New Jersey man tells police he tossed baby off bridge
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. (AP) — A man who snatched his infant daughter from the arms of her maternal grandmother while the child’s mother was in court getting a restraining order against him told police he threw the baby off a bridge and into a frigid New Jersey river Tuesday, prompting a massive search beneath a busy parkway.
Search teams, including boats, dogs and helicopters, were still scouring the area beneath the Garden State Parkway’s Driscoll Bridge in Central New Jersey late Wednesday for any signs of 3-month-old Zara Malani-lin Abdur in what Acting New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow called, “an example of a horrific case of domestic violence.”
Authorities say the girl’s father, 21-year-old Shamsiddi Abdur-Raheem of Galloway Township, allegedly forced his way into the grandmother’s East Orange apartment around 4 p.m. Tuesday, striking her in the face, choking her, and forcibly taking the baby, wrapped in a blanket and a pink and gray onesie, before fleeing in his vehicle. The 60-year-old grandmother, who police declined to identify, chased after Abdur-Raheem and was struck when she tried to stop him by throwing herself in the path of his van.
 
 
Dog ‘hitches ride’ in New Mexico, meets owner in Louisiana
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The dogs in New Orleans’ Carnival pet parade included a pooch that hitched a ride 1,200 miles from Taos, New Mexico, to the city where his 26-year-old master had hitchhiked weeks earlier. Stephan Soleas came to New Orleans for a few weeks of visits and music. He said his 6-year-old Labrador mix, Charlie, went missing days after he left.
Charlie was found by a couple vacationing in Taos. The couple saw a collarless dog and tried to find its owner, but the veterinarian didn’t have a microchip scanner.
The couple gave up their airline tickets, rented a car and made the 3-day drive back to New Orleans with the dog. Incidentally, they also named the dog Charlie.
Soleas and Charlie were reunited 10 days later — Feb. 5 — when Magazine Street Animal Clinic co-owner Teresa Gernon checked a microchip in the white dog’s neck.
 
 
Man wanted for attempted armed robbery found in box in closet
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Shreveport police say a man accused of brandishing a box-cutter in an attempted holdup was found inside a box, in his bedroom closet.
Cpl. Bill Goodin, a police spokesman, says 34-year-old Ronnie Bishop was arrested late Tuesday and booked into the Caddo Parish jail on one count of attempted armed robbery.
Pickled pork lips plant burns in unexplained afterhours fire
MONTPELIER, La. (AP) — State fire investigators spent Wednesday at a Louisiana plant that sold pickled pigs’ lips by the gallon through grocery and convenience stores around the Southeast.
Arson unit supervisor Donald Carter said they don’t yet know what started the fire. It broke out Monday, when Farm Fresh Foods Suppliers in St. Helena Parish was closed.