FALL RIVER
Teen dies after dirt bike, cruiser crash
A Fall River teenager died Wednesday morning after the off-road dirt bike he was riding collided with a Fall River police cruiser at the intersection of Montaup and Slade streets, authorities said. Rafael Cordeiro, 19, was driving the dirt bike at about 1:30 a.m. on Montaup Street and did not stop at the intersection before he crashed into the cruiser’s front passenger door, the Bristol district attorney’s office said. Cordeiro was taken to St. Anne’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The cruiser was responding with its emergency lights on to a call at the time of the crash, authorities said. The two officers in the cruiser were also taken to St. Anne’s Hospital and treated for minor injuries, police said.
BILLERICA
Knife-wielding man robs liquor stores
A man armed with a knife stormed into two Billerica liquor within 20 minutes Tuesday night, stealing cash from each store’s register, police said. Billerica police were searching for the suspect on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Roy Frost said. The man robbed 129 Liquors on Salem Road at about 8:45 p.m., Frost said. He then went to Jim’s Quick Stop, about three miles away on Boston Road, and committed a similar robbery about 20 minutes later. There were no customers in either store, Frost said, but clerks were on-hand. No one was injured.
BOSTON
Smoking materials cited in fire
Boston fire officials say the careless disposal of smoking material was the likely cause of a six-alarm fire at a Charlestown apartment building July 21. Officials had previously said they were looking into whether residents of the four-story brick-and-wood duplex were using a grill before the fire, but they said Wednesday that they had determined there was no propane grill at the address. The fire destroyed two buildings on Bunker Hill Street on a sweltering afternoon. No residents were hurt, but five firefighters were treated for injuries.
STONEHAM
Newborn goat twins debut at Stone Zoo
Two endangered Himalayan mountain goats made their debut Monday at the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, a week after they were born, the zoo said. The male twin markhor goats were born on July 26 and have shown great agility, a trait for which the species is known, according to a statement from Zoo New England. “These animals are skilled climbers suited to rocky, rough terrain, and it’s amazing to observe the agility in the kids at such a young age,’’ assistant curator Pete Costello said. The zoo said the twins are among seven total markhor goats — three males and four females — at the facility.
MANCHESTER, N.H.
Campaign hostage taker arrested again
A New Hampshire man who held several people hostage at a Hillary Clinton campaign office in 2007 was arrested again on Tuesday for allegedly robbing a bank in Manchester, N.H. In November 2007, Leeland Eisenberg, then 45, entered a Clinton campaign office in Rochester, N.H., with what looked like a bomb under his sweater and tie and took some hostages. He surrendered after a 5½-hour standoff, removing a fake bomb that he had taped to himself, authorities said. Almost a decade later, police identified Eisenberg, now 55, of Concord, N.H., through video surveillance footage from a bank robbery Tuesday at a Citizens Bank on Elm Street, according to Manchester police.
WILMINGTON
Body believed to be missing girl found
Authorities in Wilmington believe they have found the body of missing North Andover teen Ira Jaan Simbulan, according to the Middlesex district attorney’s office. The death is not considered suspicious, prosecutors said, but an investigation is continuing. Investigators found the body of a woman believed to be Simbulan, 18, at 10 a.m. Wednesday near the area of Glen Road in Wilmington where she had last been seen Monday.
