Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Florida Woman Allegedly Tried to ‘Rip’ Victim’s Face Off for Touching Thermostat

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

A Florida woman was arrested after her alleged victim claimed she tried to “rip her face off” for changing the temperature on a thermostat. Palm Beach County authorities said Breiland Springer allegedly came up behind the woman and grabbed her by the face in a rage. The Law&Crime Network’s Angenette Levy breaks down the shocking attack in this episode of “Crime Fix,” a daily show that covers the day’s trending true crime stories.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. A Florida woman in jail accused of attacking a senior citizen as she tried to adjust the thermostat at her home in Palm Beach County. It's Florida. So adjusting the thermostat is something people probably do at least twice a day. And this allegation takes a disagreement about room temperature to an entirely different level. Back on November 2nd, a sheriff's deputy went to the home of a woman who's over the age of 65 after she called 911. The deputy said the woman claimed 31-year-old Breland Springer, quote, tried to rip my face off. The deputy noted he didn't see any visible injuries on the woman's face or neck. Springer was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on a felony charge

of domestic battery. Springer claimed the woman made up the attack. The accuser invoked Florida's Sunshine State victim protection statute, so a lot of the details about this incident are blacked out on those records. I'm Antoinette Levy. It's Monday and this is Crime Fix, law and crimes rundown of the biggest stories in crime. Next up, another school employee charged with sex crimes involving a student. We've had a long string of these lately. Delaware State Police say 21-year-old Emma Brewington, a paraprofessional working at a high school, sent explicit photos to a 16-year-old Emma Brewington, a paraprofessional working at a high school, sent explicit photos to a 16-year-old student.

Police say the two had been communicating online since September. When the 16-year-old's parents found out, they reported Brewington to school officials, which is when detectives found the photos on the student's phone. Brewington turned herself in and was released on her own recognizance. She's charged with giving obscene material to a person under 18, which is a felony. A man in Orange County, Florida, faces felony charges after the body of a missing mother of four was found over the weekend in a storage unit. Her estranged husband is now the prime suspect. The crime scene is going to be that storage facility. That's where the homicide happened. The search for Shakira Rucker spanned four counties. Rucker was last seen with

her estranged husband, Corey Hill, on Veterans Day. On Saturday, members of law enforcement had wrapped up a search for Rucker when they got a 911 call. Shortly before 5 p.m., we received a 911 call from a storage unit facility on 2400 Wiggins Road in Apopka about a smell emanating from one of the storage units. Orange County deputies responded. They were able to make entry into the storage unit and they found a woman believed to be Shakira Rucker, a deceased from apparent gunshot wounds. The sheriff says Corey Hill rented the storage unit and he will be charged with Rucker's murder and it wasn't hard for deputies to find Hill. He was already in jail facing four counts of attempted murder, accused of shooting a gun at his girlfriend and his family the day after Rucker disappeared. Hill is being held without bail. Now to a story out of South Carolina that will make your jaw drop.

A 21-year-old man with apparently powerful connections gets out of prison where he was serving time in connection to alleged sexual assaults after serving just 483 days behind bars. Bowen Turner had been accused of raping three teenage girls in 2018 and 2019. He faced sexual misconduct charges, but pleaded guilty to lesser charges of first-degree assault and battery. One of the accusers, Dallas Stoller, died by suicide following bullying she endured after coming forward, according to a report by Fox News Digital, Turner's father is an investigator for a local prosecutor's office in South Carolina. Whether

that played a role in his release isn't completely clear, but Turner was released a day after the sad anniversary of Stoller's death. His release date was also on his father's birthday. An update to another big story involving claims of sexual assault. Sean Diddy Combs settled that explosive lawsuit filed by his ex Cassie just a day after she filed it. Cassie claimed in that suit that Combs subjected her to years and years of sexual and physical abuse when they were together, along with intimidation. The suit was filed Thursday, and then late Friday night, hours after we told you about the suit here on Crime Fix, Cassie Ventura's lawyers sent an email announcing the settlement with statements from Cassie and Combs. Cassie's statement said, I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have

some level of control. I want to thank my family, fans, and lawyers for their unwavering support. But Combs' lawyer didn't seem happy with those statements and sent out another on Saturday saying his settling the suit doesn't mean what Cassie claimed was true. Ben Brafman wrote, just so we're clear, a decision to settle a lawsuit, especially in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing. The 2023 reference is clearly a reference to the Me Too movement and critics saying some allegations have been made up for financial gain. Combs then said he wishes Ms. Ventura the best. There's no information out there about the terms of the settlement and how much Combs paid Cassie or whether he paid her at all. It's unclear whether Combs could face criminal charges for the allegations. Then-Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law in 2019 that extended the statute of limitations in New York

to 20 years or second degree rape. Now to a disturbing story about allegations of sexual assault. This one in upstate New York. Remember that man who was accused of kidnapping a nine-year-old girl, hiding her in a cabinet in his camper and then demanding ransom? He is now accused of raping that little girl. Police had searched frantically for the missing nine-year-old last month after she vanished while riding her bike. Detectives identified Craig Ross Jr. as the suspect

after an officer watched him stuff a ransom note in the mailbox of the child's home. Police said that note contained a fingerprint from Ross, who has prior arrests for DWI and domestic violence. A tactical team raided Ross's camper behind his mother's trailer and found the girl in a cabinet. Ross pleaded not guilty to those charges in court last Friday. He remains in jail awaiting trial. Court is over for a man who groped a woman on a United Airlines flight from Denver to New Jersey back in 2021. A federal judge sentenced 30-year-old New Yorker Ryan Manuela to two years in prison. According to a criminal complaint, Manuela moved from seat to seat during the flight, even rummaging through people's bags while they were in the bathroom.

The complaint says he moved over to a middle seat and touched the woman sitting by the window on her groin. Nick. The woman stood up and yelled for a flight attendant who moved Manuela to a new seat until the plane landed in Newark. That's when he was arrested. Manuel pleaded guilty last month. Wrestler Hulk Hogan's son Nick is out on bond after he's accused of driving drunk in Florida. Records for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office show Nick Hogan, whose legal name is Nicholas Bollea, was arrested around 4 a.m. on Saturday in Clearwater.

The arrest is making headlines because of another crash he was involved in, also in Clearwater back in 2007. Nick, who was 17 at the time, was driving with a friend, John Graziano, when he wrecked. Graziano suffered a serious brain injury in that crash. Nick ended up pleading no contest to reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. He spent eight months in jail. The Graziano family sued and the party settled out of court. In Texas, a jury found a man guilty of murdering another man in front of his young daughter in the parking lot of a Dave & Buster's. Miguel Vasquez took his 10-year-old daughter to the arcade and entertainment center on Easter Sunday back in 2021. Police say Nicholas Thomas robbed Vasquez, demanding his watch

and then putting him in a chokehold before shooting him in front of that little girl. Police had released a sketch of the suspect and surveillance footage from the business that showed the suspect both arriving and leaving as they tried to ID the perp. Eventually, they did. A jury found Thomas guilty on Friday in a second trial. The first trial earlier this month ended in a hung jury. And there's a really strange fact about this case. Police in Houston actually had the gun that killed Vasquez in their possession, but they didn't know it at the time. They'd been called to Thomas's house days after Vasquez's murder because a three-year-old boy there had accidentally shot

himself with a gun that turned out to be the murder weapon. Thankfully, that little boy survived. Thomas was sentenced to life in prison on Friday. And we have another story out of Texas involving murder, and this one is pretty shocking as well. There was a teenage girl who was the subject of an Amber Alert in September. Well, now she's accused of killing a man the month prior in August. A Dallas County grand jury indicted Natalie Navarro on a capital murder charge. The indictment says she shot Arturo Pena while she was trying to steal from him. Investigators believe Navarro and Pena met online and Navarro planned to rob Pena with a male accomplice identified as Yordi Martinez. Garland Texas police officers found the victim in a car and say he had been shot to death.

When investigators identified Navarro as the suspect, they put out an Amber Alert for her. She was reportedly found near the Mexican border. At the time of this recording, police are still looking for Yorty Martinez. We'll let you know if they catch up with him. Investigators in Gary, Indiana say they know what happened inside a home when a two-year-old was shot to death. They actually believe the child's three-year-old brother shot him. The mother of the children told police that she left a gun in her purse in a bedroom. When she left the room, the three-year-old got a hold of the gun and accidentally pulled the trigger. The toddler died from his injuries.

There's no word yet on whether the mother will face any charges in this case, but if she does, we'll let you know. And finally, a Walmart employee in Tulsa, Oklahoma faces charges after she's accused of threatening to shoot a coworker. Police responded to the Walmart around 7.40 in the morning and found Adrian Edwards in her car near the front of the store. A loaded pistol was also found in that car. Store staff reported that there were multiple witnesses who heard Edwards say she would shoot another employee.

Edwards told police she had been recently disciplined for quote, being mouthy. She was arrested for threatening a violent act. And that's it for Crime Fix on this Monday, November 20th of 2023. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with us. I'll see you tomorrow.