Indian charged with kidnapping after driving away 2 children in car in US
New York: A 24-year-old Indian man has been charged with kidnapping, assault and theft after he drove off in an elderly woman's car from outside a medical centre in the US with her grandchildren inside the vehicle.
Dalvir Singh, a heroin addict, was taken into custody and charged with two counts of kidnapping, felonious assault for dragging Nita Coburn, 69 and grand theft, Middletown Division of Police said in a statement.
Coburn was injured when as she tried to stop Singh as the kids jumped out of the car. The police is also hailing Coburn's 8-year old grandson Chance as a hero for saving his 10-year old sister's life by pulling her out of the car as Singh took off in it.
The Middletown Police said that on the evening of April 25, it received a call that a car with children inside had been stolen at a medical center in Middletown, Ohio and that an elderly lady was injured.
Coburn had taken another woman to the hospital and her two grandchildren were with her in the back seat. When they got to the emergency room, she pulled up close to the door and was helping the other woman into the emergency room.
About 10 seconds after she got out of the car, Singh jumped into the driver's seat and took off with the children still in the back.
The little boy opened the door to escape and his sister Skylar started to jump out also but Singh grabbed the hoodie of the little girl not allowing her to leave. As she tried to get away, Chance grabbed hold of her and pulled her away from Singh and they both tumbled out of the vehicle as it was moving.
Police said Coburn did not realise that the children were able to escape because they flew out of the passenger side and by that time she was chasing the car on the driver's side.
She opened the driver's door to regain control of the vehicle she thought her grandchildren were in, but Singh slammed the door shut again and locked the door.
She hung onto the vehicle panicking because she thought the children were still inside. The vehicle dragged her until it accelerated at a high rate of speed and she was forced to let go.
Two police officers observed the stolen vehicle fleeing the scene and chased Singh, who was then taken into custody and charged.
Middletown Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw lauded the heroic attempt by Chance to save himself and his sister from the kidnapping attempt.
"This little guy is a hero. No question. He pulled his sister out of the car with no concern for his own safety. That is incredible at his age," he said.
The Middletown Division of Police said it will be recognising the little boy's quick action to not only get out of the vehicle but also making sure that his sister got out with him.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
