Angel Reese found herself in an awkward spotlight when she missed the chance to secure a victory for the Atlanta Dream against the Indiana Fever, much to the delight of her competitor, Caitlin Clark.

In a nail-biting overtime clash on Saturday, Clark and the Indiana Fever clinched a thrilling 95-91 win against the Dream. This game was another installment in the heated rivalry between Reese and the former top pick, Clark.

Yet, as the regular game time ticked down, the fate of this intense encounter could have easily turned out differently.

The fourth quarter was a nail-biter, as the Dream charged down the court with Rhyne Howard aiming for a crucial three-pointer.

However, Howard’s shot fell far short, missing the mark entirely and concluding in Reese’s hands, highlighting a pivotal moment in the game.

Despite snatching an apparent lifeline for the Dream, Reese, with a clean look around the rim, missed the game-winning layup. 

The three-time WNBA All-Star immediately attempted to correct her mistake but saw the ball snatched away by teammate Naz Tillmon, who also failed to find the net on the rebound with neither she nor Reese managing to clinch the game-winning shot at the buzzer. 

With the score tied at 81-81, the missed attempt sent the clash to overtime with the Fever going on to clinch the dramatic win. 

As a deflated Reese buried her face in her hands, Clark could be seen walking past behind her rival with a gleeful expression on her face. 

Clark was caught on the ESPN broadcast with a beaming smile of her face before appearing to chuckle as she looked in the direction of Reese while heading to the Fever bench.  

Reese was ruthlessly mocked for the miss on social media with Barstool founder and Clark superfan Dave Portnoy leading the brutal taunting. 

‘ANGEL REESE AT THE BUZZER FOR THE WI……,’ he wrote on X followed by a stream of skull emojis. 

‘Angel Reese is a comedy show,’ controversial sports analyst Jason Whitlock posted. 

‘She is the worst I’ve EVER seen under the rim! FFS,’ one fan claimed. 

Another social media user branded her a ‘choke artist,’ while a third said: ‘that’s the moment she finally realized how bad she sucks.’

Earlier in the game, Reese suffered another humbling moment when Clark, her biggest rival since their college days, sent a three-point attempt over the Dream star’s head and into the basket.

Reese finished the game with 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. In comparison, Clark scored 26 points, including two free throws after Atlanta trimmed Indiana’s lead to 93-91, with nine assists.

‘I was playing like s*** in the beginning, but it’s a game of runs,’ Reese told ESPN at halftime after starting 0-of-6 from the field. 

‘You’ve got to put that in your back pocket just because you know you have teammates that have your back. [Allisha Gray], Madina [Okot], [Rhyne Howard] – they’re carrying us right now.’

Indiana (23-12) managed to hold off Atlanta (21-13) despite Allisha Gray matching her career high with 32 points. The top four teams have homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Kelsey Mitchell’s layup with 13.6 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Indiana guard 20 points, her 19th consecutive game scoring at least 20.

Mitchell’s three-pointer for Indiana with 1:05 remaining tied the game 81-81. Atlanta had three misses on its final possession to end regulation.

A shocking incident unfolded involving a Louisiana man, who allegedly committed murder by killing his wife and then placing her body in the passenger seat of his vehicle, according to law enforcement. He drove across several states before being apprehended in Tennessee.

Identified as 50-year-old Tyronne Brazille, the man was stopped by Memphis police on Thursday for a traffic infraction. That’s when officers discovered his wife, Lanessa Bradford, also 50, deceased in the car, having sustained a gunshot wound, as reported by WREG.

In an interview with the outlet, Shelicka Decker, a close friend of Bradford’s, shared that the couple had been married for many years. However, Bradford had recently intended to end the marriage with Brazille.

“She had the money saved up. She had come up with a plan, and she was going to just vanish. That was the only way she would be able to get away from him,” Decker said. “She was going to leave her car, she was going to leave all the things behind, and she had been in touch with her family that was out of town, and that’s how she was going to make this move to get away.”

But before Bradford had the chance to leave, investigators allege Brazille shot and killed her during an argument at Independence Community Park in Baton Rouge, according to investigators, WREG reported.

Investigators said Brazille drove through several states with his wife’s body in the vehicle before he was stopped in Memphis. He was taken into custody in Memphis as a fugitive.

“I have so many questions, like, what were you doing in the car with her that amount of time while she was deceased,” Decker said. “Where was his mind at during that ride? It’s so crazy and heartbreaking.”

Decker said Bradford had told her that Brazille threatened to kill himself or Bradford when she discussed leaving him, but Decker said she never believed he would actually follow through.

“He never put his hands on her up until recently, like maybe like two or three months ago,” Decker said. “It wouldn’t have surprised me if someone had called and said that he killed himself because he always says this. It surprised me that he killed her.”

Decker said Bradford worked at an elementary school in Baton Rouge, and the school asked police to conduct a welfare check at her home after she missed a few days of work.

“It’s such an unfortunate situation, like everybody, she was such a good person. Everybody, she uplifted a lot of people, a lot of parents,” Decker said. “My prayers are with her family and friends as well as his, because we were all friends. We all, you know, hung around each other, and this is just not the same person that we grew up with.”

Brazille is scheduled to appear in court on Monday as he awaits extradition to Louisiana.

Police said Brazille is expected to face a murder charge after extradition in connection with Bradford’s death.

Let’s rewind to 1996. Hal Jordan emerges as Earth’s pioneering Green Lantern, sitting for an exclusive interview on 60 Minutes. Draped in his iconic green attire, Jordan unravels his dual identity to the world. An Air Force test pilot burdened by a tragic past, Jordan redefines himself as humanity’s guardian—a “space cop” charged with the monumental task of shielding not just our planet but an entire quadrant of the galaxy from cosmic menaces. And though he calls himself “a regular person like you,” there’s one stark difference: he knows no fear.

Fast forward to 2006, and Hal Jordan still holds the title of Earth’s first Green Lantern. Although time has made him wiser, he’s retained his laid-back demeanor and sense of duty. As part of his routine, Jordan engages in a rather serious task—backing up his consciousness—a ritualistic procedure he won’t repeat for another decade.

By 2016, John Stewart steps into the limelight as Earth’s second Green Lantern, or at least he would, if Hal Jordan were more eager to pass the torch. Hal, embroiled in his own universe of angst, exhibits traits that range from the bitterly sardonic to the irresponsibly egotistical. His possessiveness over the Green Lantern mantle is blatant and Earth feels too congested for two Lanterns. With John waiting in the wings, Hal drags out his mentorship, reluctant to speed up the inevitable changeover.

Now we leap to 2026. The mantle of Earth’s Green Lantern confidently fits John Stewart. But Hal Jordan, the original torchbearer, meets a chilling end—frozen to death among the stands of a Nebraska high school football field.

In this intriguing mix of heroics and suspense, Chris Mundy (Ozark), Damon Lindelof (Lost), and Tom King—hailing from both DC Comics and the circles of the CIA—pen HBO’s spellbinding Lanterns. On the surface, it unravels a classic whodunit—a mysterious firefight involving human-disguised aliens at that football stadium. But beneath lies a far more captivating enigma: how did Hal Jordan’s journey wind from being an all-American icon in 1986, through his transformation to a divisive figure in 2016, and ultimately to his mysterious demise by 2026?

As a pilot episode (though the word “Pilot” has a double meaning here), there’s a lot of getting-to-know-you getting done here. In addition to everything we learn about Hal’s personality and past (his dad was a test pilot too until he died in a crash, making test pilot an…interesting choice of occupation for his son), we see that John had a military father who was arguably even more intense. From a young age he appears to have been training John to take over as Green Lantern by shooting apples off his head William Tell/William S. Burroughs–style, to train him to have no fear.

Hal does not want to be training this guy, despite their similar backgrounds. He keeps ditching him, sometimes from the driver’s seat of a moving car, forcing him to scramble to use the ring just to stay alive. Arguably, forcing him to fly to Nebraska the hard way while Hal himself takes to the sky with his ring is even crueler.

Hal’s in a hurry because of the message his old ring-stored self delivered to him via John: “There’s hail in Rushville, Nebraska.” This is right near the sight where the dying alien whose Green Lantern ring selected Hal to take over crashed his ship, so Hal’s been monitoring the location for threats ever since. Now there’s been a shooting at a football game, only nobody seems to know or care about the victims, who are all from the visiting side. 

Hal immediately runs afoul of the local sheriff, Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald), who insists the GLs have no jurisdiction since there’s no reason to suspect the victims are aliens. But Hal’s been doing this a long time, and his gut feeling pays off: When he’s finally able to interrogate the one “visiting team fan” who didn’t get killed, the guy outs himself as an alien bringing war to our barbaric planet, then blows himself up. Only Hal’s nearly-depleted power ring saves the day.

But in the 24 hours the Lanterns are in town, a lot more than that goes down. Hal gets himself arrested by provoking a bar fight (he plays Melanie’s “Brand New Key” a few too many times on the jukebox) in a vain attempt to be put in a cell next to the suspected alien. John gets picked up by a gorgeous woman (Poorna Jagannathan) for a very hot quickie in his rental car. 

At Hal’s arraignment, a clever young lawyer named Billy Macon (Jason Ritter) shows up to represent him. He’s also Sheriff Kerry’s wife…and the son of the very rich local militia leader, William Macon (Garret Dillahunt). A big fan of the Lanterns, Macon Sr. explains that the gunmen roaming his Yellowstone-like ranch are preparing to repel literal alien invaders, as in ETs. He’s hoping for Hal’s help. He’s also married to Zoe, the beautiful woman John slept with, and he knows that it happened somehow.

Whatever’s about to go down, I assume it goes down well enough, because when John arrives back in town to examine Hal’s frozen body ten years later, he and Kerry act like close old friends. Does that mean Hal was outside their circle of trust by this point, more alone now even than he was when Kerry clocked his so-called fearlessness as loneliness ten years earlier?

Now that it’s here, I can see why this Lanterns project wound up on the small screen rather than the big one. It feels very TV, a hodgepodge of popular shows and genres and influences. Like a lot of television over the past decade-plus, from Fargo to Dutton Ranch, it’s set in a conservative environment west of the Mississippi. There’s a harried heroine trying to do the right thing in a brown uniform. The mystery box, the police procedural, the big-sky drama — it’s all here.

But what it reminds me of the most, with its mismatched buddy cops and its time jumps and its conspiratorial mystery involving hidden truths about the world and who runs it, is True Detective. Like that show, Lanterns generates titanic amounts of goodwill just by virtue of its charismatic, attractive leads, Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, whose insanely piercing eyes they had to cover with contacts to make him look like a normal person and not a Greek god. 

They’re matched in this department by Macdonald and, especially in this episode, Jagannathan as Zoe, whose sexual chemistry with Pierre’s John is instantaneous and instantly convincing. (He lights her cigarette with his ring! Oooh-whee!) Dillahunt’s bearded, MAGA-coded anti-alien big-timer commands the screen when he’s on it, too.

To put it into the context of superhero comics, Lanterns is very much a ’00s-style “superheroes-plus” story, the idea back then being that superheroes were unpopular, but other genres were not, so you just mash them together and enjoy the results. The plus in this “superheroes-plus” story is “a True Detective–style unlikely buddy cops in rural America murder mystery.” It’s the kind of slow, down-to-earth thing superhero fans reared on Bendis and Brubaker are likely to enjoy.

Could I have done without the interrogation scene hinging on verbal product placement for Harry Potter, WBD’s transphobia-funding boy-wizard cash cow? Oh, you bet. I also think individual creators deserve credit for these characters and concepts, not “DC Comics,” which is societal construct. In this case, we have Martin Nodell and Bill Finger to thank for the original Green Lantern name and general idea, John Broome and Gil Kane for Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern superhero concept as we currently know it, and Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams for John Stewart. Print their names, and print them some money.

Other than these unfortunate bum notes (seriously, they could have picked any other book or movie in the world, and not crediting the people who made this up for you is embarrassing), Lanterns is a cleverly written show, engagingly acted by people I like watching. I’ll render my final verdict the happy moment I see a giant green boxing glove, but until then, these space cops are still worth a ride-along.

Sean T. Collins (@seantcollins.com on Bluesky and theseantcollins on Patreon) has written about television for The New York Times, Vulture, Rolling Stone, and elsewhere. He is the author of Pain Don’t Hurt: Meditations on Road House. He lives with his family on Long Island.

The son of Rob and Michele Reiner, Nick Reiner, who faces allegations of murdering his parents, has once again demanded access to his trust fund. His request comes amid an urgent need to secure funds for his legal defense.

Nick Reiner, now 32, has petitioned the Superior Court of California for release of his inheritance, including accrued interest. He claims these funds are necessary to cover legal expenses in his forthcoming trial, as indicated in court documents filed last Friday.

Reiner, at the center of a high-profile double murder case, insists in multiple legal documents that he is entitled to the $558,000 disbursement that should have been available to him shortly after his 30th birthday. He alleges this sum is being unlawfully withheld.

“I never consented to any Trustee of my Trust holding back, deferring, or indefinitely retaining my Age-30 Distribution,” stated the attorneys for Reiner in a recent legal declaration, reinforcing their position that the funds ought to be released without further delay.

Further in the declaration, it was asserted: “Neither did I authorize my mother to give any such consent on my behalf, nor do I recall signing any document that would grant such permission.”

‘I would like for my money to be released and I “desire to receive” it, with the accrued interest and income.’

There is a hearing scheduled to discuss Nick Reiner’s trust fund saga on Monday morning in Los Angeles, in front of judge Ruben Garcia. 

The 32-year-old was indicted by a grand jury on two murder charges, facing life in prison, following the deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele, who were found with their throats slit in their $13.5 million mansion in December. 

Reiner’s demands comes as the son of the Hollywood icons hired his high-profile lawyer Alan Jackson, but couldn’t afford to keep him on the case. 

He has since been represented by a public defender, and is seeking to rehire Jackson as he awaits his upcoming trial. 

The trust fund Reiner hopes to gain access to was opened by his parents when he was a baby, and has since grown to $1.6 million. 

Jodi Pais Montgomery, the professional fiduciary that oversees the trust, has refused to pay out a single dollar while he is accused of murder. 

The trustee cited California’s ‘slayer statute’ that blocks anyone inheriting money from someone they ‘feloniously and intentionally’ killed.

‘California has enacted no exception permitting a killer’s inheritance to be used for criminal defense costs,’ its lawyer Lauriann Wright wrote in court papers. 

‘The Slayer Statute question was not a pretext for delay, but a genuine and unresolved legal issue that any prudent trustee administering this Trust would need to address before distributing,’ lawyers for the former manager of the trust wrote on Thursday in a response to Reiner’s request for $558,000 that he says he is owed from his trust. 

‘Nick’s sense of urgency is real, but it did not arise in a vacuum. It arises from the deaths of his parents, the very settlors of the Trust at issue, and Nick is presently accused of causing those deaths.’

The fund would instead be paid to Reiner’s siblings Romy and Jake, to whom Montgomery also has a fiduciary responsibility, the filing stated.

Though Reiner is presumed innocent, the payments from his fund would be ‘irreversible,’ Wright wrote.

Public defender Anita Wu countered that as Reiner was not convicted, the law didn’t apply. Reiner has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. 

‘The slayer statute requires a determination, not a mere accusation. Nick is presumed innocent and has been convicted of nothing,’ she said.

The battle for the trust money started in June after Reiner petitioned for the money in probate court, the Times reported. 

At the time, he accused successor trustee Paul Kanin of failing to pay out the $558,000 he claimed he was owed on his 30th birthday.

Reiner was not due to receive any more money from the trust until he turned 35, but Wu noted he could be paid early for ‘support, maintenance, health and education.’

The money would allow him to buy basic items at the jail commissary as well as fund his defense.

‘Nick is incarcerated and his basic needs – housing, food, medical care – are being met by the State,’ lawyers for the Kanin said, the Times reported. 

‘He is represented in the underlying criminal matter by the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, appointed counsel to whom Nick has a right and who continues to represent him.

‘To the extent Nick’s damages theory rests on the unavailability of private counsel of his choosing, that theory fails as a matter of law: a criminal defendant has no entitlement to the specific private counsel of his choice at the trust’s expense, and the loss of that preference is not a cognizable trust-related harm.’ 

Reiner in June claimed the trustee ‘has offered a shifting series of excuses and justifications’ for not turning over the funds.

These included ‘unsubstantiated “concerns” about Nick’s so-called competence to “manage a trust”‘ despite the terms his parents set up.

He argued he needed Jackson to avoid ‘further jeopardizing my defense in the criminal matter’ as he has no other source of funding for his legal bills or basic supplies like soap and socks while behind bars.

‘Every additional week of delay is a week in which the counsel of his choice cannot investigate or prepare on his behalf – prejudice to his defense that cannot be undone,’ Reiner’s lawyers claimed.

‘The harm is irreparable and it grows with each day the trustee withholds funds that are already Nick’s.

‘In the meantime, for reasons unknown to Petitioner, the Trustee continues to deplete Nick’s funds by paying lawyers to raise one reason after another for holding on to Nick’s money for another two years, all of which violate the plain terms of the Trust.’

Reiner has pleaded not guilty to six felony charges – two of first-degree murder, two of special circumstances involving multiple murder, and two counts of special circumstances using a deadly weapon.

He was earlier seen having a loud argument with his father at a holiday party thrown by TV host Conan O’Brien hours before his parents’ bodies were found by his younger sister, Romy.

Reiner has a long history of mental health and substance abuse issues and was living in a guesthouse on the grounds of his parents’ home at the time.

The new indictment added the claim that Reiner lay in wait for the chance to kill his parents, a special circumstance that could make him eligible for life without parole or even the death penalty if he is convicted.

Nathan Hochman, the LA County District Attorney, has said that the death penalty is on the table for Reiner if he is convicted.

Reiner has been locked up without bail since his arrest and will next face court in September. 

Reflecting on these tensions, an official from the self-proclaimed Chagossian government-in-exile emphasized Diego Garcia’s critical role in U.S. military strategy and the region’s stability. Following an Iranian strike on a significant U.S. installation in Bahrain, the Pentagon has been rerouting logistical operations to this isolated U.K.-U.S. base in the Indian Ocean.

Located in the southern Chagos Archipelago, the base has played a crucial role in supporting carrier strike groups such as the USS Abraham Lincoln. These forces have been pivotal in conducting air missions and enforcing blockades on Iranian ports.

Currently, the U.S. military’s logistics network extends over a 2,200-mile maritime supply line to Diego Garcia, minimizing exposure to coastal facilities that could be targets for Iranian attacks. However, this new route requires extended supply runs and slower replenishment times, as reported by The New York Times.

“While it’s an inconvenience, it underscores the base’s significance,” remarked James Tumbridge, an international lawyer who acts as the attorney general for the Chagossian government-in-exile, during an interview with News Media.

“The base is integral to regional security for the U.K., U.S. and our allies. This latest news emphasizes it.”

“Bahrain is a far easier target, so the U.S. change of supply arrangement makes sense,” Tumbridge said, adding, “Hopefully the new British PM will not deny the U.S. this change of use.”

“It shows the importance of the base and asking a third country for permission is not what the U.S. will want, and so I hope this means Trump will still oppose the handover,” Tumbridge went on to say, referring to a proposed agreement that would transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

In 2025, the U.K. and Mauritius signed a treaty that would recognize Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago while allowing the U.K. to retain control of Diego Garcia for an initial 99-year period.

The British government later put implementation of the agreement on hold amid renewed U.S. concerns over the sovereignty transfer.

Reports emerged in June that U.S. officials had drafted a proposal to bypass Britain and strike a deal to take control of Diego Garcia, one of several alternatives to then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to transfer sovereignty to Mauritius.

The first minister of the self-described Chagossian government-in-exile responded that month and said the Chagos Islands were not for sale or “for stealing either,” but argued that he “can’t blame” Trump for “looking to secure the military base.”

“Trump cannot buy the islands. That suggestion made by some is unhelpful to us all. Only the U.K. can sell the islands, as only the U.K. owns them,” Tumbridge also said on Sunday.

“The arguments over sovereignty do not get fixed via a sale, and Mauritius cannot sell them unless the U.K. first gives them away,” he added.

“It is not in the U.K.’s interest to sell them. Whether we keep them and continue our support for the U.S. base or we cede them to Mauritius is the choice — my desire is the former.”

Mauritius has long claimed sovereignty over the archipelago, a position backed by a 2019 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice and subsequent U.N. action.

The U.K. government, however, permitted the U.S. to use Diego Garcia for limited defensive operations targeting Iranian missile capabilities in March after initially withholding approval for offensive strikes.

“The U.S. wanted to use Chagos Diego Garcia for air strikes at the very beginning. The U.K. consulted Mauritius and refused — hence Trump finally appreciating why sovereignty transfer was a problem,” Tumbridge said.

“After the attacks on Cyprus, the U.K. allowed certain so-called defense uses, and Iran did fire at Diego Garcia, but they missed.”

On March 20, Reuters reported that Iran had fired two ballistic missiles toward Diego Garcia.

One missile failed in flight, while a U.S. warship fired an interceptor at the other, though it was initially unclear whether the interception succeeded. British officials later said one missile fell short and the other was intercepted.

“No serious concerns have been shared — the earlier attempt showed a lack of range and targeting ability,” Tumbridge said.

“The British Government and the Commissioner for the Territory have already tried to say the last attack makes the islands unsafe. No one seriously believes that Iran would try to target the outer islands that presently only have a population of six people.”

The reported U.S. logistical strains and renewed focus on Diego Garcia came as the USS Abraham Lincoln approached nine months of continuous deployment in the region.

Speaking at Joint Base Andrews on Aug. 14, Trump said a new aircraft carrier was heading to the Middle East to replace it.

“That ship is moving,” Trump said when reporters asked about the carrier.

Meanwhile, Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, also met with service members aboard the carrier, which is expected to be relieved amid concerns raised by families over the extended deployment.

News Media has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

Mark Cuban, the outspoken billionaire and well-known ‘Shark Tank’ investor, recently delivered a lesson to California Representative Ro Khanna on the pitfalls of the proposed “billionaire tax.”

The timing couldn’t be more relevant, as two other tech giants, Google’s Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin, appear to be at odds over how to effectively oppose this tax measure, also referred to as Proposition 40.

In an eye-opening dialogue on X, Cuban highlighted a critical flaw: imposing a 5% wealth tax on tech entrepreneurs when their startups go public would drive them out of California. The implications are clear—entrepreneurs would be forced to seek greener pastures elsewhere.

Avoiding taxes is not the sole motivator for this exodus. According to Cuban, the potential departure is driven by a larger issue—venture capitalists’ reluctance to pour funds into companies based in California under such burdensome conditions.

Who would willingly invest in a venture that inherently promises a 5% financial loss? The rhetorical question underscores the fundamental problem with Proposition 40’s model.

Khanna came up with a plan that he thought was bright: If entrepreneurs won’t sell their companies to pay the “billionaire tax,” the government can lend them the money to pay it.

Of course, they’d have to hand the loan right back to the government, and spend several decades paying off that loan, with interest. 

But after all — don’t billionaires borrow against their assets all the time, to fund their lifestyles?

There’s a difference between taking out a loan you know you can repay, and being forced to borrow money just to pay taxes.

If these paper billionaires can’t make their payments, the government would have to seize their assets. 

The state would suddenly own a bunch of bad debt and failing companies.

That’s a surefire way to tank the economy. And it would kill California’s startup culture.

Cuban slammed Khanna — who represents Silicon Valley — for joining the socialist mob.

“Ideology is not a strategy,” he said.

It’s all hypocrisy from Khanna, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, with a net worth in the hundreds of millions. 

He’s not volunteering 5% of his own wealth.

Khanna is posturing as the champion of the “working class,” ahead of a run for president in 2028.

He is trying to fill the left-wing lane Bernie Sanders occupied when he ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and 2020. 

But Sanders has been a socialist his whole life. He’s also a hypocrite — buying multiple homes, flying private jets — but at least voters knew what he stood for, theoretically.

Khanna postured as a pro-business progressive from Silicon Valley. Now he’s trashing the people he represents in a bid for power.

Good on Mark Cuban for taking Ro Khanna down. More business leaders need to speak up against Proposition 40, especially while infighting threatens to divide the opposition to it.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

A heartbroken family is pursuing a $105 million lawsuit against New York City, alleging that a “stray electrical current” startled a horse pulling a carriage in Central Park, leading to a tragic accident.

The incident occurred in June when 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan, during a family vacation from India, leapt from the carriage and sustained a fatal head injury while attempting to protect his mother in the bustling streets of Manhattan.

Seeking justice for Mahajan, the family has initiated legal action against the city’s government and multiple municipal agencies. They contend that a rogue electrical current caused the horse’s spooked reaction, according to a report by the New York Times.

Filed on Friday, the claim accuses both city authorities and Con Edison of negligence in maintaining safety standards within the carriage industry and Central Park. The family blames stray voltage as a significant factor contributing to the horse’s sudden distress.

The lawsuit also targets several city departments, including Parks and Recreation, Health and Mental Hygiene, Transportation, and Consumer and Worker Protection, as reported by the outlet.

Jamie McShane, a spokesperson for the electrical company, told the outlet that the utility ‘observed very low levels of stray voltage on July 16 and July 23.’

‘We determined that neither instance originated from Con Edison equipment,’ he added. 

Following the discovery of stray voltage activity, the Transport Workers Union said on X: ‘NYC Council Members should now reconsider and reject the proposed carriage-horse ban, which would unfairly punish drivers for faulty city and Central Park Conservancy electrical infrastructure.’

Mahajan’s family have been publicly critical of the horse carriage industry and pushed for a ban since their son’s death. The teenager’s parents appeared on video during a Health Committee hearing on the bill that would see the industry’s ban, the Times reported.

In a statement to New York Daily News, the union said that the revelation ‘raises serious questions about whether the horse was shocked and whether stray voltage triggered the tragic incident.’ 

‘Now that we know there is a utility failure, it would be horrifically unfair to eliminate the jobs of 200 overwhelmingly immigrant workers without allowing a full investigation to be conducted,’ the union Vice President Alexander Kemp told the outlet.

To the Times, Kemp said in a statement: ‘Blue-collar carriage drivers should not be punished for an unforeseeable hazard caused by flaws in the city’s power grid.’

PETA Director Ashley Byrne released a statement in June in response to the incident.

‘From collapsing horses to careening carriages, how many more disasters have to strike before we get these beleaguered horses out of the park?’ Byrne said.

‘For everyone’s safety, PETA is calling on council members, Health Committee Chair Lynn Schulman, and Speaker Julie Menin to stop dithering and pass Ryder’s Law immediately.’

Currently, the bill has secured the backing of enough Council members to pass but awaits an environmental review to determine its economic impact, the outlet reported. 

Mahajan was killed in the tragic accident at Cherry Hill on June 17 after the carriage driver had stopped to take a photo of the family. The horse, Sampson, suddenly bolted with all of them inside, Deepak Mahajan, the teen’s father, told the Times in June.   

‘We were yelling, “Help me, help me!”,’ his distraught father recalled to the outlet.

Deepak said he and his family clung to each other, but as the carriage stormed down the pavement, his wife, Priya, flew out, and their son immediately jumped out to save her.

‘My son, just to save his mother, he fell off. He was screaming, “Mom!”,’ Deepak, 44, continued. 

As he did so, he hit his head on the ground. He was pronounced dead on Wednesday night at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center.

The rest of his family suffered minor injuries. Their carriage shattered into pieces after crashing into another during the incident.

The operator soon caught up to the startled horse near the restaurant Tavern on the Green.

The seven-year-old horse appeared to be uninjured and in stable condition.

Just hours before the deadly incident, Romanch’s parents shared several pictures on Instagram of them traveling all over New York City.

They visited iconic landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, the Charging Bull on Wall Street, the Oculus, and more.

The Daily Mail reached out to the City of New York and Con Edison for comment.