Massachusetts

Police union boss’ son arrested in school plot

A high school student whose tip about a planned Columbine-style massacre landed his friend in jail was arrested Monday and charged with being a conspirator in the plot.

Joseph T. Nee, 18, a senior at Marshfield High School whose father heads the main Boston police union, pleaded innocent to conspiracy to commit mass murder and promotion of anarchy. He was ordered held without bail pending a hearing Thursday.

Nee’s tip to police had led to the Sept. 17 arrest of his friend, 16-year-old Tobin Kerns.

Acting on information from Nee and two other unnamed witnesses, police said they uncovered evidence of a plan to carry out an attack that would coincide with the sixth anniversary of the Columbine shootings and that students, teachers, police officers and firefighters were identified as targets.

Further investigation revealed that Nee was part of the plot and that he understated his role when he contacted police, prosecutor John McLaughlin said.

Phoenix

Death toll lowered in smuggling crash

Authorities on Monday lowered to five the death toll from a weekend crash of a stolen pickup truck crammed with undocumented immigrants.

Authorities initially reported six deaths in the crash Saturday that caused an 11-car pileup, but one victim who apparently went into cardiac arrest while being transported to a hospital was resuscitated, said Sgt. Brian Preston of the state public safety department.

The accident near the Army’s Fort Huachuca occurred when the truck carrying 17 immigrants tried to evade Cochise County sheriff’s deputies. The truck was traveling about 90 mph when it approached a busy intersection and lost control, striking a number of vehicles.

Two of the dead were in other vehicles and three were immigrants in the truck, which authorities think was headed to Phoenix, a hub for transporting illegal immigrants throughout the United States.

Arkansas

Storms cause injuries, knock out power

Driving rain and high wind caused heavy damage and injured at least 10 people Monday as storms moved through Arkansas, knocking out power to thousands of customers, authorities said.

Near the town of Sardis, Fire Chief Rick Morris said about 45 structures were damaged or destroyed. Several tornados were reported.

“When I looked out the window I saw the tornado swirling and I heard it hit,” said sign painter Doug Hethcox. “All I could do was dive for the floor. The next thing I knew it was over. My trailer was knocked about 4 feet off its foundation.”

Near Hethcox’s mobile home, 50-foot pine trees were snapped and others were pulled out at their roots. Twisted metal and insulation from destroyed mobile homes sat in the top of trees.

Miami

Ex-Cuban wrestler pleads in airport crash

A former Cuban Olympic wrestler pleaded guilty Monday to ramming his SUV into a ticket counter at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on the Fourth of July.

Alexis Vila Perdomo, 33, pleaded guilty in Miami federal court to intentionally using a motor vehicle to seriously damage and disrupt an international airport, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Vila drove through two plate-glass doors at 45 mph and crashed through an unmanned Southeast Airlines ticket counter. He suffered minor scrapes and no one else was injured.

Vila won the bronze medal for Cuba in the 105.5-pound division in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He defected after winning a gold medal the following year at the Pan American Games in Puerto Rico.