PHOENIX — A 51-year-old woman guilted her young sons and their friends into helping her pay bills by committing at least 20 armed robberies in the Phoenix area, authorities said Monday.
Cynthia Roberson, her two sons, ages 12 and 14, and five others face charges of armed robbery and aggravated assault, investigators said.
Roberson, recently unemployed, guilted her sons, their friends and three men into committing robberies to pay for rent and a car loan, police said.
In all 20 cases, Roberson drove the getaway car and once coached a 14-year-old during a robbery because he was having trouble stealing a cell phone from a victim, police said. One victim reported that Roberson was holding a sawed-off shotgun during a robbery.
All the robbery victims were physically assaulted, police said. One 13-year-old was beaten and forced to empty his pockets — which contained only an orange lollipop.
Police do not know how much money the group made, but said the figure couldn’t be very high, considering they usually made away with a cell phone or a bit of cash.
Arkansas: Gunman kills soldier outside Army-Navy center
A man with “political and religious motives” killed a soldier just out of basic training and wounded another Monday in a targeted attack on a military recruiting center in Little Rock, police said. The shootings were not believed to be part of a broader scheme. A police report based on an interview with the suspect says Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, told police he observed two soldiers in uniform, drove up to the Army-Navy Career Center and started shooting.
Washington: Antidepressant doesn’t help autism, study says
An antidepressant commonly prescribed to help autistic children control repetitive behaviors is no better than a placebo, according to a report published Monday. Dr. Bryan King, director of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital and leader of the study, said he was shocked that citalopram (brand name Celexa) didn’t help patients. Not only was the placebo slightly more effective, but the drug’s side effects, such as impulsivity and insomnia, were at least twice as bad.
D.C.: Public school enrollment at a high point
Public school enrollment across the country is hitting a record this year with just less than 50 million students, and classrooms are becoming more diverse, largely because of growth in the Latino population, according to a new federal report. Nationwide, about one in five students was Hispanic in 2007, the latest year for which figures are available for ethnic groups, up from 11 percent in the late 1980s. About 44 percent of the nation’s students are minorities.
Puerto Rico: Killer of U.S. tourist gets 105-year sentence
A judge sentenced the son of a convicted killer to 105 years in prison Monday for the kidnapping, rape and murder of a pregnant Georgia tourist who made a desperate phone call to her fiance from the trunk of her assailant’s car. The judge imposed the sentence on Eliezer Marquez Navedo, 36, in Fajardo, the eastern coastal city where he ambushed Sara Kuszak in February while she jogged alone along a remote road. She was about five months pregnant. She and her fiance planned to marry the following month.
Afghanistan: 4 U.S. troops die
Two roadside bombs that struck back-to-back and only miles apart hit two U.S. military vehicles in Afghanistan on Monday, killing four American troops, U.S. and Afghan officials said. The deaths bring to 64 the number of U.S. forces killed in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press count.
Israel: No settlement freeze
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected President Barack Obama’s demand for a freeze on West Bank Jewish settlement construction. Israel has failed to keep a promise to the U.S., first made in 2003, to dismantle about two dozen outposts.
From Herald news services
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