Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 01.23.25| Tennessee Homeowner Shoots at Family Sledding "On His Property"

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

Homeowner fires shots feet away from a toddler, claiming family of 6 is trespassing. Disney employee in charge of restaurant menus sentenced for revenge destruction.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. A Tennessee family of six grabs sledding gear to enjoy the snow. Suddenly, they hear gunshots and see a man seemingly shooting directly at them from his backyard. The parents scream for him to stop as bullets cause snow to fly up just feet away from their one-year-old boy. Benjamin Cook insists the family's on his property and fires several more shots as the family runs for it. Nancy, the family immediately calls police when they make it to safety. Neighbors show officers photos of Cook carrying a black rifle in the same snow gear he answers his front door in. Cook confirms he did

fire shots at the family, reiterating that they were on his property. Though the property line is not the legal issue here, investigation reveals the family was not on Cook's property before Cook is carted off to jail. Benjamin Cook, 56, now charged with six counts, ag assault. Michael Shewer, furious when Disney removes his job duty, the task of creating menus for park restaurants. Shewer discovers his passwords still work, so he makes several edits to every menu, changing the font to wingdings, made up symbols, add profanity, and marks dishes containing peanuts as being allergen safe. Shewer also accesses employees' personal info and eggs one of the employees' homes. Shewer pleads guilty to multiple charges in hopes of a more favorable sentence

than the maximum 10 years and thousands in fines. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. In Tennessee, sentencing for five former Memphis police officers convicted in federal court for their role in the beating death of Tyree Nichols has been delayed until after their state trial in April. U.S. District Judge Mark Norris has scheduled sentencing to begin the week of June 16th. The officers, Tadarius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmett Martin, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith are also facing state charges, including second-degree murder, for the January 2023

traffic stop that ended in Nichols' fatal beating. Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, died three days after being repeatedly punched, kicked, and hit with a baton near his home. Police video showed him calling out for his mother as the officers ignored his injuries. Two of the officers, Martin and Mills, have already pleaded guilty to federal charges. The other three were convicted of tampering with evidence related to covering up the incident. All five officers were members of the now disbanded Scorpion Unit, a controversial crime suppression team disbanded after Nichols' death. The killing sparked nationwide protest and renewed demands for police reform.

A federal investigation into the Memphis Police Department found a pattern of excessive force and discrimination against black residents. In a case that has lingered for nearly five decades, a retired minister from Georgia has been acquitted of charges in connection with the 1975 death of eight-year-old Gretchen Harrington. As Crime Online's Sydney Sumner tells us, the jury deliberated for just one hour following a four-day trial. 84-year-old David Zanstra, a retired minister from Marietta, Georgia, was found not guilty of the kidnapping and murder of Gretchen Harrington. The girl disappeared in August 1975 while walking alone to Bible Camp

at a chapel where Zanstra served as pastor. Her body was discovered two months later in Ridley Creek State Park in Pennsylvania. Zanstra had been accused of offering Harrington a ride before she vanished. Prosecutors claim Zanstra confessed to the crime following new investigative leads. However, Zanstra's defense team argued that the confession was coerced, with no physical evidence linking him to the crime. After a brief deliberation, the jury sided with the defense. Zanstra, who had spent 18 months in custody, was acquitted and returned to his family. In the wake of Harrington's disappearance, authorities launched a massive search effort,

including distributing thousands of flyers and setting up a hotline. When her remains were found, the unsettling details included clothing found in a neat pile near her body, with her underwear hanging from a tree branch. David Sanstra's acquittal brings an end to a long chapter in a case that has remained in the public consciousness for decades. Thanks, John. James Solak makes his dream of traveling across the country on bicycle a reality. His latest cross-country ride from Saginaw, Michigan to Reading, Pennsylvania. He spends the winter exploring Pennsylvania and sets out for Surf City, North Carolina, April 1. April 8, he sends a text to family saying he

accidentally left his backpack on the side of the road while changing a tire. When he went back for it, it was gone. His money, ID, and maps were inside. He never makes it to Surf City. His phone stops pinging after the last text from Clarksville, Maryland. James Solak, 59, 5'11", 165 pounds, gray hair, blue eyes, usually with mustache and goatee. He has the name Helen tattooed on his upper left arm. If you have info on James Solak, please call Central Berks, Pennsylvania, PD, 610-779-1100. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. And please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace.

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