A group of people crashed a minivan into a storefront and robbed a Louis Vuitton at a west suburban mall in Illinois Sunday morning, police said.

Just after 4 a.m., police said a minivan backed into the front doors of a Louis Vuitton in the Oakbrook Center Mall and eight people wearing masks and gloves entered the store.

The offenders took an unknown amount of merchandise from the store while the driver waited in the van, according to a release from Oak Brook police.

The offenders fled the scene before officers arrived.

The crash caused extensive damage to the store’s front door and windows, police said.

An investigation into the theft is ongoing, officials said.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Connecticut

A Life Star helicopter was called to respond to the scene of a dirt bike crash in Coventry to transport one patient.

Life Star confirmed that the accident happened in the Grant Hill area.

Tolland County Dispatch confirms emergency crews were on scene just after 10:30 a.m.

More information will be provided when it becomes available.

A man shot at the GateWay Cafe in Bristol during a local rap showcase just after midnight Sunday is recovering in Bristol Hospital.

A bouncer told NBC Connecticut that a man who was involved in a scuffle at the 211 Riverside Avenue bar was escorted out of the establishment. Police said he returned inside through a back door wielding a gun and fired shots into the bar, hitting a man working in the DJ's crew. It's unknown at this time how many shots were fired.

The shooter fled the scene before police arrived at 12:58 a.m. to investigate reports of a person shot. Police said it's unclear whether the shooter left on foot or in a car. Officers described the scene chaotic and about 75 people were outside the bar when police arrived. Several patrons were trying to leave the bar.

Police found a man who lay unconscious with visible wounds on his face after he was assaulted, police said. As officers provided medical assistance, they learned there was another man inside the bar who had been shot. Patrons had already driven the shooting victim to Bristol Hospital. Bristol EMS transported the assault victim to St. Francis Hospital in Hartford to be treated for injuries.

The gunshot victim's injuries are not life-threatening and the assault victim was released from the hospital, according to police.

Police have not released the identity of either victim and are sorting through conflicting statements about the incident. It is unclear at this time if the shooting and assault are connected, police said.

Police have not made any arrests yet and a shooting suspect has not been identified.

Detectives questioned patrons and employees and were still on scene Sunday morning looking for evidence to piece together what happened.

The incident remains under investigation. Police ask anyone with information on the shooting and assault to contact Detective Hayden at 860-314-4568.

More information will be provided when it becomes available.

The mother of an 11-year-old girl has been charged with murder after the young girl died days after her mother allegedly hit her in the stomach.

Police said Waukegan, Illinois, fire officials responded to a home in the 300 block of Gillett Avenue just after 9 p.m. Friday for an unresponsive 11-year-old girl.

The girl, identified as Raasania Coley, was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.

The Lake County Coroner’s office said an autopsy determined Coley had a torn stomach as the result of blunt force trauma and those injuries led to her death.

The girl’s mother, Nicholette Lawrence, allegedly told police she struck the girl in the stomach earlier that week.

Lawrence was charged with first-degree murder and was order held at the Lake County Jail on $5 million bail.

Lawrence has two other children that have been placed with relatives, police said. There were no allegations of abuse to the other children.

Lawrence is next scheduled to appear in court Sept. 30.

A sophomore at Wesleyan University is hospitalized and in critical condition after falling from a third-story window of a fraternity house Sunday morning.

When Middletown police responded to 184 High Street house, at 1:17 a.m., medical crews were already at the scene. The Beta Theta Pi fraternity, which is on probation, lives at the house.

A LifeStar medical transport helicopter took the female student to the hospital to be treated for serious injuries. No additional information has been released on the student's condition and Middletown police said that the department won't be releasing the victim's name.

Michael Whaley, the vice president for student affairs at Wesleyan, released a statement saying that the student was taken to St. Francis Hospital and that family members are with her.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured student, who is improving, and we hope for a full and speedy recovery," the statement said.

The Middletown Police Department's Investigative Services Division is investigating, but said foul play doesn't appear to be a factor in the student's fall.

Beta Theta Pi's Mu Epsilon chapter was founded at Wesleyan in 1890, according to Wesleyan's website.

Middletown police investigated a separate sexual assault case at the same house in April 2013.

Another Wesleyan student previously sued Beta Theta Pi, the Mu Epsilon chapter, the university, landlord, house manager and the Raymond Duy Baird Memorial Association after claiming she was sexually assaulted there, according to a Courthouse News Services article from 2012.

Courthouse News Services reported that the student's complaint stated that Beta Theta Pi and Mu Epsilon lost "recognition from Wesleyan as a student organization" as a result of "a long-documented history of dangerous misconduct, student injuries and numerous sexual assaults of woman." The fraternity's status is currently listed online as "probation," last changed on Nov. 1, 2013, according to its website.

Students were shaken by the incident. 

"It's extremely upsetting to the whole campus," said Liz Weinstein, a junior. 

Sophomore Grady McGregor was there when the accident occurred.

"I heard something fall behind me and I went to go check on what it was," he said.  "I found a girl who was lying unresponsive in the bushes and then I immediately called out for help."

Residential Life and Counseling and Psychological Services staff are available to speak with students about the incident.

Plainfield police are seeking a man who burglarized a gas station convenience store in town early Sunday morning.

Police responded to the BP gas station at 309 Putnam Road in the Wauregan section of Plainfield at 1:33 a.m. on Sunday after an alarm went off and discovered that one of the doors was open. 

After reviewing surveillance video footage, police identified the suspect as a white male in his 20s and described him as "small to medium build with shoulder length dark hair." The footage shows the suspect wearing a Northface hooded sweatshirt and carrying a camoflauge-patterned backpack.

The man walked to the gas station and entered the store through the front door, police said. He stole several items, left through the same door and fled the scene on foot in the southbound direction toward Putnam Road, police said.

Police ask anyone with information to contact Officer D. Wolfburg at 860-564-7065.

Videos of brutal attacks on a man with a mental disability led to the arrests of two teenagers in Delaware.

While police suspect the attacks occurred several weeks ago, videos of the assaults made the rounds on Instagram after they were posted on Friday.

One video shows a teenager chasing after the man in front of an apartment complex. The man runs away from the teen, begging for him to leave him alone. The teen then grabs the man and body slams him to the ground as he screams out in agony. The teen then punches and kicks him in the head as his friends laugh in the background.

Two other videos show the teens attacking the same man in a wooded area. One video shows a teen once again body slamming the man to the ground as his friends laugh. The other video shows the teens punching and pushing the man to the ground.

The videos inspired a massive social media response and the clips quickly went viral.

"It's been a frenzy," said Soraya Cristan, a teenager from White Settlement, Texas.

Cristan claims the videos inspired her to create an anti-bullying campaign online.

"The tag #TheBullyProject has had over 50,000 posts," Cristan said. "People have spread the awareness all over the Internet."

Angeliz Marrero, a 16-year-old student at Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington, told NBC10 she also received a huge response after reposting the videos on her Instagram page and using #TheBullyProject hashtag. The campaign was personal for Marrero who says her brother is mentally challenged and was beaten up a few years back.

"I want something to be done to those kids so they know that's not okay and justice to be served for this man," Marrero said.

According to police, the victim is a 26-year-old man who has a neurodevelopmental disorder. He was treated and released from the hospital for injuries he suffered during the attacks.

“He loves music and is very kind and is completely harmless,” Marrero said. “He loves to be out of the house just being active walking around.”

Marrero claims the attacks took place at the Harbor Club Apartment complex on Cheswold Boulevard in Newark, Delaware, and in a wooded area behind the YMCA of Newark, Delaware.

Marrero also told NBC10 the teens shown in the video are between the ages of 14 and 15 and attend Delaware area high schools and middle schools.

Police say a 13-year-old boy and 14-year-old boy, both from Newark, Delaware arrived at New Castle County Police Headquarters on Saturday where they were arrested in connection to the attacks.

Both teens are charged with offensive touching, assault of a vulnerable adult and conspiracy. They were arraigned and released on $2,500 bail.

Police are still searching for other teens involved in the attacks. If you have any information, please call the New Castle County Police Department at 302-573-2800.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Connecticut

Naugatuck police have arrested a man they say robbed two people and brandished a fake handgun at an off-duty officer.

Police say they were dispatched to the Big Y parking lot on Bridge Street around 10:15 p.m. Saturday. The two victims reported that they were walking to their vehicles from the Dollar Store nearby when they were approached by a man in a car. The man exited his vehicle, demanded their valuables, and showed a gun. One victim told police the man put the gun to his head and demanded their ID’s when discovering they had no cash.

The victims complied with the suspect’s demands and the suspect fled, according to police. The victims then provided a description of the suspect and his vehicle.

Police say roughly 30 minutes later an officer who had just gotten off duty was driving his personal car when he noticed a vehicle matching the suspect vehicle description parked at the Express Mart Gas Station on Route 63 near Porter Ave. He noticed a male matching the suspect description fixing a flat tire on the vehicle.

The officer approached the vehicle to get a plate number and asked the man if he needed help. Police say the man then pulled out a handgun, pointed it at the officer, and said “I’m fine.”

The officer pulled away and radioed for assistance. When reinforcements arrived he was able to take the suspect into custody.

Police recovered the stolen cash and ID’s of the Big Y store victims, and also found that the suspect was carrying a fake handgun.

The suspect was identified as Michael Lopez, 30, of Waterbury, and is currently being held on a $250,000 bond. He is charged with first-degree robbery, sixth-degree larceny, breach of peace, brandishing of facsimile firearms, interfering with an officer: simple assault, and possession of weapons in a vehicle.
 

The 10-year-old nephew of a Unionville man who was murdered on a bike ride from Maryland to Florida has vowed to finish what his uncle started.

Family members say Kevin Adorno was on the second stretch of a bike ride down the East Coast from Maine to Florida and was planning to propose to his girlfriend at the end. Just 140 miles from his destination he was fatally stabbed in Vero Beach, Florida on Labor Day. In his obituary published in the Courant, Kevin Adorno is remembered as an artist and athlete with an infectious laugh. On Sunday, friends and family gathered to celebrate his memory.

Sebby Adorno was there working to raise funds to ride those last 140 miles for “Uncle Kevin.”

Sebby was selling t-shirts designed by his uncle which read “Roll hArd or Go home.” Kevin’s family says this was the philosophy he lived by – to always be passionate about what you’re doing, to put positive rage in your heart.

Sebby is also collecting donations on a GoFundMe page. His goal is to raise $5,000, which will be used to rent bicycles and cover the costs associated with organizing the ride. He invites others to join him in honoring his Uncle Kevin and will use part of the money to fund anyone who cannot afford the ride on their own.

Three Aurora men have been charged in connection with the armed robbery of a KFC restaurant Thursday that left three employees shot.

Claude Jackson, 45, of the 1100 block of Liberty Street and Joshua Scott, 26, of the 1800 block of Thornapple Way, were each charged with three counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm and single counts of armed robbery and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

Chase West, 19, of the 700 block of Columbia Street, was charged with three counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm and one count of armed robbery, police said.

Police said two males -- one armed with a rifle and the other wearing a mask -- walked into the restaurant in the 1300 block of East New York Street at around 8:30 p.m., announced a robbery, and at some point started firing shots.

Charging documents show Jackson, armed with a rifle-type firearm, and West ordered three employees to the front of the store. When Jackson discovered none of them could open the cash register, he allegedly shot each of them once, police said.

"This was brazen. It was violent. It's really a shocking, shocking crime," said Ofc. Dan Ferrelli with the Aurora Police Department.

Ferrelli said three male employees of the restaurant -- ages 17, 19 and 24 -- were hit by gunfire. A fourth female employee hid in a closet and was unharmed. The two older males took bullets to the torso and were critically wounded, although their conditions had stabilized Friday and they were expected to survive. The 17-year-old was shot in the leg.

Police say the suspects fled the scene in a Cadillac Escalade, allegedly driven by Scott, roughly eight blocks to Jackson's home, which he shares with 23-year-old Fatima Robertson.

"I have been living here 10 years, and it seems like the violence is getting to us again," nearby resident Melina Chavez said.

Officers responding to the scene recognized the robbery as similar to recent armed robberies in both Aurora and unincorporated Aurora where Robertson was allegedly looked at as a suspect and also involved the getaway vehicle, which was registered to Scott.

The three men, along with Robertson, were taken into custody within about 10 minutes of the robbery, police said in a release Sunday.

Jackson was initially released following his arrest but was later linked to the robbery and taken back into custody just before 10:30 a.m. Friday in the 2300 block of North Farnsworth Avenue.

Police said the gun believed to have been used in the robbery was located at the Liberty Street home.

Robertson was also charged late Saturday with armed robbery in connection with the holdup of an auto repair store in unincorporated Aurora on July 22 and a Mexican restaurant on Aug. 4 in the 400 block of Hinman Street in Aurora.

In both of those incidents, police allege Robertson entered stores with a male accomplice who was armed with a rifle-type weapon.

In the auto shop robbery, $2,000 was stolen and no money was taken from the restaurant after two employees working at the time locked themselves in an office. Both of the investigations are ongoing as police said they are working to identify the alleged accomplice.

Charging documents indicate Robertson, Scott and West are all on parole, police said.

Bail was set at $2 million for Robertson and Jackson and $1.5 million for Scott and West Sunday.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Connecticut

On Sunday morning, dozens of volunteers continued the search for 23-year-old Christina Morris.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Connecticut

The deputy director of D.C.'s Department of Corrections was found murdered Sunday morning in Alexandria, police said.

Carolyn Cross, deputy director for operations for the department, was found dead in the 4800 block of Kenmore Avenue in Alexandria at 8:12 a.m. Cross was 64.

Police have charged Dawit Seyoum, 29, of Alexandria, with first degree murder in the case.

"This is a punch in the gut," Thomas Faust, director of the Corrections Department, told News4's Tom Sherwood. "She's been a critical person in my agency and a dear friend.

"She was a rock, both personally and professionally to me and the department," Faust said. "She was a great lady. This is a huge loss."

Faust said that Cross had worked in corrections for more than 35 years. She was scheduled to leave Monday for a training seminar in Atlanta.

Cross had worked her way up through the corrections ranks, including serving as a warden at the Lorton complex in Virginia, Faust said. Cross had retired from the Department of Corrections but had come back as deputy when Faust took over, about three years ago.

Others in the department told News4 that they had no idea if her murder had anything to do with her job, saying that she had some contact with inmates on the job, but not on a daily basis.

Anyone with information about this incident should call the Criminal Investigations Section of the Alexandria Police Department at 703-746-6711.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Connecticut

A 40-year-old man drowned after he jumped into the Hudson River to help rescue a 6-year-old boy who fell in the water during a cookout in Yonkers Sunday, officials say.

Police say the man and several other people at a party at the JFK Marina leaped into the river after they saw the child struggling in the water shortly before 7 p.m. 

The child was safely pulled from the water and was conscious when he was taken to a local hospital, police say.

The 40-year-old man never resurfaced.The Yonkers Police Department and NYPD's Harbor unit recovered his body at around 8 p.m.

"There are a lot of heroes here tonight," said Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano. "Unfortunately one of those heroes became a victim."

Police have not released the man's name. It wasn't immediately clear if he knew the child.

A truck crash has closed Dart Hill Road at New Marker Road in South Windsor Monday morning.

A pickup truck struck a pole, causing some power outages in the area. The driver was able to get out

Power has since been restored.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

A Connecticut woman is in critical condition after she and another woman were struck by lightning in Ipswich, Massachusetts during Saturday's thunderstorms.

A 61-year-old woman from the North Grosvenordale section of Thompson, Connecticut and a 69-year-old Concord, Massachusetts woman were struck by lightning at Crane Beach. They were taken to Beverly Hospital and than transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital, NECN reported. They remained in critical condition on Sunday.

NECN reported that police found the women with "entrance and exit wounds consistent with lightning strikes." The women were swimming at the beach when the lightning strike happened, NECN reported.

Lifeguards and responders performed 20 minutes of CPR on the women because they both went into cardiac arrest and didn't have pulses, NECN reported.

The women had heartbeats by the time they got to Beverly Hospital, NECN reported.

More information will be provided when it becomes available.

A 16-month-old boy is is in critical condition after falling out of a window in New Haven Saturday afternoon.

Police and emergency personnel responded to 275 Sherman Avenue at 12:12 p.m. after the baby's 24-year-old mother called 911 to report that her child fell from the second story window at the apartment.

Emergency responders found the child lying on the ground on top of the window screen.

The baby was rushed to Yale-New Haven Pediatric Hospital for treatment.

The baby's mother, who lives on County Street in New Haven, told police that they were visiting someone who rents the apartment. A witness who saw the child at the window tried unsuccessfully to catch him. The baby was at the window pushing on the closed screen "when it gave way and released from the window casing," causing the baby to fall, police said, citing all three women's accounts of what happened.

Detectives are working with the state Department of Children and Families to investigate the case and the department's Bureau of Investigation has processed evidence at the apartment.

The investigation is ongoing. Charges have not been filed at this time.

More information will be provided when it becomes available.

Milford firefighters remain at a recycling plant on Old Gate Lane hours after the fire that began at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Old Gate Lane remains closed.

Crews battled a fire on Sunday between Waste Conversion Technologies and Lowe's at 221 Old Gate Lane that spread to become a brush fire, News 12 reported.

More information was not immediately available.

Naugatuck police arrested a man accused of pulling a knife and threatening someone who owed him money.

Police officers responded to a robbery report at 20 School Street just after 2 p.m. on Sunday and said Johnathon Peay, 29, of Naugatuck, pulled a knife while arguing with someone who owed him money and demanded the victim pay. 

Peay threw the knife into the woods before police arrived, but a K9 unit was able to find the folding knife and Peay was charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree threatening, carrying dangerous weapons, breach of peace and interfering with an officer, police said.

He was held on a $50,000 surety bond and is due in Waterbury Superior Court on Sept. 8.
 

A 38-year-old East Hartford man is in critical condition after he was shot in Springfield, Massachusetts on Sunday.

Police responded to the Overlook Drive and Island Pond Road intersection in Springfield at 4:55 a.m. on Sunday to investigate a report of a man lying on the ground next to a tan 2006 Cadillac sedan registered in Connecticut, police said. 

Police arrived to find a 38-year-old East Hartford man suffering from a gunshot wound and paramedics were on scene administering first aid.

He was transported to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit of an area hospital and was still in critical condition on Monday.

Police have not released the name of the victim.

Someone driving by saw the man and initially though the victim had pulled over to fix his car and called 911 when he drove by again and noticed that the man was "seriously hurt," the motorist told police.

Detectives are working to retrace the victim's steps before the shooting and continue to investigate the incident.

Springfield police ask anyone with information about the shooting to contact the Detective Bureau at 413-787-6355 or send an anonymous "Text-a-Tip."

Hamden police have arrested two men accused of breaking into a guitar shop in July and stealing thousands of dollars worth of instruments.

When police responded to a burglary alarm at Brian’s Guitars at 3000 Whitney Avenue on July 28, they found the glass front door was completely shattered and several guitars worth thousands of dollars were stolen, police said.

Surveillance footage shows at least three masked people burglarizing the store, according to police.

Police obtained arrest warrants for Brett Harrison, 21, of Cheshire, and Sean Victory, 19, of Cheshire. On Sept. 5, they turned themselves in to police custody.

Harrison and Victory were each charged with second-degree burglary and first-degree larceny.

The two had been previously charged in New York after allegedly trying to sell the stolen instruments at a music store in Carle Place.

Harrison is scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on Sept. 18.

Victory was released after posting a $100,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on Sept. 17.