Uber Driver Accused Of Rape Believed To Have More Victims
An Uber driver accused of rape will make his first court appearance Thursday, and prosecutors say he may have more victims.
Omar Mahmoud Mousa, 52, of Anaheim, faces felony charges of forcible rape, oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object, Orange County District Attorney’s officials said. Mousa was arrested on March 7 at Los Angeles International Airport and is being held on $100,000 bail.
Prosecutors say Mousa first met 21-year-old Jane Doe on Oct. 24, 2015 because she needed a ride from her Anaheim motel to a Fullerton bar.
While working as an Uber driver, he took the women to the bar, but gave them a business card and advised them to call him directly when they were leaving instead of going through Uber, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Early the next morning, prosecutors say Mousa picked both women up from the Fullerton bar and drove them back to their Anaheim motel room after receiving a direct call. Mousa then walked the women into their motel room, where Jane Doe’s friend immediately passed out on the bed, according to prosecutors.
According to prosecutors, Mousa put Jane Doe on the same bed, and while she was intoxicated, pulled down her pants and raped her as she said no multiple times.
When she eventually managed to push him away, he left the motel room and drove away.
Jane Doe reported the crime later that day to Anaheim Police, who investigated the case. Prosecutors filed charges against Mousa on Jan. 25, but he was out of the country at the time. He was arrested upon his return to LAX on March 7, and transported to Orange County Jail on March 15.
Anyone with more information or who believes they may be a victim can contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Mark Gutierrez at (714) 347-8794.(CBS)
Automatic Braking Systems To Become Standard On Most U.S. Vehicles
Some 20 carmakers have committed to making automatic emergency braking systems a standard feature on virtually all new cars sold in the U.S. by 2022, according to a new plan from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Automatic brakes are designed to stop a vehicle before it collides with a car or another object. Experts say that making them standard could prevent as much as 20 percent of accidents.
In 2012, one-third of all police-reported crashes involved a rear-end collision with another vehicle as the first harmful event in the crash,” according to the government’s information page on Automatic Emergency Braking systems. It adds that AEB systems can either avoid or reduce the severity of some of those rear-end crashes.
In a statement about the plan, NHTSA says the “unprecedented commitment” from the automakers will bring the safety technology to “more consumers more quickly than would be possible through the regulatory process.” (NPR)
78-Year-Old Nun Caught on Video Stealing Coffee, Soap From Pennsylvania Store
Police in Pennsylvania say a nun is shown on surveillance video stealing from a store using grocery bags hidden in her purse, according to WNEP.
Workers at the Surplus Outlet near Berwick say the nun stole $23 worth of food and toiletries from the business.
The incident was apparently captured on the store’s surveillance camera around 3:45 p.m. Monday.
“Another customer came to me in aisle 5 and said, ‘I’m not sure what I’m seeing, but I think a woman is stealing,’ and she had already left the store by that time and I went out to pursue her,” Zane Kishbach, a manager at Surplus Outlet, told WNEP.
Workers were able to get the license plate number on the car. State police say the car is owned by the nuns at Saints Cyril and Methodius Convent in Danville.
The alleged thief, Agnes Pennino, 78, is a nun at the convent. She’s charged with a summary offense. If she pleads guilty, she will only have to pay a fine.
“I was shocked, to say the least. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it that a nun would actually do something like that,” Kishback told WNEP.
Investigators and store employees believe Pennino planned to steal from the store. They say Pennino brought the store’s red grocery bags in her purse to take the stolen items out of the business.
The woman apparently avoided leaving the store through the exit because she would have had to pass by all the cashiers who would have seen her leaving with groceries that hadn’t been checked out. Instead, she waited for someone to enter through the front door, which triggers an automatic door open, and left the store.
“Terrible. Humanity’s gone to Hell, to put it bluntly. It’s not good anymore,” said Wendy Everett, who shops at the store.
The convent declined to comment. (KTLA)
BUMBLE BEE RECALLS CANNED TUNA DUE TO POSSIBLE SPOILAGE
Bumble Bee Foods announced it is voluntarily recalling 31,579 cases of canned tuna due to potential spoilage.
The company said the recall is due to processing deviations that occurred at a third-party co-packing facility during the sterilization process.
According to the company’s statement posted on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website, these deviations could result in contamination by spoilage organisms or pathogens, which could lead to life-threatening illness if consumed.
There have been no reports of illness associated with the products linked to the recall, the company said.
The recall includes canned Chunk Light tuna produced in February 2016 and distributed nationally.
The products subject to the recall are marked with a can code that starts with a “T” (example: TOA2BSCAFB) and have the following “best by” dates:
5 oz. Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna in Water: 02/10/2019, 02/16/2019, 02/17/2019, 02/18/2019, 02/22/2019, 02/23/2019, 02/25/2019
5 oz. Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna in Oil: 02/23/2019
4-pack, 5 oz. Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna in Water: 02/09/2019, 02/10/2019, 02/22/2019, 02/29/2019
The recall is being initiated out of an abundance of caution due to the possible under-processing of the affected products discovered by the co-packer during its routine quality audit, according to the company.
Bumble Bee said it is working closely with the co-packer and the FDA to expedite the removal of products from store shelves. Consumers are advised to throw away the recalled product.
For more information about the recall, you can contact Bumble Bee at (888) 820-1947 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Sunday. You can also visit the FDA’s website. (ABC)
