High-speed crash kills 4 adults, baby

A car estimated to be going 54 mph over the speed limit struck railroad tracks on an Ohio road, went airborne and crashed early on New Year’s Day, killing all five people inside, Dayton police said.

Police Lt. Larry Faulkner said the 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix was damaged so extensively by slamming into a fire hydrant, a utility pole and a fence that it “essentially disintegrated.”

“It’s bent in half, like a sandwich,” he said.

The five victims, which included an 11-month-old boy, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, reported just after midnight Thursday. The child was discovered last, buried at the bottom of the mangled wreckage.

The Montgomery County coroner’s office identified the victims as Shawn Roush, 32, of Franklin; Trisha Roush, 33, and Dustin McDonald, 22, of Dayton; Nichole Hill, 29, and her 11-month-old son, Hayden Phann, both of Belbrook.

Investigators’ preliminary estimate was that the car was going 89 mph on an industrial street about 2 miles northeast of downtown where the posted speed limit was 35 mph, Faulkner said.

The carload had been returning from at least one New Year’s Eve party, according to police, who suspected alcohol was a factor in the crash.

Richmond, Calif.

Four arrested in gang rape

Two men and two teens have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a woman last month in the San Francisco Bay area while allegedly taunting her for being a lesbian, police said Thursday.

Officers arrested Humberto Hernandez Salvador at his Richmond home Wednesday night, Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan said. The 31-year-old is being held without bail on gang rape, kidnapping and carjacking charges.

Police on Wednesday also arrested a 15-year-old Richmond boy and a 16-year-old Hercules boy, who were being held at a juvenile detention center on similar charges. Their names were not released.

Josue Gonzalez, 21, turned himself in Thursday after police announced they were searching for him. He was wanted on charges of gang rape, kidnapping and carjacking.

Detectives say the 28-year-old victim was attacked on Dec. 13 after she got out of her car, which bore a rainbow gay pride sticker. The alleged attackers made comments indicating they knew she was a lesbian, police said.

The 45-minute attack started when one of the men approached the woman in the street, struck her with a blunt object, ordered her to disrobe and sexually assaulted her with the help of the others, according to detectives.

When the group saw another person approaching, they forced the victim back into her car and took her to a burned-out apartment building. She was raped again inside and outside the vehicle and left naked outside the building while the alleged assailants took her wallet and drove off in her car, police said.

New York

Student left on bus overnight

A 22-year-old man with cerebral palsy spent a frigid New Year’s night alone on a school bus after a caretaker left him there, police and his family said.

Authorities said police found Edwin Rivera in a bus yard Thursday morning. He had been on the bus for 19 hours while the temperature outside dropped below 20 degrees.

Rivera, who cannot speak, was being evaluated at a hospital. He was expected to recover.

Authorities arrested 51-year-old Linda Hockaday, the bus matron responsible for looking after him, on a charge of reckless endangerment, police said.

His parents reported Rivera missing Wednesday evening after he didn’t return home from his special-needs school.

Miami

Cruise worker reported overboard

The Coast Guard is searching the waters off Florida for a cruise ship employee who co-workers say fell overboard.

The Coast Guard said the man’s co-workers on the Carnival Sensation reported him falling overboard around 1 a.m. Thursday. His name was not released.

Carnival said he was a member of the entertainment staff and was not on duty at the time. Six other crew members saw the man fall and said it was clearly an accident.

Helicopters and patrol boats were searching the Atlantic Ocean east of Vero Beach.