
Second suspect arrested in the shooting of an off-duty US customs officer in a Manhattan park
The 42-year-old customs officer, who was not in uniform, had been sitting with a woman in a park beneath the George Washington Bridge in upper Manhattan when two men approached on a moped, according to police. When he realized he was being robbed, the officer drew his service weapon. He and the suspects fired at each other: The officer was shot in the face and arm, while the suspect was shot before he and the moped driver fled, police said. US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in a separate announcement Monday said the officer, who has not been identified by authorities, is recovering in a hospital and is expected to survive. He works for Customs and Border Protection, whose officers dress in blue and are stationed at airports and land crossings. Border Patrol agents in green uniforms patrol mountains and deserts for illegal crossings. No lawyers were listed for Aybar-Berroa or Moro on the federal court case database, and a spokesperson for the US Attorneys office in Manhattan didn't immediately comment.
Authorities say both suspects entered the country illegally from the Dominican Republic and have extensive criminal histories in their short time in the US. The police commissioner said Aybar-Berroa arrived in 2022, and he has been arrested eight times for grand larceny and other crimes and is a suspect in at least four other cases. The Homeland Security chief said Aybar-Berroa was ordered deported by a federal immigration judge in 2023, but immigration detainers were ignored. She blamed New York City authorities for releasing him before federal officials could take custody of him. 'He was arrested again and again and again,' Noem said. 'What did we think was going to happen?' Moro, she added, 'has a rap sheet a mile long' that includes grand larceny, assault, and kidnapping charges. Police said Sunday he entered the country illegally through Arizona in 2023 and had two prior arrests for domestic violence in New York. He is also wanted in New York to face accusations of robbery and felony assault and in Massachusetts over a stolen weapons case.
'There is absolutely zero reason that someone like this – that's the scum of the earth – should be running loose on the streets of New York City,' Noem said at a press conference at CBPs Manhattan office. Mayor Eric Adams at a separate press conference distanced himself from the so-called sanctuary city policies that Noem and other federal officials on Monday blamed for the shooting. New York and other cities have longstanding laws and policies that limit or restrict local government involvement in federal immigration matters. 'I'm not protecting them,' said the Democratic mayor, a former police captain who is running for reelection. 'I've always been clear: stop the revolving door system. Go after the dangerous migrants and asylum seekers.'
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'With private equity moving into this space, the goal these companies seem to have is to return the absolute highest return they can to investors, even if that means providing inadequate service or engaging in exploitative practices or unsafe practices for the residents,' said state Sen. John Cherry, a Democrat who sponsored legislation to strengthen enforcement in the communities. But the state doesn't attempt to track unlicensed parks. And an industry spokesperson said Michigan officials–particularly law enforcement–have the power to do more if they choose. Rare pursuit of an unlicensed mobile home park: At North Morris Estates, where Theo Gantos lives outside Flint, conditions got so bad that the state refused to renew the park's license to operate. Water often flowed weakly from the tap because the wells that service the park didn't produce enough, Gantos said. Sometimes the water was discolored. It could stain laundry and destroy appliances. He installed a multistage filter system just to be able to use it. Eventually, local law enforcement investigated. In March, the owner pleaded guilty to a criminal charge for operating without a license, agreeing to pay a fine and sell the park. That might not have happened if Gantos had not been so pugnacious. He spent years battling Homes of America, an affiliate of private equity group Alden Global Capital that local prosecutors said owns North Morris. That included filing a public records request for emails on officials' handling of problems at his park, pushing regulators to enforce rules, and speaking out to media over what he calls 'blight' conditions. 'These guys, they don't care,' Gantos said about complying with the rules. Representatives of North Morris and Homes of America, including an attorney who appeared for the park in legal proceedings, did not respond to messages seeking comment. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, called LARA, has the authority to inspect and investigate complaints at licensed mobile home parks. But it's typically fallen to law enforcement to pursue criminal charges against unlicensed parks. The North Morris conviction for operating without a license is likely the first such under the state's mobile home law that has been on the books since 1987, the county prosecutor said. John Lindley, president and CEO of the industry group Michigan Manufactured Housing Association, said the rarity of such cases is evidence that state and local law enforcement are choosing not to enforce the rules. 'This whole notion that 'There's nothing we can do about this.' Clearly there is, or that prosecution wouldn't have taken place,' Lindley said. 'Not having the authority to go after communities that don't have a license is completely different from choosing not to go after those. 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Jeff Irwin has proposed a narrower law that would give state drinking water officials more power to make sure water in all mobile home parks is drinkable. Right now, they only have direct authority over parks that provide their own water. But it's common for parks to take city water from a pipe connecting to the nearby town. That water is usually safe when it reaches the park, but if the park's water pipes crack or fail, water protections won't apply on the private property. That keeps officials from stepping in and forcing change except in limited situations when there's a public health threat. It can leave residents unsure where to turn when the owner refuses to fix problems. 'We take those issues very seriously,' said Eric Oswald, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy's drinking water and environmental health division. He said they try to work with licensing officials to ensure water is safe, though the problem is 'I'm not resourced for that.' The Michigan Manufactured Housing Association opposed last year's legislation, arguing it would make mobile homes less affordable. The group says it supports extending water protections to within parks as called for in this year's legislation. It passed the state Senate in late June and is now in the GOP-controlled House.


Arab News
11 hours ago
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Al Arabiya
12 hours ago
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Lori Vallow Daybell stoked tensions with judge in her Arizona murder conspiracy trials
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