• Video of Florida girls fighting goes viral, outrages parents

    By Andrew Mach, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A video of a fight between two young girls in Tampa, Fla., has outraged parents and law enforcement officials.


    Viewed thousands of times since it was posted to Facebook, the video shows a 7-year-old girl knocking a 6-year-old girl off an air conditioning unit, and then beating her on the ground, while being encouraged by her older sister. The date the video was taken is unclear.

    Authorities got involved after a woman in Georgia saw the video online and alerted police, NBC affiliate WFLA in Tampa reported.

    “I think anybody that would see this would be shocked,” Tampa Police Major Brian Dugan told WFLA. “The behavior of the 7-year-old and the 14-year-old to encourage this, and it’s wrong.”

    The two girls are friends, WFLA reported, and they regularly spend the night at each other’s homes, which is why the father of the 7-year-old says he was stunned and angered by the video.  

    “I couldn’t watch no more, especially when I heard the child say leave me alone, stop, stop, stop,” the father told WFLA, adding that he immediately punished his 7-year-old daughter and is still upset at his 14-year-old daughter. “I am disappointed in her. She made a mistake. I can't hold it against her ... but to me she made a big mistake to the point I am still mad at her."

    The 6-year-old’s mother told the station she didn’t plan to press charges, but the state attorney’s office has taken over the case. The teenage girl does not have a criminal past, and police say she may go through a counseling program as a result of the incident, WFLA reported. 

    The father of the girls said he hope hopes his daughters learned a lesson.

    "That won't happen again, you can believe that, you can believe that won't happen again, and I apologize to the parent. It just happens it is a messed up situation,” he told WFLA. 

    Meanwhile, Tampa police say they don't know who posted the video to Facebook but are trying to figure out how to stop people from viewing the it online, WFLA reported. 

    “We have reached out to Facebook and asked them to remove the video,” Dugan said.

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    at least it sounds like the parents give a sh.t.

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  • Man accused of swallowing cousin's ear lobe during drunken brawl

    Stamford Police Dept.

    A booking image of Emilio Mendoza, 27, of Stamford, Conn., who is accused of biting off his cousin's earlobe during a fight.

    By Andrew Mach, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A drunken brawl ended in quasi-cannibalism, according to Connecticut authorities.

    Police said a man in Stamford, Conn., bit off his cousin’s ear lobe and swallowed it during a fight over loud music on Monday.

    Emilio Mendoza, 27, was charged with first-degree assault, interfering with police, forgery and disorderly conduct early Monday in connection with the attack on his cousin, Ruiz Clemente-Perez, 29, the Stamford-Advocate reported.

    Clemente-Perez told police that Mendoza started playing loud music sometime around midnight. When he told Mendoza to turn it down because he had to work in the morning, Mendoza began punching Clemente-Perez in the head.

    During the fight, Mendoza allegedly bit Clemente-Perez’s left ear and tore off part of his ear lobe, Stamford Police Sgt. Richard Barbagallo told the Advocate. Mendoza, who was intoxicated at the time, told police he then swallowed the ear lobe.


    When police responded to the call at 12:56 a.m. Monday, the apartment “was a pretty bloody scene,” Stamford Police Lt., Diedrich Hohn told the Advocate.

    Mendoza said Clemente-Perez punched him first, Barbagallo said.

    Upon being treated and released from Stamford Hospital, Clemente-Perez, who also suffered a broken nose and fractured eye socket, was charged with third-degree assault.

    Mendoza, who showed police fake identification when he was booked at police headquarters Monday, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. 

  • Arizona prison battle: Unit put on lockdown after 200 inmates fight

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    About 200 inmates at an Arizona prison fought each other for up to a half hour Thursday, injuring several inmates and a guard, correction officials said.

    A joint report by NBC station KPNX and The Arizona Republic said that the fight meant a unit at Arizona State Prison Complex-Tucson would be on lockdown for several days while authorities investigate, according to officials.


    The fight broke out at 5:30 p.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET) in the Santa Rita Unit yard, Bill Lamoreaux, an Arizona Corrections spokesman said, according to the report. Tactical Support Unit teams and prison personnel regained control of the yard within a half hour.

    Reuters reported that officers secured the yard without the use of force. 

    The prison staff member who was hurt suffered an injury to the ribcage, Lamoreaux added.

    The prison complex has 5,150 beds, while the Santa Rita Unit has 768 beds, 727 of which were occupied Thursday.

    13 inmates hurt, shots fired during 'New Folsom' prison riot

    On Wednesday, a prisoner was shot and injured and 12 others were hurt when 60 inmates rioted at California State Prison-Sacramento – known as "New Folsom." 

    Thirteen people were stabbed, shot or injured in a prison riot in Folsom, Calif., sparked by a dueling group of inmates. KCRA's Mike TeSelle reports.

    Guards fired six bullets from a rifle and blast dispersion rounds during their efforts to stop the fighting.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • American Eagle flight attendants' argument causes 4-hour delay at JFK

    By NBC News staff

    UPDATED: 4:30 p.m. ET: An American Eagle flight out of Kennedy Airport was delayed nearly four hours after two flight attendants got into a verbal altercation on the plane, forcing the cockpit crew to turn the plane around and head back to the gate, passengers tell NBC 4 New York. 

    American Eagle Flight 3823 to Washington, D.C., was scheduled to leave New York City at 3:10 p.m. Wednesday. The plane started to roll away from the gate when two female flight attendants began to argue, witnesses said.

    Read more on this story at NBCNewYork.com

    It got so heated the cockpit crew was alerted, and they ultimately made the decision to turn the plane around and head back to the gate. 

    "We were informed we were going back to the gate because the flight attendants couldn't work with each other," said Dan Alexander, a passenger.

    "I find it hard to believe the flight attendants couldn't work with each other for an hour," he added, noting the approximate flight time from New York to Washington.

    Passengers had to wait approximately four hours while the airline searched for a replacement flight crew. When they finally landed in D.C., passengers were still annoyed.

    "It was incredible, totally unbelievable that there was such little professionalism between these women," said Marge Lopez. 

    Karen Grantham said it was "ridiculous" that the flight attendants became upset.

    "Doesn't anyone teach good customer service anymore?" she asked. "You have to be thick-skinned to be in customer service. It just happens, you can't let this get the best of you."

    An airline spokesperson told NBC News that the two flight attendants would be meeting with their manager on Thursday to determine what will happen next.

    A statement from the company, sent to NBC News, said: "There was a disagreement between two flight attendants Wednesday afternoon prior to the departure of American Eagle flight 3823 from New York JFK to Washington Reagan. The aircraft returned to the gate to switch flight attendant crews, and the flight departed a short while later. We're looking into the matter."

    The airline has already been dealing with scheduling problems and delays. It said it was forced to cancel 300 flights this week because a high number of pilots were calling out sick and crews were filing more maintenance reports.

    Travel writers are warning passengers to avoid American as the airline struggles with delays, and are now making plans to cut their scheduled flights by 1 to 2 percent through October. NBC's Tom Costello reports.

    AMR Corp., which owns American Airlines and American Eagle, said Wednesday that it canceled the flights in advance to avoid inconveniencing passengers.

    Earlier this week, American said it would cut its schedule through the end of October by up to 2 percent.

    American Airlines flight attendants accept contract offer

    The Wall Street Journal's veteran travel reporter, Scott McCartney, on Tuesday told travelers to avoid the carrier because "American's operation is in shambles."

    McCartney said American Airlines is too unreliable because of trouble with the pilots union.

    Denny Kelly, an aviation expert and former pilot, told NBC DFW he agreed that travelers should avoid the Fort Worth-based airline.

    "If you're going to fly a trip from Dallas to someplace and you have a choice, and you have to be there on time or within a reasonable amount of time ... why take a chance on American?" he said. "Why take a chance on [if] a flight's going to be delayed or canceled? Go on somebody else that doesn't have that problem."

    More in Overhead Bin

     

     

  • Road-rage victim arrested, CHP confirms

    View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

     

    By Olsen Ebright, Vikki Vargas, NBCLosAngeles.com

    LOS ANGELES -- Jerry Patterson, the Palmdale man who was thrown to the ground and kicked in the head during a freeway fight recently captured on video, has been arrested on an outstanding warrant stemming from an earlier roadside confrontation, according to the California Highway Patrol.

    The 49-year-old man failed to appear in court for a June 6 arraignment.

    His bond was forfeited and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Chet L. Taylor issued a bench warrant for $50,000.

    Patterson was arrested Thursday morning in Altadena and was scheduled to be booked at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station, according to the CHP.

    CHP confirmed Patterson was involved both in a May 25 confrontation and the highly publicized June 12 road-rage incident on the side of the 5 Freeway at Seventh Street in Los Angeles.

    Patterson has not responded to NBC4's request for comment, but his sister -- in a phone interview -- told NBC4 that her brother is "a very good guy. We support him 300 percent."

    "These two incidents are isolated," she said. "He's a good guy. He helps dogs and senior citizens. We don't know what is happening. Maybe he's just having a bad month. He's a good man."

    Read the original story on NBCLosAngeles.com

    Video published recently online showed Patterson stopped along the southbound 5 Freeway, shouting with three other men on June 12. The altercation turned violent, and two of the men beat Patterson until he was motionless on the ground.

    In an interview Wednesday, Patterson acknowledged he accidentally cut off the other vehicle, eventually leading to the road-rage confrontation. He also told NBC4 he suffered a concussion as a result of the incident, which garnered mainstream attention following multiple news reports.

    Suspects Edras Ramirez, 27, and David Mendez, 21, later turned themselves in and are scheduled for arraignment on Friday.

    Patterson's arrest on Thursday stems from an outstanding warrant from an earlier incident, according to the CHP.

    Following a hit-and-run collision May 25 at Corona Avenue and the Toledo in Long Beach, witness James Poole said he followed Patterson to the 200 block of La Verne.

    Patterson pulled over and the two began arguing, said Poole of Belmont Shore.

    "I wouldn't let him get back in his car. First I demanded his driver license number and a lot of people started seeing us yelling and screaming at each other. I was looking at his driver license when he hit me," Poole said.

    Poole said he walked away from the altercation with two black eyes.

    "The three things I do recall he said during our discussion was the fact that he saved millions of Americans' live, he's on a mission with the FBI, and to let him go," Poole said.

    Patterson was booked on suspicion of DUI, hit and run and battery, according to the full police report.

    Poole told NBC4 he went to court on June 5 expecting to see Patterson, but he didn't show, which led to a warrant for failing to appear in court.

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  • Girl, 11, dies within hours of after-school fight

    Joanna Ramos, 11, died hours after exchanging punches with a classmate. The two girls were reportedly fighting over a boy. KNBC-TV's Angie Crouch reports.

     

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The two 11-year-old girls had planned their after-school fight. When the time came, a few shoves and punches were exchanged, and it was over within a minute. But hours later one of them was dead.

    The Los Angeles County coroner's office was investigating how Joanna Ramos could leave the alley near her Long Beach elementary school with a bloody nose and end up dying in an intensive care unit.

    The cause of death, and the circumstances behind it left family, friends and authorities confused and seeking answers.

    "I personally don't hear of 11-year-old fights like this, especially girls. I can't say they never happen but I think everyone was completely caught off-guard by this event." police spokeswoman Nancy Pratt said Sunday.

    Pratt urged caution about linking the fight to the girl's death with certainty until a coroner's report is released. Police, who have interviewed the other girl involved in the fight, were investigating and said that no arrests are immediately planned.

    Ramos, returned to the after-school program after the fight and some time later vomited, the girl's aunt Patricia Catalan, told the Press-Telegraph newspaper at a memorial in the elementary school.

    The girl's mother was called when she wasn't feeling well.

    "My daughter started complaining, saying she doesn't feel good, let's go home, so we went to home and I changed her clothes, and she go to sleep, that's the only thing that I know," Joanna's mother, Cecilia Villanueva told KNBC-TV. "We took her to the hospital but it was too late. She was in a coma."

    Ramos died at a hospital at 9 p.m. Friday, about six hours after the fight near Willard Elementary, police said. Authorities have not released the girl's name but Villanueva told KNBC the girl who died was her daughter, Joanna.

    "I want to know what happened," she said through tears.

    'They started hitting each other'
    Stephanie Guadalupe, a friend of Joanna, said the girls were fighting over a boy.

    "I told the teacher and she said she would talk to all the girls on Monday," Guadalupe said.

    "They took off their backpacks, and they put their hair in a bun, and then that's when they said 'go' and that's when they started hitting each other," Joanna's friend and classmate Maggie Martinez, who watched the fight, told KNBC.

    Martinez and other friends said they tried to stop the fight, but were held back by boys who were watching and wanted it to continue.

    "There are times when words do not convey the sense of sadness we feel," Mayor Bob Foster said at a press conference. "This is one of those times."

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    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

     

  • Man arrested after alleged 'fight' in front of Disney ride

    We had a weird day at Disneyland...Fiiiiight!!!

    By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

    A man was arrested over the weekend after allegedly attacking workers in front of the Tower of Terror ride at Disney's California Adventure Park in Anaheim.

    In a YouTube video of the encounter, the man is seen flailing at a security employee and struggling to keep his balance outside the ride. Another employee, dressed in the Tower of Terror bellhop uniform, can be seen asking the crowd to "back up."

    A woman is heard in the video shouting, "You're in Disneyland ...  there are kids here." It was posted on the video sharing site with a caption that reads, "We had a weird day at Disneyland...Fiiiiight!!!"

    Police responded to the park at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday to find patrons holding the man down on the ground, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

    The suspect was identified as 53-year-old Glenn Horlacher. He was arrested on charges of battery and assault, and released from jail Saturday night, according to NBCLosAngeles.com.

    A security guard was treated for minor injuries.

    "Our security cast member was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for the injuries he sustained and then released," according to a statement released by the park on Monday. "We appreciate the actions of the guests who came to his aid during this uncharacteristic incident."

    Investigators were attempting to determine what prompted the altercation, which park officials described as a "very unusual occurrence."

    Park officials would not, however, quantify how often park visitors are arrested or detained.

    Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown told msnbc.com on Tuesday that there were no plans to change security procedures at the park as a result of the incident, which she said was still under review.

    This article includes reporting by NBCLosAngeles.com and msnbc.com staff.

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  • Cops: Woman arranged for daughter to fight with another girl, cheered her on

    A Florida mother is arrested after she is accused of setting up a fight between her daughter and another teen. WESH's Todd Wilson reports.

    By WESH TV

    ORLANDO, Fla -- Police have arrested a mother after WESH 2 News aired video of a fight between her daughter and another teen.

    Video sent to WESH shows two teen girls walking to the middle of a field. The girls then swing at each other and pull one another's hair. They eventually fall to the ground and continue fighting.

    Throughout the fight, they are egged on by several teenagers and an adult.

    Orange County Corrections Department

    Sandra Padilla Miranda is seen in a booking shot provided by law enforcement authorities.

     WESH 2 News showed the video to Orlando police, who said the adult woman in the video is Sandra Padilla Miranda.

    Police believe she is the parent of one of the girls. She was arrested Thursday afternoon.

    'Bite her'
    "(She) basically set up a fight for her daughter,” said Sgt. Vince Ogburn of the Orlando Police Department. “The mother arranged the fight. Unfortunately the girls agreed to have this fight." Ogburn said Padilla Miranda could be heard on the video in Spanish telling her daughter to "hit harder" and "bite her."

    Ogburn said Padilla Miranda told investigators she had no way of stopping the fight.

    "Someone was holding her back as the reason why she couldn't stop the fight, and clearly you can see in your video, that no one was attempting to hold her back at all," Ogburn said.

    Padilla Miranda told investigators that she set up the fight to stop the girls from fighting at Boone High School.

    Neighbor talks
    While there was no answer at Padilla Miranda's house Thursday, a friend of the family, Cely Bruno, shared her thoughts about the fight.

    "I got a kid myself, you feel me? And if I see my kid on the floor getting beat while there's mad kids out there, God knows what could happen to my daughter. I would have been like, 'Go ahead, do your thing,'" Bruno said.

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