National news briefs

Surgery technician accused in illnesses

DENVER — A grand jury indicted a surgery technician infected with hepatitis C on several charges Thursday, alleging she stole syringes with painkillers and replaced them with needles she had used. Prosecutors allege that at least 19 people contracted the disease as a result.

The allegations by prosecutors, also made Thursday, are the first direct link of hepatitis C cases to 26-year-old Kristen Diane Parker, who has tested positive for the ailment. Her attorney, Gregory Graf, did not immediately return a message.

Officials say up to 6,000 patients at Denver's Rose Medical Center and Audubon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs where Parker worked may have been exposed to the disease.

4 boys accused in rape of 8-year-old

PHOENIX — Authorities said Thursday that four boys ages 9 to 14 took turns raping an 8-year-old girl in a shed for more than 10 minutes after luring the young victim with chewing gum in what Phoenix police are calling one of the most horrific cases they've ever seen.

The outrage over the allegations intensified after police said the girl's parents criticized her after the attack and blamed her for bringing shame on the family.

"The father told the case worker and an officer in her presence that he didn't want her back. He said 'Take her, I don't want her,' " police Sgt. Andy Hill said.

A 14-year-old boy was charged Wednesday as an adult with two counts of sexual assault and kidnapping, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said. He appeared in court Thursday and is being held without bond; he does not yet have a defense lawyer. The other boys — ages 9, 10, and 13 — were charged as juveniles with sexual assault. The 10- and 13-year-old boys also were charged with kidnapping, the office said Thursday.

Hill cited the family's background as the reason the family shunned the girl. All five children are refugees from the West African nation of Liberia.

Boise officers used excessive force

BOISE — Boise police officers used excessive force when they taunted and threatened a handcuffed man and then Tasered him in the buttocks, a report from the city's police ombudsman said.

The actions of one of the involved officers — called Officer No. 3 in the report — were "not appropriate, not condoned and not professional," Boise Police Chief Michael Masterson said in reaction to the release of the report on Wednesday.

The February incident was captured by an audio recording made by one of the police officers at the unidentified man's home.

Circus founder to go to space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A former stilt-walker and fire-eater stole NASA's show Thursday, saying he'll be "like a kid in a candy store" experimenting with zero-gravity tricks on his upcoming tourist trip to the international space station.

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte is shelling out a reported $35 million for his round-trip ticket aboard a Russian spacecraft. He will rocket into orbit from Kazakhstan at the end of September with a professional astronaut and cosmonaut and spend more than a week at the space station.