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FBI hunts Bad Beard Bandit; Claire Davis vigil held; Griffin High quarterback burglarized

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Arizona

An Arizona woman who made and used fake coupons to steal from Target stores for five years was arrested Friday in her Phoenix hotel room, police said. Terry Darcy, 51, had been the focus of an investigation that began six weeks ago after Target store analysts suspected Darcy was passing bogus, homemade coupons to get large amounts of goods for free. Detectives from the Phoenix Police Business and Economic Stability Team were notified. They immediately began gathering information and evidence, including receipts and video surveillance footage. The investigation showed more than $175,000 in losses to the business. The records also indicated Darcy may have been operating the alleged scam since 2008 and could have obtained more than $300,000 a year in fraudulent theft and returns, according to Phoenix police officer James Holmes. The suspect told detectives she has been running her operation for five years and that she has a $145-a-day heroin addiction, Holmes said. Through fraudulent returns alone, Darcy deprived the business of tens of thousands of dollars in revenue, Holmes said.

California

The Federal Bureau of Investigation says a man wearing a fake beard has robbed five northern California banks since Nov. 21. Dubbed the “Bad Beard Bandit,” due to his fake beard’s poor quality, the man is described as a stocky, White or Hispanic man in his late 20s or early 30s. The FBI says he’s known to wear blue jeans, ball caps, hoodies, jackets and, of course, the “bad” fake beard.

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Investigators believe the man is connected to a Nov. 21 robbery at the Bank of the West branch on West Main Street, a Nov. 26 robbery at a Chase Bank in Manteca, two other Chase Bank robberies on Dec. 3 and 4 in Tracy and Dublin, and a Dec. 10 Citibank robbery on El Camino Real in Sunnyvale. He is said to be armed and dangerous, although no weapon was actually seen in any of the robberies.

Colorado

Friends of Claire Davis, the 17-year-old senior critically wounded in Friday’s shooting at a Colorado high school, are wondering why bad things happen to good people. Davis is in a struggle for her life at a hospital in Littleton, near Arapahoe High School, where a classmate shot her in the head. She remained in critical condition Sunday. Among those praying for Davis is the family of Karl Pierson,

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the 18-year-old senior who police say shot her. In a statement released Monday afternoon, Barbara and Mark Pierson said Davis and her family “have suffered unimaginably, and we pray for her full recovery.” Police say Pierson was looking for revenge against a librarian, but couldn’t find the faculty member and killed himself as a school resource officer closed in. Davis was just a random victim, police surmised, and the gunman and victim didn’t even know each other.

District of Columbia

A federal budget compromise that already passed the House cleared a key procedural hurdle on Tuesday in the Senate, increasing the likelihood it will win final full Congressional approval this week. President Barack Obama has signaled his support for the plan worked out by the budget committee leaders in each chamber that would guide government spending into 2015 and defuse the chances of another shutdown such as the one that took place in October. Tuesday’s vote overcame a Republican filibuster attempt that required 60 votes in the 100-member chamber to proceed on the budget measure. The count was 67-33, with a dozen Republicans joining the 55 Democrats and independents in support of the plan. Final approval in the Senate requires a simple majority of 51 votes. The budget plan easily passed the House last week on a 332-94 vote.

Florida

Fifty-four years after the Duval County, school board ignored the wishes of students and named a Jacksonville high school for a controversial Confederate general, the school will get a new name. The school board voted 7-0 Monday to change the name of Nathan B. Forrest High School after the current school year ends. Officials will choose between the names Westside and Firestone in January. When it was opened in 1959, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision that required racially integrated public schools, district officials chose to name the school after Forrest—a former slave trader and Confederate commander whose troops were involved in the massacre of Black Union soldiers at a Tennessee fort. He later served as the first “Grand Wizard” of the Ku Klux Klan. “For too long and too many, this name has represented the opposite of unity, respect, and equality—all that we expect in Duval schools,” board member Constance Hall said in a statement from the district. The name-change was spearheaded by parent Ty Richmond, whose Change.org petition amassed 162,150 signatures.

Georgia

Griffin High School’s quarterback was playing at the sate championship Saturday with his family cheering him on. Meanwhile, thieves played a game of their own, targeting Jaquez Parks’ house. Parks led the Griffin Bears to victory at the Georgia Dome, taking their first title game in 35 years. As he and his family celebrated, burglars broke in the back door of the Parks’ home with an ax, which the thieves left behind.

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The family said they ransacked the place, taking Christmas gifts, a couple of flat screen TVs, as well as Parks’ iPad, computer and video game system. Parks said he was in such a good mood, ready to celebrate the team’s win, but looking at the mess the thieves left in his room, with his belongings gone, his mood quickly changed. Parks added they would look past the break-in as a family and, “just put it in God’s hands. I hope they just think about what they did.” Friends and fans have already stepped up with donations to help the Parks replace the gifts and some of the other items stolen. The team’s booster club set up an account in his name here: https://squareup.com/market/griffin-high-school-touchdown-club/parks-family-donation

Illinois

A bride is in mourning. Hours after his wedding, groom William Riley Knight, 49, of Crown Point, Ind., was struck and killed while trying to help a stranded motorist. “I went from a being a newlywed to a widow in less than 48 hours—the highest high to the lowest low,” the bride told the Chicago Sun-Times on Sunday. “It’s a blur,” said new wife, Nikki Knight.” The couple had just left their reception, according to Patti Van Til, a spokeswoman with the Lake County, Ind., Sheriff’s Department and Nikki was still in her wedding dress. Knight was acting as a good Samaritan on Saturday night when he stopped to assist Linda Darlington, whose vehicle had slid into a ditch along a road in Crown Point. He climbed out to help while his wife waited in the car. “He said, ‘We’ve got to stop, it’s late and they need help,’” Nikki, a registered nurse, told the Chicago newspaper. Her husband and Darlington, 42, were struck multiple times as they stood by the side of the road. They were first hit by one vehicle, followed by two more. Darlington was also killed.

Compiled by Juliana Norwood. CNN News wire contributed to this report.

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