JUDGE NIXES LAWSUIT BY MAN SAYING HE WAS DUPED BY DATING APP: CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — A judge has ruled against a man who sued a mobile dating app after he was arrested for having sex with a 13-year-old boy.
William Saponaro Jr. was arrested in 2012 after an encounter involving him, the 13-year-old boy and another man who knew Saponaro and had met the boy on the Grindr app.
Saponaro, who owns a construction company in Cape May, sued Grindr for negligence and infliction of emotional distress, saying it allowed the boy to subscribe to it and present himself as being over the age of consent.
A federal judge in Camden, in an opinion published on Friday, dismissed Saponaro’s lawsuit. The judge cited federal law that protects online service providers from being held liable for content that users post on their sites.
“If social network hosts are faced with liability every time third-party communications on their networks result in harm, they are left with two extreme courses of action if they wish to ensure insulation from liability,” U.S. District Judge Jerome Simandle wrote. “Either over-police their networks, taking down communications that might ultimately be harmless; or, strip users of the ability to post communications altogether.”
THE NEIGHBOR WITH NO CLOTHES ON; POLICE SAY NO LAW BROKEN: CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A Charlotte man who stands at his front door naked is upsetting his neighbors, but police say he is not doing anything illegal.
WBTV reports (http://bit.ly/1Dtn7sJ) people in the north Charlotte neighborhood called police Friday to lodge the latest of what officials say are four complaints so far this year.
Neighbors say the man stands naked at his door several times a week, and he has been doing it for years. They have taken pictures and video and hope the images will prompt the homeowners association to file some type of nuisance complaint.
A spokeswoman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says while the man may be annoying the neighborhood, his actions don’t rise to the level of bringing charges because he’s on his own property.
SUSPECT SPRAY-PAINTS FACE TO AVOID IDENTIFICATION: MADERA (AP) — A man suspected of stealing a car spray-painted his face black in an attempt to evade police in Central California.
Jose Espinoza, 23, ran from police after being caught with a stolen car.
Officers caught up to Espinoza and arrested him Saturday night with his face painted black.
60 PEOPLE EVACUATED FROM BAY AREA TUNNEL AFTER CAR FIRES: OAKLAND (AP) — At least 60 people were evacuated from a San Francisco Bay Area tunnel while firefighters extinguished flames from two car fires.
The fires were out in about an hour, but the incident snarled the Monday morning commute for several hours.
The first car fire was sparked by a traffic collision inside Caldecott tunnel, which connects the East Bay to Oakland. A second car was involved in a related collision in the tunnel and also caught fire.
1 DEAD, 1 INJURED IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TAXI CRASH: CORDELIA . (AP) — A taxi plunged 100 feet off a freeway embankment in the San Francisco Bay Area, killing a passenger and injuring a second person.
For unknown reasons a cab driver veered off the freeway early Monday morning and down an embankment.
California Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Lott says the driver was not injured. The crash happened in Cordelia, which is between Fairfield and Vallejo.
Luggage and car wreckage was strewn about the highway. One passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. The second passenger was taken to an area hospital.
MORE MUTILATED ANIMALS FOUND IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA : SACRAMENTO (AP) — More beheaded animals have been found near the Northern California city of Sacramento, the latest in a string of mutilations since the beginning of the year.
The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/1GUudYe) a birdwatcher working the fields of Yolo County on Sunday found a collection of five beheaded chickens and a beheaded turtle.
Gina Knepp, who runs Sacramento’s Front Street Animal Shelter, says it’s the second find that included a turtle.
The newspaper reports there have been at least 13 separate discoveries of decapitated goats, sheep and chickens and other animals since January.
TEENS SENTENCED IN VIDEOTAPED ASSAULT OF DISABLED MAN: WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Three Delaware teenagers involved in videotaped assaults of a mentally disabled man have been sentenced to probation and house arrest, followed by placement in a secure juvenile facility.
The teens were sentenced Monday after each pleaded guilty to a single felony count of crime against a vulnerable adult.
The boys, two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old, were sentenced to probation and house arrest for the rest of the school year, followed by summer placement at a juvenile facility.
The defendants were charged with offensive touching, assault of a vulnerable adult, and conspiracy. Prosecutors later added hate-crime charges, which were dropped along with other charges following the guilty pleas.
Videos posted online showed the 27-year-old victim being body-slammed to the ground, stomped on and kicked, and repeatedly punched in the head.
NYC MAN CHARGED WITH POINTING LASER AT AIRCRAFT: NEW YORK (AP) — The lawyer for a man arrested Monday on a federal charge that he knowingly directed a laser at aircraft says his client came to him last week saying his conscience was bothering him because someone else had been arrested for something he did.
Attorney Manuel A. Sanchez Jr. said outside court that Elehecer Balaguer told him he wanted “to go to court and confess to the crime.”
Balaguer, 54, surrendered Monday morning and was released on $50,000 bail later in the day after an initial appearance before a magistrate judge in Manhattan on a charge that carries a potential prison sentence of five years.
