Top stories: Trump indicted, car vending machine on Long Island and more
This week's top stories include a little bit of everything--politics, sports, entertainment, and more.
1. Trump indicted: Charged in New York over hush money paid during 2016 campaign
Trump indictment: What legal lingo you need to know
It can be pretty easy to get lost in the terms and the legalese surrounding the indictment of former President Donald Trump. But ultimately, there are just a few words and phrases that are important. FOX 5 NY's Chris Welch speaks with legal experts about what you need to know.
Donald Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury Thursday, the first criminal case ever brought against a former U.S. president and an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings.
At the focus of the investigation was hush-money payments made to women on Trump’s behalf. Prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have been presenting evidence to the grand jury and calling witnesses since January.
Joe Tacopina, a lawyer for Trump, confirmed Thursday that the grand jury voted to indict Trump but the specific charges were not immediately made public.
Minutes after the indictment was announced, Trump released a lengthy statement calling it the next step in a "witch-hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement."
"The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable - indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference," Trump's statement said.
2. 50 years ago, this math professor was called up to play for the Nets
A half century ago, a basketball underdog story reminiscent of the movie "Rudy" played out on Long Island.
In the midst of March Madness, it’s easy to forget that most of the players you watch will never get the opportunity to play professionally. That’s just the reality. George Bruns, who is 76 and lives in Floral Park, just wouldn’t let his hoop dreams die.
"I didn't play to get to the pros [but] it happened," Bruns said. "I loved to play, and I was good. How many people want to stop doing what they're really good at?"
3. Car vending machine opens on Long Island – here's how it works
The new car vending machine is located at 2 North Avenue in Garden City, New York. It’s open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET. (Credit: Carvana)
Want to buy a car but don’t want to spend hours haggling at a dealership? There’s a vending machine opening in New York just for you.
Carvana, an online used car retailer, opened its first "car vending machine" in the Empire State on Wednesday. The steel and glass structure is located at 2 North Avenue in Garden City on Long Island.
The car vending machine itself stands eight stories tall and has a 27-vehicle capacity. Carvana has 34 other vending machines like this across the U.S., and the structure is intended to save customers time by shopping for a vehicle online and then picking up their ride at the vending machine at a selected time and date.
4. 3 teens smash angel statue outside Holy Family Church in Queens
The NYPD is looking for three teenage boys they said smashed a concrete statue of an angel outside a Queens church.
Additional images of the suspects were recently released. The incident happened last Thursday just after 10 p.m. at Holy Family Church.
According to authorities, the teens were caught on surveillance video pulling the statue located in the back of the church over the fence, carrying it down the parking lot and then tossing it, smashing the statue into pieces.
5. LFO founding member Brian 'Brizz' Gillis dead at 47, third band member to die
FILE-LFO members from left to right: Rich Cronin, Brian "Brizz" Gillis, and Brad Fischetti. (Fryderyk Gabowicz/picture alliance via Getty Images)
LFO, a popular 90s music group known for the smash hit "Summer Girls," has lost one of its founding members.
Brian "Brizz" Gillis died on Wednesday at the age of 47. His cause of death is currently unknown.
Gillis was part of the group in its early days, along with Rich Cronin and Brad Fischetti. He and Cronin founded the band in 1995. Fischetti joined later, and the trio were signed to Lou Pearlman's record label, Trans Continental Records – the same label that signed boy bands like NSYNC and Backstreet Boys.
The group had a bit of success after that, but it wasn't until they released "Summer Girls," a hit also known as "the Abercrombie & Fitch song," that they achieved stardom.