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Texas DA Investigating State Farm Hurricane Claims

Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.
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U.S. Air Force photo

Investigators in Texas have opened a criminal probe into how State Farm handled perhaps thousands of insurance claims from homeowners involving hurricane damage.

Gregg Cox is head of the public integrity unit of the Travis County District Attorney's office in Austin. He said that his team first began its investigation months ago, but that he couldn't comment further.

Some homeowners have sued State Farm's Texas subsidiary, State Farm Lloyds, alleging that their claims for hurricane-related damage were improperly denied.

ABC News is reporting that Cox's office's investigation began after authorities received communications from State Farm managers in Texas related to the company's denial of claims for a type of roof damage that commonly occurs during hurricanes.

Cox said he's not sure how long the probe may take.

AP

Dallas woman charged with drowning son, 1

Dallas police say a woman is facing a capital murder charge in the drowning of her 1-year-old son in a bathtub.

Chloe Menager was being held Friday on $1 million bond. Online jail records did not list an attorney for the 25-year-old woman.

The boy was identified as Elijahu Perez.

A police report says Menager caused the death by allegedly holding Elijahu underwater in a bathtub.

Dallas police stopped a vehicle around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, and the driver said he had a call that his son was deceased. Officers followed the man to a residence, where the body was found. The mother was also at the scene.

The father's name hasn't been released.

A Department of Family and Protective Services spokeswoman says Menager hadn't been reported for any alleged abuse.

AP

Texas man gets 2 years in vending machine scam

A Texas man has been sentenced to more than two years in prison and must repay nearly $500,000 for defrauding a St. Louis-area investor in a vending machine scam.

Randy O'Gorman of Frisco, Texas, pleaded guilty in May to two counts of wire fraud, and was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

Federal prosecutors say O'Gorman convinced an investor to put up money for a vending machine business. The woman gave O'Gorman $497,000. He provided her with a list of 800 vending machines he said were part of the business. In fact, they did not exist and O'Gorman used the money for personal use.

AP

Jordan: US woman stabbed to death by teenager

Jordanian police say teenager stabbed to death a Texan woman teaching English in the kingdom during an argument that broke when she caught him stealing from her apartment.

The police said Friday that the 17-year-old confessed to the Tuesday night killing of Cheryll Harvey, 55, in her fourth floor apartment in the town of Barha north of the capital Amman.

Police official Abdul Wali Shakhanbeh said the alleged killer could not be identified until he was put on trial.

Harvey, a native of Sudan, Texas, had been teaching English in Jordan for the past 24 years, according to police records. The U.S.-based Baptist Press said her teaching was in connection with the Jordan Baptist Society.

AP