Philadelphia – praag.org

Knockout attacks multiply

“Knockout” attacks have been reported in several states around the country and now investigators believe three people have been attacked in our area.

Police in Lower Merion are investigating two attacks in the area, and Philadelphia detectives are investigating an attack in Northeast Philadelphia.

It’s a violent crime that in other parts of the country has proven fatal.

Videos from cities around the country show people being punched and beaten at random.

The attackers are calling their crimes a game, the goal being to knock out the victim with one punch.

Mark Cumberland is a victim of a “Knockout” assault.

“Someone asked me for a cigarette and by the time I got my hands out my pocket I was getting hit by four kids.”

He says, “It was hard seeing and I’m still having trouble breathing and swallowing.”

Cumberland was walking out of a Fox Chase pizza shop on November 11th when he was attacked.

“There’s no reason at all. I mean, I didn’t get robbed, they didn’t take nothing from me. They just beat me up.”

Lower Merion Police say suspects Samuel Hayles and Markus January were arrested on October 29th, just moments after they allegedly ambushed and beat a 63-year-old man who was walking his dog.

Lt. Frank Higgins of the Lower Merion Police says, “He punched him right in the mouth and knocked him to the ground. The victim began to scream and yell for someone to call the police.”

A neighbor of the victim, Jeri Greenfield says, “I think it’s absolutely horrible. I think this is a beautiful neighborhood and I didn’t expect anything like that here.”

An elderly man was also attacked when he was mowing his lawn outside of his home.

The suspect in that attack is still on the loose.

Bruce Myer, a neighbor of the elderly victim says, “A kid came up to him and just punching him in the mouth. He ended up laying the street with his lawnmower.”

The only apparent motive in these attacks, as in all “Knockout” attacks, is to inflict injury on a random victim.

It’s very sad that before you used to walk on the street with no worries whatsoever,” neighbor Al Ciavijo said.

The elderly victim is now using a cane and a walker to get around. He has had to undergo multiple medical procedures.

That suspect is still on the loose, as are the suspects in the Northeast Philadelphia attack. – CBS

Madonna tells Philadelphia fans not to get fat and lazy

London: Madonna shared some piece of advice with fans during her Philadelphia gig, telling them not to get fat and lazy.

The 54-year-old singer made the comment as she kicked off the North American leg of her MDNA world tour before promptly stripping off.

The pop diva got racy during ‘Like a Virgin’ and ‘Human Nature,’ taking off her shirt to reveal her bra, and pulling down her pants to reveal her thong.

“Sometimes it’s easier to show your (butt) than show your feelings,” the Daily Mail quoted Madonna, who had the words “No Fear” on her back, as saying.

“Maybe tonight we can all live dangerously,” she said.

Earlier, the ‘Like A Virgin’ hitmaker had told the assembled crowd at the Fargo Center in Philadelphia: “Don’t get fat and lazy and take that freedom for granted.

Her remark had come on the back of comments that she was making about how lucky Americans were to live in a country where freedom of expression was allowed.

She said that she was happy to party in the USA after touring Europe for three months.

She also told the crowd on Tuesday night that they should “never forget how lucky you are to live where you live and to have the freedom that they have.”

She made the comments after talking about the arrest of three members of the Russian punk-rock female band Pussy Riot.

The women have been sentenced to two years in prison after they performed a “punk prayer” at Moscow’s Christ the Savior cathedral in which they called on the Virgin Mary to deliver Russia from its leader, Vladimir Putin.

“In my travels around the world the one thing I truly witnessed is we in America have freedom of speech, freedom of expression,” Madonna said.

She has called for the Pussy Riot members to be freed.

“I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that I’m in the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed,” she said at the Wells Fargo Center to nearly 20,000 fans.

“We are in the land of democracy,” she added.

When speaking about the Pussy Riot, she said that about 80 gay men were jailed in St. Petersburg because of their sexual orientation. She told the crowd that the arrests were unfair, who booed back in her support.

Madonna had kicked off her concert late on Tuesday, apologising to the crowd, who began to boo before she hit the stage around 10:30 pm.

“We had many changes to make from Europe to America, and I wanted the show to be perfect for you because my fans deserve it and quite frankly I deserve it,” she said. – ANI

‘Black Madam’ arrested in bad buttocks injections

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A woman who calls herself the “Black Madam” could face charges in the death of a London tourist who received illegal buttocks-enhancement injections last year in a Philadelphia hotel, police said Thursday.

Padge Victoria Windslowe, 42, was arrested Wednesday night as she prepared to host a “pumping party” where she was to illegally inject clients, according to police. She faces charges including aggravated assault and deceptive practices after one of her clients, an exotic dancer, suffered serious lung problems after an injection, Philadelphia police Lt. John Walker said. Windslowe was arraigned Thursday and was being held on $10 million bail, prosecutors said.

Windslowe is a “person of interest” in the death of the 20-year-old London woman who last year received injections at a hotel near Philadelphia International Airport, Walker said.

He said she will likely be charged with murder in that case if the medical examiner rules Windslowe’s injection caused the death of Claudia Aderotimi, who complained of chest pain and difficulty breathing following the procedure. No charges have been filed.

“We knew she was the injector back in the 2011 (Aderotimi) case,” Walker said, adding that the investigation has lingered as police awaited a ruling on the cause of Aderotimi’s death.

Delaware County Medical Examiner Fredric Hellman has been in communication with prosecutors and is “striving to bring the investigation into the death of Claudia Aderotimi to as speedy a resolution as possible,” a spokeswoman said in a prepared statement. Hellman is awaiting results from a Food and Drug Administration lab, the statement said.

A message left for an attorney who has represented Windslowe was not returned Thursday. She declined to comment as police escorted her to a waiting cruiser Wednesday night.

In recent years, cases of illegal cosmetic injections causing death, disfigurement and health problems have been reported from New York City to Los Angeles and beyond. Solange Magnano, a 38-year-old model and former Miss Argentina, died in Buenos Aires in 2009 from complications after having cosmetic injections on her buttocks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA do not keep data on injuries or deaths caused by illicit cosmetic injections.

In Windslowe’s case, investigators describe an operation in which she had “recruiters” who went out in search of people who wanted buttocks enhancement, reaching out to potential clients via email, blogs and conversations, Walker said.

Then, they would set up a time and place to meet, usually at a hotel or private residence, Walker said. The procedures cost anywhere from $700 to $1,800 in cash. Windslowe allegedly moved her operation around to avoid detection. Overall, police believe Windslowe has injected about 14 people dating to November 2011, mostly advertising through word of mouth, Walker said, with the operation moving all around the Philadelphia area.

“The operation moves,” Walker said. “They don’t want to get caught.”

As part of the procedures, authorities said, Windslowe would clean the site and then inject a substance she described as silicone into the client’s buttocks. When the procedure was done, she would cover the wound with glue, Walker said.

During the arrest, police seized vials of superglue, needles, gloves, bottles and other items. Walker said police are conducting tests on the material that Windslowe was allegedly injecting into her clients, trying to determine what it is. In the most recent case, the victim is currently on oxygen and at home in Philadelphia but had to spend seven days in the hospital, Walker said.

Windslowe’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 13.