Mexican prosecutors have launched an investigation into the alleged machete attack of a Utah dad vacationing with his wife in Cancun for Valentine’s Day.
“The Attorney General’s office is announcing that an investigation is underway regarding the apparent illegal deprivation of liberty of a tourist of U.S. nationality, which occurred in Cancun in February 2022,” the Quintana Roo prosecutor’s office told Fox News Digital.
Dustan Jackson, a 36-year-old contractor from Salt Lake City, told Fox News Digital Thursday that with four hours to spare before his flight back to the U.S. from Cancun, he wanted to pick up some chewing tobacco and called a cab.
“Mexico is not built off tobacco like America is – you can’t just go to the gas station and get a can of chew,” he said. “People think you can just get it at the airport. I tried that.”
They didn’t have it, he said.
According to a Cancun airport vendor, the only chewing tobacco product sold inside the airport is in the duty-free shops, and it comes in bags instead of tins.
So Jackson took a cab to the nearest gas station – which he said also didn’t have any, just cigarettes. He said he asked the taxi driver to bring him to a bigger store.
“Next thing I know, I show up to a grocery store, I get out at the grocery store, and bam! Light’s out,” he said.
Dustan Jackson was looking for chewing tobacco before he was attacked.Dustan Jackson
He’d left at around 10 a.m., he said, and when he woke up, with serious injuries to the left shoulder and leg, it was dark. His front teeth were broken, and he had a welt on the back of his head, he said. His cellphone and credit card had been taken. He came to in a ditch.
“They hacked away at my entire left side of my body, shredding, trying to cut my tendons or kill me or whatever they were trying to freakin’ do,” he said. “And then they dumped me in a ditch. My shoulder’s completely broken off at this time.”
Pictures show the damage to his shoulder, which American surgeons spent months attempting to repair, and he provided an X-ray image of the artificial joint installed inside.
He says he has severe nerve damage and can no longer work as a countertop contractor or play catch with his daughter, who at 14 years old is already competing in varsity-level softball.
Dustan Jackson said his assailant hacked at the left side of his body.Dustan Jackson
Jackson struggled to his feet, bleeding and wounded, and said he found himself in a rundown neighborhood somewhere in the desert.
“The first cops that I ran into, I swear it was a police station at least, they told me to go away,” he said.
So he wandered back outside and screamed for help. But none came.
“I decided to just give up,” he said. “And then for some reason, I don’t know how long later, I have this thought that you can’t give up.”
He had a family back home.
Dustan Jackson found that he had nerve damage from the attack.Dustan Jackson
Finally, he wasn’t sure after how long, he encountered another police officer who treated his injuries and drove him to the airport.
Jackson said he wasn’t sure why the officer drove him to the airport instead of a hospital.
“She put a few bandages on me, why didn’t she take me to the hospital, I don’t know,” he said. “Some of the horror stories I’ve heard, I’m glad that [she] didn’t, because I could have been stuck down there. Who knows?”
But once in the airport, he faced new challenges. He didn’t have his phone. His wife had flown home without him. He couldn’t speak Spanish. And, he added, he looked “like a homeless person.”
Initially, he found a wheelchair. But since he no longer had a valid plane ticket, he said airport security officials eventually forced him out of it, and he found himself stuck on the floor, begging passersby for help.
Police in Cancun and at the tourist destination’s airport separately told Fox News Digital they had no record of the attack or any information to corroborate that a wheelchair had been taken away from Jackson.
Eventually, the Utah man found an international traveler, named Kayla Jackson, who helped him by contacting his wife and checking him into a hotel.
“My guardian angel,” Dustan Jackson said. “Luckily she had her flight canceled.”
That gave her time to listen to his story, he said. His wife, home in Utah, transferred money to arrange an overnight hotel stay and a new flight home.
Dustan Jackson and his wife went on vacation in Cancun.Dustan Jackson
His passport and bags were at the airport, and he was able to book a new flight and get home, where he underwent months of surgeries and treatments, he said. He was in a hospital bed from February to late April, and he returned in June when doctors discovered more nerve damage. It was only in the last two weeks that he’s been able to move around freely, he said.
He said he had not filed a formal police report or the U.S. embassy in Mexico but had contacted lawyers and was exploring the task.
A State Department official told Fox News Digital Friday that the government is aware of the incident.
“We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance,” the official said.
Jackson, who has been unable to work his contracting job for months and is now posting DIY videos on YouTube, is trying to raise $124,000 on Kickstarter to fund a documentary about his ordeal. He said he also wants to start a podcast dedicated to other shocking stories.
For more information on his recovery, he set up a website, dustanjackson.com.
Four men from a tiny Oklahoma city are still missing days after they all went on a bike ride together Sunday evening, according to authorities.
Mark Chastain, 32; his brother Billy Chastain, 30; Mike Sparks, 32; and Alex Stevens, 29 haven’t been seen or heard from in about four days with little indication where they could be, police said in a Facebook post this week.
The four men were reported missing Monday into Tuesday after they left one of their homes with bicycles in the city of Okmulgee around 8 p.m. Sunday, police said.
Someone claimed seeing the missing men walking on a street around 2 a.m. Tuesday, but police could not confirm that report. Other reported sightings during the week have also not been confirmed, cops said.
Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice told Fox 23 authorities were scouring a salvage yard where the cell phone of Mark Chastain’s was last pinged.
Billy Chastain, 30, and his brother Mark Chastain went reported missing after the bike ride.Okmulgee Police Department/Faceb
Mike Sparks, 32, went reported missing along with his friends — but police have no indication as to where they could be.Okmulgee Police Department/Faceb
Only two of the men had cell phones on them when they went out, authorities believe, though their cell phones go straight to voicemail.
“The longer they’re missing, the more concerned I am but I have yet to find any evidence that there’s any foul play involved,” Prentice said.
The police department said Thursday in another Facebook post, “We will continue to investigate and are following any evidence we uncover.
An American Airlines flight was forced to make an urgent return to Miami International Airport on Wednesday night after a passenger’s carry-on bag caused a worrying chemical odor.
Just before 9 p.m. local time, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units were dispatched to the airport after an “issue” onboard the aircraft traveling to Barbados.
The flight “returned to MIA this evening due to a chemical odor in the cabin caused by the contents of a customer’s carry-on luggage,” an American Airlines spokesperson told The Post.
The aircraft is seen parked in the penalty box after the flight had to make a return back to Miami International Airport on Oct, 12, 2022. CBS Miami
“The aircraft landed safely and without incident, and customers deplaned normally.”
“All customers were offered hotel accommodations and the flight is now scheduled to redepart tomorrow at 9 a.m.,” the statement concluded.
The airline did not confirm how many passengers were abroad the aircraft.
Once American Airlines Flight 338 landed, it was taken to the penalty box — an area where aircraft can park safely without blocking taxiways. Passengers were immediately asked to leave the plane.
Some passengers said they were feeling sick as a result of the odor, and had to be taken to the hospital, CBS reports. The airline declined to comment on this.
The Post has reached out to Miami International Airport and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department for comment.
Video footage posted by the site shows a stream of sparks flying as the plane, which was carrying 256 passengers, gains altitude.
The Boeing 777-200 spewed the sparks as it “entered a holding pattern about 70 (nautical miles) southwest of New York and returned to land safely” 88 minutes later.
A man suspected of murdering five people at a South Carolina home was arrested following a police chase in Georgia, officials announced Tuesday.
James Douglas Drayton, 24, admitted to shooting five people dead in the town of Inman over the weekend, according to the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.
Police responded to a death call at the Bobo Drive home around 7:45 p.m. Sunday night. At the residence, they discovered four people dead: Thomas Ellis Anderson, 37; Adam Daniel Morley, 32; Mark Allen Hewitt, 59; and Roman Christean Megael Rocha 19.
A fifth victim, identified Tuesday as James Derek Baldwin, 49, was transported to Spartanburg Medical Center and underwent surgery before he succumbed to his injuries.
Police said they believe they were shot around 9 a.m. Sunday morning.
“This is the largest single murder we’ve had in Spartanburg County,” Sheriff Chuck Wright told reporters during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Drayton was arrested in Georgia Monday after an armed robbery and possible kidnapping.Spartensburg County Sheriff’s Of
Police said all five victims, who were not related, had been living at the house at the time. Drayton had been living at the house for about two weeks, according to investigators.
While it’s not clear what led to the massacre, police “obtained a full confession from Drayton about this incident,” the sheriff’s office said. Drugs may have been the motive.
“He confessed to the crime,” Wright said. “He basically said he’d been hearing voices. Not sure what that means for him but he knew he’d been using meth and had been up for like four days. Hadn’t slept in four days, probably not thinking.”
Drayton was arrested Monday in Burke County Georgia — about 140 miles south of Inman.
Burke County deputies spotted the vehicle Drayton had stolen from the South Carolina home on Monday morning after responding to armed robbery and possible kidnapping, Wright said.
Drayton allegedly pointed a gun at the cashier and robbed a convenience store in Hephzibah.
The five victims were found Sunday night at a home in Inman, South Carolina. None of the victims were related.WYFF
As officers pursued Drayton as he fled, he reached speeds of 80 mph until he crashed the car, according to an arrest report obtained by WYFF. Drayton then tried to flee on foot but was quickly detained.
“These men and women didn’t deserve what they got,” Wright said. “They did not get justice at all. And just because we have someone in custody doesn’t make things better for these families. It just means that they don’t have to wonder.”
Drayton is charged with five counts of murder and four counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime. The sheriff’s office said it’s not yet clear if he will be extradited from Georgia.
Three suspects linked to the shooting death of a Phoenix mother who was inside a car with her children have been arrested, authorities said Monday.
The shooting happened near an Arco gas station at 27th Avenue and McDowell Road in Phoenix early Monday, FOX10 Phoenix reported.
The mother was killed while in the passenger seat and shrapnel hit one of the children, who was expected to be OK, police said. Five children and two adults survived the shooting.
The victim was identified as 35-year-old Yenni Dominguez Leyva.
The victim and the children were heading home when the shots were fired. FOX10 Phoenix KSAZ
Police said that it was unclear why the suspects opened fire on the car and that the suspects and victim were unknown to each other. FOX10 Phoenix KSAZ
“Somebody minding their own business, doing what they’re supposed to be doing, gunned down in the midst of living everyday life, is just the extra amount of tragedy that we see,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Phil Krynsky said.
A senior official at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been kidnapped by Russian forces, the Ukrainian state nuclear energy operator said Tuesday.
Valeriy Martyniuk, the plant’s deputy director general for human resources, was abducted on Monday from the Russian-occupied plant, Energoatom wrote on Telegram.
“[They] keep holding him at an unknown location and probably using methods of torture and intimidation,” the nuclear operator said.
Situated in southeastern Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia (ZNPP) is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Although it has been occupied by Russian forces since March, the plant is still run by Ukrainian staff.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to take control of the plant, a plan that was summarily rejected by Energoatom head Petro Kotin.
Valeriy Martyniuk.
Martyniuk’s alleged abduction comes after the detention of ZNPP’s chief Ihor Murashov on Oct. 1. Murashov was released after two days, and has not returned to his job at the plant.
In their Tuesday post, Energoatom called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Grossi to “take all possible measures” for Martyniuk’s return.
“The arbitrariness of the invaders at Zaporizhzhya NPP must be stopped as soon as possible!” the company wrote.
IAEA did not immediately respond to the call to action. Grossi is scheduled to meet with Putin on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of a demilitarized zone around the power plant.
Reports of Martyniuk’s kidnapping also follow growing concern for the region around the plant, which has been bombarded by “kamikaze” drones for several weeks.
“The occupier uses all available weapons against the civilian residents of the region,” Oleksandr Starukh, the provincial governor, wrote on Telegram last week.
A serviceman with a Russian flag on his uniform stands guard near the ZNPP.REUTERSA Russian serviceman guards part of the plant.AP
“Missiles, anti-aircraft guns, artillery, and now also so-called kamikaze drones. Be attentive!”
Zaporizhzhia, along with Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson, was annexed by Putin last month after a Kremlin-backed referendum in all four regions. Officials in the West have widely dismissed the proceedings as sham elections.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded by signing a law ruling out peace talks with Putin.
A Russian all-terrain armored vehicle is parked outside the ZNPP.REUTERSUkrainian firefighters put out a fire after a strike in Zaporizhzhia last week.AFP via Getty Images
“He does not know what dignity and honesty are,” Zelensky said at the time.
“Therefore, we are ready for a dialog with Russia, but with another president of Russia.”
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera participated in the closed-door October 2021 redistricting conversation with councilmembers Nury Martinez, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo in October 2021, according to The Los Angeles Times, which published a secretly recorded tape of the exchange Sunday.
The meeting took place at a labor federation office and was “illegally” recorded as part of a “serious security and privacy breach,” the alliance told its affiliates, according to the paper.
The officials were discussing how to maintain political power in the city’s Latino communities when Martinez reportedly called the black son of white colleague Mike Bonin a “little monkey” in Spanish and referred to her fellow Democrat — who is gay — as a “little b—h,” while offering to give his adopted son a “beatdown.”
Ron Herrera, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, resigned after a leaked recording revealed he participated in an offensive conversation.Bloomberg via Getty ImagesNury Martinez resigned as Los Angeles City Council president Monday, a day after The Los Angeles Times published a recording of her using racist language. MediaNews Group via Getty Images
Martinez also mocked the appearance of Koreatown residents that hailed from the Mexican state of Oaxaca and used profanity to describe how District Attorney George Gascón was “with the blacks” politically, the outlet reported.
Herrera was not heard making offensive remarks but was put on administrative leave from his post leading a coalition of some 300 labor groups, after officials and other labor leaders called for everyone involved to resign.
He reportedly offered to step down during a meeting with the federation’s executive board Monday night. The board accepted his resignation and was set to make a formal announcement Tuesday, the outlet reported.
“We are focused on rebuilding solidarity and trust in the worker movement,” Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, head of the California Labor Federation reportedly said.
The shakeup came after Martinez resigned from her post as the council’s first Latino president Monday. She would not give up her seat in the legislative body, according to a statement. León and Cedillo had remained in the council amid widespread calls for them to step down.
Herrera was reportedly pressured to resign by eight hospitality unions that called for his dismissal in a joint statement Monday morning. His fate was sealed when his local Teamsters union amplified that demand before his meeting with the board, according to the outlet.
“I want to be absolutely clear: Racism has no place in the labor movement and will not be tolerated. I was appalled to learn that deeply disturbing racist, and incredibly hurtful comments were made in a meeting held at the LA County Federation of Labor last year,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler tweeted in a Sunday statement.
Five people were killed in a shooting inside a South Carolina home over the weekend, local authorities said.
Police discovered the bodies of four people who were fatally shot inside a home on Bobo Drive in the town of Inman around 7:45 p.m. Sunday, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office said.
A lone survivor was rushed to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, where they died in surgery, according to local CBS News affiliate WSPA.
Two of the victims, 37-year-old Thomas Ellis Anderson and 32-year-old Adam Daniel Morley, lived in the home, the outlet reported, citing the county coroner.
None of the victims, who were found in different areas of the house, were related. All were adults.
Some of the victims had multiple gunshot wounds, the coroner said.
“The sheriff’s office, my office, nobody’s going to let up — not even the prosecutor’s office is not going to let up on this,” Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said of the quintuple shooting. “They’re all hands on deck. Everybody is really working hard on this.”
The identities of the three other victims have not been released.
The victims were found in different areas within the home and some had multiple gunshot wounds. FOX Carolina
It’s unclear how long the victims had been dead inside the home before they were discovered.
A neighbor told the local FOX station that she heard gunshots on Saturday, a day before the bodies were found.
“You don’t think nothing of it because you’re living in the country,” Sue Gonzalez told FOX Carolina. “But it’s scary.”
Five years after bombshell reports of sexual misconduct ended his career and propelled the #MeToo movement, Harvey Weinstein will stand trial in Los Angeles Monday on a slew of sex-crimes charges.
The fallen movie mogul — currently locked up on a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in New York — is staring down four counts of rape and seven counts of sexual assault from five women in LA.
His second trial is set to test the endurance of the #MeToo movement: the chances Weinstein, 70, might win an appeal for his New York conviction are increasing, and if the LA jury fails to convict, he could soon be a free man.
“It is disturbing and shocking that Harvey was allowed to continue his New York appeal, and so we – survivors, supporters – are paying very, very close attention to the Los Angeles trial,” one of his accusers, Caitlin Dulany, said in a recent interview with The New York Times.
“There’s obviously a lot at stake for the women who are testifying, but there is also a lot at stake for all of us,’ Dulany said, referencing the women will take the stand in LA under the name Jane Doe.
“If it goes the wrong way, it will be a step backwards. I think it will make it harder for women to come forward in the future.”
Weinstein is charged with four counts of rape and seven counts of sexual assault from five women in Los Angeles.John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
Jury selection will begin Monday in the trial expected to last two months. The charges stem from alleged incidents between 2004 and 2013.
Despite the high stakes, the courtroom scene is expected to be quieter than at Weinstein’s first trial in Manhattan, with only a dozen reporters allowed to sit in the gallery.
“Mr. Weinstein’s notoriety and his place in our culture at the center of the firestorm which is the #MeToo movement is real, and we’re trying to do everything we can to avoid having a trial when there will be a swirl of adverse publicity toward him,” his lawyer Mark Workman said a pre-trial hearing.
The disgraced producer has been in poor health as of late, appearing unkempt and with bags under his eyes in a courtroom at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, where the proceedings will take place. He has been jailed at LA’s Twin Towers Correctional Facility while awaiting trial.
A “Silence Breakers” press conference held in Los Angeles after Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault on February 25, 2020.Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty ImagesWeinstein at a hearing at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles on October 4, 2022.Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“I’m in pain every day. I have cavities and I can’t eat because I’m missing teeth,” he recently told the court.
In February 2020, a Manhattan jury found Weinstein guilty of forcibly performing oral sex on former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi in 2006 and of raping hairstylist Jessica Mann in 2013.
He was acquitted on two charges of predatory sexual assault related to allegations he raped actress Annabella Sciorra in the mid-1990s.
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