“Cellphone bandit” suspect held in heists at 4 Va. banks
Centreville, Va. – FBI agents arrested a woman Tuesday who is suspected of robbing four banks in suburban Virginia while appearing to be talking on a cellphone.
Candice R. Martinez, 19, was arrested just before 4 a.m. at a home in nearby Centreville after an FBI agent spotted a car nearby with license plates that authorities had been searching for in the case of the so-called cellphone bandit.
Martinez is suspected of robbing four Wachovia Bank branches between Oct. 12 and Nov. 4. Security cameras filmed the suspect walking up to tellers and handing them a note demanding cash – all while appearing to be chatting on her cellphone.
According to an affidavit filed by the FBI, Martinez confessed to the four robberies. Her boyfriend, Dave Williams, 19, also confessed to driving the getaway car. Court papers said Williams once worked at one of the banks.
LANCASTER, Pa.
Teen murder suspect flown back home
An 18-year-old accused of killing his girlfriend’s parents and fleeing with her flew back to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to face murder and kidnapping charges.
His 14-year-old girlfriend, Kara Beth Borden, was returned home on a separate plane. She was not under arrest.
Indiana police captured David Ludwig on Monday after the car he was driving crashed during a chase. He is suspected of shooting Kara’s parents, both 50, early Sunday after an argument over the teens’ relationship.
NEW YORK
Heart study pits drugs Lipitor, Zocor
High doses of the cholesterol- lowering drug Lipitor were no better at preventing major heart problems than regular doses of rival Zocor, according to a study on efforts to aggressively treat the conditions released Tuesday.
Pfizer Inc. will have to defend Lipitor against generic versions of Merck & Co.’s Zocor when that company loses patent protection next summer, cutting Zocor’s price 50 percent to 60 percent.
Lipitor outperformed Zocor on several fronts such as lowering cholesterol and preventing nonfatal heart attacks. The findings will continue to give it an advantage in the market even if generic Zocor is less expensive, some doctors said.
SEATTLE
Killer whales listed as endangered species
In a victory for environmentalists, the federal government listed Puget Sound’s killer whales as an endangered species Tuesday, giving the animals the highest protection under the law.
The three pods of orcas that live in Puget Sound from late spring through early fall total 89 whales – down from more than 100 in the middle of the last century but up from a low of 79 in 2002. Their decline has been blamed on pollution and a drop in the population of salmon, their primary food.
PARIS
Assembly extends state of emergency
France’s lower house of parliament voted Tuesday to extend a state of emergency for three months, after the government said the extra powers are still needed to end the country’s worst civil unrest in four decades.
The government also moved to deport 10 foreigners convicted during the 19 days of violence in troubled poor neighborhoods.
The National Assembly voted 346-148 for the extension, which would keep the measure in place through mid-February.
The opposition Socialist Party argued against an extension, saying emergency measures were no longer needed because violence is abating.
KABUL, Afghanistan
Bomb kills GI; Karzai predicts more attacks
A U.S. soldier was killed Tuesday when a bomb exploded near a troop patrol in eastern Afghanistan, while President Hamid Karzai said he expects terror attacks to continue in his country “for much more time to come.”
The attack occurred a day after suicide bombers rammed explosives-laden cars into NATO peacekeepers in two attacks in the Afghan capital – the first major assault on foreign troops in Kabul in more than a year. The death toll rose to nine Tuesday as police found more bodies in a ditch and a wounded man died.
