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North Carolina furniture manufacturer allegedly kills business partner hours after losing contract dispute
A North Carolina furniture manufacturer allegedly shot and killed his business partner this week after a court ruled against him in a contract dispute.

Willard Gary Black, 85, has been charged with second-degree murder in the Wednesday fatal shooting of Robert Roger Arguelles, who was struck in the chest and back, Queen City News reported.

The shooting happened at the Old Hickory Tannery, where Arguelles and Black were co-owners of the business.

Court records show that earlier that day, Black was ordered to pay Arguelles $310,882.74 after a contract dispute between the two men, Court TV reported.
In 2018, Black sold Arguelles 49.9% of the stock in his business. However, Arguelles said he had loaned Black $280,000, of which only $23,876.19 was ever repaid, the news outlet reported.

Both men reached an agreement to settle the lawsuit for $310,882.74, but after filing the paperwork with the court, Black sought to withdraw his consent.

On Wednesday, a judge denied his request and ordered Black to pay Arguelles, 59, the amount of the original agreement.

Hours later, both men got into an argument at the business, which led to the shooting, authorities said. Police officers arrived and attempted to save Arguelles, who died at the scene.

Arguelles had served as an Alexander County Schools board member since 2022.

In a statement, District Superintendent Bill Griffin described Arguelles as an “amazing father, husband, and board member who has faithfully supported our school system for almost four years.”

“In honor of his memory, our district fully supports and respects the family’s privacy as they navigate this profound loss,” he added.

Hero EMT recounts moment she saved Knicks fan suspected of OD’ing — and how her own life could change now
The heroic EMT who rushed to save a suspected overdosing Knicks fan at the team’s parade Thursday says the emergency is exactly what she was made for.

Simone Kelly, 24, of New Jersey told The Post on Friday that she has dreams of becoming an emergency psychiatrist with a focus on drug abuse and psychiatric concerns, making her the perfect person to jump into such situations.

Strangers have even recognized her ability thanks to the encounter, she said — offering to help her secure a spot in medical school.

“There have been people who are like, ‘Hey, I know someone who works here,’ or, ‘My husband knows a friend,’ ” Kelly said from her Maplewood home. “People are really going through the avenues to help me out.

“That’s really the only thing that I need personally. With all this attention for something I did medically, let’s get this to the platforms of people who can help me become a doctor!”

Kelly, a full-time student studying neuroscience at Drew University, was watching the Knicks parade down the Canyon of Heroes from her perch on a city Sanitation truck when the incident unraveled.

She and several other people rushed to the apparently ailing man’s rescue and identified his shallow breathing and pinpoint pupils as telltale signs of an opioid overdose, she said.

Fortunately, someone in the crowd was carrying Narcan and tossed it to Kelly, who works 60 hours a month as a volunteer EMT.

Incredible video of the rescue captured the ordeal, including the administering of the anti-overdose treatment and Kelly rapidly rubbing the man’s chest to test his unresponsiveness.

She even had to deal with the man shooting up at some point and grabbing her, making multiple attempts to plant a kiss on her face — a bizarre form of thanks she said she gets a lot while volunteering with New Jersey’s South Orange Rescue Squad.

At first, she simply turned her face away but was then forced to push him off when he didn’t give up.

“I’ve had to deal with it more than I would like to in my profession,” Kelly said.

“A lot of the time, I’ve had to swat the hand away or shut down a conversation that is not going in the direction I wanted it to go in. Or … someone trying to kiss me after I Narcan him.

“I have a shift tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens again,” she said.

In spite of the annoyance, Kelly said she doesn’t hold anything against the man she helped Thursday.

Instead, she said she hopes the viral video can serve as a learning moment.

“I do not believe that addiction is a choice,” said Kelly, pointing to groups such as OnPoint NYC as resources for drug addicts to turn to.

“That’s where I want attention to be. Let’s start having a more holistic conversation about addiction and substance abuse.”

Karmelo Anthony murmurs ‘I’m not alleged, I did it,’ cries during arrest for Austin Metcalf’s murder: bodycam
Convicted killer Karmelo Anthony wept and appeared to confess to fatally stabbing Texas teen Austin Metcalf moments after the attack — tearfully telling police, “I’m not alleged. I did it,” according to newly released body-camera footage.

The dramatic video, released by Collin County on Friday as part of the evidence admitted during Anthony’s murder trial, shows the then-17-year-old being detained near the scene of the fatal stabbing at a high school track meet in Frisco.
As a school resource officer radios dispatch that he has the “alleged suspect” in custody, Anthony can be heard responding: “I’m not alleged. I did it.”

Anthony then appears to justify his actions, telling officers that Metcalf had put his hands on him after he warned him not to.

“I’m not alleged. I did it. He put his hands on me. I told him not to. He put his hands on me,” a tearful Anthony pleaded.

The newly released video was among dozens of exhibits made public after Anthony was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The newly released video was among dozens of exhibits made public after Anthony was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Teen killed in NYC carriage horse crash was on family’s first trip to US: ‘They are very devastated’
The teen tourist tragically killed in a horse carriage crash had booked the ride with his family so they could take in the iconic Central Park sights during their first trip to the United States.

Romanch Mahajan, 18, his parents and his 11-year-old brother had arrived from India for a dream vacation just three days before the teen was tossed from a buggy when the horse got spooked, his aunt , Sovia Thukral, told The Post Friday.

“They are very devastated, imagine they just come to visit and it’s their first time in America and they never expected that this is what they’re going to face,” Thukra said.

“It’s really heartbreaking.”
Thukral said her brother — Mahajan’s father — called from Central Park in a panic right after Wednesday’s tragedy.

His voice was wavering and he couldn’t speak properly when he told Thukral his son was not responding.

The family’s Central Park excursion went horribly wrong when the unattended horse, named Sampson, bolted while the group was posing for pictures.

The driver, Ertan Gokdepe, had asked the family to return to the carriage so he could take their photo when the horse began inching forward, said Thukral.

As Gokdepe attempted to restrain the horse, the animal suddenly took off.

Mahajan’s mother, Priya, fell off the buggy first.
“And then my nephew, he saw his mom falling off and he said mama and by the time he could pick up himself, control his body to jump, he fell off from the carriage,” said Thukral.

The father, after seeing his wife and older son fall, held “his younger son tightly like a seatbelt.”

Thukral said that Mahajan’s death was “totally negligence” and that he was about to begin studying at one of India’s top universities, learning that he was admitted the first day he was in the States.
She added that the family would have never asked for a photo if they knew that regulations strictly prohibit leaving the horse and carriage unattended.

“Have we known that, have we known this is the rule that they’re not supposed to leave the horse unattended we would have never agreed to it.”

Sampson has been retired, and all horse and carriage operations in Central Park have been shut down until Tuesday as part of a “safety stand-down” called by the Transport Workers Union of America Local 100 union Friday.

Drivers are expected to attend meetings that will review safety rules and protocols, including securing and maintaining control of carriage horses at all time, the union said.

Mahajan’s death has sparked a new wave of calls from animal activists and city lawmakers for an outright ban on horse carriages.

Mom and child in serious condition after ‘sneaker wave’ dragged them out to sea in latest beachside horror

A mother and her pre-teen daughter were seriously injured after a powerful “sneaker wave” swept them into the Pacific Ocean Thursday — the latest victims in a string of deadly surf incidents battering California’s coastline.

The unidentified woman and girl were sucked out to sea at Baker Beach in San Francisco just south of the Golden Gate Bridge before they were rescued by other beachgoers who brought them to shore and called 911, San Francisco Fire Department officials said.

Fellow beachgoers rushed into action, pulling the woman and child from the water before calling 911.

Both victims were in critical condition when firefighters arrived, but first responders were able to stabilize them before they were transported to a local hospital in serious condition. Authorities did not release details about their injuries.

Fire Department officials said the incident serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of sneaker waves along San Francisco’s coastline and throughout California.

Sneaker waves – defined as a powerful, unexpected rush of water – can surge much farther up the beach than expected, without warning, the officials said.

“These waves can sneak up on you literally and sweep you out into the water,” said San Francisco Fire Department Captain Jack Ayers.

Thursday’s rescue marked the second major sneaker-wave incident at Baker Beach in less than a month. On May 29, a fisherman was pulled into the ocean and hospitalized in critical condition.

The close call came just two days after another woman narrowly survived a sneaker-wave encounter in nearby Pacifica.

Lilia Bae Cadotte said she was fishing Tuesday when a wave knocked her off her feet and carried her about 30 feet from shore.

“The ocean is not our friend,” said Bae Cadotte. “She is not merciful.”

The frightening incidents are part of a deadly stretch along the California coast.

On June 9, 5-year-old Amada Mia Brown was killed after being swept from Treasure Island Beach in Laguna. The child was preparing to start kindergarten later this summer in her hometown of San Bernardino.

A day later, two best friends from Fremont died after sneaker waves swept them into the ocean near Panther Beach in Bonny Doon, according to Santa Cruz County fire officials.

Harsh*ta Nair, 21, was a legal studies major at UC Berkeley expected to graduate in 2027. Mahial Sran, 20, was pursuing a public health degree at San José State University. Both graduated from Washington High School in Fremont in 2023.

The National Weather Service has issued a beach hazards warning through Sunday morning, citing an elevated risk of sneaker waves and dangerous rip currents along California’s south- and southwest-facing beaches.

Officials are urging beachgoers to stay alert and avoid standing on rocks, jetties and piers, where unexpected waves can quickly turn deadly.

Over a dozen stranded after popular ‘Wave Twister’ ride gets stuck at Long Island’s Adventureland
A popular ride at Long Island’s Adventureland malfunctioned on Friday night, leaving more than a dozen young thrill-seekers dangling in mid-air for hours.

The panic began around 7:30 p.m. when the amusement park’s “Wave Twister” attraction ground to a sudden halt, trapping the riders a dizzying 75 feet above the ground, according to FOX5.

The East Farmingdale Fire Department and a mutual aid company rushed to the scene and are currently working a rescue operation to bring the stranded parkgoers safely back down.

Emergency crews from the West Babylon, East Farmingdale, and Amityville Fire Departments, along with Suffolk County Police, have evacuated the park.

As of late Friday evening, all 16 riders — ranging in age from 5 to 40 — had been rescued, police told Greater Long Island.

FOX5 reporter Jessica Formoso, who was at the park when the ride stalled, said she first realized something was wrong when she heard sirens in the parking lot.

“We were stunned,” she said.

“I was like, are people actually stuck?”

The “Wave Twister” is part of a $10 million, five-phase redevelopment of Adventureland’s Legacy Corner and was manufactured by Ride Engineers of Switzerland.

Adventureland did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Family left heartbroken as young woman killed in alleged domestic violence horror: ‘Forever 24’
A heartbroken Southern California family is speaking out after their beloved daughter and sister was gunned down inside a Pomona apartment complex — only realizing she was the victim while watching a live police chase on television.

Veronica Lopez, 24, was shot and killed Thursday afternoon in what police say was a double homicide allegedly carried out by her boyfriend before he fled, triggering a multi-agency freeway pursuit that ended with his arrest.

Now, her grieving relatives are left searching for answers.

“Why? Why did he kill my baby? Why did he kill her?” her mother, Sheila Lopez, told ABC7.

Officers responded just before 3:30 p.m. to reports of gunfire near Monterey and Garey avenues in Pomona. When they arrived, they found a man and a woman dead from gunshot wounds inside an apartment complex.

Authorities have not publicly identified the second victim.

Family members identified the woman as Veronica Lopez, saying she lived in San Diego and had been dating suspect Robert Galtman for about two years despite repeated concerns from relatives about the relationship.

Loved ones described Lopez as a bright, talented young woman whose future was stolen in an instant.

“She was our fifth daughter. Very beautiful, very young, very talented,” her father Coby Lopez told CBS. “She used to be a pro skater, had so much positives going in her life. I don’t know what kind of problems she was going through, but we tried to help her. … So young, taken out by a coward.”

Relatives remembered Lopez as someone whose “smile could light up a room” and who made everyone around her “feel loved and valued.”

Her sister Klarissa Lopez said the family realized something was wrong while watching live television coverage of the police chase.
“We were watching the chase after it was live and my mom noticed the car and the dog that they rescued. We called Pomona police and they confirmed it with fingerprints that it was my sister Veronica,” She told ABC. “Veronica was a wonderful, wonderful daughter, very vibrant, happy and a go getter.”

Outside the apartment complex where the violence unfolded, family members gathered around a growing memorial of candles and balloons, mourning a daughter, sister and friend they say was loved by everyone who knew her.

After the shooting, investigators say Galtman fled in a black Kia sedan, prompting a countywide manhunt.

Authorities later tracked the vehicle using an automatic license plate reader that detected it on the northbound 5 Freeway in Sylmar. The pursuit stretched for roughly 90 minutes before officers used a PIT maneuver to bring the chase to an end.

Galtman was taken into custody and is being held on $3.1 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Pomona.

As they prepare for funeral services, Lopez’s family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover expenses and honor her memory.

In a tribute shared after her death, relatives summed up their grief in six heartbreaking words:

“Forever 24. Forever loved. Forever missed.”

Suspect charged with attempted murder in daylight stray bullet shooting of elderly woman
A suspect was charged with attempted murder in the broad-daylight Bronx shooting that left an elderly woman struck by a stray bullet and a younger man also hurt, police said.

Matthew Bonilla, 26, was also charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon in connection to the 1:20 p.m. Wednesday burst of gunfire that left a 79-year-old woman caught in the crossfire, authorities and law enforcement sources said.

The senior was struck in the left leg, as was a 26-year-old man who appeared to be the intended target, according to cops and sources.

The wounded man appeared to have been exchanging gunfire with someone else when the innocent senior was in the wrong place at the wrong time, the sources said.
Bonilla, who lives about a block from the shooting scene, was last arrested in Aug. of 2023 when officers stopped him for a traffic infraction and realized he had a stolen license plate affixed to his vehicle, cops said.
His arraignment in connection to the double-shooting case was pending Thursday.

One other person is still being sought in the violence, cops said.

Police could not immediately confirm whether one or both men fired shots during the afternoon frenzy.

NYC carriage horse driver ‘devastated’ after teen tourist dies, union halts rides in response to tragedy

The operator of a runaway horse-drawn carriage that led to the death of an 18-year-old tourist is “devastated,” a rep said Thursday – as it was revealed all Central Park horse-and-buggy rides were halted.

“He’s absolutely devastated,” said Christina Hansen, shop steward for Transport Workers Union Local 100, outside carriage driver Ertan Gokdepe’s Queens home.

“Nothing like this has ever happened to him,” she said, noting that Gokdepe has been in the business for 20 years.
Romanch Mahajan, 18, a tourist from India, was on vacation with his family when they booked a carriage ride in Central Park with Gokdepe.

But disaster struck when the horse, 7-year-old Sampson, became spooked as Gokdepe stepped out of the buggy to take a photo of the family, according to sources.

The horse bolted, knocking Mahajan’s mother, Priya, from the carriage.

“My son, just to save his mother, he fell off,” Mahajan’s father, Deepak told the New York Times. “He was screaming, ‘Mom!’”

He later died of blunt force trauma in what the city medical examiner has ruled an accidental death.

Alexander Kemp, a vice president at TWU Local 100, blasted the driver’s decision to step away.

“A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos — ever,” Kemp said in a statement. “We support a full investigation.”

For the union, the incident has created a sense of shock.
“This is uncharted territory,” Hansen said. “Nobody knows quite what to do because nothing like this has ever happened to our industry. It’s just awful.”

“We’ve never had a fatal accident like this before,” said Kemp.

The union closed down the stables and ceased operations in response to the tragedy.

“We have shuttered the stables and ceased operations today while we have extensive internal discussions on what transpired and how it could have been prevented,” Kemp said in a separate statement to NBC NY.

International supermarket caters to influencer crowd as it opens first California location
An international supermarket store finally opened its doors in the Bay Area amid a flurry of social media fanfare from influencers who were the first ones to score an exclusive look inside the first California location.

The Canadian-based T&T Supermarket officially debuted on Thursday in San Jose with a grand opening of its Asian-themed grocery store at the Westgate Center, located at 1600 Saratoga Ave.
However, the first people inside the 55,000 sq. foot store weren’t customers but content creators who got a sneak peek on Wednesday.

Influencers hit the specialty market — armed with their lights and phones — to film some of its unique products with close up shots on popular Chinese street foods, Taiwanese style sticky rice rolls, and more.

Videos on TikTok showed them inside the market promoting items the food chain is known for like huge sushi plates for $30, dim sum, bao, traditional sticky rice and viral mango egg tarts.

Others were filmed dancing through the aisles of the new supermarket or visiting the counter of the enticing Chinese crepe station.

“All the food here feels like it’s picked by locals,” content creator and product manager Yuming Lu told the SF Chronicle.

“It’s very authentic and legit.”

Customers then showed up by the hundreds on Thursday with more videos surfacing online showing people lined up outside the store waiting to get inside to get their hands on products the store is known for like ready-to-eat meals, Asian beauty products, fresh produce, and baked goods.

The store features thousands of products across Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Southeast Asian and other Asian cuisines, according to the company.
Shoppers can also expect to find some of the market’s private-label products like pork soup dumplings, green onion pancakes, kalbi sauces and Taiwanese-style sausage, per the company.

“San Jose is a long-anticipated store,” Tina Lee, the company’s CEO, said in a statement.

“We’re bringing more than just exciting, high-quality foods. We’re exporting a new way of life from Canada: one that’s deeply food-centric, celebratory, rich in tradition and fresh-obsessed.”

The grand opening is the first of several locations in the Bay Area with one opening in San Francisco and Newark later this year and a third in Millbrae next year.
T&T was founded in Vancouver in 1993 and headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, with offices in Toronto and Los Angeles.

The company operates more than 39 stores across Canada and the United States — including its first US store in Bellevue, Washington, that opened in 2024.