FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. —

The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office arrested three young adults responsible for more than 40 vehicle break-ins in the Lewisville area.

Deputies tracked down Diamonte Eddie Rockwell, 21; Destiny Kamara Tucker, 22; and Isaiah Elonzo Hawkins, 20, with the help of Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office K9 Bruno, Winston-Salem Police Department K9 Copper and video from a homeowner’s security system.

Click the video player above for headlines from WXII 12 News.

The suspects were breaking into vehicles in the Lewisville neighborhoods of Brookway West and Wellesley Place, deputies said. More than 40 victims have been identified.

Rockwell is charged with:

• possession of firearm by a felon
• larceny of a firearm
• two counts of breaking/entering a motor vehicle
• two counts of attempted breaking/entering a motor vehicle

More charges are forthcoming, according to deputies. Rockwell is being held in the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center on $33,000 bail with an initial court date of July 9.

Tucker is charged with:

• larceny of a firearm
• two counts of breaking/entering a motor vehicle
• two counts of attempted breaking/entering a motor vehicle

More charges are forthcoming, according to deputies. Tucker is being held in the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center without bail and an initial court date of July 9.

Hawkins is charged with:

• larceny of a firearm
• two counts of breaking/entering a motor vehicle
• two counts of attempted breaking/entering a motor vehicle

More charges are forthcoming, according to deputies. Hawkins is being held in the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center without bail and an initial court date of July 9.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information on the vehicle break-ins is asked to call the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office at 336-727-2112 or Crime Stoppers at 336-727-2800.

Rutgers basketball player Jacob Young reached a plea deal Monday in his driving while intoxicated case, according to his attorney.

Young was arrested in the early-morning hours Feb. 2 in New Brunswick by Rutgers University police and charged with DWI, reckless driving, failing to signal, disregarding a stop sign and careless driving, according to a RUPD incident report.

Appearing in New Brunswick Municipal Court via a video-conference call Monday, Young’s DWI charge was dropped and he agreed to plead guilty to reckless driving. Young had his New Jersey license privileges suspended for 60 days and agreed to pay a fine of $240.

“Jacob’s accepting his responsibility,’’ James Curran, Young’s Milltown-based attorney, said. “He’s remorseful. He’s a really nice kid and he made a mistake.’’

Introducing Rutgers Sports Insider: Sign up for exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers

A rising senior guard from Houston who was 22-years old at the time of his arrest, Young was suspended for one game for a violation of team rules by Scarlet Knights coach Steve Pikiell after the incident.

Both Young and Pikiell on Monday declined to comment through a Rutgers spokesperson, who said, “The team considers the matter resolved.’’

In February, Pikiell said he was “disappointed’’ upon hearing the news of Young’s arrest.

“When you deal with young adults, they’re capable of making bad decisions. He obviously did,” Pikiell said. “I’m disappointed. I love him. But you’ve got to make great decisions, and young adults sometimes don’t. We’ll move forward, it will be a good learning experience for us and then we’ll move on.”

A key bench player for a Rutgers team that went 20-11 before its season was cut short prior to the Big Ten Tournament because of the coronavirus shutdown, Young averaged 8.5 points per game while 41.3 percent from the field in 30 games as a junior.

Young, who has one season of eligibility remaining after transferring in from the University of Texas two years ago, earned a spot on the Dean’s List after posting a 3.73 grade-point-average this spring, according to a Rutgers spokesperson.

Get Rutgers Sports Insider text messages from reporters: Cut through the clutter of social media and communicate directly with the Rutgers beat writers. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com.

Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.

The heartbroken family of a young man killed in a horror Fife car crash have paid tribute and described him as the “perfect person”

Joshua Kerr tragically lost his life in the crash at Little Balquhomrie Farm, near  Glenrothes, at around 11.10am on Friday May 22.

Emergency services pronounced the 18-year-old dead at the scene having suffered serious injuries.

They were called following reports of a one vehicle road crash involving a car and a pedestrian.

An 18-year-old woman has been arrested and charged in connection with the death and is due to appear at Falkirk Sheriff Court on Monday May 25.

A report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.

Paying tribute to Joshua, his family said: “His mum, dad, little brother and anyone that ever knew Josh will never forget him. He was the perfect person and we will forever love him.”

Social media was also flooded with those leaving messages in honour of the talented pool player, describing him as “one of the nicest lads you’re ever likely to meet”.

Gavin Taylor said: “2020 continues to get worse by the min devastated to hear the news about wee josh Kerr 1 of the nicest young guys I have ever spoke to.”

And Jock Andrews posted: “Devastating news fly high wee man. A true gentleman. I played u a few times and always a good game and good player to watch taken far too soon. Thoughts with your family.”

The Northern Irish Pool Association wrote on Facebook: “The executive Committee and members of our youth section would like to send sincere condolences to the Scottish Pool Association, family of friends of Josh Kerr.

“Our thoughts are with you all at this awful time. Josh was a friend to many of our youth and juniors and their parents, his great personality and talent will not be forgotten. RIP young man.”

Detective Inspector John Easton, of the Major Investigation Team said: “This was an isolated incident and there is no risk to the wider community.

“We are keen to talk to anyone who may be able to help with our investigation.

“Anyone with information that could help us is urged to call Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 1237 of Friday, 22 May or alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

Student, 20, who allegedly crashed into young mother in a brutal hit and run before dumping her Honda Accord admits she was high on drugs at the time

• Nakeisha Shaneye Smith, 20, allegedly hit Olivia McKay with her Honda Accord 
• Smith then allegedly drove off, leaving the mother-of-one with a broken leg
• She was charged with grievous bodily harm with intent after police found her 
• Smith appeared in court on Thursday where she admitted: ‘I was on drugs’

By Alana Mazzoni For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 08:26 EDT, 14 May 2020 | Updated: 08:28 EDT, 14 May 2020

Advertisement

A 20-year-old Greensburg man is facing multiple rape charges after police said he met and preyed on two young girls through the social media app Snapchat.

Watch the full report from Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Jim Madalinsky in the video player above.

Kilian Thomas was arrested and arraigned on those charges Thursday. State police said Thomas met the two victims, ages 11 and 13, through the app and convinced them to meet in person. According to the criminal complaint, Thomas allegedly picked up the two young girls in his vehicle, drove them to a rural part of Unity Township and raped them multiple times.

Police said they were able to recover evidence in the area that is currently being processed. According to the criminal complaint, Thomas admitted to having sex with the young girls.

Thomas was taken to the Westmoreland County Jail after he was unable to post bail.

The young Indian actress arrived at O’Hare International Airport last Christmas Eve on a flight from Abu Dhabi.

Carrying a temporary visa, she told customs agents she had come to the U.S. to attend an Indian association event at the behest of her manager and would be staying only a couple weeks.

But federal prosecutors say that story was a ruse concocted by the actress’ manager. And he wasn’t helping her with her film career — he was her pimp.

Recently unsealed federal charges accuse a Chicago couple of Indian descent of running a high-end prostitution ring to lure actresses from Tollywood — a nickname for the lively Telugu-language film scene in southern India — to the U.S. and advertise them for sex at Indian conferences and cultural events across the country.

The ring charged clients up to $3,000 for each sexual encounter, according to a 42-page criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

While here on temporary visas, at least five actresses were sometimes forced to stay in a dingy, two-story apartment building in Chicago’s Belmont Cragin neighborhood waiting for their next “date,” the charges alleged. They also met clients in hotels at conferences in Dallas, New Jersey and Washington.

The prostitution scheme was allegedly masterminded by Kishan Modugumudi, 34, an Indian businessman who rose to become a player in the Tollywood movie industry and co-produced several hit films.

The complaint alleged that Modugumudi threatened the life of one of the actresses and her family if she told law enforcement the truth about what she did while in the country.

Modugumudi told the woman, identified in the charges only as Victim A, that “it would be nothing for him to harm her if she talked to the police about him because she is small and unknown, not a big actress,” the complaint alleged. “(He) further stated he had a copy of her passport with her family’s name and address in it.”

Also charged was Modugumudi’s wife, Chandra, 31, who allegedly kept detailed ledgers of the sex acts performed by each girl, including where they occurred and how much they collected.

Federal agents discovered the ledgers when they searched the Modugumudis’ apartment in the 5700 block of West Belden Avenue in February, according to the complaint. They also found more than 70 condoms divided up into “multiple Ziplock bags.”

Agents later obtained a search warrant for Kishan Modugumudi’s email accounts and discovered a note written by Victim A in December begging him to stop harassing and threatening her, according to the complaint.

“Please do not call me and don’t try to contact me,” the woman allegedly wrote. “It was very unpleasant doing business with you and I don’t want to do any business with you now or in future. If you try contacting me again, I’ll have to make formal complaint.”

Modugumudi and his wife have been in federal custody since agents arrested them in late April in suburban Washington, D.C., on a warrant, records show.

At a detention hearing last week in federal court in Chicago, the couple, dressed in jail clothes, listened to the proceedings through a Telugu interpreter.

Attorney Molly Armour, who represents Kishan Modugumudi, told the judge she had been trying to find a place for the couple to live so they could be freed on bail but that so far she had been unsuccessful. U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez ordered them to remain in custody for the time being. The couple’s two school-age children, meanwhile, are in the custody of child welfare officials in Virginia.

Armour declined to comment on the case. Attorney Keri Ambrosio, who represents Chandra Modugumudi did not immediately return calls for comment.

Founded in the silent-film era in the early 1900s, the Telugu film industry is one of the oldest and busiest in India. Its commercial hub, Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, holds the Guinness World Record as the largest film studio complex in the world with 47 sound stages.

But Tollywood also has been criticized as a haven for traffickers who use promises of stardom to trap aspiring young actresses in the sex trade. An estimated 200,000 women and children in India are forced into prostitution every year, many lured by opportunities to model or act in films, according to Reuters.

According to a 2010 story on Slate.com, “savvy pimps” also play off the sexual imagery in Tollywood films to “create a market for B-list and C-list ‘starlets’ — often unsuccessful actresses from questionable backgrounds — for men who want to have what’s sold as a glamorous sexual experience.”

Meanwhile, Tollywood announced earlier this year it was producing a series of short anti-trafficking films aimed at dissuading young men from buying sex, according to Reuters. The six short dramas were made by some of Tollywood’s biggest production houses as part of an initiative by an anti-trafficking charity and the U.S. Consulate General in Hyderabad, Reuters reported.

Rumors of the investigation into Modugumudi’s alleged prostitution ring have been reported in several English-language web sites that cover the Telugu cinema.

The criminal complaint filed against Modugumudi and his wife was unusual because sex crimes charged in federal court typically involve child victims or women sold into sexual slavery, not traditional prostitution.

In this case, some of the alleged victims of the scheme appeared less than cooperative when questioned by U.S. authorities — including Victim A, who claimed that she never actually had sex with clients but just spent time with them and “asked for help.”

A client interviewed as part of the investigation also tried to mislead agents by saying he’d had conversations with Modugumudi’s wife — whom he knew as “Vebha Jayam” — about “the price to have sex with actresses” but never actually went through with the proposition, according to the complaint.

That client, identified as Individual G, later acknowledged meeting Chandra Modugumudi in the lobby of the Comfort Suites at O’Hare in 2016 and paying her $1,110 in cash to have sex with an actress who was staying in one of the rooms there, according to the complaint.

In addition to emails discussing the scheme, authorities uncovered dozens of text messages from Chandra’s phone in which she appeared to haggle with clients over which girls were available and the prices for each, according to the complaint. Often, she would send photos of an actress available for a date while negotiating.

One text conversation from December 2016 showed that after Chandra sent photos of one girl to a potential client, he responded, “For me?” with a smiley face emoticon, according to the complaint.

In another conversation, an actress working for the prostitution ring, identified as Victim D, texted to Chandra that she had just finished performing oral sex on a client.

Matthew Ross White, 25, was arrested at his Cairns home on Friday night and charged with the murder of Cooktown mum Donna Steele, whose body was found dumped in a crocodile-infested lagoon seven months ago. He is also charged with interfering with a corpse and entering a dwelling with intent.

Police say they have DNA linking Mr White to the scene where Ms Steele, 42, was found.

The grisly discovery of Ms Steele’s body was made around 15km from her home, near the far north Queensland town of Cooktown on August 6.

Just one week after police offered a $250,000 reward for information about her killer, Mr White was arrested.

He remains in custody after facing court for her murder and police have now revealed that the young sportsman and the missing mother were known to each other. It is understood that the accused murderer’s mother lives near Ms Steele and the families also know each other.

The Courier Mail reports that Mr White had been an Australian rules football player in earlier years and was described by people who knew him at the time as “quiet” and “pleasant”.

A friend told the newspaper that Mr White was a stay-at-home father-of-two and they were shocked to hear of his arrest.

“He doesn’t like or do drugs, smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol,” the friend told the Mail.

Detectives say that evidence would prove Mr White was in Cooktown on August 2, when Ms Steele was last seen at the local IGA.

Her body was found in the Endeavour River four days later, sparking a massive seven-month investigation that involved aerial and ground searches of homes, properties and waterways.

Detective Inspector Geoff Marsh told reporters in Cairns that police believe Mr White was alone when he allegedly killed Ms Steele, but would not comment on his motive.

He dismissed suggestions a $250,000 reward offered led to the breakthrough, saying all information had been “supplied freely”.

Ms Steele was a cabin cleaner at Cooktown’s Peninsula Caravan Park and went to work as usual on August 2 and left at about midday.

Police believe Ms Steele returned home after the last sighting of her — at Cooktown’s IGA supermarket at 12.15pm — and left the home “peacefully”.

There was no sign of a struggle at the home, and that there was nothing to suggest her husband, Tony Brown, was involved.

He was working away from Cooktown and returned home on Thursday to find her missing.

Heartbreakingly, her two boys, aged 8 and 10, came home from school on Wednesday and found their mum gone. They ate biscuits for dinner and put themselves to bed, and then got up and took themselves to school the next day.

The boys got themselves to school the next day, but didn’t tell anyone at the school or any teacher they’d been alone.

Det Marsh said Ms Steele’s family, including her husband and their two sons, were relieved by news of the arrest.

“Mr Brown is also extremely relieved that he can now tell his sons what happened to their mother and they can move on,” he said.

Mr White appeared in the Cairns Magistrates Court on Saturday morning and was remanded until May 2.

HOW THE INVESTIGATION UNFOLDED

2017

August 2: Donna Louise Steele is last seen at the Cooktown IGA around midday.

August 3-5: Her husband reports her missing; emergency authorities conduct aerial and ground searches of the Steele’s family property and surrounding areas.

August 6: Ms Steele’s body is found in the Endeavour River.

August 9: Ms Steele’s brother Jason makes a public appeal for anyone with information to come forward.

August 11-25: Further searches carried out in the Leggett’s Crossing and Endeavour River area; trace DNA evidence is found on some of the 200 items that were scientifically examined.

October 31: A man’s shoe is found in the Endeavour River area.

2018

February 23: Police Minister Mark Ryan announces a $250,000 reward for information leading to the identification and conviction those responsible for Ms Steele’s murder.

March 2: Police confirm they have received new information and believe Ms Steele’s killer is from Cairns; police attend a Cairns address and arrest a 25-year-old man.

March 3: The man faces the Cairns Magistrates Court charged with murder, interference with a corpse and enter dwelling with intent.

— with Andrew Koubaridis and AAP

Ashley Young has been banned for three games by the Football Association after admitted a charge of violent conduct and will serve a three-match ban.

The Manchester United defender appeared to elbow Dusan Tadic during the 0-0 draw with Southampton at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The incident was not included in referee Craig Pawson’s report and, after reviewing video evidence, the FA decided to charge Young.

He had until 5 p.m. on Sunday to respond but decided not to contest the charge.

Young will be suspended for the games against Everton in Monday, Derby County (in the FA Cup) and Stoke. It will be another blow to manager Jose Mourinho, who saw his injury list grow during the stalemate with Southampton.

After the match, Tadic confirmed Young’s aggression against him.

“Yes, he elbowed me and I asked him ‘why did you do this?’ I didn’t really understand. I can fall down but it was really strange because I didn’t expect that from him.

Asked if the action was an offense worthy of expulsion, Tadic added: “Yes, yes, but normally you cannot see that.

“I’m disappointed about that because you don’t expect that from him, because he’s an experienced player and he cannot do that I think.”

Tadic claimed innocence when questioned if he’d provoked Young’s attack.

“No, no, no. Nothing. I was surprised, and then next corner I asked him ‘why did you do that?’ and he said ‘I didn’t do anything.’ I said ‘you didn’t do anything? You elbowed me in the stomach without reason.’

“Okay, if you want to push it’s different, but an elbow is different.”

Romelu Lukaku is set to miss the next two games after suffering a head injury, while Mourinho has also ruled out Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a month with a knee problem.

United are already without Antonio Valencia, Marouane Fellaini, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly and Michael Carrick.