Latest news with #pepperspray
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Smiling Miami 'predator' avoids jail for pepper-spraying rich men and stealing luxury watches off their wrists
A smirking female 'predator' has avoided jail after she was caught attacking rich men with pepper-spray and stealing their luxury watches in Florida. Esther Torres, 20, was let off with probation after being arrested on May 15 in Miami over two incidents where she stole a $22,000 Rolex watch off a man's wrist and a Hugo Boss watch off another after shooting the painful spray into their eyes. On Wednesday, Torres was sentenced to five years probation after she accepted a plea agreement on charges of armed robbery, burglary, and grand theft in the third degree. She was initially arrested on two counts of robbery in the first degree, the Miami Police Department said. The first incident took place at the Breakwater Hotel in Miami Beach in March, when a male victim was pepper-sprayed then robbed of his Hugo Boss watch, more than $200 in cash and Euros and several of his credit cards, police said. The second instance occurred at the Fontainebleau Hotel - about a 16 minute drive from the first. There, a male was pepper-sprayed before his $22,000 Rolex watch was snatched off his wrist, authorities detailed. During that encounter, the man said he was left temporarily blind from the mace. Torres was captured on camera leaving the hotels as she strolled out of the building nonchalantly. Mitch Novick, the owner of the Sherbrooke Hotel - just a three minute walk from the first hotel - told WSVN: 'We have a predator, and she's preying on male victims,' of Torres. Novick gladly handed over footage he had of the suspect, which helped lead her arrest. Once officers pieced all of the footage together, they determined Torres went missing around Novick's hotel - prompting them to ask him for his assistance in locating her. 'I'm investigating a case I believe was a prostitute related theft / robbery. I believe the subject goes westbound from the alley on Ninth and Ocean Court,' a cop messaged Novick about Torres. 'If you get a chance, can you review your cameras? I lose her around that area. Your help would be greatly appreciated.' Novick replied: 'Good morning: Is this your subject? If so, it looks like she made her way to Washington Avenue.' Unfortunately, he soon realized she ended up making a turn onto another street instead. In April, she was identified through surveillance footage taken during a traffic stop when police pulled a vehicle over that was tied to one of the robberies, WPLG reported. The man was arrested while Torres showed up at the scene. The serial thief was finally arrested in May after police positively confirmed her identity based on a photo of her on a 'need to identify' flyer. Bodycam footage captured the moment she was detained as cops asked if she had any weapons on her Bodycam footage captured the moment she was detained as cops asked if she had any weapons on her. 'You have no weapons on you, none of that stuff, right?,' an officer asked her. Torres, dressed in a strapless white top and hair bonnet, told officers: 'No, no.' She was picked up with the child in the vehicle before she was taken to jail. Torres was granted a recognizance bond in June and is no longer in the jail system.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Starving Palestinians pepper-sprayed at GHF aid site in Gaza, video shows
Israeli military personnel have pepper-sprayed desperate and starving Palestinian aid seekers at one of the distribution points of the controversial aid agency GHF in Gaza, a video shows. In the 20-second video verified by Al Jazeera's fact-checking agency Sanad, Israeli troops were seen scattering a crowd with pepper spray at Shakoush in Gaza's southern city of Rafah. The mobile phone video, recorded on July 10 and released on social media late on Saturday, shows three armed soldiers using the pepper spray against the Palestinians at the Israeli and United States-backed GHF aid point. Men, women and children could be seen running in all directions away from the soldiers – some covering their mouths with their clothes, others frantically rushing to leave the scene with bags of flour hoisted on their backs. Since the GHF started operating in Gaza in late May, at least 891 people have been killed while trying to get food, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Saturday. A July 15 report by the United Nations found that at least 674 of those people were killed 'in the vicinity of GHF sites'. The highly criticised aid operation has effectively sidelined Gaza's vast UN-led aid delivery network after Israel eased a more than two-month total blockade on the video of Palestinians being pepper-sprayed came as Israel's genocidal war in Gaza saw at least 54 more Palestinians killed on Sunday, 51 of them aid seekers, until 10:30 GMT on Sunday. On Saturday, 116 Palestinians were killed across the enclave, including at least 38 aid seekers. Mahmoud Mokeimar, a Palestinian in Gaza, said he was walking with a crowd of people, mostly young men, towards the GHF hub when Israeli troops fired warning shots and soon opened fire. 'The occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately,' he told The Associated Press news agency. Mokeimar said he saw at least three motionless bodies on the ground and many wounded people fleeing. 'Unless Israel allows more food into Gaza, Palestinians have no choice but to risk their lives just for something to eat,' said Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in Gaza. 'Parents go to the GHF distribution sites to risk getting killed or leave their children starving. There is no option in the market. Everything is very expensive.'Meanwhile, Palestinians, including infants and toddlers, continue to die from starvation across Gaza. Four-year-old Razan Abu Zaher died of complications from malnutrition and hunger, a source at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza City told Al Jazeera on Sunday. On Saturday, the director of al-Shifa Hospital said two Palestinians had died of starvation, including a 35-day-old infant. On Friday, the Health Ministry said starving Palestinians are arriving in hospital emergency departments across Gaza in 'unprecedented numbers', as Israel continues to severely restrict access to food in Gaza and shoot people seeking aid. Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 58,765 people and wounded 140,485 others. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive. Solve the daily Crossword
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Starving Palestinians pepper-sprayed at GHF aid site in Gaza, video shows
Israeli military personnel have pepper-sprayed desperate and starving Palestinian aid seekers at one of the distribution points of the controversial aid agency GHF in Gaza, a video shows. In the 20-second video verified by Al Jazeera's fact-checking agency Sanad, Israeli troops were seen scattering a crowd with pepper spray at Shakoush in Gaza's southern city of Rafah. The mobile phone video, recorded on July 10 and released on social media late on Saturday, shows three armed soldiers using the pepper spray against the Palestinians at the Israeli and United States-backed GHF aid point. The GHF security personnel fired pepper spray at Palestinians who went to receive aid in Al Shakoush area in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. 10/7/2025 — Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) July 19, 2025 Men, women and children could be seen running in all directions away from the soldiers – some covering their mouths with their clothes, others frantically rushing to leave the scene with bags of flour hoisted on their backs. Since the GHF started operating in Gaza in late May, at least 891 people have been killed while trying to get food, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Saturday. A July 15 report by the United Nations found that at least 674 of those people were killed 'in the vicinity of GHF sites'. The highly criticised aid operation has effectively sidelined Gaza's vast UN-led aid delivery network after Israel eased a more than two-month total blockade on the enclave. The video of Palestinians being pepper-sprayed came as Israel's genocidal war in Gaza saw at least 54 more Palestinians killed on Sunday, 51 of them aid seekers, until 10:30 GMT on Sunday. On Saturday, 116 Palestinians were killed across the enclave, including at least 38 aid seekers. Mahmoud Mokeimar, a Palestinian in Gaza, said he was walking with a crowd of people, mostly young men, towards the GHF hub when Israeli troops fired warning shots and soon opened fire. 'The occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately,' he told The Associated Press news agency. Mokeimar said he saw at least three motionless bodies on the ground and many wounded people fleeing. 'Unless Israel allows more food into Gaza, Palestinians have no choice but to risk their lives just for something to eat,' said Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in Gaza. 'Parents go to the GHF distribution sites to risk getting killed or leave their children starving. There is no option in the market. Everything is very expensive.' Meanwhile, Palestinians, including infants and toddlers, continue to die from starvation across Gaza. Four-year-old Razan Abu Zaher died of complications from malnutrition and hunger, a source at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza City told Al Jazeera on Sunday. On Saturday, the director of al-Shifa Hospital said two Palestinians had died of starvation, including a 35-day-old infant. On Friday, the Health Ministry said starving Palestinians are arriving in hospital emergency departments across Gaza in 'unprecedented numbers', as Israel continues to severely restrict access to food in Gaza and shoot people seeking aid. Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 58,765 people and wounded 140,485 others. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Army veteran and US citizen arrested in California immigration raid warns it could happen to anyone
A U.S. Army veteran who was arrested during an immigration raid at a Southern California marijuana farm last week said Wednesday he was sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray before being dragged from his vehicle and pinned down by federal agents who arrested him. George Retes, 25, who works as a security guard at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, said he was arriving to work on July 10 when several federal agents surrounded his car and — despite him identifying himself as a U.S. citizen — broke his window, peppered sprayed him and dragged him out. 'It took two officers to nail my back and then one on my neck to arrest me even though my hands were already behind my back,' Retes said. He was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles where he said he was put in a special cell on suicide watch and checked on each day after he became emotionally distraught over his ordeal and missing his 3-year-old daughter's birthday party Saturday. He said federal agents never told him why he was arrested or allowed him to contact a lawyer or his family during his three-day detention. Authorities never let him shower or change clothes despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, Retes said, adding that his hands burned throughout the first night he spent in custody. On Sunday, an officer had him sign a paper and walked him out of the detention center. He said he was told he faced no charges. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed Retes' arrest but didn't say on what charges. 'George Retes was arrested and has been released," she said. "He has not been charged. The U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing his case, along with dozens of others, for potential federal charges related to the execution of the federal search warrant in Camarillo.' Retes said he joined the Army at 18 and served four years, including deploying to Iraq in 2019. 'I joined the service to help better myself,' he said. 'I did it because I love this (expletive) country. We are one nation and no matter what, we should be together. All this separation and stuff between everyone is just the way it shouldn't be.' Retes said he plans to sue for wrongful detention. 'The way they're going about this entire deportation process is completely wrong, chasing people who are just working, especially trying to feed everyone here in the U.S.,' he said. 'No one deserves to be treated the way they treat people.' Retes said he was arrested along with California State University Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello, also a U.S. citizen. Caravello was arrested for throwing a tear gas canister at law enforcement, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X. The California Faculty Association said Caravello was taken away by agents who did not identify themselves nor inform him of why he was being arrested. Like Retes, the association said the professor was then held without being allowed to contact his family. Caravello was attempting to dislodge a tear gas canister that was stuck underneath someone's wheelchair, witnesses told KABC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Los Angeles. A federal judge on Monday ordered Caravello to be released on $15,000 bond. He's scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 1. 'I want everyone to know what happened. This doesn't just affect one person,' Retes said. 'It doesn't matter if your skin is brown. It doesn't matter if you're white. It doesn't matter if you're a veteran or you serve this country. They don't care. They're just there to fill a quota.'
