For the first time criminal charges have been brought against a suspect for allegedly advertising and selling spyware for the iPhone, Android and Blackberry – software that’s purportedly capable of intercepting phone calls, text messages and emails, and even eavesdropping on offline conversations happening within a few yards of the smartphone carrier.

The Department of Justice announced today the indictment of Pakistani national Hammad Akbar, CEO of InvoCode Pvt Ltd, the U.K.-based company that sells StealthGenie software online, in part marketing it to suspicious spouses and lovers. Akbar was arrested in Los Angeles Saturday.

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“This application allegedly equips potential stalkers and criminals with a means to invade an individual’s confidential communications,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge Andrew McCabe said in a DOJ release. “They do this not by breaking into their homes or offices, but by physically installing spyware on unwitting victim’s phones and illegally tracking an individual’s every move. As technology continues to evolve, the FBI will investigate and bring to justice those who use illegal means to monitor and track individuals without their knowledge.”

The FBI says a potential user would need to be alone with a target device for “only a few minutes” to install the software and then could monitor the phone without physical contact again – using software that is “undetectable by most users and was advertised as being untraceable.”

In addition to monitoring basically all communications on the target smartphone, the StealthGenie user could “call the phone and activate it any time to monitor all surrounding conversations within a 15-foot radius,” the FBI said.

The DOJ release said that part of StealthGenie’s marketing plan was to sell to customers who suspect their significant others are cheating on them.

Three people charged in a violent robbery and shooting at a Danville Domino’s Pizza in September have pleaded not guilty in the case.

Robin Adams, Patrick Brand and Rico Penix entered not guilty pleas to their alleged involvement in the robbery and shooting at the Domino’s on South Forth Street on Sept. 15 that left employee Zoe Reed seriously injured after she was shot in the stomach.

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A 16-year-old has also been charged in the case. The three adults were arrested last Thursday and charged with robbery and assault. The teen was arrested Friday.

It’s still not clear what roles each suspect played in the incident.

According to court documents, Adams drove the other three to the Domino’s. But Adams told LEX 18 last week she didn’t know of any plans to rob the business. She said she was in the car outside when it all happened and didn’t find out about it until the other suspects came out of the store.

The documents also state a phone number associated with Brand called in a fake delivery order to the store, leaving then 20-year-old Reed alone inside.

Penix’s arrest warrant says he and another person then went to the store and robbed it. Reed was shot in the process. Penix told LEX 18 in a jail house interview he “had nothing to do” with the incident, that he knows the victim’s family and wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.

Reed is still recovering at UK hospital from her injuries.

All three adults are set to be back in court on Oct. 15 for a preliminary hearing.

State police in Schodack say intervention by parents helped lead to an Albany man being arrested for alleged sexual abuse.

According to Troopers they were contacted Saturday by a 16-year old girl’s parents whom reported finding sexual messages on a digital device belonging to the teen.

Their investigation led them to 21-year old Ali Attiyah, who they say not only sent the messages but also had inappropriate contact with the girl over the past 11 months.

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Authorities say the girl was 15 at the time the contact began.

To make the arrest, state police say they used the same mobile app Attiyah used to lure the teen – a popular messaging application, known as Kik.

Investigators contacted him through Kik and set up a meeting, when he was then arrested.

Kik is an app available on Apple and Android devices, as well as Windows Phones. According to its website it claims to be the “simplest, fastest, most life-like chat experience you can get on a smartphone,” where messages are exchanged through Kik usernames and not phone numbers.

Users can send text messages, as well as share pictures, videos, and webpages.

On the iTunes App Store, Kik is rated for users 17-years and older, citing “unrestricted web access” and “mature/suggestive themes.”

Attiyah is facing charges of sexual abuse in the third degree and endangering the welfare of a child. He was taken to the Rensselaer County Jail on $500 bail. It’s not known Sunday evening if he made bail or not.

State police are asking for anyone who may have had inappropriate contact with Attiyah to contact the Trooper barracks in Schodack at (518) 732-4644.

A Portland man with significant medical issues still has not been seen after being reported missing one month ago.

Joseph Ronald Sizemore, 42, was last seen by Skamania County deputies at 11:45 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 7, when they contacted him at the Washougal River Mercantile to provide help after he had experienced car trouble at mile post 17 on Washougal River Road. Sizemore was driving a red, 2009 Ford Focus, with an Oregon trip permit in the back window, with no vehicle plates.

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At the time, Sizemore indicated that he was going back to his residence on Northeast Halsey Street, in Portland. According to family members, Sizemore has not returned home.

He has been listed as a missing endangered person because of his mental status. He does not have the medication he needs to treat his mental issues, so he may be fearful of having contact with the public. He is believed to have little or no money.

“We are very concerned about Mr. Sizemore’s physical and mental state after being without his medication,” said Undersheriff Dave Cox, in an Oct. 3 press release. “Mr. Sizemore’s family has provided information of several life threatening medical issues which require his daily medications that he has not been able to take for 28 days now. Mr. Sizemore is somewhat mentally disabled and may appear disoriented.”

Sizemore is a white male, 5 feet 9 inches tall and 275 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

“We will continue to follow up on any leads in this investigation that are provided to us,” Cox said. “I cannot emphasize enough the importance of Mr. Sizemore being found and having access to his life saving medications.”

Anyone with information about Sizemore should contact the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office at (509) 427-9490, Ext. 0, or call 911.

A mother is stricken with grief over the death of her 12-year-old son who was murdered in Louisville’s Cherokee Park.

Ray Etheridge’s mother, Krystal Palazzo, broke down, overwhelmed with pain on Saturday as she recounted her encounter with her son’s accused killer, Joseph Cambron, not long before he was killed.

“There is absolutely nothing I can do to bring him back,” she said. “He was 12. He’s a baby. He was a baby.”

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Palazzo said she saw her son hanging out with Cambron who asked if Ray could sleep over less than three weeks ago. She said she knew something was wrong. “I told the boy to stay the hell away from my son,” Palazzo recalled.

A few days later, Palazzo picked Ray up early from school and they went to the library. Cambron was also there. She said Ray asked her if he could go hang out with Cambron, to which she refused. Palazzo said she went to check on her other son and in less than a minute Ray was gone.

“Less than an hour later, he was dead, dead,” she said.

Palazzo continue to struggle with guilt.

“You don’t think at all that I blame myself for any of it? Believe me I do,” she said.

Her, her sons and her fiancé had been staying in hotel rooms for the past six months while they saved money for an apartment. She said they never stayed on the street or in their car.

Palazzo said she couldn’t count on Ray’s father.

She said Ray would sometimes act up, get out of control and sneak away.

For help, she called police and the social workers involved in his open CPS case. She feels her cries went unanswered. Now, she wants justice against the man she says robbed her son of his life and destroyed her heart.

“He was innocent. He trusted anybody and he, and that’s why his life was taken.”

A memorial service will be held for Ray on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. in Cherokee Park.

A murder investigation is underway in Knott County after a man was gunned down at a crowded campground.

According to State Police, Zachary Murphy, 19, of Langley and Miles Hamilton, 21, of Wayland got into a fight at the Knott County Trail Ride just after midnight Sunday. Investigators said Hamilton shot Murphy once with a handgun. Murphy died at the scene.

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State Police said Hamilton took off after the shooting, but he returned several hours later and turned himself in.

Hamilton is charged with murder. He is being held in the Kentucky River Regional Jail.

The Knott County Coroner told LEX 18 that more than 3,000 campers were at the trail ride for a concert at the time of the shooting.

A man has been charged with murder after a deadly crash this weekend in Clay County.

According to State Police, around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Rodney Bowling, 26, of London was driving an SUV north on US Hwy 421, when his vehicle crossed the center-line and slammed head-on into a southbound pick-up truck driven by Ronnie Mitchell, 50, of Manchester. Mitchell died at the scene.

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The passengers in the pick-up truck, Melissa Smith, 48, of Manchester and a juvenile were both flown to University Of Kentucky Hospital for treatment of unknown injuries.

Bowling was taken to Manchester Memorial Hospital and received treatment. Bowling was arrested a short time later, charged with murder, assault, and DUI.

Officials say remains in a vehicle pulled from Lake O’ the Pines today are those of a person who has been missing since 1987.

Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Carlos Wilson said DPS received a call from a fisherman Thursday who said he found the vehicle in the water while fishing near Bullfrog Marina on the north side of the lake.

Texas game wardens and the Marion County Dive Team began searching at about 10 a.m. and found the vehicle.
A wrecker was able to pull the vehicle from the water.

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Wilson said the victim was that of a person who went missing March 16, 1987, but he did not reveal specifics about the case.

A Lexington man is dead after being shot in his home on Addie Street early Sunday morning.

The Fayette County coroner says 36-year-old Darnell Bates has died after being shot in the abdomen. Police say that two black males wearing dark clothes and masks forced their way into the Bates’s home around 5 a.m.

After a struggle the victim was shot in the abdomen.

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Witnesses say they saw the two men take off from Addie Street and run down 5th Street in the direction of North Broadway. The investigation remains ongoing as police are still at the scene.

Bates was the General Manager at Goo Goo Car Wash on North Limestone.

The FBI is assisting Los Angeles police in a search for a California State University, Northridge student who disappeared last month, officials confirmed Thursday.

Abdullah Alkadi was last seen on Sept. 17 at his home in the 9900 block of Reseda Boulevard, police said. He had been planning to sell his car to a man he met through Craigslist.

Police could not immediately confirm whether detectives had contacted the buyer of Alkadi’s car.

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Los Angeles and CSUN police have been searching for Alkadi since his disappearance, and requested assistance from the FBI, which is now helping with resources to locate him, officials confirmed in an email.

Detective Frank Flores told the LA Daily News that the FBI expressed interest in the search for Alkadi because he is an international student, from Saudi Arabia.

Alkadi’s family has also asked the public’s help in spreading the word and reporting any information.

“Please people, I am sure he is somewhere in the LA area,” his brother Ahmed Alkadi said last month. “Give information around you on the street or bus, gas stations, wherever, give us a tip. It is a great help for us.”

A Twitter account with Alkadi’s name lists him as an electrical engineering student at CSUN. The most recent tweet is dated Sept. 14.

Alkadi is described as a Middle Eastern man with black hair and brown eyes, 5 foot 3 inches tall and about 110 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans or beige shorts, Los Angeles police said.

Anyone with information should call LAPD’s Missing Persons Unit at 213-996-1800. Anonymous tips can be reported to Crime Stoppers by calling 800-222-TIPS (8477) or by texting CRIMES (274637).