Orange County jail teacher arrested for helping 3 escape

Orange County jail teacher arrested for helping 3 escape

SANTA ANA, Calif.

A woman who taught English classes at a Southern California jail was arrested Thursday on suspicion of helping three inmates – including a purported killer – escape the lockup, and the men are believed to be riding around in a stolen van.

Nooshafarin Ravaghi, 44, of Lake Forest, was arrested nearly a week after the men cut their way through steel bars, climbed through plumbing tunnels, made their way to the roof, cut razor wire and, using rope made of braided bedsheets, rappelled four stories to freedom from the roof of the Orange County Central Men’s Jail. The escape last Friday wasn’t noticed for 16 hours.

‘Affluenza’ teen booked into Texas detention center

FORT WORTH, Texas

The teenager who used an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck was booked into a Texas juvenile detention center after his deportation from Mexico on Thursday, more than a month after he and his mother fled the U.S. as prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation.

Ethan Couch, 18, arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport late Thursday morning and could be seen walking through the airport escorted by law enforcement. Couch and his mother were apprehended in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta on Dec. 28, after a call for pizza delivery tipped off authorities to their whereabouts.

Activity detected at N. Korea launch site, US official says

WASHINGTON

North Korea may be preparing to launch a rocket or missile, according to a U.S. defense official and expert analysis of commercial satellite imagery published Thursday.

The analysis comes just three weeks after North Korea drew international condemnation for conducting its fourth nuclear test explosion.

The official told The Associated Press the U.S. has seen activity at a ballistic missile test site that is consistent with previous tests, but the official would not go into more detail.

Man with guns, partner arrested at Disneyland Paris

PARIS

A man who tried to bring two handguns into a hotel at Disneyland Paris was detained Thursday along with his female partner, authorities said, amid lingering jitters around the French capital after attacks last year.

No one was hurt in the incident, and the park – Europe’s most-visited tourist attraction – remained open after the arrests.

Computer expert gets no jail time in spamming case

PITTSBURGH

A computer expert was sentenced Thursday to two years’ probation for helping send millions of spam messages that allowed computer marketers to illegally harvest email addresses and phone numbers.

Naveed Ahmed, 27, of Tampa, faced at least two years in prison under advisory sentencing guidelines, but Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Cohill Jr. in Pittsburgh imposed probation. Defense attorney Melvin Vatz called Ahmed “a man of considerable intelligence who has unfortunately succumbed to directing those talents in the wrong way.”

Associated Press