Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 02.21.23

Episode Date: February 21, 2023

Substitute teacher goads students into fighting. Scammers target elderly victims for identity theft. 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. Edson Arola hired as a substitute teacher at an Idaho middle school. When an argument breaks out between students, the 20-year-old encourages them to fight after school. Arola gets a 10-second timer and tells the students to duke it out. The video then shared with students and ultimately online. Crime Online's John Limley. Nancy, a campus police officer noticed video of one of the fights playing on a student's phone

and secured their statement on what happened, passing it on to the Caldwell Police Department who interviewed the students involved and their parents before issuing an arrest warrant for Ariello, who is now barred from teaching in the Caldwell School District and from contacting any students. Ariello now charged with injury to a child, encouraging a minor to fight, and inciting a riot. Valerie Caleb and Jennifer Haydu steal mail, checkbooks, identity documents from elderly victims to create false IDs. They open bank accounts and credit cards in the victims' names, charging up over $150,000. Caleb and Heydo used cash transfer apps to pull money out of their victims' existing bank accounts.

The pair stole a Habitat for Humanity volunteer's identity and defrauded the organization of $10,000. Habitat for Humanity said that the theft will not prevent the organization from meeting their goals, but they regret that the volunteer is still dealing with the fallout of identity theft. Caleb, 42, and Heydo, 33, now charged with conspiracy, fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. A shooting during a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans has killed one person, wounded four, and sent panicked families running for cover. New Orleans police say one suspect was taken into custody shortly after the shooting Sunday night.

The victims were three males and two females, including one child. Police say all five were taken to the hospital, where one of the male victims was pronounced dead. The other four victims were hospitalized but stable Monday. The shooting happened during the Crew of Bacchus parade in a neighborhood outside the tourist pact French Quarter. New Orleans Police Chief Deputy Superintendent Hans Gontier. We don't know what happened prior to that, but we did hear gunshots and officers responded,

as well as the other agencies, very quickly. And we're able to find two weapons on scene and also apprehend what we believe to be a shooter. Whether he's the sole shooter or not, we will determine through investigation. The route was filled with families with young children enjoying the parade when they heard the gunshots. Chaos ensued as people ran, took cover, and tried to protect their children. The parade was temporarily halted after the shooting. A Catholic bishop in Southern California has been shot and killed just blocks from a church. A slaying of a longtime priest hailed as a peacemaker that stunned the Los Angeles

religious community. Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. Detectives are investigating the death of Bishop David O'Connell as a homicide. Authorities have not said whether the bishop was targeted or if his religion was a factor in the killing. The Sheriff's Department would not say how or specifically where his body was discovered. The shooter, or shooters, remain at large. 69-year-old O'Connell had been a priest for 45 years and was a native of Ireland. Pope Francis had named him one of the several auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest in the country, in 2015. O'Connell worked in South

Los Angeles for years and focused on gang intervention. He later sought to broker peace between residents and law enforcement following the violent 1992 uprising after a jury acquitted four white L.A. police officers in the beating of Rodney King, a black man. A man is facing murder and other charges in the death of a Temple University police officer shot and killed near campus Saturday night. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office says 18-year-old Miles Pfeffer will face charges of murder, murder of a law enforcement officer, robbery, carjacking, and weapons crimes in the death of Officer Christopher Fitzgerald,

who prosecutors say was shot in the head while responding to an incident near campus. The Bucks County District Attorney's Office says Pfeffer was taken into custody shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday by Buckingham Township and Philadelphia Police, as well as state police and federal marshals. Temple University officials say Fitzgerald had been on the university police force since October 2021. A Montana man has been convicted on federal hate crime and firearm charges after prosecutors say he threatened a woman with violent, homophobic slurs and fired at her house with an AK-47 rifle as part of an alleged mission to rid a small town of its lesbian and gay community. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. John Russell Howell was found guilty following a four-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge

Brian Morris and Helena. Defense attorney Colin Stevens says that an appeal is planned. Prosecutors said Howell attempted to kill the woman in the small town of Basin in March 2020 when he walked up to her house and shot into it. Howell allegedly said he wanted to, quote, get rid of the lesbians and gays in the town and was armed with three rifles and two pistols. Howell's defense team disagrees with the verdict and looks forward to representing him on appeal. Howell faces a maximum of life in prison on the hate crime charge. Sentencing is scheduled for June 15th.

Lakota Hawks points a laser into the eyes of a Nebraska cop. Harmless, right? Wrong. The laser Hawks is using is 10,000 times stronger than an average pointer. The beam's strong enough to start fires. The officer left with spots in his vision, eye pain, and severe headaches. Hawks pled no contest to the misdemeanor charge, getting 10 days of jail time and two years of probation. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com.

With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.