COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — At first, Francis Ari Sture thought a human was trying to shove him down the steep Norwegian mountainside. Then he saw the golden eagle land.
“We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture told The Associated Press on Monday. “I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.”
The bird then attacked Sture five more times Thursday, scratching and clawing the 31-year-old bicycle courier’s face and arms over 10 to 15 minutes as he sprinted down the mountain. The same eagle is believed to be responsible for attacks on three other people across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway over the last week, including an assault on a toddler Saturday that required the child to get stitches.
The golden eagle — common in Norway and the Scandinavian country’s second-largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of about 2 meters (6.5 feet) — typically eats smaller animals, as well as foxes and sheep. The toddler and the bird’s other victims needed stitches and medication for deep gouges. The bird was killed after the attack on the small child.
The golden eagle “likely had a behavioral disorder” that prompted the aggression, Alv Ottar Folkestad, an eagle expert with BirdLife Norge, told the AP on Monday.
What happened is "radically different from normal,” Folkestad said, adding that the attacks were likely all by a female eagle born this year.
“Details in the plumage make me believe it is the same bird. The plumage means that no two golden eagles are alike,” he said, adding that in the past days there were “favorable weather conditions” with high-altitude winds for the eagle to fly long distances over southern Norway.
In the most recent attack, a 20-month old girl was playing outside a farm in Orkland, a small municipality in the south, on Saturday when the eagle came “out of the blue” and clawed her.
The girl’s father, who was not there during the attack, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that the mother and a neighbor raced to fight the eagle. The raptor attacked three times before it was killed when hit with a piece of wood, Folkestad said.
The father said his daughter got a couple of stitches and has scratch marks on her face. The VG newspaper said that one of wounds was just under one of the girl’s eyes. She and her mother are doing fine.
Neither the toddler nor the family were identified and they have asked not to be contacted, NRK said.
Police said they were aware of the attack but have no detailed knowledge of the incident, saying a gamekeeper had been contacted.
In addition to Sture and the toddler, two other people have reported being attacked. One caught the incident on camera, while the other described a crushing weight as the bird swooped on her.
Mariann Myrvang, who was attacked on Wednesday, told NRK she cried out for help when “something big and heavy landed on my shoulders.”
“I went down on my knees, because I couldn’t stand up,” she said.
Armed with a branch, her husband chased the eagle away. The claws went deep into Myrvang’s flesh and she later received penicillin and a tetanus shot at the hospital.
Sture, the following day, tried using his backpack as a shield. He also kept pushing the bird down to his feet so he could kick it away from him. But no matter what he did, the eagle kept coming back.
Rushing down 50 meters (164 feet) of steep terrain covered in loose rocks, he panicked he’d slip. But falling unconscious was his biggest fear because the eagle potentially “would start to eat me.”
The eagle finally flew away, but Sture still had a two-hour hike to get to a campsite. He hadn’t packed a satellite phone, and cellphone service was spotty. He was able to call his father, and the closest hospital sent a taxi to pick him up.
He arrived covered in blood and exhausted, with a gouge just centimeters from his left eye that he captured in a selfie before leaving the mountain. The doctors credited his sunglasses and a long-sleeved shirt with saving him from worse injuries. After he received a tetanus shot, his brother drove him 6 hours home.
Despite his ordeal, he plans to keep hiking.
“I may be a bit more paranoid, may be looking up more a bit,” Sture said. “But I’m definitely going back hiking. Maybe not that summit — for awhile.”
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Dazio reported from Berlin.
CHANGES SOURCE TO UGC - Photo taken on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 of Francis Ari Sture with signs of an attack of the golden eagle that also attacked a toddler in Norway in what an ornithologist says is likely the bird’s in the fourth such attack on humans in the past week. The bird’s unusual aggression occurred over five days across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway. (Francis Ari Sture/UGC)
CHANGE SOURCE TO UGC- Photo taken on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 of the young golden eagle that attacked a toddler in Norway in what an ornithologist says is likely the bird’s in the fourth such attack on humans in the past week. The bird’s unusual aggression occurred over five days across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway. (Francis Ari Sture/UGC)
Photo taken on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 of the young golden eagle that attacked a toddler in Norway in what an ornithologist says is likely the bird’s in the fourth such attack on humans in the past week. The bird’s unusual aggression occurred over five days across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway. (Francis Ari Sture/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Photo taken on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 of Francis Ari Sture with signs of an attack of the golden eagle that also attacked a toddler in Norway in what an ornithologist says is likely the bird’s in the fourth such attack on humans in the past week. The bird’s unusual aggression occurred over five days across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway. (Francis Ari Sture/NTB Scanpix via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Two former New York City Fire Department chiefs were arrested Monday on charges that they solicited tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to guarantee that the department's fire-safety division gave preferential treatment to some individuals and companies.
Anthony Saccavino, 59, of Manhattan and Brian Cordasco, 49, of Staten Island were arrested on bribery, corruption and false statements charges alleging that they solicited and accepted the bribe payments from at least 2021 through 2023.
They each were freed on $250,000 bail after entering not guilty pleas before a federal judge. Outside the courthouse, neither commented.
The arrests came as multiple ongoing federal investigations swirl around Mayor Eric Adams and his top deputies, including one inquiry that appears at least partly focused on whether the administration sped up fire safety inspections at the Turkish consulate in exchange for illegal contributions.
Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Damian Williams declined to say whether the case against the former fire chiefs was related to “any other investigation we may or may not be doing.” But he put people on notice that his office is continuing to pursue any corruption.
“We are determined to address it from root to branch, and our work is far from done,” he said at a news conference.
Cordasco and Saccavino were former chiefs of the city Fire Department's Bureau of Fire Prevention, which is responsible for regulating the installation of fire safety and suppression systems throughout New York City and ensuring fire safety regulations are obeyed.
Outside the courthouse, attorney Joseph Caldarera called his client, Saccavino, “an American hero,” a 9/11 first responder who had been with the department since 1995. Prosecutors, he said, "got the wrong guy.”
“He vehemently denies all of the allegations against him today,” the lawyer said. “Is this connected to City Hall? Is this connected to Eric Adams? I'm sure that's the next big question. At this time we don't know and we don't have an answer to that question.”
Attorney Frank Rothman, representing Cordasco, told reporters that his client “has been a dedicated firefighter for two decades, serving fearlessly and faithfully.”
He added: “This is indeed a sad and troubling day, but I'm glad he's on his way home.”
While the indictment makes no reference to projects linked to the Turkish government, it does refer to a “City Hall List” allegedly used by the fire department to “track inquiries and requests from City Hall stakeholders” and give priority to those projects. Adams, a Democrat, has previously denied the existence of the priority list.
In a lawsuit filed last year, a former fire chief said the list had grown substantially under Adams, becoming “a mechanism to press the FDNY to permit politically connected developers to cut the inspection line.”
Williams said at Monday's news conference that Cordasco and Saccavino allegedly used the list to "excuse or cover up the way in which they were pressuring other folks to expedite the matters they were being bribed to expedite.”
According to a news release, Saccavino and Cardasco solicited and accepted bribes from a retired firefighter who ran an unsanctioned “expediting” business that promised customers that he could fast-track their plan reviews and inspection dates in exchange for a fee. Williams said the retired firefighter has pleaded guilty to charges in the case.
The trio managed to collect over $190,000 in payments in a scheme they launched after the coronavirus pandemic created a backlog of work for the fire department's fire-safety division, Williams said.
Even as Cordasco allegedly participated in a bribery scheme, he was raising concern internally about the ethics of granting priority to other projects, according to emails obtained last year by The Associated Press and other outlets.
Following a request by City Hall to expedite an inspection at Hudson Yards, a Manhattan mega-development, Cordasco wrote to other chiefs that it was “extremely unfair to the applicants who had been waiting at least eight weeks for their inspections.”
In a statement, Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker said the department will “fully cooperate” with the investigation, adding each of his employees has sworn an oath to honest and ethical behavior and that "anything less will not be tolerated.”
Over the weekend, the top legal adviser to Adams abruptly resigned. That came days after the head of the New York Police Department resigned after federal investigators seized his phone.
Associated Press Writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.
This Feb. 7, 2023 image provided by the Fire Department of the City of New York, shows Brian Cordasco, one of two former NYFD chiefs arrested Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, on charges that they solicited tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to provide preferential treatment in the department's fire prevention bureau. (Fire Department of the City of New York via AP)
This Feb. 7, 2023 image provided by the Fire Department of the City of New York, shows Anthony Saccavino, one of two former NYFD chiefs arrested Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, on charges that they solicited tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to provide preferential treatment in the department's fire prevention bureau. (Fire Department of the City of New York via AP)
This combo of Feb. 7, 2023 images provided by the Fire Department of the City of New York, shows Brian Cordasco, left, and Anthony Saccavino, two former NYFD chiefs arrested Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, on charges that they solicited tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to provide preferential treatment in the department's fire prevention bureau. (Fire Department of the City of New York via AP)
Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks at a press conference at Federal Plaza in New York, Monday Sept. 16, 2024, following the arrest of two former New York City Fire Department chiefs. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, holds a binder marked confidential during a press conference at Federal Plaza in New York, Monday Sept. 16, 2024, following the arrest of two former New York City Fire Department chiefs. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge, James E. Dennehy looks on as DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber speaks at a press conference at Federal Plaza in New York, Monday Sept. 16, 2024, following the arrest of two former New York City Fire Department chiefs. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber, speaks as Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, left, and FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge, James E. Dennehy, second from left, look on during a press conference at Federal Plaza in New York, Monday Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge, James E. Dennehy, speaks at a press conference at Federal Plaza in New York, Monday Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Damian Williams speaks at a press conference at Federal Plaza in New York, Monday Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Damian Williams speaks at a press conference at Federal Plaza in New York, Monday Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Damian Williams points to a graphic detailing a New York City Fire Department bribery scheme at a press conference at Federal Plaza in New York, Monday Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, points to a graphic detailing a FDNY bribery scheme at a press conference held at the Federal Plaza in New York, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
