In a chaotic turn of events in New Hampshire, a homeowner allegedly took a rescue truck from first responders as his residence was consumed by fire. After crashing the vehicle into a fire engine, he continued to drive recklessly, damaging active hoses and nearly hitting three firefighters before quickly fleeing the scene, according to officials.

Nestor Roman II, a 30-year-old resident of Dalton, is facing numerous charges following accusations of stealing the rescue truck. The authorities reported his misadventures ended several miles away from his burning home, where a subsequent crash occurred.

Reports from the New Hampshire State Police indicate that troopers were called around 3:50 a.m. on Tuesday to assist Dalton Fire & Rescue with the house fire. Upon their arrival, they discovered that a vehicle from Whitefield Fire & Rescue had been taken unlawfully.

Dalton Fire & Rescue said crews had been dispatched to a fully involved structure fire near Faraway Road and Mountain Road, with several neighboring departments responding as mutual aid.

As firefighters battled the blaze, Roman allegedly got into Whitefield Fire & Rescue’s F550 rescue truck and drove away shortly before 5 a.m., according to the fire department.

The department said Roman allegedly drove around Whitefield’s E3 fire engine, nearly striking two firefighters and narrowly missing a third who could have been pinned between the two large trucks.

Roman then allegedly crashed into the E3 and a small pickup while “forcing their way onto the road ahead,” according to the department.

State police said Roman drove over multiple water supply lines while fleeing. Dalton Fire & Rescue said two charged hoses being used to fight the fire were run over but were not damaged.

Roman also allegedly struck a firefighter’s personal vehicle farther down the road and damaged neighboring property, according to fire officials. State police said wooden fences at two separate properties were also damaged.

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The escape came to an end several miles away after a Dalton homeowner reported that the stolen rescue vehicle had crashed on their property, according to state police.

The homeowner also reported that Roman was allegedly attempting to take items from the porch.

Troopers arrived moments later and found Roman on the porch. Police said he was uncooperative but was ultimately taken into custody.

Roman was charged with three felony counts of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, burglary and two counts of theft by unauthorized taking.

He also faces misdemeanor charges of obstructing government administration, four counts of conduct after an accident, resisting arrest and detention, driving after suspension subsequent and two counts of driving over a fire hose without consent, according to state police.

Despite sustaining significant damage, Whitefield’s E3 was able to remain in operation, and firefighters ultimately extinguished the flames.

Fire officials said the house was a “complete loss.”

The New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.

“We are extremely thankful that no firefighters were physically injured despite the close call,” Dalton Fire & Rescue said in a statement.

An Atlanta native has been handed a federal prison sentence exceeding 16 years for her role in orchestrating a massive $10 million fraud against Amazon, as disclosed by the Justice Department on Wednesday.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia revealed that Brittany Hudson has been sentenced to 16 years and three months in prison. Her conviction stems from exploiting a business relationship with Amazon to carry out the elaborate fraud.

In March, Hudson faced conviction on 30 felony charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, and a charge related to forging a federal judge’s signature.

“Hudson and her accomplice devised a grand scheme to defraud Amazon out of nearly $10 million, executing their plan within a few short months,” explained US Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.

“While on bond, Hudson attempted to deceive yet another company by forging a federal judge’s signature, showing a blatant disregard for the law. The substantial sentence handed down today, with no chance of parole, ensures she is held accountable for her criminal activity.”

From January 2022 to June 2022, Hudson and her partner, Kayricka Wortham, defrauded Amazon using a scheme that involved bogus vendors and invoices that they created in Amazon’s vendor system, according to the DOJ announcement.

Wortham and another co-conspirator at Amazon approved the fake vendor profiles, which allowed them to submit invoices.

Hudson and Wortham then submitted over 1,000 fictitious invoices, falsely claiming the phony vendors had provided goods and services to Amazon. Wortham would approve the invoices, which led to Amazon transferring about $9.4 million to bank accounts that she, Hudson and their co-conspirators controlled.

Hudson and Wortham used the fraudulent funds to buy expensive real estate, including a nearly $1 million home in Smyrna, and luxury vehicles, including a 2019 Lamborghini Urus, a 2021 Dodge Durango, a 2022 Tesla Model X, a 2018 Porsche Panamera, and a Kawasaki ZX636 motorcycle.

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The two faced federal fraud charges related to the scheme in September 2022. While they were out on bond, they attempted to defraud a franchising company by entering into an agreement to open a hookah lounge in Midtown Atlanta and falsely claimed their criminal charges had been dismissed.

Those actions resulted in the revocation of their pretrial release.

To support that claim, they emailed counterfeit court documents that contained the forged signatures of former Chief US District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. and Cobb County Magistrate Judge Norman L. Barnett, who was a prosecutor in the case.

Hudson also emailed fake financial statements with inflated account balances to secure the deal.

“The sentencing in this case brings a brazen fraud operation to its inevitable conclusion — years behind bars for the criminals involved,” said Rob Donovan, special agent in charge of the US Secret Service Atlanta Field Office.

“Our office remains steadfast in our commitment to uncover fraud, protect victims and work with our partners at the US Attorney’s Office to bring criminals like this to justice.”

In addition to her prison sentence, Hudson was ordered to pay $9,469,731 in restitution to Amazon, while the court entered a forfeiture money judgment of $7,859,136 and ordered Hudson to forfeit her residence in Smyrna and money seized from her bank account as fraudulent proceeds of her scheme.

Wortham was sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2023 and was sentenced to an additional year in March 2026 after pleading guilty to forging the signature of a federal judge.

She was also ordered to pay $9,469,731 in restitution and forfeited over $3 million, the Smyrna home and vehicles.

A clash has erupted in a historic city as a millionaire property developer battles with local residents who want his enormous mansion demolished, citing a lack of planning permission.

Situated on the outskirts of Bath, this sprawling estate is currently under construction and is rumored to be the most substantial new residence built in the area within the last century.

Furious locals assert that the mansion is considerably taller and covers a greater area than what was initially sanctioned by the city council.

As the mansion nears its final stages, an application has been submitted to retroactively secure planning approval, aiming to legitimize alterations from the original designs.

Despite strong opposition from over 100 local residents, who label the structure as ‘monstrous,’ there are concerns that Bath and North East Somerset Council’s delayed response might hinder any effective intervention.

They claim the recent series of events underscores how multi-millionaires find, as well as use and abuse, loopholes during the planning process. 

Developers claimed they tried ‘to keep the building as low as’ possible and said they felt its height was ‘similar to the approved plans’ in documents relating to the latest proposal.

Mr Thomas Worrall, a director of TKB Property Developments and TK Building Company Ltd, is listed as the applicant of the plans.

Bath and North East Somerset Council declined to comment, adding enforcement action would only be ‘considered’ after the fresh application had been determined.

Tavis Hamilton, 48, who lives next door and has spent a decade battling developers, estimated the ‘mega home’ to be worth £3million upon completion.

‘It is enormous and dwarfs all the cottages,’ he said. ‘You could fit around 24 of the other cottages into the footprint.

‘It has been built for the last three years, but it has now been topped out so you can see the full height and scale.

‘It just shows how unfair the process is. It seems if you put the wrong guttering on your house or use the incorrect glazing, the council jump on you for enforcement.

‘But you can build this enormous structure without the right planning permission and no enforcement is carried out until it is too late.’

The 48-year-old, who lives with his partner Charlotte Bolton and daughter, explained permission had initially been granted for a low-lying single-storey building located on the lane of traditional Georgian properties. 

The proposed property was meant to be built into the hillside; however, when construction workers hit groundwater, they backfilled the hole with concrete, he said.

As such, the plans have materialised into a home which he describes as ‘significantly higher’ than what was proposed.

The plot was originally sold for £1million with planning, and locals believe another million may have been spent on excavation. 

A survey carried out by enforcement teams confirmed several deviations from approved plans, including the building being higher and larger than proposed.

It also found construction had not taken place in the spot approved in previously outlined proposals.  

Since 2007, the property has had several different owners and planning applications, each looking to increase its height and prominence, locals said.  

Meanwhile, more than 70 residents attended a recent site meeting over the issue, as over 100 lodged objections to the seven-bedroom home as construction continues. 

Mr Hamilton believes the latest application was lodged as part of a ‘wider game to avoid enforcement action’ as he insists a cease order should be applied to the site. 

‘The changes are so significant and widespread that all the rest of the drawings from roof light location also require total update,’ he said. ‘A cease order needs to be applied to all works on site whilst a detailed new planning application is submitted.’

He also argued that if it had been put in place when concerns were first raised years ago, the issue could have been resolved before the concrete pad was poured. 

‘This could have been resolved then, reducing the damage that will now be more difficult and costly to rectify,’ he added.

He also argued that the ‘significant’ deviations from the original plans set a damaging precedent for the future of the area.  

Locals said the orientation, siting, height, volume, footprint and surrounding landscaping all ‘significantly’ deviate from the original plans and would set a damaging precedent in the area.

‘They have just pushed on and built whatever they wanted, with a slap-dash, ill-considered, gung-ho approach with total disregard to the approved plans,’ he said. 

‘It has been incredibly stressful, but you feel powerless. People are just upset by the long history – they apply for one thing and end up with another.’

And while pictures of the site indicate developers still have some work to do on the property, such as a skylight, its height and shape have been fully formed.  

‘You can see the impact and size and how it sits with the plot as soon as you come down the lane,’ Mr Hamilton added.

‘It is hugely overbearing on the access and completely changes the character of the lane and the listed church.

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‘Some want to see it just torn down. It is an extreme measure and I don’t know if Bath and North East Somerset would ever enforce that. But it would be lovely to see it just built as it should have been. Lack of enforcement has just let it go too far.’

He explained the main source of anger was its increase in height and massing with it growing from a five-bedroom to a seven-bedroom property.

It comes after another ‘monster mansion’ was built on the other side of Mr Hamilton and his family’s home.

Now, as a result of this recent structure, he claims that he is ‘sandwiched between two of the largest single residences built in Bath in about 100 years’.

Locals said the original developer won permission to build the biggest property allowed on the plot – despite several objections – and then put it straight on the market.

It was then bought by a wealthy individual who submitted three or four more applications to make it higher and more prominent. Then it was again sold to another wealthy individual about three years ago, who has continued with construction.

On the council website, one local expressed their fury at the number of bedrooms being increased from five to seven. 

‘It was already noted as the largest house ever approved by the council, and now apparently will include seven bedrooms,’ they wrote in their objection.

‘It is completely out of keeping with other properties on Bailbrook Lane, one of which is the historic tin church, a listed heritage building.

‘The sheer volume of variations demonstrates that the developer has treated the formal planning approval as a mere box-ticking exercise.’

They argued that retrospective permission should only be given to rectify ‘unforeseen’ or ‘genuinely minor’ adjustments. 

They argued approving the ‘extensive list’ of changes would set a ‘dangerous precedent ‘.

Local ward district councillor Joanna Wright supported residents’ calls for enforcement action, describing the situation as ‘outrageous’. She said: ‘They got planning permission in 2013, and they haven’t built it to that plan. They keep extending it and changing who owns it,’ she said.

She added she has again written to enforcement and planning, lambasting it as an example of wealthy developers knowing how to ‘play the game’.

‘I understand the anger local residents feel about the whole process,’ she said. ‘They are told they cannot do things, and that is the end of it. 

‘Yet this developer ignores all that; they know the process, so they keep carrying on and jumping through all the hoops to get what they want.’

She decried the behaviour of the developers as ‘outrageous’, pointing out the ‘vast’ building would be taller and bigger than the neighbouring Grade-II listed church.  

‘It is a very narrow single-track road. This has had a huge impact on the neighbours,’ she said, explaining other homeowners have now been told they can’t have extensions due to the impact on the area’s heritage.

‘They should be made to tear it down,’ she said. ‘It is one rule for a wealthy person – they get what they want by playing the system – and another for everyone else.’

Bath and North East Somerset Council declined to comment. 

It is understood that the retrospective planning application is currently being determined. Only if the application is refused will the council consider formal enforcement action.

In its design and access statement, the agent for the applicant said they purchased the site with the planning and technical details already produced.

They added: ‘This was then amended to allow for a more realistic and practical build.’

They said changes from the original plans included new basement areas, amendments to roofs and window and widening access.

In documents relating to the latest proposal, the applicant wrote: ‘All of these amendments were decided based on the structure and practical aspect of building the single storey elements.

‘As they were first designed, they would not have stable foundations and could not be built in made up ground. The amendments were necessary at the time of construction to allow for a safer build.’

They said the water on the site was ‘constant’ at the lower basement level, causing the ground to be saturated. 

‘The only way that could be stabilised was to stop where they did and fill it with hardcore,’ they added. ‘So this then gave a solid base for the concrete pour.

‘There came to light after engineering details were done some of the suggestions did not practically work, or could physically be done.

‘So the ideas to extend the basement and some of the internal levels were taken.

‘We have tried to keep the building as low as we could, and we feel that the overall height of the building is similar to the approved plans.’

They argued the scale and overall size of the property had ‘hardly changed from the initial approved plans’, adding the overall look was ‘the same’.  

‘We have tried to make sure the heights are not over the approved plan even if adjusted due to the build.’

Planning agents representing Mr Worrall have been approached for comment.