Tag Archives: Drivers

California manhunt under way after random shootings target 10 drivers

A bullit hole in a victim's vehicle window is shown in this photo in Fresno County, California, U.S., provided December 21, 2017.

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Police in California’s Central Valley have launched a manhunt for at least one suspect after a series of 10 random shootings on vehicles left one woman wounded this holiday season, officials said on Thursday.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims has warned the shooting attacks, which have occurred in her jurisdiction and neighboring Madera County, could turn deadly.

“If this keeps going, it’s going to be a matter of time before we have a murder investigation,” Mims said at a news conference. “That’s what we’re trying to avoid.”

Witnesses described the suspect’s vehicle as a dark colored pick-up truck with oversized tires, Mims said. The motive for the shootings is unknown, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

A woman was struck by a bullet when she was driving on Dec. 1 in rural Fresno County near the town of Kerman, less than 200 miles (322 km) southeast of San Francisco.

Her injuries were not life-threatening.

In the other nine shootings, which occurred between Nov. 27 and Dec. 17, cars were struck by gunfire but no one was wounded, authorities said. Most of the shootings were in Fresno County, just outside Kerman with its population of 15,000 people.

The drivers of those cars said they heard a bang, as another vehicle passed by, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators are not sure if a single suspect is behind the attacks, or if others may be involved, said Fresno County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Botti.

But Mims, speaking in general terms, addressed a single suspect during her remarks at the news conference.

“To the suspect, this is a cowardly act and we are working very hard to find you,” Mims said. “We will hold you responsible.”

Authorities believe the victims were randomly chosen.

A number of communities in the United States have dealt with random shootings on roadways over the years.

In 2015, 11 vehicles were struck by gunfire and a teenager was lightly wounded, in a series of shootings in the Phoenix area. A landscaper was arrested and charged later that year in connection with the attacks, but defense attorneys called into question ballistics evidence used to charge him.

A judge in 2016 tossed out charges against the landscaper, after prosecutors asked for them to be withdrawn.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Diane Craft)

Saudi man arrested after threatening women drivers

Female driver Azza Al Shmasani alights from her car after driving in defiance of the ban in Riyadh, June 2011. REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed

KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – A Saudi man was arrested for allegedly threatening to attack women drivers, the Interior Ministry said on Friday, following a royal decree that ends a ban on women driving in the kingdom.

Many Saudis welcomed Tuesday’s announcement by King Salman lifting the ban by next year, but some expressed confusion or outrage after the reversal of a policy that has been backed for decades by prominent clerics.

The ministry said on Twitter that police in the kingdom’s Eastern Province had arrested the suspect, who was not identified, and referred him to the public prosecutor.

“I swear to God, any woman whose car breaks down – I will burn her and her car,” said a man wearing a traditional white robe who appeared in a short video distributed online earlier in the week.

Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Saudi media, including the Arabic-language Okaz newspaper, quoted the Eastern Province’s police spokesman as saying the man in custody was in his 20s and that the arrest had been ordered by its governor.

Separately, Okaz reported late on Thursday that authorities directed the interior minister to prepare an anti-harassment law within 60 days.

The directions cited “the danger posed by harassment …and its contradiction with the values of Islam”.

Saudi authorities have in the past taken a broad view of sexual harassment, including attempts by men to get to know unrelated women by asking to exchange phone numbers or commenting on their beauty.

In a country where gender segregation has been strictly enforced for decades in keeping with the austere Wahhabi form of Sunni Islam, the end of the driving ban means women will have more contact with unrelated men, such as fellow drivers and traffic police.

The ban is a conservative tradition that limits women’s mobility and has been seen by rights activists as an emblem of their suppression. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that still bans women from driving.

(Writing by Reem Shamseddine and Stephen Kalin; editing by John Stonestreet)

London insists on English requirements for private hire drivers

A taxi travels along Oxford Street during a bus strike in London January 13, 2015. Members of the Unite union are staging a 24-hour bus strike over pay and conditions, local media reported.

LONDON (Reuters) – London’s transport bosses said on Monday that all drivers of private hire vehicles must speak, listen to, read and write English to a set level, intensifying a battle with taxi app Uber [UBER.UL] which says the expected standard is too high.

Earlier this year, the capital’s transport authority said it would introduce the measure as part of a series of stricter rules on apps such as Uber and private hire firms like Addison Lee whilst supporting the city’s iconic black cabs.

The move prompted San Francisco-based Uber, which allows users to book journeys on their smartphone, to take legal action arguing that the written component was too demanding.

But on Monday, regulator Transport for London (TfL) said drivers will have to take either an English proficiency test or provide proof, such as a British school qualification, that they can meet the required level.

“Drivers must be able to communicate with passengers to discuss a route, or fare, as well as reading and understanding important regulatory, safety and travel information,” TfL said in a statement.

A hearing in the case brought by Uber, whose investors include Goldman Sachs and Alphabet Inc unit GV, formerly known as Google Ventures, is due in December.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Stephen Addison)