Associated Press

MOORESVILLE  — A child was burned by an electric shock after coming in contact with a downed power line near a school on Wednesday, officials said.

Iredell County emergency officials said the child was taken to a hospital with injuries from an electric shock after touching a downed power line, news outlets reported. The Mooresville Graded School District wrote on Facebook that a student walking on property adjacent to Mooresville Intermediate School made contact with a power line downed by recent storms.

The child was taken to Lake Norman Regional and then flown to Carolinas Medical Center, officials said. The child was conscious at the time. Officials didn’t release the student’s age or condition.

Mooresville Police are investigating.

Duke Energy crews arrived shortly after the incident and repaired the line.

Sanford man charged in wife’s death; daughter unharmed

SANFORD — A North Carolina man has been charged in connection with the death of his wife after authorities tracked him to Tennessee, where they found his daughter unharmed after she was reported missing, police said.

Brent James Bockes, 50, was taken into custody on Wednesday by deputies from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Murfreesboro Police Department in Tennessee, news outlets reported. Bockes is charged with first-degree murder, robbery and larceny of a motor vehicle, according to Sanford police.

Riley Harper Bockes, 3, who had been the subject of an Amber Alert, was found unharmed, police said.

Sanford Police Maj. Vincent Frazer said in a news release late Wednesday that officers who went to an address in Sanford early Wednesday afternoon to check on Deana Michelle Bockes found her dead inside the home. While a cause of death hasn’t been released, police said they are investigating the death as a homicide.

Late Wednesday, Rutherford County deputies found a stolen car that was involved in a crash on Interstate 24 in Murfreesboro. Authorities said Brent James Bockes had the girl in that car and the pair ran from the scene before he was taken into custody at a motel.

Physician indicted for altering medical devices, bilking Medicare

RALEIGH — A federal grand jury has indicted a physician accused of altering medical devices for reuse and bilking Medicare out of more than $46 million, according to a federal prosecutor.

U.S. Attorney Michael Easley said that according to a superseding indictment, between 2014 and 2018, Anita Louise Jackson, 58, billed Medicare more than $46 million for allegedly administering more than 1,200 applications of balloon sinuplasty services to more than 700 patients. Her practice received more than $5.4 million for the services.

During the four-year period, Jackson was the top-paid provider of balloon sinuplasty in the U.S. despite the location of her practice outside of a major metropolitan area, authorities said, adding that Jackson made substantial money from the billings to the Medicare program.

Jackson faces multiple charges, including adulteration of medical devices, making false statements relating to health care benefits and mail fraud, according to a news release.

QVC to close distribution center after fire, lay off 1,953 workers

RALEIGH  — The company that runs QVC is shutting down a North Carolina distribution center heavily damaged by a fire last month, putting nearly 2,000 people out of work, according to a filing with state officials.

On Dec. 29, Qurate Retail Group filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining and Notification notice with the North Carolina Department of Commerce announcing its plans, news outlets reported.

The company is permanently closing and expected to lay off employees from Feb. 1 through the middle of the year, records indicated.

The center employed 1,953 people, records show. In a statement to The News & Observer of Raleigh, the company said it would start giving “separation benefits” to affected workers Feb. 1. The company said it provided $500 in emergency funds to the workers, and QRG said workers will be provided with an opportunity to seek employment at other locations across the country. More than 300 employees were working at the facility near Rocky Mount when the fire was reported shortly after 2 a.m. on Dec. 18.

The body of a 21-year-old man was found after crews spent more than 12 hours trying to put out the fire.

Deputy in critical condition after cruiser runs off road in Windsor

WINDSOR — A North Carolina sheriff’s deputy is hospitalized in critical condition after his cruiser ran off a road, officials said.

The N.C. State Highway Patrol says the crash occurred just before noon on U.S. Highway 13 near Windsor, WITN reported. Officials said the cruiser driven by Bertie County Sheriff’s Deputy Colter Lipscomb, 26, hydroplaned in rainy weather, skidded into some woods and hit a ditch and some trees.

Officials said Lipscomb underwent multiple surgeries on Wednesday, adding that he is also being monitored for bleeding on the brain.