Lineman worker's death leaves family heartbroken • Activist Malik Shabazz hospitalized • $100M Ponzi Scheme

TUESDAY NEWS HIT - Lineman Austin Chappell was electrocuted last weekend coming in contact with a live wire while working in Lincoln Park.

The 30-year-old was supposed to come back home to Alabama, next week to celebrate their second wedding anniversary.

"I just hope that other women who are married to linemen don't have to go through this - and I know that there are. There's no words to describe the pain," said his wife, Sara Chappell. "He was my best friend. We both loved each other until the end of this world.

"We always used to say 'I love you through every storm and through every hitch.' And that was our thing. Through the storm, we will always love each other."

Austin’s wife Sara is up from Alabama collecting the rest of his things while the family is in a haze of sadness.

"He's a dad, he's a father, he's a son, a grandson," said Jeff Chappell, the victim's father.

"To be honest I don't think I've ever seen him in a bad mood, he was a good dude, a country boy," said Nicholas Caine, Chappell's friend and colleague.

Austin was working in Southeast Michigan since January working for Stateline – contracted by DTE. He was living with friend and colleague Nicholas Caine – who started a fundraising page for his wife and 10-year-old daughter.

"If that’s the last thing they need to worry about is how to put food on the table and pay that bill," said Caine. "If that's one less worry they have, then maybe they can grieve."

This all happened Saturday – off Annabelle near Outer Driver in Lincoln Park. Austin was electrocuted and pronounced dead at the scene.

"We as a family have questions also about (if) proper safety protocols were followed, was there proper equipment on-site, was somebody trained on-site to help him," his father said.

FOX 2 reached out to the contract company Austin worked for, Stateline. They said at this point they’re not releasing anything about his death.

In brief statement from DTE – they expressed their love and support to his family. 

Donate: If you would like to help the family, enter the name Sara Chappell in the donation area for the Fallen Lineman Organization HERE.

Read more here. 

Detroit activist Malik Shabazz hospitalized

A tireless Detroit community advocate is hospitalized and the family is asking for prayers. Activist Malik Shabazz is dealing with a health issue and a vigil will be held for him at noon on Tuesday at Henry Ford on W. Grand Blvd.

Shabazz is a leader of the New Black Panther Nation/New Marcus Garvey Movement and also a part of the Detroit 300. 

He's led numerous grassroots efforts to organize residents and working to dismantle the no-snitch mentality regarding crime with an emphasis on the protection of women and children.

According to social media, Shabazz was awarded the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award in Lansing earlier on Monday. 

Charges in $100 million Ponzi scheme 

A man operating out of Panama was brought in front of a federal judge in Detroit this week when he was charged in connection with a Ponzi scheme that scammed investors to the tune of $100 million.

The 53-year-old man ran a trading firm called QYU which was located outside the U.S. and reported generating stellar investment results for its clients. Claims made by the company said it did not have a single losing month of investments, and supposedly turned $100,000 in 2014 into $2 million in 2021.

Investors were also told they would be guaranteed returns and that the firm only paid on trading profits. This was all a lie, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a release. Instead, according to a complaint from Attorney Dawn Ison, QYU was simply a scam where investor funds were not used for trading and instead to pay for other business expenses,

The defendant in the case, Darren Anthony Robinson, scammed "many" investors out of an estimated $100 million, the complaint alleges. The scammed money also funded his lifestyle as well.

Read more here.

Trenton drivers raise concerns about aging railroad

Drivers in Trenton are raising concerns about an aging train crossing that is causing damage to vehicles. Lawrence Mills, a resident of Trenton, expressed his dissatisfaction with the horrid condition of the railroad tracks owned by DTE.

"I go down this road at least once a day. The tracks have been in horrid condition," Mills said. The section of railroad tracks in question is located on King Road, west of Jefferson in Trenton. 

According to Mills, the track has been abandoned for about 20 years, and there are holes on both sides of the tracks.

Last fall, the city contacted DTE, who confirmed that they planned to remove them in the spring of 2023. However, Mills claims that they are already past the spring of 2023, and no progress has been made so far.

Read more here.

Driveway sinkhole traps elderly Detroit woman in home

An elderly woman is trapped in her home due to a sinkhole at the end of her driveway. "In January I noticed a crack in the driveway at the edge of the street," said Cassundra Griffin, homeowner. "The next thing I know like a week later it was bigger."

Griffin said she contacted the City of Detroit several times and kept sending pictures of the growing hole at the end of her driveway on Glenhurst. "They sent somebody out here like maybe three times," she said.

But the hole only got bigger. Months later, it is now so big, she can’t get out of her driveway without driving on the grass. "Like I can’t go anywhere like at night or nothing like that, but in the daytime I'm worried about falling in the hole. At night I’m not even going to chance it," she said. "I’m just stuck here.

A statement that the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has known about the problem since January. The statement said the delay in fixing the cave-in is unacceptable — especially given the fact that it is blocking her driveway. The city is promising to prioritize the issue this week, and apologize to Cassundra.

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Tuesday may be the dreariest day of the week with temperatures hitting the low 70s with likely rain at least in the first half of the day. There is also an air quality alert in effect thanks to the wildfires in Canada. 

What else we're watching

1. Detroit neighborhoods could be in the running for a new solar farm. A plan being rolled out by the mayor on Wednesday will open up access for community associations and block groups to apply for solar panels in their neighborhood.
2. The Michigan Air National Guard will be doing some aerial refueling flyovers over the state Tuesday. Check out the list of locations and times you could see them in the skies here.
3. If you're like the hundreds of millions of other Americans, you're looking at driving or flying for the Fourth of July. In Michigan, that'll mean avoiding some of the traffic. Here's the best time to beat the rush.
4. The Detroit City Council is meeting Tuesday where they'll likely discuss their paratransit contracts with the city. Currently, Detroit only has temporary deals with each of the vendors. 
5. Police are still investigating a quadruple shooting out of Ypsilanti Township where four males were stuck by gunfire. 

Trump audio: Former President suggests keeping Iran document he did not declassify

Leaked audio captured parts of a conversation involving Donald Trump in which the former president admitted to holding onto secret documents he did not declassify.

The audio tape, obtained by CNN, appears to show Trump bragging to a staffer about keeping a sensitive document on military actions in Iran. CNN reported the conversation took place in 2021 in New Jersey, which means Trump had been out of the White House and was no longer President.

"Well, with [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A. Milley]. Let me see that. I'll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran," Trump was heard in the leaked audio. The remark comes as a response to a Trump staffer suggesting the nation had plans to attack Iran.