The Choking Game

This was one of the most difficult stories I've ever had to report.  With a teenage son, this hit very close to home.  Dylan Piefer was fourteen years-old when he died this past Saturday.  Watch the story here.  The San Mateo County Coroner told the mother, it appeared he's the latest victim of the Choking Game.  Kids are using several different methods to restrict their airways and cutoff oxygen to the brain.  As they pass out and revive, they get a rush, similar to what a person experiences using inhalants.  But, the experts say the Choking Game is not easily controlled and can be very dangerous.

I wanted to pass on the warning signs for parents, from the CDC website:

• Discussion of the game or its aliases
• Bloodshot eyes
• Marks on the neck
• Wearing high-necked shirts, even in warm weather
• Frequent, severe headaches
• Disorientation after spending time alone
• Increased and uncharacteristic irritability or hostility
• Ropes, scarves, and belts tied to bedroom furniture or doorknobs or found knotted on the floor
• The unexplained presence of dog leashes, choke collars, bungee cords, etc.
• Petechiae (pinpoint bleeding spots) under the skin of the face, especially the eyelids, or the conjunctiva (the lining of the eyelids and eyes)

And here are some of the aliases:

• Pass-out game
• Space monkey
• Suffocation roulette
• Scarf game
• The American dream
• Fainting game
• Something dreaming game
• Purple hazing
• Blacking out/blackout
• Dream game
• Flat liner
• California choke
• Space cowboy
• Airplaning
• Purple dragon
• Cloud nine

We found those videos all over the internet, on YouTube and parents' group, the Dangerous Behavior Foundation.  Click here for more information. 

*** Update December 13th at 10:30am ***

I spoke with Dylan's father, Phillip.  He's devastated by his son's death; they were very close.  He says he knows that Dylan did not commit suicide.  Phillip has been out of work, and he's asking if anyone would like to help pay the funeral expenses, please donate to the "Dylan Piefer Memorial Fund" at any Bank of America Branch.

Al Davis' FBI File

After Al Davis passed away in October, we wondered if the FBI ever investigated the owner of the Oakland Raiders and what his file might contain.  We've found some fascinating stories in the past from FBI files, about famed San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli, members of Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead.

So, the I-Team filed a Freedom of Information Act request and obtained 24 pages from the FBI in two installments about a death threat.

The Raiders did not move to Los Angeles until 1982, but when the idea surfaced in 1980, some Bay Area fans were not happy.  One fan took their dislike for the proposed move a step further than others, sending Davis a veiled death threat through the Oakland Tribune.
The newspaper received it on January 18, 1980.  The threat on "Just a Note" stationery reads, 

"Maybe though (sic) the media we can get the word to Al Davis if he moves to L.A. He will not live to see the first game played there.  A season ticket holder for 18 years"

The Oakland Tribune never printed the letter, but they did turn it over to the Oakland Police Department, then to the FBI.  The FBI sent the documents, including the letter and envelope, to their lab for fingerprint testing.  No prints were found.  The FBI did conclude that the typewriting on the note "most closely corresponds to laboratory standards for a Smith Corona pica style of type.”

Davis was staying at The Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles when an FBI agent informed him about the death treat.

The FBI forwarded the case to the US Attorney's Office, which declined to take it further because "facts of the case did not merit federal prosecution", characterizing the threat as "ambiguous in nature".  The FBI photographed the evidence and essentially closed the case.  The file never mentions Davis’ reaction to the threat.

Where's the Meth House?

On this evening's investigation, the I-Team revealed how people are moving into homes that used to be meth labs, without even knowing it.  Sellers or owners who rent homes are supposed to disclose it, but sometimes don't, and county officials who are supposed to ensure a proper cleanup are often dropping the ball.

As promised, here's the state's database on meth busts since 1995, and here's their disclaimer and key for the database.  

Tomorrow on the news at 6, we explore why California has one of the loosest regulations on the amount of meth allowed to remain in a home after a meth lab cleanup.

 

New Jamaican Lottery Scam

Several viewers from the Bay Area tell us they've been getting calls about having won the lottery.  Turns out, the caller is from Jamaica.  The twist in the con is the scammer tries to get the victim to buy some Green Dot Money Pack cards -- you guessed it, the fee for processing so they can get their winnings.  But, once the victim gives the scammer the number off the back of the card, the money is gone.

In doing research for the story, we came across this report last month from Jamaican TV -- authorities there are promising to extradite any Jamaicans to the US for prosecution.  The most shocking fact?  The government estimates that the Jamaican scammers will pull in $300 million this year!

By the way, the Secret Service has already spoken with the victims in our report -- they're in the process of investigating.

Here's the full statement from Green Dot:

“We urge consumers to protect their MoneyPak number just as they would cash and to never give the number to someone else.  We remind customers to only use MoneyPak with approved partners and companies they know and trust and not to give out the number to individuals claiming to be with a lottery or asking for money in any way. Never give the number to a private individual or to pay for items purchased online or from classified ads.  Please report fraudulent MoneyPak activity to Green Dot by calling 1-800-GREENDOT (800-473-3636) so we can continue working with law enforcement to end these abuses.”

 

On-the-run Activist/Suspected Bomber Spotted

Daniel Andreas San Diego

The head of the FBI Office in Boston just wrapped up a news conference, asking the public to provide tips if they've seen Daniel Andreas San Diego.  The animal rights activist has been on the run since 2003, when he was sought for the bombings of Chiron Corportation, a biomedical research firm in Emeryville, and Shaklee Cosmetics in Pleasanton.  Both companies had done business with Huntington Life Sciences, a contractor that performs animal research.

The FBI calls a recent tip about a San Diego sighting in Massachusetts "substantive and promising".  The tip came into the San Francisco FBI office after America's Most Wanted once again featured San Diego on the show.

Daniel Andreas San Diego is the only domestic terrorist suspect on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted Terrorists list.  He grew up in the Bay area.  His father was city manager of Belvedere. He worked at Mill Valley's In Defense of Animals.  He's now 33 years old.

FBI artist image

The FBI described his distinctive tattoos and warned that they may have been covered over with new tattoos.  One is a circle on his chest with burning hillsides and plains, and the words, "It only takes a spark."

FBI Artist Image

You can see the FBI Wanted posted here.

Hijacking Radio and TV Stations?

We heard from FEMA late today about our report into security vulnerabilities of the Emergency Alert System:  

"FEMA takes any potential threats seriously and we evaluate all such claims to determine their validity.  The Emergency Alert System already has adequate safety and security measures in place to ensure that it will only be used by appropriate officials as a way to communicate with the American people in the event of a real emergency."

We interviewed a self-described hacker who wrote a software program to mimic the squawks and tones that launch the EAS system.  He has researched how to "hijack radio and tv stations", how to use the EAS system to send his own message.  He says he has given the plan to the group Anonymous, which has been responsible for denial of service attacks, Twitter hacks, and promoting the Occupy movement.

As I said on the air today, the plan is based on information published by the government online.  The technology is out there -- I thought it was important to know what Anonymous could be up to next.  Here's their website, if you'd like to take a look.

By the way, I forgot how great the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" broadcast was.  Turn out the lights and listen to this, when you get a chance.

Alameda Sheriff's Excessive Force?

Dan Dillman is headed to court next month, facing charges of "Battery upon an Officer" and "Resist, Obstruct, Delay of Peace Officer", but Dillman says the incident didn't have to happen if two Alameda County Sheriff's Robbery Investigators would have identified themselves.  Sgt. Mike Carroll and Det. Terrance Montigue went to Dillman's movie theater to interview a sign worker who had been robbed at gunpoint.

Dillman says the plain clothes detectives barged into the darkened theater without asking permission, and refused to fully identify themselves when he asked.  After Dillman took photographs of the detectives in their unmarked sedan, they jumped out, knocked him to the ground, delivered blows and arrested him.

The detectives claim they did fully identify themselves, showing badge and ID cards.  They say Dillman was interfering in their investigation and tried to block the door to prevent them from leaving.  They claimed Dillman taking photographs made the robbery victim nervous.

But, the robbery victim, Isa Khan, signed this letter, saying the detectives wrote out a statement describing the events and asked him to sign is.  He writes, "I told them that they very well understood neither have I written nor read any of it.  They still insisted that everything will be alright and requested me to sign off the two page statement written by them.  They seems already very upset and distrubed, so I obeyed there (sic) request."

Here is a letter from his cousin, sign worker Ray Khan, saying Dillman did nothing to provoke the attack.

By the way, I wanted to speak with Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley about the decision to pursue the case against Dillman.  Her spokesperson said it wouldn't be prudent with the trial set for next month and potential jurors watching television.

GIANTS PAYROLL MANAGER INFO PROTECTED

 

Robin O'Connor from Facebook

The prosecution and defense filed a stipulation in Federal Court today, agreeing to protect the personal and financial information of Robin O'Connor: "In light of the scope of discovery in this case, and the fact that material portions of that discovery include personal financial information relating to third parties, all discovery produced in this matter shall be deemed Protected Material."  That means any discovery containing salary, bank accounts, social security numbers or addresses will not be shared with outside parties and any documents filed with the court will be under seal.

We first broke the story August 30th that O'Connor worked for the Giants for four years, before she was arrested for skimming $1.5 million from players' salaries.  The affidavit from an FBI special agent says she embezzled $1,513,836.28 from the Giants' payroll between June 2010 and June 2011. The formal charges -- wire fraud and fraud in connection with a computer.  She's scheduled to be back in court for arraignment next week. 

By the way, we reached O'Connor through her Facebook page and published her comments and picture in our first report, but now, she's shut down her page.

SF Giants' Payroll Manager Charged with Embezzling Player Money

Robin O'Connor from Facebook

Robin O'Connor told me through Facebook today, "Dan, I understand you have a job to do, and I really want to speak out about this, but I am not allowed to do this as part of an agreement that I have at the moment. I have called my attorney to see if I can talk to you because I don't believe you have the facts. I am not sure if there is a way for you to hold off on this story until I can give my side of this because as I am sure that you have come to realize in your profession, all is not always as it appears."

I explained to Robin that I had to run the story, and there are many detailed accusations in the Criminal Complaint filed in US District Court.

An affidavit from an FBI Special Agent says O'Connor embezzled $1,513,836.28 between June 2010 and June 2011.  As a payroll manager for the team, she was allowed to take a Giants' laptop home -- it had a payroll program on it.  O'Connor worked with players' direct deposits and their expenses.

The affidavit says O'Connor admitted forging a letter in the name of the Giants' HR Manager to the Bank of America.  She was trying to get a loan to purchase a home in San Diego.  The letter explained two large deposits in O'Connor's account: "Because of her outstanding contributions to our Major League Baseball team and Front Office during the 2010 season that assisted us in accomplishing our goal of winning the 2010 World Series, she was given two additional payments of compensation in May 2011. The two additional payment amounts were $100,090.71 and $200,348.89."  Not bad bonuses for an employee with an $80,000 a year salary.  The bank sent the letter to the Giants for confirmation, and it all unravelled.

According to the affidavit, the Giants were able to trace those two payments as coming from player accounts.  The $200,348.89 was "redirected from a Giants' employee's direct deposit payment to O'Connor's Wells Fargo account on or about May 13, 2011."  The $100,090.71 was "a purported tax adjustment to a second Giants' employee's salary that was redirected on or about May 13, 2011 to O'Connor's Wells Fargo account."  

The affidavit says O'Connor, when confronted, admitted taking a total of $608,562.09 and wired the money back to the organization.  In a subsequent review, the Giants' financial staff found another $900,000 and called the feds.

The Giants declined an interview today and would not reveal which players had their accounts inappropriately accessed.  Here's the statement the Giants' spokeswoman sent me today:

"The Giants discovered evidence of possible misconduct by one of our employees which resulted in the employee's dismissal.  We immediately notified the United States Attorney's office who is now handling the matter.  The United States Attorney's Office has requested that we refrain from providing additional details at this time to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation."
 

I-Team Investigates Ng Investments

 Walter Ng, Kelly Ng, Bruce Horwitz

We tried to reach all the major players in tonight's investigation, into what could turn out to be the largest securities fraud in state history.  Through his wife, Dr. Bruce Horwitz declined to be interviewed for tonight's investigation.  Late today, Walter Ng's criminal defense attorney sent an email that read:

“Walter Ng started his family-run business from the ground up over 30 years ago.  He is distraught about the losses to investors.   As an investor himself, Mr. Ng has also suffered losses that have caused him to file for bankruptcy.  He knows that many of his investors were even more devastated, and he hopes they will be able to recover their losses through the bankruptcy proceeding and restructuring efforts.”

The investors are sharing information through http://barkinvestors.wordpress.com/ and a knowledgable source is posting many of the court documents in the case at http://equitatus.wordpress.com/.

Walter Ng is due in bankruptcy court tomorrow afternoon, and many of the investors are mobilizing to attend the hearing.  I'll be there as well and report back to you.