In brief: Fugitive siblings caught in Colorado
PUEBLO, Colo. – An FBI manhunt for three heavily armed siblings accused of shooting at a police officer in Florida and robbing a Georgia bank ended Wednesday with a police chase in Colorado, where shots were fired at officers before the suspects’ car rolled and crashed into a guard rail.
The mayhem capped a cross-country search for the two brothers and sister that authorities had warned were armed and extremely dangerous. Police recovered two AK-47 assault rifles and a MAC-11 pistol at the crash site.
Ryan Edward Dougherty, 21, and Dylan Dougherty Stanley, 26, were arrested after the 20-mile chase on Interstate 25 that ended in Walsenburg, about 150 miles south of Denver.
Their sister, Lee Grace Dougherty, 29, was shot in the leg after she pointed a gun at a police officer while trying to escape on foot, authorities said.
The manhunt began Aug. 2 in Zephyrhills, Fla., when police Officer Kevin Widner tried to pull over a car for speeding. The occupants of the white Subaru fired at least 20 rounds and shot out the tire of Widner’s patrol car after a five-mile chase at speeds up to 100 mph, authorities said. Widner wasn’t hurt and did not return fire.
Sheriff’s investigators said they linked the siblings to the case when they found Ryan Dougherty’s ankle monitor near the scene of that chase. He had been issued the monitor after being convicted of sending sexually explicit text messages to an 11-year-old girl.
A few hours later and 210 miles to the north, three people wearing masks charged into the Certus Bank in Valdosta, Ga. One waved an AK-47 assault rifle while another carried a machine pistol.
They fired into the ceiling and fled with cash in a white sedan similar to the Subaru in the Florida shooting.
Jury seeks death for serial killer
CLEVELAND – Jurors who convicted a man of killing 11 women and leaving the remains in his home and yard said the words of the women who escaped his house of horrors helped persuade them to recommend the death penalty.
Anthony Sowell, 51, was convicted last month of aggravated murder and dozens of other counts in the 11 deaths and three other sexual assaults. The same jury deliberated for less than a day before deciding Wednesday to recommend execution by lethal injection.
The final decision will be up to Judge Dick Ambrose, who will impose the sentence Friday. He is permitted to reduce a death penalty sentence to life without parole, but such changes are rare in Ohio.
Statue of Liberty to close for year
NEW YORK – The Statue of Liberty will close for a year at the end of October as it undergoes a $27.25 million renovation that will make the interior safer and more accessible, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced Wednesday.
The National Parks Service, which manages the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, said it will close the monument on Oct. 28, after the 125th anniversary of its dedication. Liberty Island will remain open, however.