News Roundup

The Alamo announced last week that it’s got Pee-wee’s stolen red bicycle, as foretold in the 1985 film “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” But the bike is not in the basement. The AP reports that the iconic bicycle will serve as a centerpiece in the Mays Family Legacy Gallery, part of a new visitor center and museum scheduled to open in fall 2027. Read on for more criminal law news. New Trial Ordered for 1979 Killing. Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared on May 25, 1979, on the way to his NYC bus stop. Etan became one of the first missing children pictured on milk cartons. In 2012, police arrested Pedro Hernandez, a former bodega clerk, who confessed to abducting Etan but later recanted. After a mistrial in 2015, Hernandez was convicted of kidnapping and murder in 2017, and state appellate courts denied relief. On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the convictions and ordered a new trial, as reported by the AP and NYT. The court ordered Hernandez’s release unless the state affords a new trial within a reasonable time. Firetruck Thief Evades Arrest. Firefighters in Everette, Washington, returning from a medical emergency call last Friday night, discovered that their 35,000-pound fire engine, a 2018 Pierce Enforcer Pumper Truck, had been stolen, as reported by ABC, NBC, and local news sources. The thief proceeded to crash the firetruck into more than a dozen parked cars before abandoning the vehicle and fleeing on foot. The fire engine sustained significant damage [...]