Police chase, then rescue suspect from burning car

Kevin Rowson reports on a fiery crash after police chase.

11Alive Staff, WXIA 8:59 p.m. EDT March 10, 2014

Donald Jason Miles, age 28(Photo: WXIA)

BROOKHAVEN, Ga -- A car thief probably owes his life to the police officers who chased him down. Donald Jason Miles, age 28, is a career criminal according to police.Brookhaven Police rescued him from a burning car after he slammed head on into a utility pole.

Police released dramatic video from a police officer's dash cam that showed the car burst into flames moments after Miles was pulled from the vehicle.

On Saturday, March 8, 2014, a Brookhaven Police Officer noticed a suspicious vehicle with a stolen plate. When the officer tried to stop the car, it took off at a high rate of speed.

The police officer lost contact with the vehicle after it split between four vehicles and ran a red light. After about three miles the officer found the vehicle wrapped around a utility pole at Clairmont Avenue.

At first, the officer thought the suspect ran from the vehicle. It was filled with smoke and hard to see inside. But a short time later he realized the suspect was still inside, trapped in the wreckage.

The officer could also see flames. Other officers arrived and used batons to break the windows.

Eventually the officers pried open the passenger side door with their hands and dragged the suspect out of the car. Miles was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was in serious condition.

Deputy Chief Ron Freeman said Miles wasn't the only living being in the car. "They also discovered that there was a dog that was injured, a small dog that was injured inside the car," he said. The dog was rescued from the smoke filled car and taken to a local animal hospital for treatment.

The officer's dash cam video show the car in flames shortly after Miles was rescued. "I think when you see the video that there's no question he was probably about 60 seconds from burning up in that car," he said.

Miles is charged with theft, fleeing and eluding police and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Police found a handgun and ammunition inside the burned car.

You can follow Kevin on Twitter @krowson11aliveand like him on Facebook.

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Iranian linked to stolen passports on doomed jet

USA Today, news source 3:21 p.m. EDT March 10, 2014

Dato' Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation briefs the media over latest updates on missing Malaysia Airline MH370 on March 10, 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo by How Foo Yeen/Getty Images)(Photo: WXIA)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Beijing sent two delegations here Monday to probe stolen passports as reports surfaced that an Iranian man purchased the two tickets used by those passengers on the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared Saturday off the coast of Vietnam.

Chinese diplomat Guo Shaochun arrived with a 10-member working group from the Chinese ministries of foreign affairs, transport, public security and the civil aviation administration. Earlier, a team from China's Ministry of Public Security arrived to discuss the passports with their Malaysian counterparts.

The passports, one Italian and one Austrian, were stolen in Thailand in 2012 and 2013. CNN and the Financial Times, citing Thai police, reported that an Iranian man named Kazem Ali purchased the tickets used with the passports for two friends who he said wanted to return home to Europe. The tickets were paid for in cash, the reports said.

Guo said he hoped his team would help speed up Malaysia's investigation of the jet's disappearance and improve co-ordination between the several countries now involved. In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the Chinese government "urges the Malaysian side to step up their efforts to speed up the investigation and provide accurate information to China in a timely fashion."

The Global Times, a leading Chinese Communist Party newspaper, was less diplomatic. "The Malaysian side cannot shirk its responsibilities," said a biting editorial. "The initial response from Malaysia was not swift enough. There are loopholes in the work of Malaysia Airlines and security authorities."

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had left Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing with 239 people aboard -- most of them Chinese -- when it vanished from radar screens.

Late Monday, Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Transport Pham Quy Tieu said a third day of search and rescue operations failed to turn up a trace of the jet. He said four countries have been authorized to search in Vietnamese territory - Malaysia, Singapore, China and the USA. Overall, ten countries were involved in the search.

He said operations would continue Tuesday and would include more aircraft to cover a wider search area. Phu Quoc, a resort island in the Gulf of Thailand, has been established as the command center for Vietnam's efforts to locate the jet.

Contributing: Thomas Maresca in Vietnam

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Snowden calls for 'accountability' in surveillance chat

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden says the NSA is "setting fire to the future of the Internet" with surveillance practices he first revealed last year. He spoke at SXSW in Austin via video conference.

11Alive Staff, WXIA 11:09 a.m. EDT March 11, 2014

AUSTIN, TX --Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden says the NSA is "setting fire to the future of the Internet" with surveillance practices he first revealed last year.

During a chat at the SXSW festival Monday, Snowden addressed the NSA's tactics, discussed in an investigative series by The Guardian last summer.

Snowden says elements are in place for an oversight system to track these practices, but questions whether there is any interest in this type of monitoring. "We need a watchdog that watches Congress," he says.

Snowden also championed the use of encryption to secure users, noting that the security measure needs to be treated as a "basic protection" for citizens and not as a "black art."

At the open of the SXSW festival, Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Ks., urged organizers to cancel the talk. "Rewarding Mr. Snowden's behavior in this way encourages the very lawlessness he exhibited," said Pompeo in a letter to SXSW organizers.

Over the weekend, SXSW 2014 delivered insight on the rise of technology in the health industry, while one NBA owner shared his take on the controversial currency Bitcoin.

FULL COVERAGE | See all the latest and greatest from SXSW from USA TODAY's coverage

Here's a look at the five things we learned after day 3:

TECH BREATHING LIFE INTO HEALTH BUSINESS

We've got smartphone apps to play our music, connect with our friends or kill time with a game or two. But apps will soon tackle more serious endeavors, such as helping you lose weight or even avoid a heart attack.

The collaboration between health and tech is among the hot topics at SXSW. With companies building more medical sensors, expect the health gadget business to boom.

Ideas range from smoking apps that encourage users to quit by leveraging their contact lists or breath analyzers that can catch lung cancer.

As Dr. Leslie Saxon, cardiologist at USC's Center for Body Computing, tells USA TODAY: "There's no more compelling app than one for your health or (the health of) your loved ones."

TAKING PHONE CALLS FROM 28,000 FEET

Air travelers are likely familiar with Gogo, the company behind the Inflight service that provides fliers with access to the Internet.

The company is moving one step further by testing a service to let fliers make phone calls from their cellphones. USA TODAY's Ed Baig tried out the service in a demo at SXSW and said call quality is about the same as your average cellphone call.

But do fliers really want to hear all these phone conversations while in the air? Gogo Vice President Brad Jaehn says the option won't be available in North America any time soon but could appear on international flights.

"Outside of the United States, there is some demand for voice calling on an airplane," says Jaehn.

Gogo voice calls are expected to roll out on flights this year.

HOOTSUITE DIVES INTO SOCIAL MARKETING

Social media management tool HootSuite is pushing to perform a similar service for businesses, according to USA TODAY tech columnist John Shinal.

The tool lets users control multiple social media accounts such as Facebook or Twitter in one platform. At SXSW, the company revealed it will include a service to allow small- and medium-sized businesses to manage marketing budgets.

Hootsuite will roll out the enterprise feature in the next few months.

POPPING UP AT A POP-UP PARTY

At SXSW, attendees never know when a party will pop up.

Tech sites such as Funny or Die and Pinterest as well as streaming music site Spotify have taken over houses and venues in Austin and transformed them into party pads where they can share more about their services.

Comedy site Funny or Die, for instance, is hosting the cast of Neighbors, a film starring Seth Rogan and Zac Efron, as well as social network Facebook.

"They come here because they want to sit down with the Facebook team and learn how to connect with their audience," says Facebook's Dustin Bramell on working with Funny or Die.

QUENCHING THIRST WITH 'FIRE AND BLOOD'

SXSW attendees have to find beverages to wash down all the barbecue and fajitas. What better way to do it than with Fire and Blood.

Brewery Ommegang worked with HBO to craft a brew for SXSW themed after the hit series Game of Thrones. The beer Fire and Blood is a red ale that pays homage to the series' red wedding from last season.

SXSW visitors can try the beer at a Game of Thrones exhibition through Thursday.

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Pollen counts 23 times higher than last year

The week started with pollen cuonts 23 times higher than this time last year. 11Alive's Julie Wolfe reports. 11Alive

Julie Wolfe, WXIA 7:40 a.m. EDT March 11, 2014

ATLANTA -- Swollen eyes? Running nose? Scratchy throat? Blame the pollen. Pollen counts in Atlanta Monday were 23 times the count on the same day in 2013.

"This is by far the highest count that we have had by this date in the past five years. In2012 we had peak counts toward the end of March. Last year the counts did not peak until early April," Dr. Stanley Fineman from the Atlanta Allergy & Asthma Clinic told 11Alive's Julie Wolfe.

Compare the pollen totals of the last several years (measured in pollen grains per cubic meter of air):

March 10, 2014: 943
March 10, 2013: 41
March 10, 2012: 51
March 10, 2011: 8
March 10, 2010: 462

Fineman says the cold snap coming later in the week will bring mixed results: "Cold snaps will knock the pollen counts down, as will rain. But as soon as the weather warms and the sun comes out, the pollen will be back. This also creates a phenomenon known as the 'Priming Effect.' This 'Priming Effect' occurs when someone with pollen allergy is exposed to that pollen, then the exposure is removed (such as with cold weather), and subsequently when that person is re-exposed to the allergen pollen, there can be even more dramatic allergic symptoms."

The main pollen in the air right now is coming from hardwood trees including elm, cedar, alder, and maple.

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2-year-old uses Facetime to save mom's life

CNN, news source 9:54 p.m. EDT March 10, 2014

TUCSON, Ariz. (CNN) - A two-year-old is being hailed as a hero for saving his mother's life.

But it wasn't a call to 911 that helped save the day. The toddler tapped into his mother's iPhone and used her Facetime app to contact help.

Panic started to set in when Laura Toone says she desperately needed paramedics, but couldn't dial 911.

"I begged my daughters to call 911," she said, "and they're four and quite afraid to even touch the phone because it was so covered in my blood from trying to call 911."

Toone says a foster dog she cared for attacked one of her own dogs. When she tried to break it up, the dog bit part of her finger almost clean off.

She continued to lose blood, and right when she thought she was going to pass out, her son came from the kitchen with a dish towel and called her friend on Facetime.

Bentley, 2, didn't know how to call 911, but he knew how to Facetime.

In fact, he Facetimes Laura's friend Connie Guerrero so often, she usually just ignores it.

"Something inside of me just told me that I needed to answer his Facetime," she said. "All I could see was his little forehead, and I said 'hi Bentley' and it was quiet for a little bit, and then I hear Laura screaming."

From there, help was called. Bentley even unlocked the door for firefighters.

And now Laura is thankful for her little hero.

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Police chase, then rescue suspect from burning car

Kevin Rowson reports on a fiery crash after police chase.

11Alive Staff, WXIA 8:59 p.m. EDT March 10, 2014

Donald Jason Miles, age 28(Photo: WXIA)

BROOKHAVEN, Ga -- A car thief probably owes his life to the police officers who chased him down. Donald Jason Miles, age 28, is a career criminal according to police.Brookhaven Police rescued him from a burning car after he slammed head on into a utility pole.

Police released dramatic video from a police officer's dash cam that showed the car burst into flames moments after Miles was pulled from the vehicle.

On Saturday, March 8, 2014, a Brookhaven Police Officer noticed a suspicious vehicle with a stolen plate. When the officer tried to stop the car, it took off at a high rate of speed.

The police officer lost contact with the vehicle after it split between four vehicles and ran a red light. After about three miles the officer found the vehicle wrapped around a utility pole at Clairmont Avenue.

At first, the officer thought the suspect ran from the vehicle. It was filled with smoke and hard to see inside. But a short time later he realized the suspect was still inside, trapped in the wreckage.

The officer could also see flames. Other officers arrived and used batons to break the windows.

Eventually the officers pried open the passenger side door with their hands and dragged the suspect out of the car. Miles was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was in serious condition.

Deputy Chief Ron Freeman said Miles wasn't the only living being in the car. "They also discovered that there was a dog that was injured, a small dog that was injured inside the car," he said. The dog was rescued from the smoke filled car and taken to a local animal hospital for treatment.

The officer's dash cam video show the car in flames shortly after Miles was rescued. "I think when you see the video that there's no question he was probably about 60 seconds from burning up in that car," he said.

Miles is charged with theft, fleeing and eluding police and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Police found a handgun and ammunition inside the burned car.

You can follow Kevin on Twitter @krowson11aliveand like him on Facebook.

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Protesters press for changes in stand your ground law

USA Today, news source 12:48 a.m. EDT March 11, 2014

Hundreds of marchers protested the stand your ground law in Florida on March 10, 2014.(Photo: Karl Etters/Democrat)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (USA TODAY) -- Hundreds of marchers joined the parents of slain black teens Jordan Davis and Trayvon Martin and the Rev. Al Sharpton to call Monday for changes to Florida's stand your ground law.

Also walking from the Leon County Civic Center to the Florida Capitol less than a mile away was the family of Marissa Alexander, who was sentenced to 20 years for firing a gun in the direction of her estranged husband.

Florida law gives people who are not involved in illegal activity the right to stand their ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if they reasonably believe it's necessary to avoid death or great bodily harm.

"It's a flawed law because you don't need an actual threat," Sharpton said. "All you've got to do is believe a threat and you can use deadly force."

Those looking for change have been adamant that self-defense laws have been used against minorities disproportionately. They believe that force should be used only after all other options have been exhausted.

In the past year:

• A judge declared a mistrial Feb. 15 on the murder charge against Davis' killer, Michael Dunn. Instead, deadlocked jurors convicted Dunn of second-degree attempted murder for firing at a group of Jacksonville teenagers on Nov. 23, 2012.

• George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer accused of murdering Martin, was found not guilty July 13, 2013, of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the Feb. 26, 2012, shooting.

• Alexander faces a new trial July 28 after being sentenced in 2012 to 20 years in prison for firing what she says was a warning shot on Aug. 1, 2010, to scare off her estranged husband, who had a restraining order against him, during a dispute. Rico Gray was not injured, and a judge threw out Alexander's stand-your-ground self-defense claim. She is out of jail but is confined electronically to her home.

Sharpton said polling Florida legislators was the first step to national change.

"Florida is the first state to enact the law in 2005," he said. "We came back to where it started to begin where it will end."

The Republican-dominated Legislature has shown no interested in making any substantial changes to the stand your ground law. Democrats the past two years have filed bills to repeal it or amend the law.

The protesters planned to attend House and Senate criminal justice committee hearings in hopes of telling lawmakers they want them to consider action on the law.

In November, the Florida House Criminal Justice Subcommittee shot down a full repeal of the law. Other bills, still potentially in play in the Legislature, would tweak stand your ground to include, a necessary obligation to retreat and use of force only after that option has been exhausted.

Some of the bills change the situation that put Zimmerman in the position to pursue Martin. Senate Bill 130, by Sen. Chris Smith, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat, would require the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to develop county or municipal police training programs for neighborhood watch programs and not allow immunity to the aggressor in a situation.

The bill had favorable support in the Senate Judiciary Committee in October and has potential to be heard in the Criminal Justice Committee.

A House bill that Orlando Democrat Bruce Antone filed draws a harder line on self-defense.

HB 33 allows use of force, except deadly force, in the case of thwarting a felony. It also removes restrictions on law enforcement from arresting an individual for using force unless there is probable cause the force used was unlawful.

The bill has two more committee meetings and has yet to be heard in the same House Criminal Justice Subcommittee that voted down the full repeal 11-2 in November.

In the summer, members of the group Dream Defenders, who also attended Monday's rally, had a monthlong sit-in at the Capitol here to try to get lawmakers to call a special session to address the law, but Florida Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders refused to do so.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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