Florida Lyft Driver Arrested and Charged with Manslaughter after Removing Wrong Organ as a Surgeon

A Florida man was arrested in April 2026 after being charged with manslaughter for the death of William Bryan, who died in 2024 after he operated on him as a surgeon, removing the wrong organ. In a bizarre twist, the Walton County Sheriff's Office arrested the former surgeon as he was working as a Lyft driver, after being informed that he had an active felony warrant.

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky credit: Walton County Sheriff's Office

It wasn't "business as usual" for Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky on April 13, 2026, when Walton County Sheriff's Office pulled him over in his Mitsubishi SUV near a busy intersection in Miramar Beach, Florida.

Deputies Arrest Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky Working as a Lyft Driver

NBC News reported that Shaknovsky was placed under arrest at a busy intersection on April 13 for manslaughter. Deputies pulled him over for a felony warrant for the death of 70-year-old William Bryan in 2024. Bryan died after Dr. Shaknovsky removed his liver, when the surgery was supposed to remove his spleen. Bryan had catastrophic blood loss, which led to his death. Shaknovsky also faces a medical negligence lawsuit after a surgery on Dorothy Dorsett, where she died after Shaknovsky removed a mass from her body in 2023. 

NBC News reported that Shaknovsky's medical license was suspended about a month after Bryan died in 2024.

When confronted by police, Shaknovsky asked, "May I ask what this is about?" and the police informed him that it was for a manslaughter charge from when he was operating on patients as a surgeon.

When deputies opened the rear door of his Mitsubishi SUV, two women got out, who told police they were on vacation and Shaknovsky had picked them up from a hotel as their Lyft driver. The women were scared they were being robbed at gunpoint. One of the women was heard making a joke, "We're not using Lyft again...from now on, we're using Uber."

According to NBC News, Shaknovsky had been operating as a Lyft driver using his middle name "Jacob" for more than a year, with a five-star rating for over 3,000 rides.

A Lyft spokesperson said the following after the incident:

"As soon as we became aware of the driver's arrest, we removed them from the Lyft platform, and have been in contact with the ride requester to offer support." -Lyft spokesperson

 Walton County Sheriff's Office said that Shaknovsky and his attorney were given "ample notice to voluntarily turn himself in before he was pulled over." 

Spokeswoman Corey Dobridnia for the  Walton County Sheriff's Office said:

"Shaknovsky knew that he had a felony warrant, and he still chose to put people in his vehicle, and he ran that risk. He has a felony warrant and a felony stop requires guns drawn, all of that."

Tennessee Grandmother Was Falsely Arrested by Fargo Police Department After AI Software Identified her as Criminal

Police departments should be cautious before trusting AI software to find criminals after the news story that the Fargo Police Department used AI software to "scrape the internet" to find someone who commited crimes in North Dakota.

Angela Lipps of Tennessee; credit: Cass County Sheriff's Office

According to CNN, the Fargo Police department has "acknowledged a few errors" after falsely arresting Angela Lipps, a grandmother and resident of Tennessee, and keeping her behind bars for more than five months.

The now 50-year-old woman was first arrested on July 14, 2025, after a warrant went out for her arrest that originated in Fargo, North Dakota. She was accused of crimes related to bank fraud that took place in and around Fargo.

Was the Fargo Police Department Mistake due to lazy police work or miscommunication?

Fargo Police Department Chief Dave Zibolski said that his investigators used "our partner agency's facial recognition technology" and used "additional investigative steps independent of AI in identification before submitting their report to the Cass County State Attorney's Office."

He then described some of the breakdown in what went wrong.

"At some point, our partner agency over at West Fargo purchased their own AI facial recognition system that we were no aware of a tthe executive level... and we would not have allowed that to be used, and it has since been prohibited." -Police Dept. Chief Dave Zibolski

According to CNN, the West Fargo Police Department acknowledged they use Clearview AI, and that "Clearview identified a potential suspect with similar features to Angela Lipp." West Fargo police then shared that report with Fargo police department.

Hopefully, Angela Lipp will get an apology from those who falsely arrested her.

Angela Lipp GoFundMe Page

Since the false arrest, Angela Lipp had a GoFundMe started and at the time of publication, it had raised $67,899 USD with a goal of reaching $75,000.

The GoFundMe description on the page reads:

"On July 14th, 2025 a team of U.S. Marshals showed up at my home while I was babysitting four young children. They arrested me at gunpoint and took me away. Until then I had never had a gun pointed at me. These poor children saw everything happen. It breaks my heart. They were so scared.

What I later learned, after many days in jail is that police in Fargo, North Dakota had been investigating a bank fraud case. A woman used a fake military ID to steal tens of thousands of dollars from banks in Fargo. The cops ran surveillance footage through facial recognition software. That AI software said it was me. A detective looked at my Tennessee driver's license and my social media and agreed. Nobody called me. Nobody asked me a single question. They just got a warrant.

I sat in a county jail in Tennessee for 108 days. They said I was fugitive from justice. I had no bail. No one interviewed me. I just sat and waited.

On October 30th I was taken from the jail and flown to North Dakota. It was the first time I had ever been on an airplane. I was terrified. They put a restraint device around my waist and handcuffed me and walked me through the airport in front of everyone. Everyone was staring. I was terrified and exhausted and humiliated.

I was given a lawyer in Fargo. The lawyer pulled my bank records and showed that I was in Tennessee the entire time. My bank records prove that I was at a gas station, ordering a pizza, and using Cash App at the very times they said I was 1,200 miles north in Fargo. I was taken by the U.S. Marshals on July 14th. It wasn't until December 19th that my lawyer and I finally sat down with a detective. It took five minutes for the whole thing to fall apart. Five minutes.

On Christmas Eve, after more than five months in jail, the charges were dismissed.

I was released into a North Dakota winter wearing summer clothes. I had no coat, no ride, no way home. Fargo police did nothing to help me. Local defense attorneys gave me money for a hotel room and food on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. A local nonprofit founder drove me to Chicago and from there I got back home to Tennessee.

No one from the Fargo Police Department has apologized.

I pleaded with the U.S. Marshals to get my dentures and take them to jail with me but they refused. For six months I had no dentures. Jail would not allow me to have them. You can see it in my mugshot. The one they put on the news. That photo was taken at the worst moment of my life and they published it for the world to see.

While I was in jail I lost everything.

My family put my personal belongings into storage but the bill couldn't be paid. Everything is gone. Everything. I lost my rental home in a mobile home park. I lost my Social Security income. I lost my health insurance. I lost my doctors. I lost my dog. I lost my car, a Chrysler Sebring convertible and everything inside of it. I lost brand new clothes and shoes that I had just bought. I lost tools, cables, a battery charger, a tire inflator. Everything.

I missed Halloween with my grandkids. I missed my 50th birthday. I missed Thanksgiving. I was released on Christmas Eve but I was stranded in North Dakota with nothing so I missed that too.

My neighbors watched me get arrested. People in my community assumed I was guilty. I was charged, so in their eyes that was that.

I gained 65lbs from fluid retention and poor diet when I was in jail. I just got my health insurance back and have an appointment coming up with a doctor. I don't sleep at night. I'm up every hour, thinking and praying, thankful that I'm no longer locked up but terrified that it could happen again. I shake when I think about that day. I am not the same woman I was. I don't think I ever will be.

I am now living with neighbors in the trailer park. I have no car, no money, and no way to start over on my own. I have always been an independent woman. I cannot start life again with nothing.

There are news articles documenting everything I've described here. Every word is verified and on record.
https://www.inforum.com/news/fargo/ai-error-jails-innocent-grandmother-for-months-in-fargo-case

If you can give anything, $5, $10, whatever you can, please know that it makes all the difference in the world. I understand if you can't give money, can you please share this story? That matters just as much. People need to know that this is happening in America and it could happen to anyone."

Sources:

Angela Lipp's GoFundMe page.

Cass County Sherriff's Office.

Sottle, Zoe. "Police used AI facial recognition to arrest a Tennessee woman for crimes committed in a state she says she's never visited." CNN. 28 March 2026.

Pennsylvania Man Stole 70 Cellphones in the Mail While Working at the USPS Sorting Center

A Pennsylvania man stole 70 cell phones from the United States mail while he worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Lancaster County, according to local police. Now Lamar Wilson is on the run.

Lamar Wilson; credit WGAL 8 News

Lamar Wilson Stole 70 Phones While Employee for USPS

Lamar Wilson, 44, of York, PA stole cell phones in the USPS mail system while working at the USPS Sorting Facility located on Harrisburg Pike in Manheim Township.

He used an EcoATM to sell each of the phones he stole for cash. Each transaction included a scan of his ID and photos of him and the stolen phones. The total value of the stolen phones is estimated at $36,120.

The thefts occurred between January and July 2023, when the sorting facility manager reported an increase in missing phones from the mail stream. An undercover operation tracked an iPhone shipped to an agent that was emptied at the facility and sold by the suspect.

Here's how they caught him: The Office of the Inspector General sent an iPhone to an out-of-state special agent and routed it through the facility. According to investigators, the package was empty when it arrived at its destination.

Lamar Wilson is charged with theft by unlawful taking and is on the run.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Manheim Township police at 717-569-6401 or submit a tip through CrimeWatch.

Scammers Take $13,000 from An Illinois Man in a Bill Paying Scam on Whatsapp

Mohammad Mazher, fell victim to a scam that promised to help him pay his bills amid rising inflation. He lost $13,000 to the scammers who contacted him on WhatsApp and claimed to be from a bill negotiation service.

Mohammad Mazher

One man learned the hard way not to trust random strangers who promise to pay his bills.

He admits: "I just fell for the trap."

WhatsApp Scam Fools Illinois Man out of $13,000

WLS Channel 7 News reported Mohammad Mazher from Elgin, Illinois became the latest victim of a scam where criminals promise that they will help you pay your bills. They convince their victims that you just have to pay 60% and they will pay the other 40%. of your existing bills. 

He said:

"The scheme was they will pay the bills off. I would go check online in my ComEd and utility bills, it says paid off. After three or four days, it would get canceled," -Mohammad Mazher, victim of WhatsApp scam

They fooled Mohammad by speaking to him in Hindi to gain his trust. He sent them money, and it appeared that they were paying his bills, but in reality, it just appeared that payment was posting to his account, but then it would reverse days later. 

The criminals were keeping all of the money that he was sending to them. They continued to scam him out of a total of $13,000 USD.

When Mazher realized that his bills were not being paid, and they were scamming him, he filed a police report with the Elgin Police Department and filed a report with the Federal Trade Commission. His police report can be seen below.

There are companies that specialize in debt consolidation, but what Mazher went through was a scam and not a legitimate company. It was criminals wanting to take advantage of a person by gaining their trust.

Image credit: WLS ABC 7 News

Elderly Woman Scammed out of $18,000 USD from Scammer Claiming to be from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

An elderly woman loses $18,000 to a scammer who claims he is with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC). She contacts the police to help her. They get on the phone and the scammer calls her back posing as a police officer using the caller ID to show his number as the Adrian Police Department. Find out what happens when he talks to the real police.

A hacker waiting to steal; photo by Max Bender on Unsplash

An elderly woman called the Adrian Police Department (APD) on Friday, 6 Oct. 2023, asking for help after a scammer had stolen $18,000 with a deception. He threatened to arrest her if she didn't send over her money.

Adrian Police Department Assists Elderly Woman

The second time the scammer called her back spoofing the Adrian Police Department number and identified himself this time as "Officer David Wesson," but the police were able to confront the scammer on the woman's phone. When the scammer threatened to arrest them, the real police told him to come down to the police station and try to arrest them.

The scammer is frustrated that his threats no longer work, so he hangs up.

The APD has warned people not to trust Caller ID (because it can be spoofed) and more importantly, never send cash to anyone who claims to be from a federal agency or a business. The real agencies will never ask you for money.

If an American is scammed by a scammer, you can contact the real FTC for help.

The real FTC website says "The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. If you have been targeted by a scam, report it at Reportfraud.ftc.gov."

Man and Pitbull Steal Garbage Truck in Boulder, CO

Stolen Western Disposal Garbage truck (Boulder, CO)

A man in Boulder, CO stole a garbage truck and thought he would get away with it. But not before politely asking a police officer if he could borrow his car.

26 year-old Daniel Morkert, became nervous on Wednesday, August 30, 2014, when police were performing an investigation in his neighborhood in Boulder, CO. Daniel came outside of his apartment building with his pitbull and thanked the officer for his service. Daniel Morkert then asked the officer if he could borrow his police car.

Daniel Morkert Steals Garbage Truck

The police officer said no, so Daniel opted for something bigger -- a garbage truck. The garbage truck driver got out of the vehicle to move a dumpster, and that's when Daniel Morkert hopped in the driver's seat and drove off. Daniel Morkert then said, "I'm taking your truck!" The truck driver pleaded for Morkert to not take the truck, but it was too late. Not to mention that Morkert also had his pitbull in the garbage truck with him.

Boulder police then followed Daniel Morkert in a low speed chase down U.S. 36. Police put down spikes on the road near McCaslin Blvd. to flatten the tires. One tire blew on the spikes, but Daniel Morkert continued to drive eastbound on U.S. 36. After the tire blew, the police cars chased the garbage truck at 30 m.p.h.

The stolen garbage truck finally exited U.S. 36 at Wadsworth Blvd heading north. Shortly after, Daniel Morkert crashed the garbage truck into a median, south of Midway Blvd., in Broomfield. Morkert was apprehended by Broomfield police, then given over to Boulder CO police.

A neighbor of Daniel Morkert told police that she believes he is schizophrenic, and was initially freaked out by police in their neighborhood.

Daniel Morkert has been charged with reckless driving, auto theft, and eluding a police officer.