Northeast
3 dead, 8 injured as addiction counselor is accused of mowing down July 4 crowd while drunk: report
A suspected drunk driver, who police say crashed his truck into a crowd of people during a Fourth of July celebration in New York City on Thursday – killing three and injuring eight, is a wellness advocate and a substance abuse counselor, sources say.
Daniel Hyden, 44, of New Jersey, was driving a Ford F-150 pickup truck at a high rate of speed when he ran a stop sign at an intersection, mounted a sidewalk and smashed into a group who were enjoying the evening at Corlears Hook Park in the Lower East Side at around 9 p.m., police said.
Three people have now been confirmed dead – Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son, Hernan Pinkney, 38, as well as an unidentified female – after the holiday celebrations turned deadly in horrific circumstances.
AT LEAST 2 KILLED, MULTIPLE INJURED IN NYC AFTER PICKUP TRUCK CRASHES INTO CROWD
A previous booking photo of Daniel Christopher Hyden, who police say drove his truck into a park on July 4, 2024, killing three people. (NYPD)
Eight other victims were injured, including an 11-year-old child.
“Responding officers who did arrive on the scene did smell some alcohol,” said NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a late-night police briefing. “There were people who were there at the scene who grabbed the driver, removed the driver and made sure the driver didn’t leave.”
So far, Hyden has been charged with three counts of driving while intoxicated with alcohol or drugs, and one count of operating a vehicle without a license. He is expected to be hit with several more charges.
Firefighters and police respond after multiple people were struck by a pickup truck inside Corlears Hook Park in Manhattan, New York City on Thursday, July 4 2024. (Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News/Getty)
He was perp walked out of the 7th Police Precinct at 1:50 p.m. Friday where he was heckled by New Yorkers – and relatives of the victims – who shouted expletives at him.
Heyden was wearing a white t-shirt splattered in blood and had noticeable swelling and marks on the left side of his face. He kept his head down at all times and limped in handcuffs to a nearby patrol vehicle while being held by two detectives.
“You killed Hernan Pinkney, you f—ing b—–d… you don’t deserve air,” one woman screamed. Another man, who said he was Hernan Pinkney’s step-father, also roared at Heyden.
CENTRAL PARK ATTEMPTED RAPE SUSPECT WHO ATTACK SUNBATHING WOMAN IS CHARGED, POLICE SAY
Heyden was perp walked out of the 7th Police Precinct at 1:50 p.m. Friday where he was heckled by New Yorkers – and relatives of the victims – who shouted expletives at him. (Fox)
Hyden reportedly wrote a book in 2020 titled “The Sober Addict,” which claims to be a guide on “how to be functional with the dysfunctional disease of addiction.”
“This guide will help you learn how to function with this dysfunctional and chronic illness,” the book’s bio on Amazon reads.
In the book, Hyden describes himself as an “ex-professional addict…with over 18 years of use and abuse experience” and claims “addicts don’t choose addiction — addiction chooses them,” the New York Post reports.
Hyden’s Amazon author bio lists him as a substance abuse counselor, instructor and public speaker. The New York Post was first to report that the suspect in the case had penned the book.
The truck Daniel Hyden is alleged to have been driving is pictured on July 4, 2024 after crashing into a Manhattan park and killing three people in New York City. (Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News/Getty)
He has a prior arrest fpr assualt in February was charged with a traffic offense and driving under the influence in Wisconsin in 2015, the publication reports, citing court records show. He pleaded guilty to the former charge and the latter was dismissed.
Responding firefighters on Thursday found the four victims – including the three deceased – underneath the truck when they arrived on the scene.
“They used their airbags, floor jacks and cribbing in order to lift the vehicle off of the victims,” FDNY Assistant Chief Michael Meyers said at the press conference.
Video from the scene shows the front of the truck smashed, and it is surrounded by several park benches and debris like empty cups strewn across the floor.
Lucille Pinkney, left, and her son Hernan Pinkney, who died when the truck hit them. (Obtained by Robert Moses via Fox 5)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams also briefed the media and said that the victims were simply out celebrating when the deadly incident unfolded.
“We had a tragic incident which took place here,” Adams said. “A driver drove into a crowd of people who were actually just celebrating like so many New Yorkers and Americans are doing right now.”
He said the incident was not terror-related.
Fox News’ Alexis McAdams and CB Cotton contributed to this report.
FDNY Assistant Chief Michael Meyers speaking at the press conference. (Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office)
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Connecticut
Family called Connecticut police about suspect in D.C. Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, Trump says
Family members of the accused gunman who tried to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner alerted police in Connecticut with concerns about the man, the president said Sunday.
In an interview with Fox News Channel, President Donald Trump said the man — who was armed with guns and knives — had written about targeting Trump administration officials.
Separately, police in New London confirmed in a statement that a person contacted them at approximately 10:49 p.m., about two hours after the incident. Police said the person expressed concern about events that unfolded earlier that evening at the dinner.
“The reporting individual wanted to share information they believed to be pertinent to the matter,” the statement said.
New London police immediately contacted federal law enforcement partners. Both local and federal officers then interviewed the person, according to the statement.
“The New London Police Department remains committed to working collaboratively with our law enforcement partners at all levels to ensure public safety,” the statement said.
New London police said their investigation into the matter is no longer active and directed further inquiries to the U.S. Secret Service. The federal agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was expected to face criminal charges on Monday from the Justice Department, whose acting leader, Todd Blanche, said the suspect traveled by train from California and checked in as a guest days earlier at the Washington hotel where the Saturday night gala dinner was held with its typically tight security.
Authorities said Allen attempted to charge into the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being fired, Trump being hurried off the stage and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.
Fox reported Sunday that the White House said Allen’s brother contacted New London police and reported Allen had sent family members “an alleged manifesto outlining his intent to target administration officials.”
During a live telephone interview, Fox News journalist Jacqui Heinrich asked the president to comment on information she said was provided by the White House about the suspected shooter and his motive.
“I’m being told that he had a manifesto saying he wanted to target Trump administration officials,” Heinrich said. “He had a lot of anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on his social media accounts, and left a manifesto in his hotel room that his brother had notified New London police about prior to this incident.”
She added that secret service agents had been talking to Allen’s family members, and that Allen attended a No Kings protest in California. She asked Trump for his reaction to the new details.
“I heard about the London situation and I wish they would have told us about it a little bit,” Trump said. “But it is what it is.”
A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press the suspected shooter sent writings to family members minutes before the attack in which he railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin.”
The writings made repeated references to Trump without naming him directly and alluded to grievances over a range of administration actions and recent events, including U.S. strikes on drug smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific, the official said Sunday.
The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Allen’s brother contacted police in New London after receiving the writings, according to the official.
This story has been updated. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Maine
Maine Governor Vetoes Landmark Data Center Moratorium
Earlier this month, Maine was firmly on track to become the first state to institute a moratorium on AI data centers.
The state’s Democrat-controlled legislature officially passed a bill that would ban data centers that carry a load of 20 megawatts or more until November 1, 2027, and create a 13-member council to evaluate the impact of data centers. The bill had moved on to Governor Janet Mills for approval.
But this weekend, Mills vetoed the bill, and Maine joined a growing list of states that have tried and failed to instate a data center moratorium.
Mills’ opposition to the moratorium stems from a single data center project planned in a small town in Franklin County.
“A moratorium is appropriate given the impacts of massive data centers in other states on the environment and on electricity rates,” Mills wrote in a letter announcing her veto decision. “But the final version of this bill fails to allow for a specific project in the Town of Jay that enjoys strong local support from its host community and region.”
The Town of Jay had been reeling from the job loss following the 2023 closure of a mill, and according to Mills, had been looking forward to the hundreds of temporary construction jobs and the several permanent positions that would be created by the data center that is planned for construction on the site of the old mill. Mills said that officials from the Town of Jay, Franklin County Commissioners and the regional Chamber of Commerce all sent letters to her expressing support for the data center project and asking for an exemption.
“I supported the exemption and would have signed this bill if it had included it,” Mills said.
Although she vetoed the bill, Mills announced that she would sign a separate bill that would block data center projects from participating in some state tax incentive programs and would still establish a council that would “examine and plan for the potential impacts of large-scale data centers in Maine.”
If it had passed, the Maine bill would have been the first significant regulatory outcome in the U.S. of rising public dissent against AI and the unprecedented data center buildout it has led to. Artificial intelligence has become a concept particularly unpopular in the public eye, in large part due to its negative impact on mental health, war, the environment, and the job market.
On top of that, local activists around the country are also staunchly against data center projects, worried about the soaring utility bills, water shortages, air pollution and increased local temperature often associated with the mega structures. In some instances, the opposition has even turned violent, like in Indianapolis, where a shooting took place at the home of a local politician who is in favor of a controversial local data center project. Just a few days after the Indianapolis incident, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home in San Francisco was hit with a molotov cocktail.
A big tenet of the anti-AI data center push calls for moratoriums on new project developments to give researchers and policymakers time to catch up to the rapidly evolving technology and understand its true impact on local communities, human health, the economy, and the environment. Moratorium supporters claim that with a clearer understanding of AI’s impact, governments can introduce adequate guardrails to ensure the responsible development of these AI data centers.
Mills’ decision in Maine could soon be judged at the ballot box. The governor is running for the Democratic Senate seat in the upcoming Maine primaries, and is currently trailing her opponent Graham Platner in polls. Platner had recently told the press that he thinks Mills should sign the bill into law.
Massachusetts
Coast Guard search underway for a crew member overboard on Boston-bound cruise
A search is underway after a report that a crew member of the C/S Norwegian Breakaway was seen falling from the Boston-bound cruise ship, U.S. Coast Guard officials said Sunday.
The Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England received a report from the C/S Norwegian Breakaway regarding a crew member who had fallen overboard about 12 miles east of Wellfleet. The C/S returned to the last known place of the person and deployed their rescue boat and life rings.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter arrived on scene at around 1 a.m. to assist the search along with a crew from the Coast Guard Station Provincetown, officials confirm.
Officials are currently still conducting an aerial search as of SUnday morning along with the Station Provincetown Crew.
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