Three Memphis cops busted by FBI for corruption www.privateofficer.com

MEMPHIS, TN Feb 28 2010
Source: myeyewitnessnews.com - Three Memphis cops were busted by the FBI on Friday, February 26, 2010, in a police corruption case that took MPD Director Larry Godwin by surprise.

Three of his officers, including a veteran of the force, are charged with taking thousands of dollars in bribes from a local nightclub owner in exchange for information and protection.

The FBI picked the officers up Friday for questioning. During their interviews, all three admitted to taking payoffs from the club owner. They accepted the bribes from last September up until this week, grabbing the cash while on duty and in uniform.

"I'm fed up with it," Director Godwin said during a news conference at the U.S. Attorney's office just hours after he received word of the arrests. Godwin says he was at a retreat with other top law enforcement officials when he got the news, and he was both shocked and angered by it.

Lt. Tim Green, a 24-year veteran of the department, along with Patrolman Chris Crawford and Patrolman Mike Young face federal bribery and extortion charges.

"I've said that before I retire," Godwin told reporters, "I will rid this department of criminal activity and thugs. And I'm sick of it because it overshadows the hardwork of every good officer in this county."

U.S. Attorney Lawrence Laurenzi says Crawford and Young were paid $100 a pop and Lt. Green received more than $1,000 every time they paid a visit to the club.

Laurenzi says the officers would get paid for "cleaning the lot", forcing patrons to leave the parking lot after the club closed. They also notified the club's owners about police raids and an ongoing OCU investigation. And Lt. Green is accused of falsifying police reports to cover up crimes at the club.

The information and money were usually traded in the club's bathroom or office, and most exchanges were recorded by the FBI on audio and videotape.

Federal investigators say Lt. Green received 11 payments since October, totaling $8,000.

Officer Crawford accepted 14 payments, totaling more than $1,400.

Officer Young received 27 payments, adding up to more than $2,600.

The cops' bribery scheme was discovered while the FBI and an MPD task force were conducting an investigation into the club's activities. Their source inside the club, according to investigators, was an individual who was brought in for questioning in September. This person claimed to be a silent partner in the nightclub with a $15,000 to $20,000 investment in the business. That source then began working as a manager at the club and provided federal investigators with most of the information contained in the criminal complaint.

With the arrests of Green, Crawford and Young, this brings the number of Memphis Police Officers accused of wrongdoing in recent months to 23. A total of 55 local law enforcement officers have been charged with crimes in the last six years.

"We understand that the community expects and they demand," says Laurenzi, "that there not be corruption in law enforcement. Everybody up here understands that good and effective law enforcement starts with honest law enforcement."

"I'll tell you this," says Director Godwin, "you can send this message: you come on the Memphis Police Department and you think you're going to commit criminal activity, we will lock you up.

Lt. Green is suspended from the MPD with pay. Officers Crawford and Young both resigned. All three have bonds set at $10,000. Saturday evening, an MPD spokesperson said the trio was still behind bars at the federal facility in Mason, Tennessee. When released, the officers will be subject to home detention and electronic monitoring.

The club owner faces no charges at this time and federal investigators won't identify the nightclub involved, saying it's an ongoing investigation.

Law Firm, clinic accused of illegal practices www.privateofficer.com

Louisville KY Feb 28 2010
Source: jounel-courier.com Injured when another car struck hers in June 2008, Sharon Langford of Louisville went to see the law firm of Winters Yonker & Rousselle.

She said the firm told her that her health insurance wouldn't cover injuries suffered in car wrecks and that she should get all medical care at 1st Physician Rehabilitation Inc., a clinic on Crums Lane.

When Langford needed surgery, the firm flew her to another clinic in Florida.

She only discovered later, she said, that both clinics are owned by Gary Kompothecras, a chiropractor who also owns the heavily advertised referral service 1-800-ASK-GARY , which refers clients to Winters & Yonker, as the firm is now known, in Louisville and Florida.

RelatedIn a suit filed last month against the law firm and Kompothecras' Louisville clinic, Langford said the relationship between the two — and their alleged deception — deprived her of the right to treatment by her doctors and cost her money.

Sam Carl, one of her lawyers, said Winters & Yonker settled her accident case for $200,000, then paid itself $70,000 and the medical providers $64,518, leaving her the smallest share, $62,738. (The balance covered medical expenses before she hired the firm.)

“I felt they weren't honest with me,” Langford, a former state corrections officer, said in an interview.

The law firm and medical clinic call the suit frivolous and say they will prevail.

Marc Yonker, a partner in Tampa-based Winters & Yonker, declined to answer questions about his firm's relationship with Kompothecras' companies, and Kompothecras also had no comment, said Gregory Zitani, one of his lawyers.

Lawyers who defend auto wreck cases say Winters & Yonker isn't the only firm that seems to routinely refer clients to the same medical clinics.

But Langford and her lawyers say the case reveals an interconnected network that is rife with potential conflicts of interest.

Carl said the relationship between Winters & Yonker and the Kompothecras clinics raises “disturbing questions” about whether clients are getting the best medical care.

Other lawyers say the arrangement creates an incentive for the clinics to say injuries are accident-related and to run up medical bills.

And ethics experts say that the reciprocal referrals violate ethics rules in Kentucky and Florida, which bar lawyers from giving anything of value in exchange for referrals.

“A lawyer has the obligation to send the client to the best place, not the place from which the lawyer is getting business,” explained Northwestern University law professor Steven Lubet.

There are no publicly available complaints pending against the firm's lawyers at the Kentucky Bar Association, said Linda Gosnell, chief bar counsel, but the suit has been brought to the bar's attention.

Firm's use of clinic
The Courier-Journal's review of Jefferson Circuit Court records found more than a dozen other auto accident and slip-and-fall cases in which Winters & Yonker clients were treated at 1st Physician, including several in which clients said they were sent there by the law firm.

Louisville trial lawyer Chris Meinhart, who has challenged Winters & Yonker's relationship with another Florida medical clinic, said other personal-injury attorneys occasionally recommend doctors to clients — in part because many family doctors don't want to get involved in the legal system.

But Meinhart said Winters & Yonker “systemically” refers clients to a few providers.

In her lawsuit, Langford said that she was examined at the Crums Lane clinic by Dr. Francisco Gomes, who is licensed in Kentucky but is listed as an “inactive physician” by the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure.

Gomes, who is licensed in Florida and works in one of Kompothecras' clinics there, said Langford needed surgery, and she was flown to Florida, where in September 2008 he removed a disc from her neck and fused two vertebrae, according to her lawsuit.

Lloyd Vest, general counsel for the Kentucky Medical Licensure Board, said it is investigating Gomes, but he couldn't elaborate.

Gomes didn't respond to calls and e-mails.

Kompothecras' clinics don't accept health insurance, according to their Web sites.

Instead, they first bill their patients' auto-insurance carriers to recover from the personal-injury protection all drivers must carry. The mandatory coverage — which must be at least $10,000 — pays for medical bills and lost wages without suing the at-fault driver.

The clinics also obtain a “letter of protection” from Winters & Yonker, in which the law firm promises to cover medical expenses from any settlement or verdict the patient wins in the legal case.

Langford alleges that neither the law firm nor Kompothecras' clinics disclosed that they give each other business “in consideration for receiving client referrals.”

In the suit, she seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as the forfeiture of the law firm's fee, claiming the medical costs deducted from her settlement would have been far less if they had been covered by her Humana policy.

Langford is the only former client who has sued Winters & Yonker, according to Jefferson Circuit Court records. But auto-insurance companies and their lawyers have, in other cases, attempted to alert juries to what they say is a cozy relationship between the firm and medical providers.

For example, after another Winters & Yonker client, Elsia Clay of Louisville, sued over injuries she claimed she suffered in a rear-end accident on Feb. 5, 2008, attorneys for the other driver and Allstate Insurance Co. questioned Dr. Gregory Bronner, the medical director at 1st Physician, where Clay was treated.

Bonner acknowledged that the clinic is paid in part based on how much Winters & Yonker recovers for its clients.

A jury awarded Clay only $10,320 of the $120,000 in damages that lawyers at Winters & Yonker sought for her. That included bills from 1st Physician and from an MRI clinic in Jeffersonville, Ind., that is owned by one of Kompothecras' employees, according to state records.

800 referral line

That link is further demonstrated by the “1-800-ASK-GARY highlighting” referral line.

According to its Web site, the line promises to connect auto-accident victims with injury attorneys and doctors “who are uniquely suited to your situation.”

Stephanie Portman of Louisville said that when she called the referral line last month, the operator put an intake specialist from Winters & Yonker on the line, who recommended that she seek treatment at clinics owned by Kompothecras.

Kompothecras owns a chain of 40 clinics in Florida and Minnesota, as well 1st Physician, and has spent as much as $4million a year in advertising and marketing expenses for 1-800-ASK-GARY _highlighting, according to a suit he filed in Florida a few years ago against some of his competitors.

His company is private and doesn't disclose its profits.

Winters & Yonker clients do see other medical providers, according to court records.

But former employees, including Brian Clear, who worked for the firm for about a year signing up clients, said in interviews that there was an expectation clients would be sent to 1st Physicians Rehab or a few other clinics that referred business to the law firm.

He said the firm kept records on where clients were referred.

In a Jefferson Circuit Court case settled in December, a Tampa-based clinic that has treated Winters & Yonker clients, Laser Spine Institute, was forced to accept only $10,000 of its $124,850 bill after attorneys challenged the clinic's relationship with the law firm.

Debbie Lynch initially hired Winters & Yonker to represent her in her car-accident suit. But after she fired the firm and hired other lawyers, she claimed in court papers that the law firm set up surgery for Lynch at the Florida clinic while she was still being treated by her doctors in Louisville.

One of her new lawyers, Meinhart, said Lynch's accident was a “fender bender,” but the clinic and the law firm allowed her medical bills to escalate so high that “there is no way the case could have been settled or tried to a verdict” in an amount sufficient to pay them.

Meinhart said Lynch was never told about the clinic and firm's “outstanding relationship.”

Winters & Yonker and Lynch declined to discuss the case.

Dotty Bollinger, an attorney for Laser Spine Institute, said that the company has “acknowledged and addressed Lynch's concerns” and that her case was settled “in a fair manner.”

University of Tampa security help make robbery arrests www.privateofficer.com

Tampa Fla Feb 28 2010
By: Rick McCann/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
www.privateofficer.com

Tampa police have arrested two people in the robbery of a University of Tampa student because of good work by university security personnel.

According to the police report, the student was approached by two males, an adult and a teen and robbed and then hit several times in the face with a handgun.

After the robbery, the student was able to make it to the nearby school security office and notified campus officers of the robbery.
Security officers responded and followed the suspects to an apartment and kept them under surveillance while notifying Tampa police.

Officers say they arrested 21-year-old Robert Hall Junior who admitted he had a gun and a teen and have charged both with armed robbery.

Security officer shoots man in head www.privateofficer.com

San Antonio TX Feb 28 2010 A man remains in stable condition after a security officer shot him in the head during a confrontation Friday night at a North Side apartment complex, officials said.

Ryan Corrin Harbert, 20, was taken to University Hospital with a single gunshot wound, a police report states. He was booked by proxy at the hospital and charged with aggravated assault of a security officer, a first-degree felony. His bail was set at $140,000.

The shooting occurred when Harbert and another man were seen driving at a high rate of speed around the parking lot of the Lincoln Village Apartments in the 1700 block of Jackson Keller Road. A security guard, Raymond Arroyo, confronted the pair. He told police they tried to hit him with their vehicle and when he told them to stop, the passenger pointed a gun in his direction.

Arroyo, who is licensed to carry a weapon, fired at the vehicle, the report states.

The passenger fled after the vehicle crashed, the report states.

Police are investigating. Arroyo, 28, isn’t expected to face any charges, officers said.

K-Mart employee charged with felony theft www.privateofficer.com

BLUE ASH OH Feb 28 2010 A Kmart employee created her own "Blue Light Special" by stealing nearly $15,000 in merchandise and selling the loot at pawn shops, according to Blue Ash police.

Kristine Anne Wyse of Madisonville was arrested on a felony theft charge Wednesday.

She stole cash, jewelry and computer equipment valued at $14, 992 from the store located at 4150 Hunt Rd., police wrote in court documents.

She admitted to selling the items for cash at several pawn shops. Store security officers also spotted her stealing.

Wachovia Bank employee charged with fraud www.privateofficer.com

SARASOTA COUNTY FLA Feb 28 2010 - A Wachovia Bank employee stole almost $140,000 from customer accounts in the past three years, specifically targeting elderly or dead customers, the Sarasota Sheriff's Office said.

Murphy Investigators say Nadia C. Murphy, 50, would run lists showing the maturation date of certificate of deposit accounts at the bank branch at 3625 Bee Ridge Road, the sheriff's office said in an affidavit.

The accounts, known as CDs, are products similar to savings accounts.

Murphy picked accounts to steal from off of the list, and manufactured checks in the customer's names to deposit in her own account, the affidavit said.

The checks had a false signature from a customer, and the living victims did not give her authorization to remove the funds, the sheriff's office said.

Murphy told the bank's corporate fraud investigator in November that she had stolen the money because she had financial difficulties, the affidavit said.

The sheriff's office arrested Murphy on Wednesday on one count of scheme with intent to defraud, a felony.

She posted $15,000 bail on Thursday.

Mall Security Officer Shot-Killed www.privateofficer.com

MEMPHIS, TN Feb 28 2010
By: Brett DAvis/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
www.privateofficer.com– A security officer has been shot dead at the Southland Mall in Whitehaven.
Investigators say that the 29 year old security officer was trying to break up a disturbance with a group of males inside the mall. The security officer had one man detained when another man pulled a handgun and shot the officer and then fled the scene.
The security officer was rushed to the Regional Medical Center in critical condition and later died.
His name has not been released pending the notification of family members.
Police are still looking for the shooter and the homicide unit is working some leads.
The Private Officer International association is offering $5000.00 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person responsible for this murder.

Shoplifter given prison time www.privateofficer.com

EPHRATA WA Feb 28 2010
By: Brett Davis/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
http://www.privateofficer.com/ — A minor shoplifting incident has landed one Moses Lake woman in prison for trying steal beer, soda and party supplies from Walmart.

Dora T. Quintero, 60, pleaded guilty to burglary in the second degree in Grant County Superior Court and was sentenced to more than three years behind bars.

Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz, followed the prosecutor’s recommendation, sentencing the woman to three years and 2.25 months in prison, the low end of the state-mandated sentencing range.

The reason for such a harsh sentenced for shoplifting is that Quintero has 13 previous convictions, including burglary, theft and violations of the uniform controlled substances act and at least six other shoplifting cases.

Walmart loss prevention officers stopped the woman as she tried to leave the store with a cart full of beer and soda along with a bag of party supplies, according to a Moses Lake police report. The woman admitted she intended to steal the items.

Tampa cop helps arrest son www.privateofficer.com

Tampa Fla Feb 28 2010 - It's the nightmare parents never dream of.

Officer Audrey Peterson was called into work on Thursday to identify a familiar suspect on survelliance video. It was her son, Paul McDonald.

McDonald, 18, is charged with attempted armed robbery after police say he held up a couple in a Channelside garage at 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning. A man - believed to be McDonald - was caught fleeing the garage on-camera.

Police didn't have many leads before one of McDonald's teachers at East Bay High alerted the School Resource Officer. The teacher saw McDonald looking at the police alert on the Tampa Police Department website.

Police and deputies then took McDonald into custody, and his mother helped confirm he was the one in the video.

"She immediately identified the suspect as her son," said Laura McElroy with the Tampa Police Department. "She was beyond consolation...very shocked to see her son involved in such an offense."

Officer Peterson works in the gang unit at the Tampa Police Department and that unit is ironically investigating the case. But right now, there's not any information that the incident was gang-related.

Tampa Police say there is, however, the possibility that a second suspect could have been involved in the attempted armed robbery.

McDonald was released Friday on $15,000 bond.

NJ police director commits suicide www.privateofficer.com

HILLSDALE NJ Feb 28 2010
Source:centraljerseynews.com — A former Edison police director was found dead in a Bergen County park Saturday morning in an apparent suicide, according to a statement from Hillsdale Police Chief Chip Stalter.

The statement said the body of Brian Collier, a Hillsdale resident, was found just before 10 a.m. Saturday in a "secluded, undeveloped section'' of Wood Dale County Park in Hillsdale.

The statement said a preliminary investigation suggests that Collier, 53, took his own life. Police did not reveal how he died or if a note was left.

Police said that Collier had been missing since Friday and that a
missing person investigation was opened and searches were conducted throughout the day with no results.
With the help of other state and Bergen County police agencies, a more extensive search was launched on Saturday, the statement said.

Former Edison Mayor Jun Choi, who appointed Collier to the position of police director in early 2008, praised Collier for the work he did in Edison.

"It's very tragic,'' said Choi. "Brian was a cop's cop with a big heart, a gem of a human being. He was a cop that every other cop looked up to.''

Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan said Collier was a "very private''
person and was ""shocked'' when he learned of Collier's death.

"Working side-by-side with Brian was a very good experience,'' Bryan said. "He was very committed and very dedicated to his work. He brought a lot of professionalism and resources to the police department.''
Collier began his career as a patrol officer for the Hillsdale Police Department in 1979. About five years later, he joined the Drug Enforcement Administration as a special agent. Stationed in Newark, he worked with local police in breaking up drug rings.
He later became a narcotics liaison and worked with international police
to curb the trafficking of illicit drugs.

Upon retiring from the Drug Enforcement Administration, he served as Edison's police director until resigning at the end of last year.

Police said Collier's death remains under investigation.

Security agency finds niche with frat houses www.privateofficer.com

College Park PA Feb 27 2010 When the governing body of Penn State’s fraternities toughened the enforcement of party rules in December, it meant new business for a security firm that has been in the area since 1992.

Pittsburgh-based St. Moritz Security Services operates in 20 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian province of British Columbia. It had $48 million in gross sales in fiscal 2007, its Web site says.

Since the Interfraternity Council passed a new social monitoring program, St. Moritz has been busy deploying employees throughout the week and on weekends to all 49 fraternities.

Roving patrols are sent out from 10 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Wednesday to make sure social events are within council guidelines — for example, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages must be available, and signs for emergency exits and bathrooms must be posted.

Depending on how many fraternities are having socials, four to five two-man patrols could be sent out.

Thursday through Saturday nights, St. Moritz supplies the guards for the front and back doors of each fraternity that has an invitation-only party.

Advertisement“Fourteen fraternities could be having a party. That’s two guards at each house, plus roving patrol. We usually have 30 to 36 guys out a night,” said Rick Payton, security consultant for all Pennsylvania St. Moritz branches.

The local office at 255 E. Beaver Ave. has 50 employees, most of whom work part time.

St. Moritz employees must be 18 years of age or older. Their basic training consists of reading and signing a handbook of rules, Payton said.

“We mostly just do on-the-job training,” he said. “And our guys are constantly being checked up on.”

At the fraternities, the front-door guard is in charge of the guest list and identification, while the back-door guard is to stop anyone from entering or from leaving with alcohol and can watch the party for rules violations.

Payton noted that the guards will stop anyone leaving with alcohol but are not bouncers.

“(The guards) are not there to verify age or to intercede with fights,” he said.

Payton also said the guards are not there to make friends. “We do not send same guard to same frat on a regular basis,” he said. “They are on a rotation so they don’t make friends with brothers and start stretching the rules.”

The costs are $16 an hour for each guard and $17.50 an hour for each roving patroller.

Max Wendkos, council president, said he couldn’t accurately predict what the overall fraternity spending would be.

According to Payton, employees working as guards take home $9 an hour and roving patrollers earn $10 per hour.

The Fraternity Purchasing Association, the supplies co-op involved in the contract, takes a percentage, and a percentage goes for liability insurance for St. Moritz employees.

“We may get less than 5 percent,” Payton said.

“Thus far, our experience with St. Moritz Security has been a positive one,” said Wendkos, a senior majoring in marketing and psychology. “I have been very encouraged by St. Moritz’s dedication to providing quality service.”

The firm also works with local hotels and restaurants.

During football season, Payton said, it works with the Ramada Conference Center at nights, “usually to monitor the halls and activity in the hotel to prevent problems that would disturb the guests.”

Red Lobster and Olive Garden are some local companies that call St. Moritz to provide a guard after closing if maintenance or repairs are being done.

St. Moritz also works alongside Penn State Police to provide a variety of services.

Security guard beat, robbed while on duty www.privateofficer.com

Dothan Al Feb 28 2010
Source:dothaneagle.com Dothan police have arrested a man on charges he beat a 75-year-old hospital security guard during an armed robbery.

Officer Thomas Davis said police investigators arrested David Keith Johnson, 33, of East Burdeshaw Street, and charged him with felony first-degree robbery. Davis said the robbery happened around 7 p.m. on Dec. 9, 2009, in the parking lot of the Doctor Center at Flowers Hospital.

“He was armed with what appeared to be a gun, but it was a wrench wrapped up in a rag,” Davis said.

Davis said the 75-year-old security guard, who was not armed, suffered a broken nose, cheek bone and orbital bone during the robbery. The security guard’s assailant demanded his wallet, and then struck him at least once with what police later found out to be a wrench. Davis said Johnson was charged with stealing the guard’s wallet. Davis said the security guard’s injuries were not life threatening.

Police investigators also charged Johnson with two felony counts of first-degree theft of property. Police charged him with stealing a purse from a woman on Dec. 16, 2009, in the Wiregrass Commons Mall parking lot. He was charged with stealing a second woman’s purse three days later in the parking lot of a Kmart located in the 2200 block of Ross Clark Circle.

Davis said it’s unclear what led to Johnson’s arrest, but he was picked up by police on Wednesday.

Johnson was taken to the Dothan City Jail where he will later be transferred to the Houston County Jail on a $450,000 bond.

If convicted of the first-degree robbery charge he faces 10 to 99 years or life in prison for the class A felony crime. If convicted of the theft charges he faces two to 20 years in prison for the class B felony crimes.

Belk's LP make felony arrest www.privateofficer.com

Athens GA Feb 27 2010
By: Brett Davis/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
http://www.privateofficer.com/

Loss prevention agents at a store in the Georgia Square Mall was hot on the tail of a shoplifting pro this week.

Police said that LP agents at Belk's Department Store spotted Danny Porter Jr, 31 of Greensboro cutting sensor tags from shirts valued at over $1000 and when he tried taking off without paying for them, security personnel nabbed him.

Porter has been charged with felony theft by shoplifting, according to police. Porter, who was convicted of a 1994 armed robbery in Greene County, also was charged with violating parole and remains in custody pending a court hearing.

Hospital security officer murdered by former employee www.privateofficer.com

New Brunswick NJ Feb 27 2010 — A woman whose charred body was found Monday in a park in Ramapo, N.Y., and whose 20-month-old daughter was kidnapped and abandoned at a Delaware gas station the day before was asphyxiated, authorities said Friday.
Patricia Belizaire, 25, was murdered on Sunday in North Brunswick, Jim O'Neill, spokesman for the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office said.
Dwayne Jackson, 25, of Edison, was charged with her murder Thursday at 10:30 p.m.
He is alleged to have driven her body to Rockland County, N.Y., and set it ablaze shortly before 5:22 a.m. Monday in Manny Welder Town Park in Ramapo. The young woman's burned corpse was found less than 20 minutes later.
Related
Edison man now charged with murder in connection with abandoned toddler, slain mother
UPDATE: Probe links Edison man to toddler abandoned in Delaware, burning body in NY
Earlier Thursday, Jackson drew charges of kidnapping and abandoning his and Belizaire's daughter Hanna in the bathroom of a gas station off Interstate 95 in Delaware.
Jackson is being held in Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick in lieu of $2 million bail on the murder charge and $750,000 bail on endangering and kidnapping charges.
O'Neill declined to discuss a motive, exactly where Belizaire was killed or whether Belizaire was strangled.
Jackson worked at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick as a night security guard, his Edison neighbors said.
Belizaire had also worked at Robert Wood Johnson, a hospital spokesman said Friday.
Belizaire is listed as a former employee, said spokesman Peter Haigney. Employee privacy policies prevented him from saying what job she held, how long she worked there or when she left, Haigney said.
Jackson is married to another woman, Lizette Jackson. Neighbors said the couple lives on Weldon Road in Edison with their two young sons and Lizette Jackson's daughter, who a neighbor said was 12.
Jackson has also been charged by police in Delaware with a count of first-degree reckless endangering. Authorities said Jackson left the girl at a Shell service station on South College Avenue in Newark, Del. She was found crying in the locked room Sunday.
The child had been living with her mother in North Brunswick, authorities said. The baby is now in the custody of Delaware authorities.

Rural NC hospital locked down after incidents www.privateofficer.com

Laurinburg NC Feb 27 2010

By: Rick McCann/Staff

PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS

http://www.privateofficer.com/

The Scotland Memorial Hospital was on lock down Friday afternoon for the second time in less than two weeks. The reason for the police response is not clear yet.

The sheriff's department said that there was a security incident there at around 3PM. but did not disclose what had happened.

Last week a violent incident at the rural hospital left a man clinging to life after a family fight ended with gunshots and the man nearly killed.

County Sheriff Shep Jones said a fight between family members got out of hand when Wayne "Wolf" Simmons Sr.shot Demario Covington three times as he waited to be treated in the emergency room for a knife wound to the neck.

Police say that Covington survived the shooting and officers arrested Simmons outside the hospital and charged him with attempted murder and seven other charges.
Both incidents are still under investigation.
Jones did not say what started the family feud or who was responsible for stabbing Covington.

Nightclub security detain man with bogus cash www.privateofficer.com

Oklahoma City Okla Feb 27 2010
Source newsok.com A Chickasha man was arrested on a complaint of using counterfeit bills to buy beer at a northwest Oklahoma City strip club, police said.

Richard Montgomery, 24, was arrested about 8 p.m. Feb. 20 outside the Red Dog Cafe, 6417 NW 10, according to a police report.

Club security officers told police a man bought beer using four counterfeit $5 bills. All four bills had the same serial number.

Police said they also found five counterfeit $1 bills with the same serial number that were very faded and two genuine $1 bills in Montgomery's pants pockets when he was arrested.

A man who went to the club with Montgomery was arrested on a complaint of possessing a hypodermic syringe and on an outstanding felony warrant.

Police said they found the syringe in the jacket of Larry Lee Carter Jr., 36, of West Milton, Ohio. He told police the syringe belonged to his girlfriend.

Woman jailed for assault on security during theft www.privateofficer.com

ELGIN IL Feb 28 2010 — "An anti-police hat trick."

That's how Kane County Judge Bruce Lester described Julie Newberry's activities when Newberry appeared in Elgin bond court Friday morning for the second time in as many days.

"I can tell I made a serious impression on you the first time," the judge said.

Newberry was before the judge this latest time on a felony charge of attempted escape. She is accused of dashing into an elevator at the Elgin Police Department on Thursday and trying to flee from the department's processing area.

Newberry, 22, of 1141 Chippewa Circle, Carpentersville, initially was arrested Wednesday after she and Evan V. Becker, 22, of Chicago, attempted to steal spools of wire from a hardware store, police said.

Becker and Newberry, with a small child in tow, grabbed two spools of copper wire and hid it under a blanket in their shopping cart while in the Menard's on South Randall Road, a police report said.

The pair then attempted to leave the store, passing the final point of sale without paying for the wire, according to police.

When store security stopped Becker and Newberry, a police report said, Becker gave Newberry the child and cooperated with the security officer. Newberry left the store, then re-entered and attempted to leave again, a police report said.

When a security officer tried to stop Newberry from leaving the second time, Newberry pushed the security employee to the ground, a report said.

"I pushed her but I couldn't have pushed her to the ground, I had a baby in my arms," Newberry contested during her bond court appearance on Thursday.

"Well ma'am that doesn't make it any better," Judge Lester replied.

Newberry was charged with felony retail theft, aggravated battery and misdemeanor resisting arrest. Becker was charged with felony retail theft.

Becker's bond was set at $35,000 and Newberry's was set at $15,000. Becker's bail was higher because the 22-year-old had been arrested 31 times before the most recent arrest, according to court documents.

After her bond call appearance on Thursday morning Newberry was taken to the Elgin city jail to be processed, Deputy Chief Jeff Swoboda said.

"While in custody she was allowed out of her cell to make a phone call in the processing area," Swoboda said. "During that time she was able to enter an open elevator just as someone was getting off of it."

Newberry then allegedly started to push buttons inside the elevator, Swoboda said.

"An alarm sounded and there was no way she would have been able to make the elevator move," Swoboda said.

The elevator Newberry had chosen for her escape was a special police elevator which requires a security code to access and command, he said.

Newberry said during bond call Friday she knew that when she got into the elevator.

"I knew I wasn't going anywhere," she told Lester.

Newberry said she could clearly read a sign on the elevator that informed a pass code was needed to operate the elevator. Newberry said she got on the elevator just so she could have a place to "get out of her head" and "to think."

Newberry claimed her charge of attempted escape was not fair because there was no way she would have gotten out of the jail on that elevator. After that Newberry asked the judge for a low bond because she has children — not her own — that rely on her.

"You being here is not the fault of the system," Lester said in denying the request.

Newberry's bail for the attempted escape charge was set at $35,000. She is to appear in court on the week's worth of charges at 9 a.m. on March 5.

Dopehead looses drugs, calls security for help www.privateofficer.com

Yolo County CA Feb 27 2010 A 65-year-old Dublin man ended up in jail on drug charges after trying to recover his lost bag at Yolo County's Cache Creek Casino, not realizing that the casino's security guards had already looked inside and found what they suspected to be methamphetamine, authorities said.

Yolo County Sheriff's Sgt. Lance Faille said someone found the bag on the casino floor and turned it over to the facility's lost and found unit shortly after 4 a.m. Tuesday. About 15 minutes later, George Bowers contacted the casino's security staff to report his bag missing.

Bowers told authorities he had left it at a slot machine, Faille said.

By then, security guards had looked inside the bag to try to find information that would help them identify and find its owner. Instead, they found a bundle of white crystalline substance and suspected it to be narcotics. A preliminary test determined the substance to be methamphetamine, but investigators are awaiting the final analysis from the California Department of Justice, Faille said.

When Bowers contacted the casino's security staff, he described the bag that had been turned over to sheriff's deputies.

Officials said Bowers told them that he bought the suspected narcotics earlier in the week and gave some to his friend, 51-year-old Jinny Dixon of San Jose, who had accompanied Bowers to the casino. Deputies found five bags of crystalline substance inside Dixon's bag.

The suspected methamphetamine that Dixon and Bowers were allegedly carrying weighed 13 grams and had a value of about $600, authorities said.

Dixon and Bowers were arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale and transportation of a controlled substance. They were both booked in the Yolo County Main Jail, officials said.

Mans bathroom needs land him in jail www.privateofficer.com

BENSALEM TWP., Pa. Feb 27 2010
By: Rick McCann/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
www.privateofficer.com

Sometimes you just gotta go and there's just no two ways about it.
Such was the case with Juan Medina, 27, of Philadelphia, who police say attempted to enter the Philadelphia Park Casino four times without proper identification.
When stopped by casino security, Medina was told not to enter the casino but he insisted that he had to use the restroom.
After numerous attempts to make it through the doors of the casino, Medina was taken into custody and charged with criminal trespass.
Casino officers said that Medina did not have proper identification and was defiant.
There was no word as to if he was allowed to use the restroom facility of the casino.

OFFICER DOWN FRESNO CALIFORNIA

Deputy Sheriff Joel Wahlenmaier
Fresno County Sheriff's Department
California
End of Watch: Thursday, February 25, 2010

Biographical Info
Age: 48
Tour of Duty: 12 years
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Thursday, February 25, 2010
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Deceased

Deputy Joel Wahlenmaier was shot and killed as he and another deputy assisted officers from the California Fire Marshals Office serve a warrant on a suspected arsonist in Minkler, California.

As the deputies and officers entered the suspect's mobile home the man opened fire on them, fatally wounding Deputy Wahlenmaier and wounding a second deputy. A responding officer from the Reedley Police Department was also shot and critically wounded.

The suspect was found dead inside the home after a standoff that lasted several hours.

Deputy Wahlenmaier had served with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department for 12 years. He is survived by his wife, son, daughter, and parents.

Agency Contact Information
Fresno County Sheriff's Department
PO Box 1788
2200 Fresno Street
Fresno, CA 93717

Phone: (559) 488-3121

Doug Rose, LP Investigator dies unexpectedly www.privateofficer.com

Atlanta GA Feb 26 2010

Death Notice

36-year-old Doug Rose, an LP investigator for Barnes & Noble, passed away February 15 of natural causes.
Based primarily in Southern California, the young professional had spent his entire 18-year career in loss prevention working for a number of major retailers.
According to Paul Bos of HSN, a friend and coworker, "Doug was a tenacious investigator, a skilled interviewer, and a leader who always thought about his team first.
Passionate about investigations, he had an amazing ability to sniff out and successfully close cases at an impressive rate.
Both in and out of work, Doug was a fun-loving, compassionate, kind person, and a great friend to many."
Rose leaves behind his mother Diane, brother David, and fiancee Tiffany.

Security company closes after employee charged with rape www.privateofficer.com

Memphis TN Feb 26 2010
By: Rick McCann/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
http://www.privateofficer.com/ The security company that employed a security guard who is accused of raping a shoplifter has closed down.

According SecurityPoint owner Huston Akins, 41, he had no idea that his employee Geryl Hill, had a previous charge for rape or any other criminal record.

He said that a former employee of the company ran a background check on hill in 2007 and that there was nothing on it.

Akins has now shut the doors to his company after losing Kroger as his only client, laying off all 48 employees as a result of the Feb. 16 incident involving Hill.

"We relied on the fact that he had an active license from the state of Tennessee to be a guard," said Akins, who said he found out about the previous charge when news of the current arrest broke. "It shut me down. I have no business."

Hill was charged with rape after detaining a woman on shoplifting charges at the Poplar Plaza Kroger.

According to police, Hill "forcefully propositioned" her for sexual favors, including putting his hand down her pants.

Authorities were alerted the next day, leading to Hill's arrest.

Akins also said that he was unaware that state officials attempted to revoke Hill's license in February 2009 after his plea of guilty in a statutory rape case.

That process led to a November hearing, but state officials have yet to rule on the revocation of Hill's license.

Akins said he was relying on the fact that Hill's license was renewed in 2005, 2007 and 2009.

Legislation has been introduced that would make it easier to revoke the licenses of guards convicted of serious crimes, said Christopher Garrett, spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, which oversees security companies.

If the new legislation is approved, officials can automatically revoke a license after conviction of a serious crime, unless a hearing is requested within 30 days of conviction.

That bill is under consideration in the state House and Senate.

Akins, who is now unemployed himself said that he doesn't know what he'll do to support his family and blames this whole event and the closing of his company on Hill.

Marine charged with accidental shooting death of child

Chesapeake VA Feb 26 2010 Local police have obtained warrants to charge a man in the shooting death of his 9-month-old daughter.

Colton Luman, 26, of the 800 block of Warbler Court, will be charged with involuntary manslaughter for the unlawful discharge of a firearm in a dwelling, said Commonwealth's Attorney Nancy Parr.

Makenna Rose Luman was in the home on Warbler Court, which is part of the Navy’s remote Northwest Annex near the North Carolina border. She later died at a hospital.

Police said the shooting appeared to be accidental. According to Virginia law, a person can be charged with involuntary manslaughter if he or she unlawfully fires in an occupied dwelling – even if it is not done so maliciously.

Luman is a sergeant assigned to a training company of Marine Corps Security Force Regiment in Norfolk, said Dennis Neal, a deputy public affairs officer. He enlisted in 2002.

Luman was licensed by the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services as a guard in San Diego from November 2006 to November 2008 and from January 2007 to January 2009, according to the agency’s Web site. He also had a firearm permit.

He will be arraigned in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Parr said. She said she was not able to comment further because the case is pending

McKinney teacher arrested for student relationship www.privateofficer.com

McKinney TX Feb 26 2010 A McKinney high school teacher was arrested Wednesday on a charge of an improper relationship with a student, a second-degree felony, police said.

Ryan Staton Hufford, 28, could not be reached for comment Thursday evening. Jail records show he was released Wednesday.

He resigned from his post as an agriculture teacher at McKinney North High School this week after he was confronted with the allegation, which involves a female student who has since graduated, officials said.

"We don't have any reason to believe at this time that there were any additional students involved," said Cody Cunningham, a McKinney Independent School District spokesman.

Police would not say when the alleged crime occurred. Hufford worked at the school for two or three years, officials said. The investigation is ongoing, police said

Wayne Newton pursued over numerous debts www.privateofficer.com

LAS VEGAS NV Feb 26 2010 — Sheriff's deputies were turned away from entertainer Wayne Newton's sprawling ranch home Thursday while trying to collect a $500,000 court judgment stemming from back pay owed to a former pilot, authorities said.
Guards at Newton's house, in a 38-acre walled compound dubbed "Casa de Shenandoah," refused to accept service of court documents, and moving vans and Clark County sheriff's civil division deputies left after less than 45 minutes, police Officer Bill Cassell said.

"They will have to seek alternative civil remedies," said Cassell, a department spokesman.

Police and court officials said the case will return to county district court, where Judge Michelle Leavitt found Newton and his corporate entity, Desert Eagle LLC, in default June 8 on more than $400,000 owed to his former pilot, Monty Ward.

An Oct. 23 court filing in the case listed the amount due to Ward at almost $481,000, plus almost $128 per day in interest. The Las Vegas Sun reported Thursday that a lawyer for Ward put the amount due at more than $501,000.

Ward's lawyer, John Muije, and Newton representatives did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press.

Ward is not the only creditor pursuing the 67-year-old crooner widely known as "Mr. Las Vegas." Records show Newton has a spotty financial history.

In a civil lawsuit filed Feb. 9 in Clark County District Court, Bruton Smith, the billionaire chief of Charlotte, N.C.-based Sonic Automotive Inc. and chairman of NASCAR track owner Speedway Motorsports Inc., is seeking to seize Newton's home for repayment of a $3.35 million loan.

A Speedway Motorsports corporate official in North Carolina and Las Vegas-based attorneys for Smith did not respond Thursday to messages seeking comment.

Court documents say Newton, Desert Eagle and Newton's wife, Kathleen McCrone Newton, pledged the 38-acre personal residence as security for the loan in May 2007.

Desert Eagle also pledged as security Newton's personal twin-engine jet, a Fokker F28 that an airport concessionaire said Thursday has been sitting abandoned at an airport near Detroit.

Joe Borgesen, owner of Oakland Air at Oakland International Airport in Waterford, Mich., said a lien has been filed against $66,000 in parking fees owed for the aircraft, which was valued in Smith's lawsuit at more than $2 million.

Borgesen said the aircraft has been parked for more than three years and may be inoperable, with mold in the interior and engines that haven't run in months.

Last summer, Newton was sued over $32,000 worth of hay for his horses and $37,000 for a 2005 Cadillac Escalade. The Cadillac lawsuit was dropped, but the lawsuit over the hay is pending in Clark County.

Newton filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992 to reorganize an estimated $20 million in debts, including a $341,000 Internal Revenue Service lien for back taxes.

In 2005, Newton disputed IRS claims that he and his wife owed $1.8 million in back taxes and penalties from 1997 through 2000.

Newton is credited with performing more than 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over 40 years. His latest show, called "Once Before I Go," began in November at the Tropicana Las Vegas hotel and is due to end in April. He has not said if he plans to retire.

His best-known songs include "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast," which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard charts in 1972; his 1965 version of "Red Roses for a Blue Lady"; and his signature song, "Danke Schoen."

Bank employee arrested for embezzlement www.privateofficer.com

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.Feb 26 2010 (AP) -- An 18-year employee of Huntington Bank who collected vault deposits has been charged with embezzlement.

Authorities say they're not sure how much money was stolen, but it's more than $1,000.

A criminal complaint says 36-year-old Katina Dawn Sweitzer of Fairview collected money delivered by an armored car. Authorities discovered the thefts in January when West Virginia University reported several outstanding deposits.

The complaint also says Sweitzer confessed the thefts to bank security officers and led investigators to her car, where they found bank bags containing deposit slips and checks from both WVU and Lowe's Corp.

A spokeswoman for Huntington Bank declined comment.

Sweitzer is free on $10,000 bond. It's unclear whether she has a lawyer.

Security officer critical after robbery attempt www.privateofficer.com

OTTAWA Canada Feb 26 2010 — A Gatineau man and woman were in court Thursday facing a number of charges following a robbery attempt at Promenade de l’Outaouais Wednesday night in which a security guard suffered a heart attack.

Gatineau police say a mall security guard attempted to stop the man and woman who were suspected of shoplifting from one of the mall’s stores. The 51-year-old guard suffered a heart attack and had CPR administered. He was in critical condition Thursday afternoon at a Gatineau hospital.

His name was not being released at this time, said Const. Isabelle Poirier.
The woman was apprehended by the security guard’s co-workers. The man fled the Maloney Boulevard mall and was later apprehended at a nearby arena, based on descriptions from eyewitnesses, said police.

Randy Sicard, 43, of Gatineau faces charges of robbery, possession of stolen property and breaking the terms of parole. He is to re-appear in court on March 10.

Cheryl Ward, 40, of Gatineau faces charges of robbery, possession of stolen property, breaking the terms of parole and obstructing justice. Assault charges may also be laid against the suspects, police said.

Mother killed soldier daughter at Fort Bragg www.privateofficer.com

FAYETTEVILLE, NC Feb 26 2010 (WTVD) -- The FBI has charged a mother with second-degree murder after stabbing death at Fort Bragg.

Investigators say in a criminal complaint that Linda Shannon stabbed her daughter 32-year-old Autumn Michelle Shannon in their home on base at 147 South Dougherty Drive.

It allegedly happened February 22.

Autumn Shannon was an active duty soldier and cook on base. Mother and daughter had been living together on post since a car crash involving the daughter in South Carolina in December.

The complaint said the soldier's naked body was found on a bedroom floor with multiple apparent knife wounds and a large knife protruding from her neck.

It also said Linda Shannon was found with a large amount of blood on her arms and clothing. She also had a small knife wound for which she was treated at Womack Army Medical Center (WAMC) at Fort Bragg.

A paramedic who treated Shannon said he asked her how she was injured, and Shannon responded "a knife." Shannon further told the paramedic that she had gotten into a fight with her daughter and" I killed my daughter."

An FBI investigator stated in the complaint that in an interview, Shannon stated that her daughter had called her a terrible mother and "I snapped." Shannon then stated that she had stabbed her daughter and then tried to call 911 but was unsuccessful so she ran outside to find help.

Federal officers won't comment on Shannon's current whereabouts.

Armed security company owner killed by deputies www.privateofficer.com

KNOXVILLE TN Feb 26 2010
knoxnews.com- A Knoxville security company co-founded 24 years ago by a man fatally shot Wednesday by Knox County deputies will be closed for a few days as funeral arrangements are made.

Liberty Security Systems, Inc., released a statement today extending condolences to the family and friends of Robert Kelly. Kelly and his older brother Charles Kelly founded the company in 1986.

The company has been operated from Charles Kelly's house on Lone Star Way, which is two doors down from where 56-year-old Robert Kelly was killed Wednesday. In 2007 the company noted its eight employees were all related to the Kelly family.

According to the company release, Robert Kelly had been on medical leave for the past three weeks because of "a recent severe heart attack."

The company will be closed for service, installation and estimates until Tuesday, March 2, the release stated. Continuous monitoring of existing security systems will not be interrupted.

The company' release stated funeral arrangements, when completed, will be posted on its Web site.

Robert Kelly was killed by Knox County sheriff's deputies responding to a 2:35 p.m. call from his wife, Linda, that her husband was armed and suicidal. Linda Kelly told emergency dispatchers her husband had shot out a window in their home at 10633 Lone Star Way.

Linda Kelly maintained communications with E-911 dispatchers with a cordless telephone during the incident. She told dispatchers she had escaped from the house through the same window her husband had shot out. She stayed near the house, however, to keep the cordless telephone in operation.

Knox County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Martha Dooley said when deputies arrived, Robert Kelly was outside the house and fired upon them. An undisclosed number of deputies returned fire. Robert Kelly was pronounced dead at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

The Sheriff's Office has not released details about how many officers fired at Robert Kelly or how many times he was struck.

No officers were injured during the shooting.

Former Alabama officer facing prison commits suicide

MOBILE, Alabama Feb 26 2010
Source: WKRG.com - Sources tell News 5, the former Chickasaw Police Officer facing life in prison for raping his young step-daughter has committed suicide.

Bob Ingle was supposed to be sentenced tomorrow.

Ingle's step-daughter, Rebecca McEvoy was killed in an unrelated car crash one year after she told her best friend about the alleged abuse.

Ingle was arrested in December 2006. He fought to get the charges dropped based on what his attorneys argued was his constitutional right to confront his accuser.

The case faced six delays as the judge and attorneys sorted out what evidence would be allowed.

He was finally convicted last month.

WANTED: ARMED & DANGEROUS Kidnap suspect www.privateofficer.com

St. Marys, Ga. Feb 26 2010 Police are searching for a man they believe robbed and kidnapped a man at a St. Marys Wal-Mart on Monday, then took off for Brunswick, where he used to live.

Police said two women were robbed by two men outside the grocery store entrance. According to the report, Alvin Davis Jr. was arrested after running into nearby woods.

Police identified the second man who got away as Patrick Antron Brown. His is wanted on suspicion of armed robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault. Police released little information about the incident, but said that Brown, 22, had a handgun and used it "in a manner that would cause harm to a person."

Brown was described as a black man, 6-feet 1-inch tall weighing 180 pounds. They said he may have traveled on to Garden City or Macon and could be in a gray Nissan Maxima bearing Georgia tag number BGW5406.

Police say Brown should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information or questions should call Detective Snyder at 912-882-4345.

Mall security, LP Agent injured in tussle with shoplifter www.privateofficer.com

Denton TX Feb 26 2010 A loss prevention officer and a mall security guard were injured during a struggle with a woman who tried to leave a store with a handbag stuffed with merchandise she had not paid for Monday.

The loss prevention officer said two women walked through the store picking up clothing. They took it into dressing rooms and stayed for more than an hour trying on clothes, according to a police report. They emerged, and one woman bought a blouse.

An employee noticed that both of the women’s handbags were bulging. She attempted to stop them after they passed the cash registers. One of the women tried to walk away, but the other woman began fighting with the loss prevention employee.

A mall security guard came to help and the woman delivered a hard kick to his groin, according to the report. An off-duty officer joined the fray and subdued the woman.

She was taken to jail on several charges.

Gunshot rings out at Salt Lake airport www.privateofficer.com

Salt Lake City Utah Feb 26 2010
By: Rick McCann/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
http://www.privateofficer.com/
A gunshot rang out today at the Salt Lake airport but police say that no one was injured and it appears to have been accidental although they are still investigating the incident.
A passenger checking a gun accidentally discharged his weapon on the curbside of Terminal 1of Salt Lake City International Airport.
Police said that the passenger was declaring his weapon to a Sky Cap when he either mishandled or dropped it.
David Korzep, airport operations superintendent said that he semiautomatic pistol had one bullet left in the chamber and when it struck the pavement, shrapnel hit the foot of the Sky Cap employee. The injury was superficial and the Sky Cap was not transported to the hospital but treated at the airport by medical technicians.
To properly check a gun, the weapon must be in a hard, locked case and the entire weapon, including the chamber, must be cleared. The ammunition must be stored separately said police.
It is not known if the gun owner will face criminal charges.

Two plead guilty in armored car guard's murder www.privateofficer.com

MIAMI Fla Feb 26 2010
By: Brett Davis/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
www.priavteofficer.com ― Two men have pleaded guilty today in the shooting death of an armored car guard during the course of a robbery.
Dunbar security guard Carlos Alvarado was shot and killed during a robbery at Dadeland Mall in December of 2008.

A federal judge sentenced Erskaneshia Ritchie to nearly 25 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to affect commerce by robbery through violence. Co-defendant Nikkia Thomas received a sentence of 19 ½ years.

Ritchie and Thomas were the lookouts during the robbery which took place the afternoon of December 1st, 2008.
Dunbar security officer Carlos Alvarado, 51, was carrying a money bag into The Limited store at the suburban mall when two armed men approached him. Dwight Carter, who was Ritchie's boyfriend, and Emmanuel Maxime have been identified as those men.

During the robbery, prosecutors say Carter unleashed a spray of bullets, four of which struck and killed Alavarado. Investigators say Carter then grabbed the money bags, which contained over $63,000 in cash and checks.

According to investigators, Ritchie and Thomas agreed to help Maxine and Carter commit the robbery. Thomas lent them her car knowing that it would be used for an armored car robbery. The two women also waited outside in the mall parking lot, police said.

Alvarado was married and was putting his two grown children through Florida International University when he was killed.

City wants bars to pay for extra security www.privateofficer.com

New Haven CT Feb 26 2010
Yale News A proposed city ordinance would force New Haven’s bars and nightclubs — recently beleaguered by violence — to pay the city thousands of dollars for increased police security at events.

According to the ordinance, which was proposed by city officials at an aldermanic committee meeting Wednesday night, clubs would have to notify police of all advertised events two days in advance and pay a security tab calculated by city police. The ordinance would also apply to parades and other public entertainment events and would give the city the power to change event logistics, such as parade routes, if the events’ organizers could not pay the initial security costs.

The proposal coincides with a recent spate of violence at downtown clubs, including a November stabbing at Club Sinergy and a brawl on Crown Street Sunday morning that put eight police officers in the hospital and nine people in handcuffs. City officials said they proposed the law to have more police control over downtown security and to cut down on police costs. Five aldermen at the meeting said they hope to approve the law in part because of the recent downtown violence.

“This would give us the grounds to be pretty aggressive in requiring appropriate police coverage,” Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts ’01 said.

Though the ordinance would give the city the legal right to force bars to pay the cost of security, Smuts, who argued for the legislation at the committee meeting, said police would use their discretion in determining which events to charge for and how to charge their organizers. He added that the primary goal of the legislation is to increase police cooperation with clubs; it would be up to the bars and clubs to provide the police with the schedule of their events.

But Board of Aldermen President Carl Goldfield said his concern is not that the law would target too many bars and events, but too few, because organizers might choose not to notify police about all major events they host.

“Why are you being so tentative and nice with these guys?” Goldfield asked Redding and Smuts at the meeting. “If all those clubs closed tomorrow, I’d be very happy.”

Smuts and Assistant Police Chief Stephanie Redding said at the meeting that the ordinance would be applying a Connecticut law that gives police chiefs across the state the power to charge entertainment venues for security.

The police have already used the state law to charge for some events, and the costs can be steep: Smuts said the police cost of providing security for the 2009 New Haven Road Race, for example, with its 6,000 participants, was $16,000. The city ordinance would now give police the explicit authority to charge for more events.

Committee members at the meeting also expressed support for the legislation, but they cited downtown safety, not savings, as their main concern. Smuts said the ordinance would improve safety by encouraging clubs to keep events to reasonable sizes in order to avoid running up costly bills.

At the meeting, aldermen such as Ward 16 Alderwoman Migdalia Castro said the measure is crucial to preventing more nighttime skirmishes, which deter tourists and potential residents.

Still, three of the five aldermen who support the law — Goldfield, Ward 5 Alderman Jorge Perez and Ward 7 Alderwoman Frances “Bitsie” Clark — said they are concerned that the legislation does not provide a definition of an “event.”

Clark said the legislation as it currently stands could make every Toad’s Place concert or dance party subject to police control. This would add an unnecessary burden to Toad’s and other clubs that already keep events safe, she said.

Owners and managers of three local clubs — Hula Hanks and Static on Crown Street and Toad’s on York Street — could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Smuts said he would have preferred imposing an entertainment tax on bars and clubs that serve alcohol, but state law does not permit such a tax. New Haven Police Chief James Lewis has also said he supports such a tax.

While most organizers under the ordinance would have to pay the costs of security to the city in full, parade organizers would be allowed to forgo the payment if they provided proof that they tried to raise the money and failed, Smuts said. He added that protest organizers would not have pay.

After a disturbance on Crown Street in December, Ward 3 Alderwoman Jacqueline James-Evans proposed a law to ban underage nights at city clubs. Police raided Toad’s earlier this month in a crackdown on underage drinking.

Woman, 80, gets prison for burglary www.privateofficer.com

Los Angeles CA Feb 26 2010
Eighty-year-old Doris Thompson has made a long career of petty theft and burglarizing medical buildings. And although this week she was sentenced to three years in state prison for her latest crime, officials aren't sure that's enough to stop Thompson's escapades when she is released.

"She likes to burglarize medical suites for some reason. That's her niche," said Paulette Paccione, the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case.

On Wednesday, Thompson, who has a rap sheet dating to 1955 and has landed in state prison nine times, pleaded guilty to a commercial burglary she committed in December, when she hid in the restroom of the Children's Medical Group office in Torrance and waited until employees left for the day.

A security camera caught Thompson prying open drawers with a chisel and screwdriver, Paccione said. From the building, Thompson took $400 in cash and checks, stamps totaling $25, a plastic urine container and an audiogram device used to test hearing-impaired children, valued at $1,000, said Sgt. Jeremiah Hart of the Torrance Police Department.

This was not the first time Thompson targeted the Torrance medical building, Hart said. In 2005 and 2006, she burglarized other medical offices in the complex while wearing a wig, he said.

During the investigation of the December burglary, a Torrance detective recognized the woman in the surveillance camera from a crime bulletin put up by Beverly Hills police a few years earlier for a similar crime, Hart said.

"That's her M.O.," Paccione said. "What she does is she goes in with her little burglar bag. She takes cash, stamps, whatever she can find."

Paccione said Thompson, who has used 25 aliases, is a unique woman. "You usually don't get 80-year-old female burglars."

She said Thompson told the judge in court that she probably deserved more time in prison than the three-year sentence.

"I don't think this will stop her from doing this again," Paccione said. "She's not really apologetic about it. This is her thing."

Fresno county sheriff killed, other officers shot www.privateofficer.com

Fresno CA Feb 26 2010 The suspect accused of killing a Fresno County sheriff's deputy and wounding other lawmen was found dead inside the mobile home where he had been barricaded for most of the day.

Sheriff Margaret Mims told the Fresno Bee that deputies discovered the body around 5 p.m. when they entered the trailer. The deputy was killed when he and others were investigating reports of arson and shots fired at the mobile home in a small community east of Fresno.

Fresno television station KMPH-TV Channel 26 is reporting that Reedley Police Officer Javier Bejar is on life support and is not expected to recover, Reedley City Manager Rocky Rogers said.
Authorities arrived at the scene in the 18200 block of Kings Canyon Road in Minkler, about 20 miles east of Fresno, about 9:40 a.m. to serve the suspect and were met by gunfire, Fresno County sheriff’s spokesman Chris Curtice said.

Two deputies and a Reedley police officer, who arrived later, were shot. They were taken to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno. Authorities could not confirm whether a fourth officer had also been taken to the hospital.

The suspect continued to exchange gunfire with officers who surrounded the trailer Thursday afternoon, authorities said. About 200 officers were on the scene, Curtice said.

Central Carbarrus High assistant principal arrested on sex charges

Concord NC (metro Charlotte) Feb 25 2010 The assistant principal of Central Cabarrus High School was arrested Thursday on suspicion of sexual contact with students.

Aaronson Franks, 37, is charged with one count of statutory rape, two counts of statutory sexual offense, three counts of sexual activity with student by administrator, one count of taking indecent liberties with a student and four counts of indecent liberties with children.

Franks was suspended from work on Friday.

Eyewitness News spoke to a man who said Franks asked his daughter to perform sexual acts and even made advances to the girl on social networking site MySpace.

The man’s name will not be released in order to protect his daughter’s identity.

Franks is accused of having sexual contact with at two students at Central Cabarrus High School. He’s worked at the school since 2005.

Students described him as strict, but friendly. But some students added that Franks treated female students differently than males, and that rumors about inappropriate relationships had circulated even before he was suspended and arrested.

“People heard things, but nobody really believed it,” student Jordan Carter said. “But then, there it is.”

Central Cabarrus High School's core values are listed on its website. Respect and self-control are among them. Parents like the man who spoke to Eyewitness News about this case said Franks hasn’t held himself to the same standard as he held students.

“He can't even follow his own rules,” the man said.

The Concord Police Department is continuing its investigation of the alleged incidents.

Georgia band teacher arrested for student sex www.privateofficer.com

THOMSON,Ga.Feb 25 2010 -- A former McDuffie County band teacher is not making music -- instead he's facing it. Authorities have now arrested and charged 30 year-old Philip Bradley Pirkle, a former middle school music teacher. Pirkle is charged in connection to an inappropriate relationship with a 14 year-old girl. Investigators say he allegedly engaged in conversation with the teen on the internet over email and a MySpace account.

"It was a student and it involved emails," says Georgia Bureau of Investigations Special Agent Gary Nicholson.

Back in July 2009, the GBI was contacted by McDuffie County and Thomson authorities to look into Pirkle's alleged involvment with the student. They say he engaged in an inappropriate conversation with the teen on the social site by bantering back and forth in a conversation of a sexual nature. GBI agent Gary Nicholson says emails and other images on Pirkle's siezed computer led to the charges.

"The charges basically involve the emails of an inappropriate nature with a minor and also the possession of child pornography," adds NIcholson.

According to court documents, Pirkle also allegedly admitted to having sex with a student. After he started chatting with the 14 year-old, the teenager's mother told authorities. Pirkle and the girl also alledgely discussed meeting each other for sex.

"There are predators that live on the internet and any child that's using the internet needs to be supervised," says Nicholson. "Parents need to know what their children are doing."

Pirkle, a former Teacher of the Year, was the Band Director at Thomson Middle School for many years. When the allegations surfaced last summer,he resigned from his position. It was two weeks before the current school year started.

In addition, Agent Nicholson says the GBI Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force checked Pirkle's computer and found disturbing images of children.

"We have one section in Atlanta who is solely devoted to child pornography and they assisted us in this matter," adds the Agent.


The pictures that the agents found may represent potential victims. Nicholson says it is unclear if any of the pictures are of local students.

"We have no reason to believe right now that they're children right here in the community but it's something we do have to look into," says Nicholson.

Pirkle has been charged with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of using a computer to entice a child for indecent purposes.


"It was a student and it involved emails," says Georgia Bureau of Investigations Special Agent Gary Nicholson.

Back in July 2009, the GBI was contacted by McDuffie County and Thomson authorities to look into Pirkle's alleged involvment with the student. They say he engaged in an inappropriate conversation with the teen on the social site by bantering back and forth in a conversation of a sexual nature. GBI agent Gary Nicholson says emails and other images on Pirkle's siezed computer led to the charges.

"The charges basically involve the emails of an inappropriate nature with a minor and also the possession of child pornography," adds NIcholson.

According to court documents, Pirkle also allegedly admitted to having sex with a student. After he started chatting with the 14 year-old, the teenager's mother told authorities. Pirkle and the girl also alledgely discussed meeting each other for sex.

"There are predators that live on the internet and any child that's using the internet needs to be supervised," says Nicholson. "Parents need to know what their children are doing."

Pirkle, a former Teacher of the Year, was the Band Director at Thomson Middle School for many years. When the allegations surfaced last summer,he resigned from his position. It was two weeks before the current school year started.

In addition, Agent Nicholson says the GBI Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force checked Pirkle's computer and found disturbing images of children.

"We have one section in Atlanta who is solely devoted to child pornography and they assisted us in this matter," adds the Agent.

The pictures that the agents found may represent potential victims. Nicholson says it is unclear if any of the pictures are of local students.

"We have no reason to believe right now that they're children right here in the community but it's something we do have to look into," says Nicholson.

Pirkle has been charged with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of using a computer to entice a child for indecent purposes.

CHP officer handcuffs fire chief for defying orders www.privateofficer.com

MONTECITO, Calif. Feb 25 2010 —The California Highway Patrol is investigating why a firefighter was handcuffed for refusing to move a fire engine from a freeway in Santa Barbara County.

CHP Capt. Jeff Sgobba says the incident on Feb. 15 was rare, regrettable and embarrassing.

The confrontation took place in Montecito when CHP officers responded to a freeway crash that caused minor injuries.

Sgobba says arriving Montecito firefighters blocked the fast lane with an engine to shield responding authorities from traffic.

Sgobba says a CHP officer ordered the rig moved and handcuffed a fire battalion chief who refused. The firefighter was released when a CHP supervisor arrived a short time later.

No charges have been filed.

Catalytic Converter Thieves Back On The Job www.privateofficer.com

Atlanta GA. Feb 25 2010
By: Rick McCann/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
www.privateofficer.com Police in several southeastern states say that they're back.

Those pesky late night catalytic converter thieves that converge on a parking lot with the speed of ants on discarded food and disappear without a trace .

According to a press release from thee Clarksville TN. police, 18 converters have been taken from various locations around town in the past week.

Several Atlanta GA. police departments have also reported that these types of thefts are back on their radar after being gone for months.
Officials said it takes only a few minutes to steal a converter, which can make thieves hundreds of dollars.

In 2008 and early 2009, thousands of converter thefts were being reported nationwide as the price for the precious metals that it contains including platinum was in the hundreds per converter. But as
those market prices began to bottom out, so did the thefts.

Now, in some areas the price has again climbed and thieves are back to work ripping the converters off cars in record numbers.

Police said the target vehicles vary, but trucks or SUVs, which sit higher off the ground are usually more appealing to thieves because of the easy access.
Also, crooks tend to target parking lots where cars sit for a long period of time.

Metro Atlanta police admit that there aren’t many catalytic converter safeguard options available, but anyone worried should consider parking in well lit areas and close to business entrances.

Police encourage drivers to consider purchasing aftermarket protection products for their converters, or having converter bolts welded to the car body.

It’s also a good idea to engrave your license plate number on your converter, so it’s harder for a thief to sell.

Other precautions include parking in protected lots or your garage and installing a shock sensor alarm on your vehicle

Atlanta doctor found guilty of sex charges www.privateofficer.com

ATLANTA GA Feb 25 2010 -- A jury found former Grady Memorial Hospital doctor Adam Lebowitz guilty of sex charges Thursday.

Lebowitz was found guilty of one count of producing child pornography and one count of attempt to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. The jury found Lebowitz not guilty of one count of producing child pornography.

Prosecutors said the since-fired emergency room physician videotaped himself having sex with two minors and then either transmitted the videos via the Internet or transported them across state lines.

Prosecutors also said Lebowitz met a 15-year-old Coweta County boy on the social networking Web site MySpace and traveled to the boy's home in an attempt to have sex with him.

Testimony indicated that the doctor brought condoms, lubricants, an extra pair of hospital scrubs and sleeping bags to the home.

Lebowitz had no idea the boy told his mother about his advances and police were there to arrest him when he arrived.

United States District Court Judge Richard Story will sentence Lebowitz, whose medical license is suspended, at a later date. He faces up to life in federal prison.

Lebowitz had faced charges in Clayton County where police said he had sex with a teen and didn't inform the boy he is HIV-positive.

The Clayton County district attorney said the case is not being pursued because of the federal case against Lebowitz.

Wal-Mart shoplifter pulls knife on security www,privateofficer.com

Gasden Ala Feb 25 2010

A woman caught shoplifting Sunday night at Wal-Mart pulled a knife on store personnel and ran from the store.

She was arrested a short time later after she was found hiding behind a dumpster behind another business.

Gina Renae Cole, 34, was charged with several theft-related offenses after she was arrested.

The woman allegedly stole household goods and clothing and used a knife to cut the bar code off a box containing a vacuum cleaner.

She attempted to go through the self-checkout line without scanning some of the items and was stopped outside the store by store security employees. She pulled a knife on them and ran away.

Someone from the store called police, who arrived and found the woman hiding behind the dumpster behind the Blockbuster Video store across Meighan Boulevard.

Officers had to use a Taser on the woman to subdue her, Gadsden Police Capt. Jeff Wright said.

Houston deputy accused of selling information www.privateofficer.com

HOUSTON TX Feb 25 2010 - A sealed indictment accusing a Harris County sheriff's deputy of disclosing confidential law enforcement information in exchange for money was unsealed today following the deputy's arrest while he was on duty in the Sheriff's Office.

The announcement was made today by United States Attorney José Angel Moreno along with FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard C. Powers, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG) Special Agent in Charge Ronald D. Moore and Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia.

"Misuse of the authority vested in a law enforcement officer by the position of trust he holds affects us all," said Moreno. "We - the law enforcement community and the public at large alike - stand to lose much. The indictment unsealed today evidences our continued commitment to maintain the public's trust and the integrity of law enforcement."

Kurt Douglas Green, 42, of Hockely, Texas, was arrested this morning without incident by investigating agents. Green is a deputy with the Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) assigned to the jail located at 701 San Jacinto. He will remain in custody pending his appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge in Houston today when the issue of bond is expected to be raised.

The HCSO has computers for law enforcement use which provide access to various databases including the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). Access to NCIC database is restricted to law enforcement officers for law enforcement purposes only. The indictment, returned on Feb. 10, 2010, and unsealed today, alleges that on Jan. 19, 2010, Green exceeded his authorized access to a law enforcement computer to obtain information from the restricted NCIC database for disclosure to a non-law enforcement person for financial gain.

"The stated core values of the Harris County Sheriff's Office include meriting and maintaining the public's trust," said Garcia. "We are accomplishing the goals vigorously and transparently through the honest hard work of our employees, but we must be just as vigorous and transparent in the effort to root out alleged wrongdoing in our agency by an extremely small number of individuals. When these rare situations happen, it hurts us all - the honest hardworking employees who obey the rules as well as the citizens who we are obligated to serve."

The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by the FBI Houston office and the DHS-OIG with the assistance and cooperation the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney James McAlister is prosecuting the case.

School cop charged with sex assault of student www.privateofficer.com

SEARCY, Ark. Feb 25 2010
By: Rick McCann/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
http://www.privateofficer.com/ An investigation is still underway in a small town in Arkansas as state agents are looking into the relationship between 48-year-old Searcy police officer and a 16 year old girl.

Authorities say that the officer worked as a school resource officer and that he has been arrested in the bedroom of a 16-year-old girl.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler says state police agents had been investigating the officer and were waiting in the room when Hamilton Riley entered through a window about 1 a.m. Tuesday and arrested him for felony first-degree sexual assault.
Neither state agents nor the local police chief would release any details about the investigation other than to say that the officer has resigned.
Riley submitted a one sentence letter to the police department about 7 a.m. Tuesday saying he is resigning immediately "due to personal reasons."

He was later released on $100,000 bail.

Prosecuting Attorney Chris Raff says Riley was a resource officer at Ahlf Junior High School in Searcy. He says Riley and the girl met at school.

Searcy police say only that they are cooperating with the investigation.

Security officer sues school for discrimination www.privateofficer.com

Walnut Creek CA Feb 25 2010 A security officer at Terra Linda High School has filed a lawsuit against the school principal and the school district, claiming he has been subjected to repeated racial slurs and harassment. The lawsuit is the second such action pending in Marin Superior Court.
Al Clethen, 51, alleges that he has been "the subject of racial slurs, verbal racial comments directed at me by (principal Lars) Christensen and other employees."

"Christensen and other employees of the defendants have allowed, permitted, and ratified public display of racial slurs on the public buildings of Terra Linda High School despite complaints by me, students, and parents that the racial slurs be removed and painted over," said Clethen, who has worked at the school since 2003.

In an interview, Clethen cited an instance where a racial epithet was scrawled on the school's diversity mural this year near the administration's office. Clethen said it was allowed to remain there for months, even though administrators had to walk past it.

Clethen, a Marin native who went on to a high-profile comedy career before returning to San Rafael, is representing himself in the lawsuit.

"I just want things to get better," he said. "I graduated from San Rafael High. It's sad to see things that were being dealt with then not being dealt with now."

The lawsuit follows similar litigation by Raul Mejia, another campus security officer who sued Christensen and the school district in late 2008. Mejia's allegations echo

Clethen's complaints about the alleged mural defacement and other incidents.
"Another example of Christenson [sic] encouraging and permitting racial divisiveness on campus is the fact that there was recently an event entitled, 'Jungle Boogie Night,'" Mejia's lawyer, Charles Davis of Novato, said in a recent settlement statement. "On the posters advertising the event was a caricature of a black African American with big lips in a grass skirt saying 'In Da Hood.' Despite complaints by Al Clethan [sic] and parents, the poster remained on campus."

Both Clethen and Mejia, a Vallejo resident, also allege they have been denied job assignments, overtime and promotion opportunities, and that the school is improperly outsourcing security work to private contractors.

Clethen's lawsuit, filed Feb. 1, is scheduled for a case management conference June 30 before Judge James Ritchie in Marin Superior Court.

Mejia's lawsuit is still pending before Judge Verna Adams, with the next hearing set for Tuesday.

Michael Watenpaugh, superintendent of the school district, declined to comment on behalf of the district, and said he was also speaking for Christensen.

"On the advice of counsel, the District declines comment on matters concerning any pending litigation," Watenpaugh said in an e-mail.

Christensen was promoted to principal in 2007 after working at the high school for a year. A native of Benicia, he spent 14 years as an administrator at Napa Valley Unified School District, including 12 years as principal at Napa High School, and is a former assistant superintendent for the Turlock Unified School District.