Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First

Season 2, Episode 45 of Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First

An Atlanta News First investigation reveals sometimes in DeKalb County there are no ambulances available, but leaders are not tracking how often it happens.

Read our full coverage below:

‘Call Uber’ | Why ambulances in DeKalb County might be unavailable

Brookhaven parents prayed for an ambulance that never came

Metro Atlanta man dies after waiting on ambulance, Brookhaven police say

Season 2, Episode 43 of Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First.

A metro Atlanta man said he’s been fighting Geico over a stolen car insurance claim since it happened earlier this summer.

On June 8, Josh Peresta parked his Infiniti Q50 sedan in the south terminal parking lot at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for a business trip to Miami.

He took a photo of the parked car and the marker showing where he could find it when he returned, section 17P. It was the last time he saw the car.

Sometime over the next several days, thieves stole the car. Traffic cameras spotted the car driving in northwest Atlanta, and according to the police report, traffic cameras captured video of the car returning to the airport twice.

In 2024, Atlanta police statistics show 161 cars were stolen from the airport parking lot and surrounding parking areas, compared to 35 in 2023; 65 in 2022; and 38 in 2021.

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/09/10/geico-customer-gets-stuck-with-two-car-payments-after-stolen-car-found/

Season 2, Episode 44 of Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First

After more than 20 years of litigation, Ed Heller hoped a jury would finally hold the people he believed was responsible for his wife’s death this past March.

Patricia Heller died in January 2003 shortly after leaving Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in a taxi while on a business trip. She never reached her final destination.

According to Hapeville Police, the taxi driver crashed into a line of trees on Interstate 85; the roads were slick after a recent rain. Patricia Heller left behind her husband and two children.

“I heard a knock on the door. And at the door was a police officer and the pastor of our local church,” said Heller. “They told me that she had passed away in the accident.”

The taxicab driver, Abdallah Adem, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide for driving with unsafe tires, because the cab’s tires lacked sufficient tread.

On March 4, a Fulton County jury found the taxicab company (which is no longer in business) liable for Patricia Heller’s death, but not the driver or the city inspector.

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/09/19/judge-reverses-verdict-after-juror-accused-lying-about-his-job/

Season 2, Episode 43 of Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First.

Najwa Rucker is a used car customer who took her salesman’s recommendation for auto insurance.

But state investigators said the insurance company did not exist, and following an Atlanta News First investigation, the owner of Atlanta Best Used Cars in Norcross reimbursed Rucker for payments she made to a fraudulent company called All-Citi Insurance Group.

Rucker will receive a check for $1,750. That includes five monthly payments and the deductible she paid after her car was involved in a crash.

State investigators for Georgia’s Commissioner of Insurance and Fire Safety are still looking for the suspect behind the alleged scheme. Warrants have been issued for Deamarkis Barber, 33, from Conyers, on eight counts of insurance fraud and eight counts of theft by deception. He allegedly stole $17,500 from 19 victims, and there could be more.

Read our original report here:
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/09/18/car-salesman-recommends-insurance-customers-investigators-say-its-fraud/

and our followup here:

https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/09/24/customer-refunded-after-car-salesman-recommends-fraudulent-insurance-company/

Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. What is it really like to negotiate with ransomware attackers? Why negotiate? What's the most moment in a ransomware negotiation? 

Mark Lance is vice president of GuidePoint Security, who talks about the many aspects involved in negotiating after a ransomware attack.

 Searches of innocent passengers at airport boarding gates continue nationwide as federal drug officers look for cash they can seize.

Atlanta News First Investigates documented the practice in the series In Plane Sight, showing how plainclothes officers confront passengers who’ve already successfully cleared inspections by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

In court records, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and federal prosecutors describe these stops as “cold consent encounters.” Multiple videos recorded by passengers show their consent was compelled by agents who told them they would otherwise miss their flights, or face a drug dog screening and a long wait for a search warrant.

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/08/14/new-video-shows-its-nearly-impossible-say-no-dea-searches-airport-gates/

Ford Motor Company’s recall of the 2016-2022 Ford EcoSport and Focus 1.0L engines has put owners in a difficult position. Their cars have defective parts that could potentially ruin the engine, but the replacement parts will not be available for at least six months.

According to the recall, “the oil-drive belt tensioner arm may fracture or separate, causing a loss of vehicle power and power braking assist, increasing the risk of a crash.”

Several plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit in June 2023 alleging “the defect presents a serious safety hazard because it can cause catastrophic engine failure without warning while driving, lost motive power, and/or sudden limp mode activation, increasing the likelihood of a collision.

Anytime Chekietha Grant sees a police cruiser, she immediately starts recording on her phone. It’s an impulse reaction after a 2022 encounter with law enforcement in Brookside, Alabama, that started with an alleged broken tag light, and ended with her in handcuffs and behind bars.

“Every time I go anywhere, I’m nervous,” Grant said. “If police get behind me, I instantly have to record.”

Police arrested her daughter, Alexis Thomas, too. The traffic stop cost them thousands of dollars in fees from municipal court, the tow truck company, and attorney fees.

Their experience mirrors hundreds of similar complaints from ticketed drivers in the small Alabama town, according to a class action lawsuit filed by the Institute of Justice, alleging the city deployed its police department not to protect the public, but to generate revenue.

According to the lawsuit, the city boosted its budget 640 percent through fines and forfeitures in two years. During that time, it purchased an armored vehicle residents called “The Tank,” and named the department’s K-9, “Cash.”

 Driving behind a dump truck feels like a game of roulette. Rocks could fall out, damaging your windshield or causing a crash.

You’ve probably noticed those stickers warning you to stay back and that the trucks aren’t responsible for broken windshields. But did you notice something missing?

How about license plates?

In Georgia and most other states, dump trucks aren’t required to have license plates or any other identifying marks on the back of the vehicle. 

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/08/01/dump-trucks-without-rear-license-plates-theyre-legal/

A group of alleged squatters identified by viewers of a recent Atlanta News First investigation as members of a polygamist group have been evicted from the DeKalb County house in which they were residing.

Viewers claimed at least two of the squatters are associated with a polygamist group known as Carbon Nation, which DeKalb County prosecutors refer to as a sex cult. Its leader, Eligio Bishop, went on trial in February 2024 for false imprisonment, rape and posting a revenge porn video online. After a jury found Bishop guilty, he was sentenced to life in prison.

After the sentencing, a group of squatters began occupying a Tucker, Georgia, home. The house is a rental property owned and managed by Sylvan Homes. Sources told Atlanta News First Investigates the squatters changed the locks and used a fraudulent lease to turn on water service.

Read the full stories here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/07/16/squatters-linked-polygamist-sex-group-carbon-nation-evicted-tucker-home/

and here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/07/10/metro-couple-says-new-neighbors-donning-ski-masks-may-be-squatters/