Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 11.03.23

Episode Date: November 3, 2023

Hit-and-run killer drives with body on car for 2 miles. Driver lucky to be alive after bullet knocks his glasses off.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. Franklin Mendez gets in a car accident. After the other driver leaves, Mendez hangs around to take pictures of his car's damage. A gray Honda Civic speeds past, hits Mendez. His body gets lodged in the Civic's windshield.

The Civic drives two miles. Then the driver calmly gets out and dislodges his body. The driver smokes a cigarette, gets back in his car, and drives off. Nancy, after hitting Mendez, the Civic went into a residential area and a homeowner's doorbell camera captured the unidentified suspect dislodging Mendez's body from the car and dragging him into a ditch. When passersby discovered Mendez, he was naked from the waist down. Locals believe the suspect knew the area well as he spent so much time at the scene. Maryland cops still looking for the hit-and-run killer and asked the public to help locate the gray Honda Civic damaged to the passenger side bumper and a shattered windshield.

A Memphis driver lucky to be alive after getting in the middle of a drive-by shooting. The driver headed down Poplar Avenue when he hears what he thinks is a car backfiring. He notices his glasses are not on his face. Then he spots a bullet hole in his windshield. The driver pulls into a parking lot, finds the bullet went straight through the car, knocking off his glasses and shattering his back window. Wow. He still says the whole incident is a blur.

More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. We begin in Massachusetts as the district attorney for Essex County is reporting that police have made an arrest in connection with the shooting death of an 18-year-old student at Salem State University. We hear more now from Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. 18-year-old Misael Pena Canela of Salem has been charged with murder in relation to Carl Belliard's shooting death. Canela was arraigned in Salem District Court after being taken into custody by Salem police detectives. It was around

1.24 in the morning on Wednesday, according to Salem police, that they received a 911 call reporting a shooting. They discovered Belliard with gunshot wounds inside a car. The victim was later declared dead at a Salem hospital. According to a preliminary assessment, the shooting did not seem to be a random act of violence, this according to police statements. Officers say that the investigation is, quote, active and ongoing, but that the Salem State University community doesn't seem to be under any continuous threat. Belliard played varsity boys basketball for Worcester North High School. The city's mayor, Joseph Petty, recognized the team members back in May for their victory in the Division I state championship.

The city of Salem was packed with people for its yearly Halloween festivities when the shooting occurred. A divided Alabama Supreme Court has now ruled that the state may use nitrogen gas to kill a prisoner, a technique never before employed to carry out a death sentence. Kenneth Eugene Smith's execution warrant request was granted by the court, voting 6-2 in favor of the state attorney general, who stated in court documents that the state plans to execute Smith using nitrogen, even though the ruling did not specify this technique. Governor Kay Ivey will determine the precise day of the execution at a later date. Now to New York, where Attorney General Letitia James says that ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft will pay a total of $328 million to resolve wage

theft charges in the state. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. According to James, the agreements put an end to questions into the company's wrongful billing of driver sales taxes and other expenses when the consumers were supposed to bear the cost. Uber is going to pay $290 million and Lyft $38 million. James says both present and retired drivers will receive the payouts. The companies have also committed to paying a minimum wage of $26 per hour to drivers who work outside of New York City and to give paid sick leave. In recent years, Uber and Lyft have become commonplace in New York, substantially replacing the city's recognizable yellow taxi cabs with the user-friendly ride-hailing applications. In addition to refusing to provide drivers with the most basic benefits and labor safeguards, the corporations have been sluggish to adapt to the laws that control taxi services in places like New York.

James says the New York Taxi Workers Alliance brought the wage theft complaints to her office. Teen sisters Tamara and Iris Perez moved to Michigan with their adoptive parents after repeat harassment by their bio mom. The girls settle in over the summer, enjoy walks around a wooded area near the new home. One day, the girls go for one of their walks and never return. A neighbor reports watching the teens head. One day, the girls go for one of their walks and never return. A neighbor reports watching the teens head into the woods, then seeing a white Jeep Cherokee leaving shortly after. The FBI believes Tamara and Iris were taken. They're investigating whether their bio family may be involved. No one has heard from the two girls since they disappeared now over four months.

They have ties to Port St. Lucie and Lake Worth, Florida and Winchester, Tennessee. If you have info on Tamara and Iris Perez, 15 and 14, contact Ross Common County Sheriff's 989-275-5101. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.