Northeast
E-bike battery explodes, burns out NYC store: video
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) has released a shocking video showing the moment an e-bike lithium-ion battery catches fire and explodes, burning out a store in Queens.
The CCTV video, which was posted to X yesterday, is taken from inside an e-bike store on Saturday night that is jam-packed full of mopeds. It reveals just how quickly a battery can ignite and turn into a massive fire.
The resulting two-alarm fire at the South Richmond Hill store caused nearly two dozen e-bikes to erupt in flames. The store was closed at the time and no civilians were hurt, although one firefighter suffered minor injuries, the FDNY said.
FDNY BLAMES E-SCOOTER BATTERY FOR FIRE THAT KILLS 3 FAMILY MEMBERS
The FDNY has released a dramatic video showing the moment an e-bike lithium-ion battery catches fire and explodes, burning down a store in Queens. (FDNY)
“A DVR (digital video recorder) shows smoke coming from the battery – and within 20 seconds – you see a shower of sparks, flames, and explosions,” the FDNY wrote in the caption accompanying the video.
“Just two and a half minutes later, a wall of flames consumes the shop… An upstairs tenant heard three loud pops and smelled smoke. He went downstairs to investigate and saw smoke inside the store.”
The FDNY has long warned New York City residents about the dangers posed by e-bike lithium-ion batteries, and they have been blamed for a dramatic spike in fires.
NEW YORK CITY FATAL FIRE WAS CAUSED BY E-BIKE BATTERY, OFFICIALS SAY
Several charred e-bikes and mopeds are seen outside a bike store in Queens after a battery exploded and burned down the store (FDNY)
According to the FDNY, more than 215 fires were caused by lithium-ion batteries in 2022, which resulted in 147 injuries and six deaths across the city.
The FDNY told Fox News Digital that last year’s figures have not yet been finalized, but FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said in November that 17 deaths had already been attributed to lithium-ion batteries in 2023 from nearly 240 fires.
“These are incredibly dangerous devices if they are unregulated or used improperly,” Kavanagh said during a public safety in February. “They show an enormous amount of fire when they catch fire — they often present an immediate inability to exit one’s room or one’s apartment or one’s home.”
The FDNY has released a dramatic video showing the moment an e-bike lithium-ion battery catches fire and explodes, burning down a store in Queens. (FDNY)
In a safety manual, the FDNY advises people to never use aftermarket or generic batteries or chargers, never plug batteries into a power strip or overload an outlet and never overcharge or leave batteries charging overnight.
These rechargeable batteries are found in electric bikes and scooters as well as cars, laptops, tablets, phones and common household devices, according to the manual.
New regulations came into effect in the city in September requiring the sale of all battery-powered mobility devices, like electric bicycles and electric scooters, to have certified batteries.
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Massachusetts
Massachusetts orders DraftKings to pay $934K after it botched MLB parlay bets
A costly sportsbook screwup left DraftKings on the hook for nearly $1 million after Massachusetts regulators ordered the payouts tied to a botched MLB parlay scheme.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission voted 5-0 on Thursday to reject DraftKings’ bid to void $934,137 in payouts stemming from a series of correlated parlays placed during MLB’s 2025 American League Championship Series, according to Bookies.com.
A Massachusetts customer wagered $12,950 total across 27 multi-leg parlays on Toronto Blue Jays player Nathan Lukes, exploiting an internal DraftKings configuration error that allowed the bettor to stack multiple versions of the same bet into one wager.
DraftKings told regulators the bets should never have been accepted and argued the patron acted unethically by taking advantage of an obvious error.
Commissioners flatly rejected that argument.
The wagers were tied to DraftKings’ “Player to Record X+ Hits in Series” market during the seven-game ALCS between Toronto and Seattle.
Because of a misclassification inside DraftKings’ trading tools, Lukes was incorrectly labeled a “non-participant” rather than an active player.
That designation disabled safeguards designed to block bettors from parlaying correlated outcomes from the same market.
As a result, the bettor was able to combine multiple Lukes hit thresholds — including 5+, 6+, 7+ and 8+ hits — into single parlays, functionally creating an inflated wager on Lukes recording eight or more hits at dramatically enhanced odds.
The bettor also added unrelated, high-probability legs, including NFL moneyline bets, to further juice payouts.
Lukes ultimately appeared in all seven games and finished the series with nine hits, clearing every threshold.
Of the 27 parlays placed, 24 hit cleanly. Only three lost due to unrelated college football legs involving Clemson, Florida State and Miami.
During a heated exchange at Thursday’s commission meeting, DraftKings executive Paul Harrington accused the patron of fraud and unethical conduct.
Commissioners bristled. One of them, Eileen O’Brien, blasted DraftKings for casting aspersions on the bettor without evidence and said the situation did not meet the standard of an “obvious error.”
“An obvious error is a legal and factual impossibility,” O’Brien said. “This is an advantage that the patron took.”
She added that DraftKings’ internal failures — not the bettor’s conduct — created the situation.
“We need to seriously consider giving voice to the consumer and getting their half the story,” O’Brien said. “The compulsion to pay will in fact encourage compliance.”
Other commissioners echoed that view, emphasizing that it is the operator’s responsibility to ensure the integrity of its markets.
The commission noted that DraftKings acknowledged the root cause was internal — a configuration failure within its own trading tools — and not the result of a third-party odds provider or external data feed.
Upon discovering the error, DraftKings pulled the affected markets, left the wagers unsettled pending regulatory guidance and implemented corrective fixes.
The company said no other Massachusetts customers were impacted, though the same issue appeared in two other jurisdictions.
The Post has sought comment from DraftKings.
New Hampshire
Who makes the best Chinese food in New Hampshire?
New Jersey
NJ corrections officer charged with sexually assaulting prison inmates
What happens when someone is arrested and charged with a crime?
When someone is arrested and charged with a crime, police departments observe a protocol that includes the reading of Miranda Rights.
A Piscataway man who works as a New Jersey Department of Corrections officer in the state’s prison for sex offenders has been charged with sexually assaulting two inmates.
Anthony Nelson, 37, was charged with sexually assaulting the inmates at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in the Avenel section of Woodbridge, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone announced.
Nelson was arrested without incident on Dec. 15 and charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, Ciccone said.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office was alerted by New Jersey Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division on Dec. 1 that two inmates reported they were sexually assaulted by a correctional police officer over that past weekend, the prosecutor said.
An investigation led by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit along with the New Jersey Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division determined that Nelson allegedly sexually assaulted two inmates under his supervision, the prosecutor said.
Nelson was lodged at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center awaiting a preliminary hearing before a Superior Court judge.
The investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detectives Christopher Van Eerde or Tammy Colonna at 732-745-3300 or Investigator Sean Smith at 856-812-3310.
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