posted on their Facebook page in hopes of identifying him. They are also asking anyone with any information to contact the police department or message them through Facebook.



Photo Credit: East Windsor Police Department

Police Help "Moove" Escaped Cows

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"Moove" along, cows!

East Windsor police were called in to help disperse a crowd that just didn't have a cow about walking in the middle of the road, milking their time away from home for all it was worth.

Some cows got loose and were meandering down Scantic Road close to 8 a.m. Thursday. A video taken by East Windsor Police Officer David Szabo from his cruiser shows at least seven cows walking in front of the vehicle, spread across the width of the road. A couple people walked beside them as he drove slowly behind the herd to help "moooooove" them out of the way.

"Some days officers are so busy with calls for service that it feels like we are working in a big city," East Windsor police posted on their Facebook page. "This morning was a good reminder that we in fact work in rural East Windsor. We had to mooooove cows that were on Scantic Road that had gotten loose."

It took 25 minutes to chorale the cows that came from a farm on Abbe Road. Police used corn to lure them home. All of the cows were returned.

"As the video shows the cows were in no hurry to return to their home," East Windsor police said.

The same cows got out from the farm two weeks ago. That time police used bread to get them back to the family farm.

No Beatles mock cover was shot during this call when the cows crossed Abbe Road to get back to the farm, according to police.



Photo Credit: East Windsor Police Department

Police Find Drugs on Man During Foot Chase

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State police found cocaine and oxycodone on a man who led police on a foot chase late Wednesday afternoon in Lebanon when they tried to arrest him.

Eric Hunter is facing multiple narcotics charges and a charge of interfering with an officer after police attempted to serve him three outstanding arrest warrants and he fled troopers, state police said.

Police chased him for a quarter mile. When they apprehended him, they found multiple bags of cocaine and a bag of oxycodone, also known as Percoset, on him.

State police from Troop K barracks in Colchester and Lebanon's resident trooper arrested hunter at about 4 p.m. on Wednesday, charging him with possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with intent to sell and interfering with a police officer.

State police held Hunter on a $45,300 bond. He was scheduled to appear in Norwich Superior Court on Thursday.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Route 9 Reopens After Car Fire

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Route 9 south has reopened in Haddam after a car fire Thursday night, according to state police.

The state highway was closed earlier between exits 8 and 7. The highway has since reopened.

No one was injured.



Photo Credit: Haddam Volunteer Fire Department

DMV Truck Inspector Escapes Cruiser Before Crash

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A state Department of Motor Vehicles truck inspector got out of his parked cruisers moments before another vehicle struck it on Interstate 91 in New Haven on Thursday.

Sgt. Robert Tyson was sitting in his DMV Commercial Vehicle Safety cruiser on the right shoulder of the highway doing paperwork after conducting a traffic stop when a northbound car in the left lane lost control. The car crossed all lanes and was heading toward his cruiser when Tyson heard tires screeching. He turned to see the car barreling toward him and quickly got out of his cruiser and ran toward the front of his vehicle.

Tyson got out of the cruiser just before the other car rear-ended it and escaped injury.

“This situation is a scary example of the dangers law enforcement personnel face when enforcing safety on our roadways,” DMV Commissioner Andres Ayala, Jr. said in a written statement. “Our truck inspectors are on the road every day doing their job to help make our roads safe.”

The significantly damaged cruiser was towed from the crash site.

State police are overseeing the crash investigation.



Photo Credit: DMV

Tenn. Theater Attacker Had Gashed Propane Tank: Police

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A man with a history of mental illness who attacked three people at a Nashville-area movie theater Wednesday was carrying a propane canister and lighter fluid, authorities said, according to NBC News.

Vincente David Montano, 29, was later killed by police. He was described as a "transient" who had been committed for mental health issues at least four times since 2004. Police are trying to determine a motive.

Montano was armed with the canister of propane and a lighter, an ax, pepper spray, and a pellet gun resembling a semi-automatic pistol, Metro Nashville Police Spokesman Dan Aaron said Thursday.

The propane tank Montano carried had been gashed and the gas escaped. Aaron said there was a "great possibility" that Montano intended to use the canister as an explosive.



Photo Credit: Jason Davis/Getty Images; Nashville Police Department

PD Investigates 2nd Bank Robbery in a Day

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A man stole money from First Niagara Bank in West Hartford after threatening to shoot the teller in the town's second bank robbery of the day Thursday.

The man came into the 55 South Main St. bank at about 4:46 p.m. and handed a bank teller a note demanding money, employees told police. He didn't display a gun, but threatened to shoot the teller, police said. After he was given an undetermined amount of cash, he left.

It's unknown whether he left the area on foot or in a vehicle.

West Hartford police and a Bloomfield police K9 unit searched the area, but couldn't find the bank robber.

No one was injured.

Police said the man was last seen wearing a black polo shirt, khakis and two-tone grey baseball hat that had writing on it. He was described as being about 50 years old, overweight and about 5-foot-7. The robber had black hair and was carrying a portfolio case.

It's unknown whether the robbery was connected to another one at TD Bank on South Main Street several hours before.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com/West Hartford Police
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