Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First

Water beads are often sold as toys, in craft kits, or as sensory tools for children with developmental disabilities.

But the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission said children who have swallowed water beads can suffer suffer severe consequences, including internal injuries, lifelong health impacts and death.

Some of the cases of children ingesting water beads in metro Atlanta have required medical attention at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA).

Water beads are small, water-absorbing, often colorful balls of super absorbent polymer and can grow 100X their original size when exposed to water.

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/29/choa-doctor-water-beads-can-expand-inside-stomach-causing-harm-children/

Thousands of electric vehicle drivers and their passengers may not be protected if involved in a crash with barriers meant to keep them alive.

Newly released crash tests reveal guardrails failed involving two popular models on the road today: the Tesla Model 3 sedan and the Rivian R1T pickup.

The video, obtained exclusively by Atlanta News First Investigates, shows when the Tesla hit a guardrail at 62 miles per hour, the vehicle goes through the barrier.

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/10/crash-tests-reveal-guardrails-failed-protect-tesla-rivian-vehicles/

Keeping kindergarteners focused in the classroom is never easy, but Larkin Davidson struggles more than most.

The seven-year-old suffers from multiple learning disabilities and mental health challenges.

“He says, ‘I’m not smart. I wish I could talk right. My mouth doesn’t work right,’” said Melanie Starrett, his mother. “It breaks my heart that he’s been made to feel that way.”

Starrett said Larkin can’t identify all the letters in the alphabet and has outbursts in class. “He’s a handful,” she said, “and I can’t imagine what his teacher has gone through the last two years.”

To get help, the Newton County mother sent her son to doctors and specialists for psychological evaluations and speech screenings over the past few months. That means missing school to make the appointments.

All but one of the absences in Larkin’s attendance records show the days were excused, which is why Starrett was shocked when his school, West Newton Elementary, withdrew him for chronic absenteeism in November.

In December, the Newton County School Board also recommended “educational neglect” charges be filed against Starrett for failing to keep Larkin in class. The crime carries fines and up to 30 days in jail.

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/02/05/school-marks-unexcused-absences-childs-record-after-hes-kicked-out/https://youtu.be/6VKttQtTQP0

 Last October, Dr. Lynne Damali, a Forest Park, Georgia, chiropractor, traded in two cars for a new Jeep Grand Wagoneer.

The Wagoneer gave her family everything the other cars didn’t: space, luxury, and power, but Damali didn’t anticipate what happened over the next two months.

“They have bounced eight checks,” Damali said, referring to the dealership’s payoffs on her two trade-ins that were sent to her credit unions.

Damali made the deal at a Union City Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM; the dealership’s new general manager confirmed the checks bounced because of a corporate processing error.

Many consumers don’t know that if there is a problem with their car trade’s loan payoff, the owner must continue making monthly payments and insurance premiums until the payoff is complete.

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/23/woman-trades-two-cars-one-ends-up-with-three-payments/

Last week, a Marietta couple discovered their complex’s mandated policy did not cover their contents when a pipe in the above unit burst and flooded their apartment.

The renter’s liability-only policy they purchased did not cover damage to their contents and additional expenses for hotel, food, and boarding for their dog.

“Our throw pillows, our throw blankets, were completely damaged,” said Madison Kelley. “We have a large area rug that sits under the couch. It was literally flowing in the water.”

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/19/heres-why-couples-renters-insurance-wont-cover-their-flooded-apartment/

Deed theft, wrongful foreclosures, fraudulent loans are all ingredients for real estate fraud.

Metro Atlanta families are coming home to notices saying their homes are no longer theirs, and arguing their properties were wrongfully sold without their knowledge.

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/16/is-it-hard-steal-your-home-georgia-experts-say-no/

Black men jailed, wrongfully accused, and arrested. One technology at the center of it all. 

Police use facial recognition to link people to crimes they did not commit. Atlanta News First exposes cases from Atlanta, Balitmore, New York, to Louisiana. 

A common denominator is that law enforcement agencies are not following policy because the policy does not exist. 

Randall Reid was arrested in Atlanta for a robbery which occurred in a city he never visited. Before his case, it happened to two other fathers on the East Coast. 

Today, the list grows. As it turns out, bias can be embedded in facial recognition software. Which means in the search for suspects, there's a list of new victims. 

While more police agencies are beginning to use the technology, other non-law enforcement state entities are following their lead.

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RACIAL PROFILING AT THE GATE

Plainclothes drug agents search innocent passengers at airport gates across the United States, looking for cash.

The drug agents seize anything over $5,000 if the passenger can’t prove — on the spot — that their own money didn’t come from drug trafficking. The government seizes the cash when no drugs are found, without arresting the traveler or charging them with a crime. The DEA gets to keep the money it seizes.

Our ongoing investigation revealed that passengers selected for what the government calls “random, consensual encounters” are actually profiled by the drug agents who search Black men far more often than any other group of passengers.

We analyzed data showing that, for drug agents to find just one passenger with money, they have to publicly search 10 departing passengers. Some of those profiled passengers are left deeply scarred by the process, even when nothing is seized.

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Poisoned without permission

Three scientists are calling for more testing of a dangerous toxin impacting residents who live in the Rome, Georgia, area. It’s in response to an Atlanta News First investigation that uncovered elevated levels of the chemical compound in some residents’ blood.

For decades, the Oostanaula River that supplied Rome’s drinking water was contaminated with perfluoroalkyl (PFAS). The chemical group is linked to serious illness, including cancer.

City officials switched to a different water source in 2017, but many residents have always wondered how the contaminated water impacted them prior to the disclosure.

When the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) said it didn’t have plans to investigate, Atlanta News First Investigates purchased testing kits that can measure the total values of some of the most common PFAS and asked Rome-area residents to test their blood.

The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to an attorney if you’re accused of a crime and a speedy trial. But Georgia and the nation are experiencing a shortage of public defenders and a backlog of cases creating a crisis. Atlanta News First Investigates’ Emmy award-winning series, The Sixth, sheds light on its impact on the criminal justice system, people accused of crimes and victims waiting for justice.

Police use facial recognition to link people to crimes they did not commit. Atlanta News First exposes case from Atlanta, Balitmore, New York, to Louisiana.  A common denominator is that law enforcement agencies are not following policy because the policy does not exist.

Randall Reid was arrested in Atlanta for a robbery which occurred in a city he never visited. Before his case, it happened to two other fathers in the southeast. Today, the list grows. As it turns out, bias can be embedded in facial recognition software.  Which means in the search for suspects, there's a list of new victims.

While more and more police agencies are beginning to use the technology, other state agencies are following their lead. The Georgia Department of Driver Services now use the system, too. It raises questions about privacy and state law. 

Read our full series here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/news/investigate/false-recognition/

Plainclothes drug agents search innocent passengers at airport gates across the United States, looking for cash.

The drug agents seize anything over $5,000 if the passenger can’t prove — on the spot — that their own money didn’t come from drug trafficking. The government seizes the cash when no drugs are found, without arresting the traveler or charging them with a crime. The DEA gets to keep the money it seizes.

Our ongoing investigation revealed that passengers selected for what the government calls “random, consensual encounters” are actually profiled by the drug agents who search Black men far more often than any other group of passengers.

We analyzed data showing that, for drug agents to find just one passenger with money, they have to publicly search 10 departing passengers. Some of those profiled passengers are left deeply scarred by the process, even when nothing is seized.

Read our full series here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/page/in-plane-sight/