Giant Explosion Injures Three Firefighters After Hit-And-Run Crash | Crime Alert 2PM 08.20.25

A hit-and-run drunk driving crash sparks a gas explosion at a Wilmington, North Carolina veterinary hospital under construction, injuring three firefighters and leaving the driver in jail. A Yosemite ranger is fired after helping hang a giant transgender pride flag on El Capitan, and some park visitors now face possible prosecution. Drew Nelson reports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alard hourly update, Breaking crime news Now. I'm Drew Nelson.
A hid and run drunk driver sparks a massive gas
explosion at a Wilmington, North Carolina veterinary hospital under construction,
injuring three firefighters and leaving the driver in jail. Police
say the blast happened Tuesday after forty six year old
Jason Lee Bench drove off the road and struck the

(00:22):
gas line at the Eastern Carolina Veterinary Medical Center on
New Center Drive. He fled the scene, but was found
nearby and arrested. Fire crews responded to the leak.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
They're out here investigating, doing a primary search of the
building to make sure that everyone is out of the building.
When there was an explosion, there were no civilians inside,
only fire personnel. Three firefighters were injured during that explosion
and evacuation from two with non life threatening injuries and
one with severe injuries onto the hands.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
That's Wilmington Fire Department representative Rebecca Thurston.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
This is what we trained for it every day, and
so they just pick into yere right and they know
what they got to do and their hear more here
to to make sure that the job gets done.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
The blast, ripped off the roof and sent to brief flying.
The fire was brought under control and the gas line secured.
Police said no staff, pets, or construction workers were inside
at the time.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
I felt it more than I heard it. I saw
this big plume of black smoke sort of right next door.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
That's Aaron Kerr speaking to ABC. The clinic had planned
to open next month as a twenty four hour emergency
facility for animals. The cause of a second explosion inside
the building is under investigation. Beach faces charges including DWI felony,
serious injury, reckless driving, hit and run, failure to maintain lane,
and possession of drug paraphernalia. Arrest warrants. Also a list

(01:45):
of can of galaxy gas and nitrous oxide, often used
for huffing, is being held at the New Hanover County
Jail on a one hundred thousand dollars bond and was
set for a first court hearing today. More crime man
Justice news. After this, a Yosemite ranger is fired after

(02:08):
helping hang a giant transgender pride flag on El Cap
ten and some park visitors now face possible prosecution. Shannon
SJ Jocelyn H. Thirty five worked as both a ranger
and wildlife biologist. They said their dismissal came on August twelfth,
with a letter citing quote, failure to demonstrate acceptable conduct.

(02:29):
The firing followed a May twentieth case when Jocelyn and
six other climbers, including two rangers, unfurled the flag part
way up El Capy ten. It stretched more than fifty
feet wide and hung for about two hours before it
was taken down. Two other employees are now on leave
during the investigation. The National Park Service said it is
working with the Justice Department. Officials say they are quote

(02:51):
pursuing administrative action against several Yosemite National Park employees and
possible criminal charges against several park visitors who are alled
to to a violated federal laws and regulations related to demonstrations.
A new regulation signed the day after the flag display
bans large banners and flags across most of Yosemite. Violations

(03:12):
bring fines and jail time. The transgender flag is blue,
pink and white. Light blue stands for boys, light pink
stands for girls. The white stripe in the center represents
people who are non binary, transitioning, or gender neutral. Jocelyn says,
quote I hung the flag in my free time off
duty as a private citizen. It flew for a total

(03:33):
of two hours in the morning, and then I took
it down. They say they're firing. Sends a chilling message.
Quote if you're a federal worker and you have any
kind of identity that doesn't agree with this current administration,
then you must be silent or you will be eliminated.
Ashley Loring heavy Runner was twenty years old when she
was last seen on June fifth of twenty seventeen on

(03:54):
the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana. Her mother watched her
get into a friend's car carrying a bag of clothes.
That night, Ashley went to a party. She sent a
text to her sister asking for some money. It was
the last time anyone heard from her. Her sister, Kimberly,
was in Morocco at the time. The plan was for
Ashley to move to Missoula and start over, but when
Kimberly returned, Ashley had not moved in, she had not called,

(04:17):
and no one had seen her. At first, the family
thought she might have been staying with friends. Then their
father was hospitalized, Ashley still didn't call. That's when the
family knew something was wrong. Two weeks later, a witness
said a girl matching Ashley's description jumped out of a
moving vehicle on Route eighty nine and ran into the woods.
Police searched the area but found nothing. Later, Ashley's sweater

(04:39):
and a pair of red stained boots were recovered. They
were handed over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which
lost the items. Ashley had been staying with a man
named Sam McDonald. He told police she left with someone
named ve Dog, who was later identified as Paul Valenzuela.
Paul was married to Ashley's cousin to Sheena running Crane.
Family members later said Paul and Ashley had been romantically involved.

(05:03):
Paul returned to the reservation alone on June eleventh. He
told Kimberly he hadn't seen Ashley, though to Sheena said
he had. NBC Montana reports that Kimberly now believes her
sister was pregnant when she vanished. She suspects more than
one person was involved, including another relative. The FBI has
not named any suspects, though several tips have come in

(05:24):
over the years. Ashley was Native American with brown eyes
and dark hair. Five' two somewhere between ninety and one
hundred five. Pounds she had a checkmark shaped scar on her.
Hand THE fbi is still accepting tips and there may
be a. Reward anyone with information has urged to contact
The Salt Lake City Field office at eight oh one
five seven nine fourteen. Hundred for the latest crime and justice,

(05:46):
news follow crime alerts hourly update on your favorite podcast
app with this crime. Alert I'm Drew. Nelson