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Massachusetts road rage attack ends with driver making U-turn to mow down woman: prosecutors

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Massachusetts road rage attack ends with driver making U-turn to mow down woman: prosecutors

A Massachusetts road-rage altercation left one woman dead and one man behind bars last week, authorities said.

Ryan Sweatt got into “an apparent road rage incident” with another car on Route 85 in Hopkinton on Thursday night and struck a woman who got out of the other car, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a Friday news release.

The 26-year-old woman, Destini Decoff, died on Sunday from those injuries, her mother Tracy Decoff wrote on Facebook.

At some point during Thursday’s confrontation, officials said, some of the occupants of her car got out, and Sweatt made a U-turn in his Honda Civic and hit the woman “at a high rate of speed.”

Sweatt told police that Decoff and four men got out of their car and surrounded his, according to a police report obtained by CBS News. One had a knife, he said, and he shouted to responding officers that “they’re trying to kill me!”

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MASSACHUSETTS MAN VICIOUSLY BITES POLICE OFFICER’S HAND, DRAWS BLOOD AT CITY HALL: REPORT

Destini Decoff, 26, was sent flying in the air after Ryan Sweatt, 36, rammed her with his car in what police called an “apparent road rage incident.” (Destini Decoff/Facebook)

The 36-year-old Milford resident was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, operating to endanger and a marked lanes violation, according to the District Attorney’s Office said, which could not be immediately reached to answer whether additional charges would be filed in light of her death. 

A witness told police that Sweatt “chose to turn around” and “knew what he was doing” when he made a U-Turn and hit Decoff with his Civic, according to CBS. Prosecutors said that surveillance footage of the scene affirmed the witness’s account. 

“He turned around multiple times, and he could have just kept going,” Brett Martin, who watched the scene unfold on Route 85 from Cornell’s Irish Pub. “He chose to turn around. He knew what he was doing when he went towards that girl.”

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Martin said that the impact caused Decoff’s clothes to fly off when she was thrown by the vehicle. 

“I saw her midair kind of coming down toward the street,” Martin told CBS. “Her jacket must’ve been 20 feet away from her. However, she got hit, those clothes flew off.” 

Martin said he ran over to the scene, grabbed Decoff’s jacket and covered the bloodied woman.

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On Sunday, Tracy Decoff wrote on Facebook that her “firstborn child [and] best friend” had passed away. (Destini Decoff on Facebook)

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Prosecutors said a police officer saw Sweatt speed away from the scene after the 6:30 p.m. incident, CBS reported. When police caught up to him, his windshield was damaged – he allegedly got out of the car screaming, “They’re trying to kill me!” 

Sweatt told police that Decoff started the altercation by pulling in front of him and slammed on her brakes as he drove home from work, according to court documents. Then, he said, Decoff and four men got out of their vehicle and threatened him.

The District Attorney’s Office did not specify whether Decoff had been driving before she was struck.

Following the District Attorney’s Office announcement, Decoff’s mother wrote on Facebook that Sweatt was “charged with everything he should’ve been.” 

“She was in the car with friends when the car behind them was riding their bumper,” the mother wrote. “Car pulled over, they got out of the vehicle and that car tried to run them over.” 

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Decoff suffered two collapsed lungs, a brain bleed, a slew of broken bones and extreme facial disfigurement in the attack, her mother said. (Destini Decoff/Facebook)

Decoff’s mother wrote on Facebook that the woman had part of her skull removed to accommodate a brain bleed and was put on a respirator due to two collapsed lungs after she was mowed down in Hopkinton last Thursday.

With a broken rib, shoulder and tibia, along with facial disfigurement that required plastic surgery, the elder Decoff wrote that her daughter was “literally injured from head to toe.” 

Last Friday, Decoff’s mother wrote that she “hop[ed] that mf burns directly in hell” with “every ounce of [her] being.” 

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On Sunday, she wrote that her “firstborn child [and] best friend” had passed away. 

The ultimately-fatal road rage incident took place on Route 85 near Cornell’s Irish Pub, pictured. A witness told reporters that Decoff’s jacket landed 20 feet away after she was sent flying in the air. (Google Maps)

Sweatt entered a not-guilty plea, according to court records, and is scheduled to appear in Framingham District Court on April 10. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Boston, MA

Man who allegedly shot at Boston Police officers arrested after foot chase in Dorchester

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Man who allegedly shot at Boston Police officers arrested after foot chase in Dorchester


A 20-year-old Boston man is facing a series of charges after prosecutors say he shot at Boston Police officers during an attempted stop in Dorchester before leading them on a foot chase through neighborhood backyards.

Rasiel Carbuccia was arraigned in Dorchester District Court Thursday on a list of charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying without a license and possession of a large capacity firearm, stemming from the Wednesday night incident near Devon and Laredo streets.

Opened fire with ghost gun, prosecutors say

According to prosecutors, Boston Police officers attempted to stop Carbuccia when he pulled out a gun and began shooting, striking a Boston police cruiser before fleeing the scene.

Investigators said Carbuccia ran through backyards and hopped fences before he was taken into custody. Officers did not fire their weapons during the encounter.

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Prosecutors said investigators later recovered the firearm along the path where Carbuccia had been running.

“It was determined that the firearm was a ghost gun, and it did not possess a serial number,” Suffolk County prosecutor Jacqueline Martinelli said in court.

Union says “everyone should be outraged”

Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, said the shooting is part of what he believes is a troubling trend of violence this summer and renewed his call for more officers on Boston streets.

“Everybody should be outraged. Bullets flying in the city’s streets at uniformed police officers. How can we possibly convince the general public that they’re safe to walk around their own neighborhoods?” Calderone said.

Rasiel Carbuccia allegedly opened fire on Boston Police officers in Dorchester. 

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CBS Boston


“We have teenagers pulling firearms and stealing mopeds from others in broad daylight. We have shots being fired at police officers in uniform, officers being attacked, people being shot daily that we can’t solve the crimes,” he added.

No one was injured in the shooting, but Calderone said the outcome could have been much worse.

“Thank goodness, neither officer or a pedestrian, an innocent child or somebody in the middle of the evening did not get killed last night. Just as thankful, at least they caught him. They recovered the weapon,” he said.

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After the arraignment, Carbuccia’s attorney declined to discuss the case in detail but indicated mental health issues could become part of the proceedings.

“Ultimately as you guys know this is a process that has to play out and he’s presumed innocent and there’s going to be a number of things that are going to come out in respect to mental health and potentially the investigation, I don’t really have much more to say beyond that,” attorney Bob White told reporters.

According to prosecutors, Carbuccia had two open assault cases and an active warrant at the time of his arrest.

He’s being held in jail without bail and is scheduled to return to court later this month for a dangerousness hearing.

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Pittsburg, PA

Pittsburgh-area family finds large void under garage of house built by Ryan Homes

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Pittsburgh-area family finds large void under garage of house built by Ryan Homes


A Westmoreland County family wants to warn others after they said they found a large void beneath the garage in their house built by Ryan Homes.

“More than anything, we just want folks to know that there is potential that other homes could be built like this and just to be aware,”  said homeowner Nicole Holderfield.

Beneath their seemingly normal front-facing two-car garage in the Altman Farms neighborhood in North Huntingdon is a lot of dead space that the Holderfield family just found out about. They said having a secret room is not as cool as it sounds when you realize the structural integrity of the 30-year-old home is at risk. 

“I hate to say shocking, but it’s not something that we really wanted to be the first one on the street to find out,” Holderfield said.

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Holderfield said there are leftover cinder blocks and even a Lowe’s bucket down there.

A Westmoreland County family wants to warn others after they said they found a large void beneath the garage in their house built by Ryan Homes.

(Photo: KDKA)


“You can actually stand all the way down here on this side, a lot of backfill, and then we did see it was weatherproofed on some of the walls,” Holderfield said.

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This all started because Holderfield wanted to fix the growing number of large cracks popping up across her garage floor. 

“We were starting the cosmetic fix, and our contractor was here. And with a sledgehammer, he wanted to see what he was working with, so he simply pounded down the sledgehammer,” Holderfield said.

The large void directly underneath the garage is not accessible from their finished basement. Only one wall appears to be weatherproofed, so the family believes moisture rusted away the single support column and the steel rebar attempting to carry the weight of the entire two-car garage.

“A couple different companies did stop by, and they were in awe of what they found. Even the North Huntingdon inspector came out, took a look, and it was not something he was familiar with seeing,” said Holderfield.

That inspector encouraged the family to hire a structural engineer. They did, and received a report that concluded the issue was the result of “poor workmanship and faulty construction,” Holderfield said.

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The family’s homeowner’s insurance denied the claim, saying defects from faulty construction are excluded from coverage.

“Knowing that we were parking our cars in here up until we found this problem — we have children and animals, and knowing that a catastrophe could come, I think that’s our biggest concern,” Holderfield said.

That’s why the family called the builder, Ryan Homes, and alerted all of their neighbors with similar builds and floorplans.

“They really just took a look and took pictures. When we did speak to the one gentleman at Ryan Homes, he said this was 30 years ago, there were different laws back then,” Holderfield said.

KDKA Investigates reached out to Ryan Homes for comment to ask if building these dead spaces is still its practice. And if so, should other homeowners who live in Ryan Homes inspect further?

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Ryan Homes said they do not comment on news stories.

In an update on Thursday, the Holderfields told KDKA Ryan Homes reached out and said it’s willing to work with them on this, share the cost of the fix, and manage the project to ensure it is fixed as they would expect.

The family feels that’s a valid attempt to make it right.   

KDKA Investigates talked to a Cranberry homeowner who also lives in a Ryan Home built around the same time. She sent photos showing the wet tire marks where her car drove over and broke through the concrete last year. When the garage floor failed, she said it revealed a 9-foot void. She said it took four triaxle trucks of fill and $20,000 to fix.

Holderfield says that makes her wonder who else could find this.

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“I would love people to be held accountable, but I also understand the laws and that we could potentially be out of the warranty period is what they say. I do wish we could have them stand behind their work or help us get this fixed,” Holderfield said. 

More than anything, the Holderfield family says it wants people to know there is potential that other homes could be built like this and to be aware.



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Connecticut

Connecticut insurance now required to cover these athletic prosthetics

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Connecticut insurance now required to cover these athletic prosthetics


Park Ranger Ben Croll says outdoor plans for kids attending New Haven’s parks and rec summer camp at West Rock Ridge state park are changing with the wind, after thick smoke from Canada’s wildfires continues to make its way through the Connecticut skies.  



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