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| Venice boardwalk crash: Man, 35, arrested on suspicion of murder - Los Angeles Times Posted: 04 Aug 2013 08:57 AM PDT The 35-year-old man arrested in connection with Saturday's deadly hit-and-run incident on the Venice boardwalk was booked on suspicion of murder, police said. At a press conference Sunday morning on the boardwalk, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said the suspect, Nathan Campbell, was being held on $1-million bail. Officials did not provide more details or a possible motive for the incident. PHOTOS: Venice boardwalk crash The deceased victim was identified Sunday morning as Alice Gruppioni, 32, of Italy, Los Angeles County Coroner's Office officials told NBCLosAngeles.com. Late Saturday, authorities said a person of interest was being questioned in connection with the incident after turning himself in at a Santa Monica police station. Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Andy Neiman said the man told police he was "connected" to the incident. The car involved in the crash was found abandoned. Several videos have emerged showing the crash, which left one person dead and at least 11 others hurt, including one in critical condition. One of the videos showed a dark black sedan plowing into people on the boardwalk. Another video captured the chaotic scene after the crash. Witnesses said they believed the driver was traveling about 60 mph — others cited slower speeds — when the crash occurred about 6 p.m. Saturday near the boardwalk's intersection with Dudley Avenue, just before the sun began to set on the tourist haven. Witnesses said "scores of people" were walking along the beach. "The vehicle appeared to be moving purposefully down the boardwalk, according to witnesses," Humphrey said. He said firefighters responding to the scene thought the driver might have had some kind of medical emergency, but the vehicle did not stop. "A car plowed through the boardwalk," said Daniel Regidor, 50, who was running nearby when the crash occurred. "People screaming, running. I was half a mile from the scene, but you could see just this mass of people trying to get out of the way.... Just a lot of people screaming.... It was horrible. "I saw somebody flying up in the air," Regidor said. "When I came upon the scene, there were a bunch of people on the ground, bloodied." Daniel Jenkins, 19, was selling medical marijuana-related art and souvenirs on the pedestrian walkway and witnessed the incident. Jenkins said he saw a blue Charger turn off a side street onto the pedestrian walkway going about 35 mph. "He started basically losing control," Jenkins said. He said he saw the vehicle hit a woman who sells turtles and a man who appeared to be homeless. "All the turtles flew everywhere," as did mannequins outside of storefronts, Jenkins said.. He said the vehicle appeared to speed up after it hit the pedestrians and "zoomed all the way down" for several blocks. The famed boardwalk is a cultural hub known for its eccentricities. Galleries, restaurants, tattoo shops, skateboard parks and the famous outdoor weight room known as Muscle Beach attract locals and tourists alike. The crash spurred many, including nearby lifeguards, to race "to the aid of strangers," Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said. ALSO: O.C. deputy charged with pepper spraying teen's pizza Redondo Beach moves forward with waterfront redevelopment Former L.A. County GOP official allegedly had explicit chats with girl |
| Chambliss, sources: Terror chatter beyond anything heard since before 9/11 - Fox News Posted: 04 Aug 2013 08:13 AM PDT The so-called "chatter" about a terror plot that led the Obama administration to close 22 U.S. embassies and consulates Sunday across the Muslim world goes beyond anything heard before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee and Fox News sources. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, of Georgia, said Sunday the so-called "chatter" detected by U.S. intelligence agencies that led the Obama administration to order the closures and issue a global travel warning to Americans is "very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11." Sources told Fox News the chatter picked up by U.S. intelligence agents over the past two weeks exceeds anything in the last decade. And it included Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri demanding that key leaders of the terror network in the Arabian Peninsula step up their activities in the wake of recent killings of top terrorists. The information is the most recent and detailed since the administration made the announcement Thursday. Officials have not said whether the closures will extend beyond Sunday. However, Maria Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, said following the announcement that the U.S. outposts might be closed "additional days," depending on additional analysis. Other Western countries have also closed outposts in the region. A Mideast diplomat says al-Zawahiri "pressuring" Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to launch new terrorist attacks on Western and American targets is "unprecedented." Sources also told Fox News the extraordinary volume of "chatter" follows months of "absolute quietness" on terrorist phone lines, computer outlets, websites and other communication outlets. They said al-Zawahiri has always been a bigger proponent than his predecessor, Usama bin Laden, of a more centrally managed Al Qaeda terrorist structure, has always sought to "micromanage" AQAP, and is attempting now to assert management authority over individual cells, even if it is largely illusory. The sources said the closures and the travel alert were also prompted by a spate of recent Al Qaeda-led prison breaks, including one in Aleppo, Syria, this weekend that have freed hundreds of Al Qaeda operatives over the last month. The return of these individuals to their respective "battlefields" may have contributed to the escalation in "chatter" and has heightened American alarm over the plotting. Recent prison breaks have been orchestrated at Abu Ghraib in Afghanistan, as well as sites in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan. Yemen is said to be cooperating closely with U.S. intelligence in this period, and the data given to the CIA is said to have informed the embassy closures. Mideast diplomats say National Security Adviser Susan Rice is a driving force in the closures. They say that Rice is still stinging from the criticism about her role in the fatal attacks on the United State's outpost in Libya and determined to avoid a repeat. Chambliss told NBC's "Meet the Press" it is "the most serious threat I've seen in a number of years." On Saturday, top U.S. officials met to review the threat, according to the White House. |
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