EVANSVILLE IN May 31 2010 -- An Evansville man accused of secretly filming young children at a nude beach in Florida was arrested on 62 counts of possession of child pornography, Rock County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Richard A. Granzow, 42, of 501 South Madison St., No. 11, Evansville, was arrested Sunday for possession of child pornography after investigators from Rock County Sheriff’s Office and Evansville Police Department served a search warrant for his home at 4:32 p.m. Friday.
The arrest stems from a Friday incident in Florida, during which investigators apparently witnessed Granzow using a hidden camera to film children at a nude beach, officials said.
Detectives determined further evidence likely was located at Granzow’s home in Evansville, prompting Rock County investigators to secure a search warrant.
A sweep of Granzow’s home turned up “multiple items of child pornography and child erotica” and “multiple camera systems,” officials said. The finds led to Granzow’s arrest for 62 counts of possession of child pornography.
Granzow was arrested at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, following his return from Florida. He is in custody at the Rock County Jail, pending a court appearance at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Further investigation is pending, Rock County Sheriff’s Office said.
Monday, May 31, 2010
SECURITY OFFICER MEMORIAL WEEK ANNOUNCED
PRESS RELEASE
Immediate Release
ATLANTA GA
MAY 31 2010
The 2nd Annual INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE OFFICER MEMORIAL WEEK has been scheduled for SEPTEMBER 19-25 2010.
Immediate Release
ATLANTA GA
MAY 31 2010
The 2nd Annual INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE OFFICER MEMORIAL WEEK has been scheduled for SEPTEMBER 19-25 2010.
This week has been designated for security officers along with law enforcement and others in the security community, families, friends and the general public to pay their respects and gratitude to more than 450 Private Security Officers who have been killed in the line of duty during the past six years and the many others who died before that in service to those that they were hired to protect, serve, and guard, preventing harm that would otherwise come against their employer's property, employees, visitors and the general public.
This year's Memorial Week will include numerous events scheduled in Atlanta Georgia, Nashville TN. and in Charlotte North Carolina.
On September 20th 2010 the event will begin with a live event and by reading the names of all security personnel killed on duty in the past five years.
In addition to this, a special remarks wall on the Private Officer website will be available for family members, friends and other visitors to leave notes, poems, songs, pictures and other mementos for these fallen hero’s.
A candlelight vigil and prayer by the association Chaplain will also take place on Wednesday evening in downtown Atlanta and in Nashville and Charlotte.
Other events are also planned in numerous other states and in the U.K., Brazil, Canada, and Australia and a number of other countries.
Each year, more than eighty security officers are killed in the U.S. while in the performance of their duties. Internationally, more than one thousand security officers are killed yearly while in the performance of their duties as they protect and serve.
About Private Officer International: This international association started in 2004 as
a training and networking resource for private security officers and has grown to include members in forty states and ten countries.
a training and networking resource for private security officers and has grown to include members in forty states and ten countries.
Membership is open to all security officers, loss prevention agents, campus and school officers, law enforcement, vendors of the security industry and the general public who support the association’s goals and purpose.
Website: http://www.privateofficer.com/
Contact Info: Kyle T. Greene Email:kyletgreene@privateofficer.com
JOIN THE FASTEST GROWING SECURITY ASSOCIATION!
WE INVITE YOU JOIN US TODAY!If you are a private security officer, special police officer, campus
officer, retail loss prevention agent, security consultant, private
investigator, security manager-supervisor, security agency owner,
security or law enforcement industry vendor or a supporter of law and
order we cordially invite you to join the fastest growing, most exciting international security-police
association in the world!
AS A MEMBER YOU WILL RECEIVE:
*Certificate of Membership
*Member ID Card
*Free Will
(State Specific)
updated yearly with membership renewal
*Chaplains On Call / Employee Assistance Program
24/7 Emergency Service
*Free Access To Our Staff
Ask Questions, Get Advise
About A Particular Incident,
Situation Or Problem!
*Free Legal Letters, Contract
Reviews, Law Look-Up and more
*Auto Rental Company Discounts
Equipment Discounts
*Security Newsletters
*Seminars / Conference
Discounts
Website
Including Web Based Training
*Security Radio Station WPSO
*Discounted Private Officer
Merchandise
*Insurance(Pending)
*Advance Certification Programs
( $50 OFF)
Officer Award Program
much more to come!
All Of This For Just $35 a year!
Join Now www.privateofficer.com/securityassociation
Man accused of masturbating in mall parking lot
VINELAND NJ May 31 2010 -- Police arrested a Burlington County man accused of performing a lewd act Saturday afternoon in the Cumberland Mall parking lot.
Arthur Stubbs, 38, of Durham Drive, Columbus, was charged with lewdness after mall security cameras showed him masturbating in his silver Ford pickup truck near J.C. Penney at 2:15 p.m., according to a police report.
Mall security alerted police that Stubbs then drove around the lot and parked near the food court, where he masturbated again, police said.
By the time police arrived, the suspect had left the mall and was traveling south on Delsea Drive, according to the report. Police pulled over his vehicle in the Lowe's parking lot off North 2nd Street in Millville.
Stubbs told police he wasn't masturbating, but was fixing the belt on his pants, according to the report.
Arthur Stubbs, 38, of Durham Drive, Columbus, was charged with lewdness after mall security cameras showed him masturbating in his silver Ford pickup truck near J.C. Penney at 2:15 p.m., according to a police report.
Mall security alerted police that Stubbs then drove around the lot and parked near the food court, where he masturbated again, police said.
By the time police arrived, the suspect had left the mall and was traveling south on Delsea Drive, according to the report. Police pulled over his vehicle in the Lowe's parking lot off North 2nd Street in Millville.
Stubbs told police he wasn't masturbating, but was fixing the belt on his pants, according to the report.
Catholic priest arrested for felony theft at Wal-Mart www.privateofficer.com
West City IL May 31 2010
spource:bnd.com
A Roman Catholic priest who formerly served in Belleville and Breese is accused of shoplifting butter and a sofa cover at a Wal-Mart in Southern Illinois.
Police in the village of West City arrested 41-year-old the Rev. Steven Poole on Friday. He's charged with two felony theft counts.
Investigators say Poole failed to scan a $3.22 container of butter and a $60 sofa cover at a self-checkout. Poole then allegedly went to the store's bedding section, picked up a memory foam mattress and switched the pricing bar code. That caused the $145 item to be scanned for $31.
Allegedly, Poole also possessed a stolen laptop computer power pack.
He's the priest for St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Christopher and St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sesser.
Poole does not have a listed home telephone number, and messages left for him at the churches were not returned.
In 2001, Poole was convicted in St. Louis County Circuit Court of stealing an antique pub sign from a Ladue, Mo., antiques shop. He was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
In January 2001, Poole filed a false report with the Breese Police Department that he had been beaten and robbed at St. Augustine's Church. He was sentenced to six months of court supervision.
After the incidents in 2001, Poole was assigned to St. Mary's Church in Belleville to serve as an assistant to the pastor there. Diocesan leaders said then that Poole had undergone counseling. He remained at the Belleville church for about a year.
spource:bnd.com
A Roman Catholic priest who formerly served in Belleville and Breese is accused of shoplifting butter and a sofa cover at a Wal-Mart in Southern Illinois.
Police in the village of West City arrested 41-year-old the Rev. Steven Poole on Friday. He's charged with two felony theft counts.
Investigators say Poole failed to scan a $3.22 container of butter and a $60 sofa cover at a self-checkout. Poole then allegedly went to the store's bedding section, picked up a memory foam mattress and switched the pricing bar code. That caused the $145 item to be scanned for $31.
Allegedly, Poole also possessed a stolen laptop computer power pack.
He's the priest for St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Christopher and St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sesser.
Poole does not have a listed home telephone number, and messages left for him at the churches were not returned.
In 2001, Poole was convicted in St. Louis County Circuit Court of stealing an antique pub sign from a Ladue, Mo., antiques shop. He was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
In January 2001, Poole filed a false report with the Breese Police Department that he had been beaten and robbed at St. Augustine's Church. He was sentenced to six months of court supervision.
After the incidents in 2001, Poole was assigned to St. Mary's Church in Belleville to serve as an assistant to the pastor there. Diocesan leaders said then that Poole had undergone counseling. He remained at the Belleville church for about a year.
Riverfest protected by 100 security officers
Little Rock Ark May 31 2010 With a big event like Riverfest this weekend in Little Rock, there's always security concerns. But organizers say they have worked out every detail to keep everyone in the family safe.
On Saturday morning, Security Officer Philip Benson sat at one of the entrances to the event. He'd been there for nearly 12 hours.
For the second year in a row, Benson is putting in long hours at Riverfest, on the lookout or any misconduct.
"Basically what we try to do is ensure the safety of everybody that is here, as far as not letting fights break out and stuff like that," he said.
Benson says those fights are usually started by people who drink a little too much and get rowdy.
"If you drink, try to limit yourself. Don't get too drunk to where we have to escort you out of the park," the security officer said.
Another security concern here is keeping children close to their parents.
"It can happen in a flash. I don't have children but from what I hear it can happen so quickly," said Zone Captain Barbara Daugherty. "You're walking along, they stop and look at something because we have wonderful things to view everywhere and they stop and look at "oh that's so exciting' and in a flash they're gone."
Daugherty says there are officers ready to help find missing kids; especially if parents stop at an information booth when they first get to the event and ask for a sunny sticker.
"And then if the child does get lost, we ask that they come back and look for a sunny poster that we have here for them," Daugherty said. "We have a really good system with the Little Rock police department. We always get them right back just as quickly as we can."
For lost and stolen items, organizers point event-goers to the several information booths set up along the riverfront; the same place to pick up a festival program and tips for enjoying the weekend festivities.
"We all enjoy making sure everyone has a good time," said Benson.
There are more than 100 security officers, including Little Rock police who will be on site throughout the weekend. Organizers say they haven't had any issues with theft but event-goers are advised to leave their purses and other valuable items at home. All you need is a little cash and an ID.
On Saturday morning, Security Officer Philip Benson sat at one of the entrances to the event. He'd been there for nearly 12 hours.
For the second year in a row, Benson is putting in long hours at Riverfest, on the lookout or any misconduct.
"Basically what we try to do is ensure the safety of everybody that is here, as far as not letting fights break out and stuff like that," he said.
Benson says those fights are usually started by people who drink a little too much and get rowdy.
"If you drink, try to limit yourself. Don't get too drunk to where we have to escort you out of the park," the security officer said.
Another security concern here is keeping children close to their parents.
"It can happen in a flash. I don't have children but from what I hear it can happen so quickly," said Zone Captain Barbara Daugherty. "You're walking along, they stop and look at something because we have wonderful things to view everywhere and they stop and look at "oh that's so exciting' and in a flash they're gone."
Daugherty says there are officers ready to help find missing kids; especially if parents stop at an information booth when they first get to the event and ask for a sunny sticker.
"And then if the child does get lost, we ask that they come back and look for a sunny poster that we have here for them," Daugherty said. "We have a really good system with the Little Rock police department. We always get them right back just as quickly as we can."
For lost and stolen items, organizers point event-goers to the several information booths set up along the riverfront; the same place to pick up a festival program and tips for enjoying the weekend festivities.
"We all enjoy making sure everyone has a good time," said Benson.
There are more than 100 security officers, including Little Rock police who will be on site throughout the weekend. Organizers say they haven't had any issues with theft but event-goers are advised to leave their purses and other valuable items at home. All you need is a little cash and an ID.
Nashville police using civil injunctions to stop gang activity www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN May 31 2010 Metro police are ready to roll out their latest weapons in the war on gangs: people and paper.
The department recently added a third team to its Gang Unit — a sergeant and six more detectives — to go after the estimated 2,500 gang members in the Nashville area. Sgt. Sandy Luther, who was one of the original detectives when the Gang Unit was created in 2004, will lead the new team.
The hope is that the extra manpower will help broaden investigations and allow them to use their second new weapon: civil court injunctions.
Last year state lawmakers approved a change to the state's public nuisance laws that were commonly used in the past to target prostitution, gambling and drunkenness. The change adds gang activity to the list of nuisances applicable to these injunctions.
"We're working on a particular case to get that going," said Lt. Gordon Howey, head of the Gang Unit. "We think it'll be a successful tool."
Howey said the new tool will allow police to ask for a judge to stop gang members from hanging out in certain areas, associating with certain people and patronizing specific businesses. Gang members who violate the injunctions could be tossed in jail.
The restrictions imposed by the court orders make defense attorneys and civil liberties advocates uncomfortable.
"It's going to be a First Amendment issue," said Nashville defense attorney Jennifer Thompson, who also sits on the board of directors for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "The right to form associations and to gather."
Thompson said she worries what standards police will have to meet to ban suspected gang members from certain areas or activities. She said the identification of gang members also could lead to racial and ethnic profiling.
"Are they just going to stop everybody who's wearing brown or who looks Hispanic? I think that's dangerous. It could lead to all kinds of misuse," she said. "If those people have already been convicted then they have more power over them. People who are not convicted and just suspected? That would be just wrong. It's clearly a violation just to say, 'You fit our profile.' "
Gang injunctions have been used successfully in California, Florida and a host of other states, where similar objections have been raised.
Law enforcement efforts to rid Fairfield, Calif., of the Norteños gang by using injunctions have been challenged this month by the American Civil Liberties Union as being unconstitutional. Injunction laws in most states have survived such challenges.
Howey had hoped to have the new team assembled and filing cases against gang members by May 1, but the May flooding put everything on hold. He said detectives are particularly interested in disrupting gangs such as the Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples, Brown Pride and Kurdish Pride.
The hope is that the injunctions will persuade some of those gang members to stay away from areas where they have been known to cause trouble.
"You would hope that they would learn from their mistakes," Luther said.
Other Tennessee cities will watch to see whether Nashville's strategy works.
In Memphis the gang population is very spread out making geographic restrictions difficult, said Lt. Mike Shearin, head of the Memphis Police Department's Organized Crime unit.
"It's not one of the tools the Memphis Police Department has used," Shearin said. "But we'd be interested to see if it's successful in Nashville."
The department recently added a third team to its Gang Unit — a sergeant and six more detectives — to go after the estimated 2,500 gang members in the Nashville area. Sgt. Sandy Luther, who was one of the original detectives when the Gang Unit was created in 2004, will lead the new team.
The hope is that the extra manpower will help broaden investigations and allow them to use their second new weapon: civil court injunctions.
Last year state lawmakers approved a change to the state's public nuisance laws that were commonly used in the past to target prostitution, gambling and drunkenness. The change adds gang activity to the list of nuisances applicable to these injunctions.
"We're working on a particular case to get that going," said Lt. Gordon Howey, head of the Gang Unit. "We think it'll be a successful tool."
Howey said the new tool will allow police to ask for a judge to stop gang members from hanging out in certain areas, associating with certain people and patronizing specific businesses. Gang members who violate the injunctions could be tossed in jail.
The restrictions imposed by the court orders make defense attorneys and civil liberties advocates uncomfortable.
"It's going to be a First Amendment issue," said Nashville defense attorney Jennifer Thompson, who also sits on the board of directors for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "The right to form associations and to gather."
Thompson said she worries what standards police will have to meet to ban suspected gang members from certain areas or activities. She said the identification of gang members also could lead to racial and ethnic profiling.
"Are they just going to stop everybody who's wearing brown or who looks Hispanic? I think that's dangerous. It could lead to all kinds of misuse," she said. "If those people have already been convicted then they have more power over them. People who are not convicted and just suspected? That would be just wrong. It's clearly a violation just to say, 'You fit our profile.' "
Gang injunctions have been used successfully in California, Florida and a host of other states, where similar objections have been raised.
Law enforcement efforts to rid Fairfield, Calif., of the Norteños gang by using injunctions have been challenged this month by the American Civil Liberties Union as being unconstitutional. Injunction laws in most states have survived such challenges.
Howey had hoped to have the new team assembled and filing cases against gang members by May 1, but the May flooding put everything on hold. He said detectives are particularly interested in disrupting gangs such as the Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples, Brown Pride and Kurdish Pride.
The hope is that the injunctions will persuade some of those gang members to stay away from areas where they have been known to cause trouble.
"You would hope that they would learn from their mistakes," Luther said.
Other Tennessee cities will watch to see whether Nashville's strategy works.
In Memphis the gang population is very spread out making geographic restrictions difficult, said Lt. Mike Shearin, head of the Memphis Police Department's Organized Crime unit.
"It's not one of the tools the Memphis Police Department has used," Shearin said. "But we'd be interested to see if it's successful in Nashville."
Security officer assaulted, robbed www.privateofficer.com
Lexington Ky May 31 2010
By: Rick McCann/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
Police say that they are searching for two young men who shot a newspaper delivery man early Monday morning.
The victim tells Lexington Police it happened somewhere off Georgetown Street, possibly on Roosevelt Boulevard or Whitney Avenue.
The delivery man, who is around 66 years old, went to the Thornton's gas station at Georgetown Road and Nandino Boulevard, asking for help around 4:30 a.m.
He went to U.K. Hospital and is expected to recover.
Investigators say he was shot in the neck. The bullet went out his back.
Police are trying to determine if that crime is related to an earlier robbery in Lexington, where a security guard was beaten and robbed.
A security guard at Holland Truck Company, off Mercer Road, told police he was locking up a gate when he was hit over the head and robbed by two men.
The security guard also went to the hospital and was treated and released.
Police say that they are trying to determine if the robberies, which occurred in the same area and time frame are connected.
The victim tells Lexington Police it happened somewhere off Georgetown Street, possibly on Roosevelt Boulevard or Whitney Avenue.
The delivery man, who is around 66 years old, went to the Thornton's gas station at Georgetown Road and Nandino Boulevard, asking for help around 4:30 a.m.
He went to U.K. Hospital and is expected to recover.
Investigators say he was shot in the neck. The bullet went out his back.
Police are trying to determine if that crime is related to an earlier robbery in Lexington, where a security guard was beaten and robbed.
A security guard at Holland Truck Company, off Mercer Road, told police he was locking up a gate when he was hit over the head and robbed by two men.
The security guard also went to the hospital and was treated and released.
Police say that they are trying to determine if the robberies, which occurred in the same area and time frame are connected.
Two dead in NC Target store shooting www.privateofficer.com
APEX, N.C. May 31 2010 (WTVD) -- Two people are dead after a Sunday shooting at the Super Target store in the Beaver Creek Commons shopping center off Highway 55.
Police Captain Ann Stephens told ABC11 a man came in just after 11:30 a.m. and shot 59-year-old employee Guadalupe Rosas of Apex.
Shoppers ran for cover as the shots rang out, but no one else was injured by the gunfire.
Witness Justin Ley told ABC11 he was in the checkout line next to Rosas when it happened. He said there was no yelling before the shooting that happened just after Rosas opened a new register. After shooting her, Ley said the shooter then pointed the gun at him and told him to "get the f*** out," and he ran.
Stephens said the shooter was still in the store when police officers arrived. They challenged him to put down his pistol, but Stephens said he instead put the gun to his own head and killed himself.
The shooter was not identified pending notification of next of kin. Stephens said it appears he was not a local and he had out of state license plates on his truck.
Stephens said the investigation shows Rosas and the shooter had been in a relationship that ended in 2005. Rosas had worked for Target for about two years.
In the rush to get out of the store, four people were injured. Most had bumps and bruises, but Stephens said one person suffered a fracture.
The Target store and the Lowes next door remained closed Sunday. Workers were seen returning Monday morning.
In a statement, Target said:
"Target is deeply saddened by the loss of one of our team members and the tragic event that took place at our Apex, N.C., store shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday morning. The safety and well-being of our guests and team members is our highest priority. The store was immediately evacuated following the incident and we are cooperating fully with law enforcement in its investigation."
Target said counselors would be on hand Monday to help employees deal with what happened. Customers who came to the store Monday morning were told it would reopen at 10 a.m.
According to statistics from the American Bar Association, approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States. More than a thousand women are murdered every year by a spouse or partner. If you're in an abusive relationship, there is help available. Victims can call the National Domestic Violence hotline. Go to http://www.ndvh.org/ for more information.
Police Captain Ann Stephens told ABC11 a man came in just after 11:30 a.m. and shot 59-year-old employee Guadalupe Rosas of Apex.
Shoppers ran for cover as the shots rang out, but no one else was injured by the gunfire.
Witness Justin Ley told ABC11 he was in the checkout line next to Rosas when it happened. He said there was no yelling before the shooting that happened just after Rosas opened a new register. After shooting her, Ley said the shooter then pointed the gun at him and told him to "get the f*** out," and he ran.
Stephens said the shooter was still in the store when police officers arrived. They challenged him to put down his pistol, but Stephens said he instead put the gun to his own head and killed himself.
The shooter was not identified pending notification of next of kin. Stephens said it appears he was not a local and he had out of state license plates on his truck.
Stephens said the investigation shows Rosas and the shooter had been in a relationship that ended in 2005. Rosas had worked for Target for about two years.
In the rush to get out of the store, four people were injured. Most had bumps and bruises, but Stephens said one person suffered a fracture.
The Target store and the Lowes next door remained closed Sunday. Workers were seen returning Monday morning.
In a statement, Target said:
"Target is deeply saddened by the loss of one of our team members and the tragic event that took place at our Apex, N.C., store shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday morning. The safety and well-being of our guests and team members is our highest priority. The store was immediately evacuated following the incident and we are cooperating fully with law enforcement in its investigation."
Target said counselors would be on hand Monday to help employees deal with what happened. Customers who came to the store Monday morning were told it would reopen at 10 a.m.
According to statistics from the American Bar Association, approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States. More than a thousand women are murdered every year by a spouse or partner. If you're in an abusive relationship, there is help available. Victims can call the National Domestic Violence hotline. Go to http://www.ndvh.org/ for more information.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Off-duty Atlanta police officer shot during robbery arrest www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta GA May 30 2010 An off duty Atlanta policeman is recovering at Grady hospital tonight.. from a gun shot wound he got trying to break up a robbery in the city's went end.
If it hadn't been for the quick action of bystanders at the scene... things could have been much worse for the officer.
"They said it was about twenty shots that went off over there in front of Popeye's" said eyewitness to the incident, T.J. James.
Atlanta's West End was more like the Wild, Wild West this afternoon.
It began when three men met another man at a gas station to by tire rims.
"The people that were there to purchase the rims elected to rob the individual of the rims instead of purchasing them" explained Atlanta police major Keith Meadows.
An Atlanta police officer who'd just finished his shift was driving by in his personal car...saw the robbery...and jumped out to stop it.
"The officer sustained a gunshot would to the arm" major Meadows said. "It's my understanding his bullet proof vest stopped the one that was to the abdomen."
The officer wrestled with one of the shooters.
And the people of West End stepped up.
"We saw the guy had the officer on the ground...fighting him...punching him" described Earl Conley. "And once the guy in the truck hit the guy...he actually hit the suspect...enough to knock the gun out of his hand."
The guy in the truck...Donald Melvin...was driving by.
This Vietnam vet...with a police officer son...was not going to let this officer die.
"The officer was on top...on the back of him trying to arrest him" Donald Melvin said. "And he flipped the officer over on the ground and the officer wound up on the bottom and he wound up on top. And he had the officer's gun and he was trying to shoot the officer."
Mr. Melvin hit the suspect with his truck...got out...and jumped him.
Earl Conley and Atul Dey ran to help and subdued the man.
Three suspects are in custody...one of whom was shot in the leg by the officer. He is being treated at Grady.
The officer is in stable condition at Grady and according to Atlanta police doing well.
"He is very lucky" agreed major Meadows. "He is lucky that the vest stopped one of the projectiles. And that some of the citizens were willing to get involved and engaged with the individuals who were physically assaulting the officer."
But that's the way it is...in the Wild Wild West...
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Woman lights security officer on fire, commits suicide
MIDWEST CITY, Oklahoma May 29 2010 – A woman who was arrested after lighting a security guard on fire killed herself early Saturday morning in the Midwest City jail, Police Chief Brandon Clables said.
Andrea Ilena Sampson, 30, Del City, was found dead inside her cell during a jail check Saturday morning. She apparently hung herself with a blanket, according to a police department press release.
Sampson was arrested after an incident with a security guard at the Huntington Place Apartments, 1400 N. Midwest Blvd., around 3:20 a.m.
Sampson approached the guard and asked for a ride. According to the guard, Sampson was carrying a one gallon can of gasoline, and he agreed to take her to the nearest gas station but she would have to ride in the back.
Sampson told the guard, "I don't ride in the back seat of stranger's cars", and then opened up the front passenger car door.
At that point, Sampson lit some money on fire and threw it on the guard, catching his uniform on fire.
Thinking Sampson was going to pour gasoline on him, the guard drew his weapon and he and Sampson started struggling over the gun. During the struggle, one round was fired into the driver's door, according to the police press release.
The guard was able to get control of his gun, and Sampson then fled on foot across the street to another apartment complex.
A Midwest City police officer found Sampson at the other apartment complex and was arrested without any problems.
Sampson was booked in the Midwest City jail on a complaint assault with a dangerous weapon.
At 9:30 a.m., jailors conducted a standard hourly jail check. Sampson requested some aspirin. She was found dead in her cell an hour later in a portion of her cell that is out of view of surveillance cameras. Other female prisoners were in the same jail section but housed in different cells and could not see Sampson, police said.
The Midwest City Police Department has one of the largest municipal jail in the state with a capacity of 70 prisoners.
The jail processes an average of 4,200 prisoners per year and has not had a suicide related death since August of 1998.
Andrea Ilena Sampson, 30, Del City, was found dead inside her cell during a jail check Saturday morning. She apparently hung herself with a blanket, according to a police department press release.
Sampson was arrested after an incident with a security guard at the Huntington Place Apartments, 1400 N. Midwest Blvd., around 3:20 a.m.
Sampson approached the guard and asked for a ride. According to the guard, Sampson was carrying a one gallon can of gasoline, and he agreed to take her to the nearest gas station but she would have to ride in the back.
Sampson told the guard, "I don't ride in the back seat of stranger's cars", and then opened up the front passenger car door.
At that point, Sampson lit some money on fire and threw it on the guard, catching his uniform on fire.
Thinking Sampson was going to pour gasoline on him, the guard drew his weapon and he and Sampson started struggling over the gun. During the struggle, one round was fired into the driver's door, according to the police press release.
The guard was able to get control of his gun, and Sampson then fled on foot across the street to another apartment complex.
A Midwest City police officer found Sampson at the other apartment complex and was arrested without any problems.
Sampson was booked in the Midwest City jail on a complaint assault with a dangerous weapon.
At 9:30 a.m., jailors conducted a standard hourly jail check. Sampson requested some aspirin. She was found dead in her cell an hour later in a portion of her cell that is out of view of surveillance cameras. Other female prisoners were in the same jail section but housed in different cells and could not see Sampson, police said.
The Midwest City Police Department has one of the largest municipal jail in the state with a capacity of 70 prisoners.
The jail processes an average of 4,200 prisoners per year and has not had a suicide related death since August of 1998.
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!
BE SAFE IN ALL THAT YOU DO
AND REMEMBER THAT FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u9hFFk_Xs0&feature=player_embedded
Weis Supermarket employees arrested in $90,000 theft www.privateofficer.com
E. Stroudsburg PA May 29 2010 Three men are charged with stealing more than $90,000 worth of merchandise, mostly cigarettes, from the Weis supermarket on Lincoln Avenue in East Stroudsburg.
James S. Accatino, 24, and James R. Wolfertz, 23, both of Stroudsburg, and Richard L. Braun Jr., 23, of East Stroudsburg, turned themselves in Thursday and are charged with theft and criminal conspiracy. Accatino is charged also with having drugs and paraphernalia after a pipe and small amount of marijuana were found in the vehicle used to conceal the stolen merchandise.
On April 30, Weis loss prevention specialists reviewing night-time in-house surveillance tapes observed three night-shift employees, later identified as Accatino, Wolfertz and Braun, taking cartons of cigarettes from the customer service counter, placing them in plastic bags, leaving them near a back door and then loading them into a vehicle owned by one of the three.
The loss prevention specialists reviewed older tapes and found the trio had been doing this in the past.
On May 7, specialists set up a surveillance team and caught the defendants concealing three garbage bags full of cigarette cartons in a vehicle. The total retail value of the contents in the garbage bags was $5,920.84.
Stroud Area Regional Police were contacted, arrested the trio and took them before East Stroudsburg Magisterial District Judge Michael Muth for arraignments on charges. Braun and Wolfertz were released on $5,000 unsecured bail and Accatino on $6,000 unsecured bail.
All three will appear again before Muth in the future for preliminary hearings.
James S. Accatino, 24, and James R. Wolfertz, 23, both of Stroudsburg, and Richard L. Braun Jr., 23, of East Stroudsburg, turned themselves in Thursday and are charged with theft and criminal conspiracy. Accatino is charged also with having drugs and paraphernalia after a pipe and small amount of marijuana were found in the vehicle used to conceal the stolen merchandise.
On April 30, Weis loss prevention specialists reviewing night-time in-house surveillance tapes observed three night-shift employees, later identified as Accatino, Wolfertz and Braun, taking cartons of cigarettes from the customer service counter, placing them in plastic bags, leaving them near a back door and then loading them into a vehicle owned by one of the three.
The loss prevention specialists reviewed older tapes and found the trio had been doing this in the past.
On May 7, specialists set up a surveillance team and caught the defendants concealing three garbage bags full of cigarette cartons in a vehicle. The total retail value of the contents in the garbage bags was $5,920.84.
Stroud Area Regional Police were contacted, arrested the trio and took them before East Stroudsburg Magisterial District Judge Michael Muth for arraignments on charges. Braun and Wolfertz were released on $5,000 unsecured bail and Accatino on $6,000 unsecured bail.
All three will appear again before Muth in the future for preliminary hearings.
Shoplifter faces robbery charge www.privateofficer.com
MORRIS PLAINS NJ May 29 2010— A Dover man faces robbery and aggravated assault charges on a police officer after allegedly attempting to shoplift clothes from the Kohl's on Wednesday.
Nelson Roldam, 42, was observed trying to swipe roughly $130 worth of clothing by an off-duty Randolph Police officer who tried stopping him in the 3:03 p.m. in the store's parking lot, Morris Plains police said Thursday.
Roldam ran until stopped by the officer, who was then assaulted by the suspect, police said, adding the Randolph officer suffered minor injuries that didn't require medical attention.
Roldan was then taken into custody by Morris Plains police and lodged in the Morris County jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Nelson Roldam, 42, was observed trying to swipe roughly $130 worth of clothing by an off-duty Randolph Police officer who tried stopping him in the 3:03 p.m. in the store's parking lot, Morris Plains police said Thursday.
Roldam ran until stopped by the officer, who was then assaulted by the suspect, police said, adding the Randolph officer suffered minor injuries that didn't require medical attention.
Roldan was then taken into custody by Morris Plains police and lodged in the Morris County jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Man charged in $24,000 shoplifting scheme www.privateofficer.com
OCEAN TOWNSHIP NJ May 29 2010 — Police arrested a man they say was shoplifting from chain stores throughout the state.
On May 19, police investigated a possible shoplifting scheme at the BJ's Wholesale Club on Route 35, where the bar code on an electronic robot pool cleaner had been altered to drastically reduce the price, police said. The difference in the price was $1,920, according to police.
Township resident Jeffrey L. Hirschmann, 60, was arrested May 21 and charged with shoplifting.
Hirschmann had been altering the UPC code at numerous locations of the chain store — Mays Landing, Jersey City, Voorhees, Vineland, Secaucus, East Rutherford, Edison, Linden, the Manahawkin section of Stafford, Toms River, Hamilton and Old Bridge — and had stolen from the Ocean Township location three times, defrauding the stores of a total of $23,520, police said.
Hirschmann was reselling the robotic cleaners on eBay, according to police.
He was released on a criminal summons pending a court hearing.
On May 19, police investigated a possible shoplifting scheme at the BJ's Wholesale Club on Route 35, where the bar code on an electronic robot pool cleaner had been altered to drastically reduce the price, police said. The difference in the price was $1,920, according to police.
Township resident Jeffrey L. Hirschmann, 60, was arrested May 21 and charged with shoplifting.
Hirschmann had been altering the UPC code at numerous locations of the chain store — Mays Landing, Jersey City, Voorhees, Vineland, Secaucus, East Rutherford, Edison, Linden, the Manahawkin section of Stafford, Toms River, Hamilton and Old Bridge — and had stolen from the Ocean Township location three times, defrauding the stores of a total of $23,520, police said.
Hirschmann was reselling the robotic cleaners on eBay, according to police.
He was released on a criminal summons pending a court hearing.
Teacher charged with endangering student
Leonia NJ May 29 2010 — Authorities arrested a Fort Lee man for allegedly engaging in inappropriate conduct with a 16-year-old female student from Leonia High School, were he was a student teacher.
Fort Lee resident Ilya Krakinovskiy was charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a fourth degree crime, after an investigation lead by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit.
Krakinovskiy, a graduate from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s (FDU) Teaneck campus, was released on his own recognizance pending his first court appearance in Leonia Municipal Court.
In a letter to parents, Superintendent Bernard Josefsberg said, "Having served as the host site for Mr. Krakinovskiy’s pre-service teaching, we are dismayed and saddened by this report."
The letter also stated that the alleged behavior occurred off campus during non-school hours.
Krakinovskiy, who worked at the high school from January through May, came to the school district upon the recommendation of FDU.
"The first question when you hear of something like this is did we do anything either by permission or omission, that assisted him in his conduct, and the answer is no. He was closely supervised," explained Josefsberg.
Josefsberg said a background check would have taken place at FDU and that all student candidates are interviewed and their references are checked.
But when Josefsberg was asked if the school district performs their own background checks on student teachers, in addition to any a university might conduct, he said no.
"There’s an assumption that the university would not be making that request had they not scrutinized their candidate at some level, and that they will vouch for his character," Josefsberg said. "That’s the assumption."
Although the district performs background checks when they hire full- and part-time teachers, student teachers do not undergo the same review, despite the fact they work within an "arena" that allows them to interact with students.
"If we were required to investigate the criminal history of every student teacher, we would be more reluctant to do that work because we don’t have to," Josefsberg said. "Why would the university expect us to do the work they should be doing. They’re [student teachers] in our care. That’s why they’re supervised."
Josefsberg said he was told by officials from FDU that Krakinovskiy, who worked at the campus bookstore, had nothing in his background or behavior that would have predicted this outcome.
"Of course they were saying that because they were in a difficult situation," Josefsberg explained. "But I believe them."
Krakinovskiy, who is no longer a student teacher at LHS, is also ordered to have no contact with the student.
Fort Lee resident Ilya Krakinovskiy was charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a fourth degree crime, after an investigation lead by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit.
Krakinovskiy, a graduate from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s (FDU) Teaneck campus, was released on his own recognizance pending his first court appearance in Leonia Municipal Court.
In a letter to parents, Superintendent Bernard Josefsberg said, "Having served as the host site for Mr. Krakinovskiy’s pre-service teaching, we are dismayed and saddened by this report."
The letter also stated that the alleged behavior occurred off campus during non-school hours.
Krakinovskiy, who worked at the high school from January through May, came to the school district upon the recommendation of FDU.
"The first question when you hear of something like this is did we do anything either by permission or omission, that assisted him in his conduct, and the answer is no. He was closely supervised," explained Josefsberg.
Josefsberg said a background check would have taken place at FDU and that all student candidates are interviewed and their references are checked.
But when Josefsberg was asked if the school district performs their own background checks on student teachers, in addition to any a university might conduct, he said no.
"There’s an assumption that the university would not be making that request had they not scrutinized their candidate at some level, and that they will vouch for his character," Josefsberg said. "That’s the assumption."
Although the district performs background checks when they hire full- and part-time teachers, student teachers do not undergo the same review, despite the fact they work within an "arena" that allows them to interact with students.
"If we were required to investigate the criminal history of every student teacher, we would be more reluctant to do that work because we don’t have to," Josefsberg said. "Why would the university expect us to do the work they should be doing. They’re [student teachers] in our care. That’s why they’re supervised."
Josefsberg said he was told by officials from FDU that Krakinovskiy, who worked at the campus bookstore, had nothing in his background or behavior that would have predicted this outcome.
"Of course they were saying that because they were in a difficult situation," Josefsberg explained. "But I believe them."
Krakinovskiy, who is no longer a student teacher at LHS, is also ordered to have no contact with the student.
Police shoot-kill man who shot security officer www.privateofficer.com
Florence SC May 29 2010 A Florence County sheriff's deputy has been placed on administrative leave with pay after he he shot and killed a man at a nightclub.
When deputies arrived at Seeker's Nightclub on Irby Street just after 3:00 Friday morning, they found the bouncer wounded in the parking lot. Deputies say he'd been shot by someone at the club.
Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone says when his deputy approached the club-goer, the suspect failed to follow the officer's orders. "When they arrived they heard multiple gunshots being fired at different locations, and then obviously the bouncer was shot. The deputy confronted this individual who was armed and commanded him to drop his weapon and he did not and the officer did not have no other alternative," Boone explained.
An autopsy is being performed on the suspect's body to confirm a cause of death.
The name of the deputy involved in the shooting will be released at a later time.
This is the second time in two weeks that a Florence County sheriff's deputy has used deadly force.
Guard talks about liquor store robbery after beating
Guard talks about liquor store robbery
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. May 29 2010(WSVN) -- A security guard is speaking out after suffering a beating by bandits.
Surveillance video captured the robbery, which occurred at the Crown Liquor Store, near Northwest Ninth Street and Sunrise Boulevard, Wednesday. According to police, the bandits tormented employees at the liquor store, including Marco Russell, a security guard on-duty at the time of the crime.
The robbers told Russell to get on the ground as they repeatedly kicked and beat him. "I went on the ground. He took my revolver, my .38, from me right away, and then he started at me. I was shaking," Russell said. "I thought it was, like, a joke or something, until the guy went around the back to the cashier, and she started screaming. I said, 'Oh, it's not a joke. It's really real,'" said Russell.
Surveillance video showed customers as they attempted to flee the store; one of the crooks struck a customer in the face as she tried to escape. Some customers managed to get out of the liquor store as the robbery ensued. Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Kathy Collins said, "You can see how cold and callous these guys are. They don't seem very organized. They look like a bunch of guys that got their hands on a couple of guns and decided to make some money by robbing and tormenting people."
The armed thieves demanded a female employee open up a safe in the liquor store; however, she did not have a key to it. The robbers managed to steal money from the store's cash register and robbed some customers still inside the liquor store. "They left with a couple thousand dollars," said Collins.
Despite being attacked, Russell is thankful to be alive. "I just thank God more often for the extra days," he said.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of the thieves, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. May 29 2010(WSVN) -- A security guard is speaking out after suffering a beating by bandits.
Surveillance video captured the robbery, which occurred at the Crown Liquor Store, near Northwest Ninth Street and Sunrise Boulevard, Wednesday. According to police, the bandits tormented employees at the liquor store, including Marco Russell, a security guard on-duty at the time of the crime.
The robbers told Russell to get on the ground as they repeatedly kicked and beat him. "I went on the ground. He took my revolver, my .38, from me right away, and then he started at me. I was shaking," Russell said. "I thought it was, like, a joke or something, until the guy went around the back to the cashier, and she started screaming. I said, 'Oh, it's not a joke. It's really real,'" said Russell.
Surveillance video showed customers as they attempted to flee the store; one of the crooks struck a customer in the face as she tried to escape. Some customers managed to get out of the liquor store as the robbery ensued. Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Kathy Collins said, "You can see how cold and callous these guys are. They don't seem very organized. They look like a bunch of guys that got their hands on a couple of guns and decided to make some money by robbing and tormenting people."
The armed thieves demanded a female employee open up a safe in the liquor store; however, she did not have a key to it. The robbers managed to steal money from the store's cash register and robbed some customers still inside the liquor store. "They left with a couple thousand dollars," said Collins.
Despite being attacked, Russell is thankful to be alive. "I just thank God more often for the extra days," he said.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of the thieves, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.
Woman with loaded gun comes to bail boyfriend out of jail www.privateofficer.com
LAKE COUNTY IN MAY 29 2010
A Gary woman who came to bail out her male companion was arrested after she brought a loaded pistol into the Lake County Courts building in the government complex.
Whitney Sharde Brooks, 24, of 5708 Cypress Ave., faces a charge of carrying a handgun without a permit after court security officer Mike Dorsey found the loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol with a 12-round clip in her purse, Lt. Harry Warrens said.
Brooks had shown up at the center on Wednesday to post bail for Darrell Loving, who had been arrested earlier that day.
Loving was charged with disorderly conduct after he was told he couldn't bring his cell phone into court and refused to pull up his sagging pants. Loving was yelling and refused to quiet down, Warrens said.
Brooks said she forgot the pistol was in her purse and told security officials she had applied for a permit to carry the weapon the day before. Warrens said the gun was confiscated, but Brooks can get it back if she provides proof that she has a permit.
Signs are posted outside the building informing visitors that weapons and chemical sprays are not allowed in the courts building. In addition, cell phones have been banned in the courtrooms for several months.
A Gary woman who came to bail out her male companion was arrested after she brought a loaded pistol into the Lake County Courts building in the government complex.
Whitney Sharde Brooks, 24, of 5708 Cypress Ave., faces a charge of carrying a handgun without a permit after court security officer Mike Dorsey found the loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol with a 12-round clip in her purse, Lt. Harry Warrens said.
Brooks had shown up at the center on Wednesday to post bail for Darrell Loving, who had been arrested earlier that day.
Loving was charged with disorderly conduct after he was told he couldn't bring his cell phone into court and refused to pull up his sagging pants. Loving was yelling and refused to quiet down, Warrens said.
Brooks said she forgot the pistol was in her purse and told security officials she had applied for a permit to carry the weapon the day before. Warrens said the gun was confiscated, but Brooks can get it back if she provides proof that she has a permit.
Signs are posted outside the building informing visitors that weapons and chemical sprays are not allowed in the courts building. In addition, cell phones have been banned in the courtrooms for several months.
NC teacher assistant arrested for inappropriate touching www.privateofficer.com
Alamance County, NC May 29 2010-- Alamance County Sheriff Deputies arrested a Burlington Middle School Teacher Assistant after reports he allegedly touched students inappropriately.
The administration of Western Middle School reported the incident to the Alamance County Sheriff's Office back in March.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of 41-year-old, Russell Witcher of Burlington after an intense investigation by Alamance County Sheriff's Office and the Alamance-Burlington School System and the District Attorney's office.
Witcher is in the Alamance County Jail under a bond of $75,000. His first court appearance is June 1, 2010.
The administration of Western Middle School reported the incident to the Alamance County Sheriff's Office back in March.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of 41-year-old, Russell Witcher of Burlington after an intense investigation by Alamance County Sheriff's Office and the Alamance-Burlington School System and the District Attorney's office.
Witcher is in the Alamance County Jail under a bond of $75,000. His first court appearance is June 1, 2010.
Goodpasture school instructor charged with rape www.privateofficer.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn.May 29 2010 - Sex Crimes detectives with the Metro Nashville Police Department arrested 22-year-old Jonathon Doyle Mann on Friday.
Police said he's the drumline instructor for Goodpasture School.
Lawmen said Mann is charged with two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure and one count of sexual battery by an authority figure.
Police said the charges deal with a 14-year-old girl he met through his work at the school.
The girl's parents went to police after meeting with officials at the school.
Police said he's the drumline instructor for Goodpasture School.
Lawmen said Mann is charged with two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure and one count of sexual battery by an authority figure.
Police said the charges deal with a 14-year-old girl he met through his work at the school.
The girl's parents went to police after meeting with officials at the school.
Metro Nashville police officer charged with murder www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN May 29 2010 Metro Police officer Deon Cartmell was arrested Friday after he was indicted in the death of his wife.
Cartmell, 23, had said that his wife, Shari, 24, shot herself while the two were sitting on the living room couch on March 16 in their home on Saunders Avenue in Madison.
An investigation by Metro detectives Charles Robinson and Norris Tarkington found that Cartmell's account of his wife's death did not match the evidence, according to a police news release.
The gun used in the shooting was owned by Deon Cartmell and was not his service weapon.
Cartmell had been a police officer in the East Precinct for less than a year at the time of his wife's death. He graduated from the police academy in July 2009 and was decommissioned on March 17.
He has been placed on administrative assignment and was in jail Friday night.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Three arrested in credit card thefts www.privateofficer.com
NEWARK NJ May 28 2010 — Three people have been arrested by the Licking County Sheriff’s Office on suspicion of using stolen credit cards.
According to a news release, a resident filed a report with the Licking County Sheriff’s Office and said her purse had been stolen from the trunk of her car at Dawes Arboretum.
The cards were subsequently used at Heath stores, including Indian Mound Mall and Toys ‘R’ Us, the news release said.
Deputies identified Rueben Russell, 22, as a suspect with the help of a store clerk and arrested him.
An anonymous tip and a surveillance video for the Heath Wal-Mart led to the arrest of Sarah Bellis, 18, and another tip led to the arrest of David Welch, 26, the sheriff’s office said.
Welch, last known address 138 Bickel Church Road, Baltimore, has been charged with theft of credit cards and theft from a motor vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.
Billis, last known address 12300 Ohio Ave., Millersport, has been charged with receiving stolen property and misuse of credit cards, the sheriff’s office said.
Russell, last known address 114 N. Buena Vista St., Newark, has been charged with obstructing official business, the sheriff’s office said.
According to a news release, a resident filed a report with the Licking County Sheriff’s Office and said her purse had been stolen from the trunk of her car at Dawes Arboretum.
The cards were subsequently used at Heath stores, including Indian Mound Mall and Toys ‘R’ Us, the news release said.
Deputies identified Rueben Russell, 22, as a suspect with the help of a store clerk and arrested him.
An anonymous tip and a surveillance video for the Heath Wal-Mart led to the arrest of Sarah Bellis, 18, and another tip led to the arrest of David Welch, 26, the sheriff’s office said.
Welch, last known address 138 Bickel Church Road, Baltimore, has been charged with theft of credit cards and theft from a motor vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.
Billis, last known address 12300 Ohio Ave., Millersport, has been charged with receiving stolen property and misuse of credit cards, the sheriff’s office said.
Russell, last known address 114 N. Buena Vista St., Newark, has been charged with obstructing official business, the sheriff’s office said.
Security nabs man videotaping under woman's skirt www.privateofficer.com
DELHI TWP.OH May 28 2010 -- A 33-year-old West Price Hill man was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly used his cell phone to videotape under the skirt of a woman who was shopping at a bigg's grocery store.
Delmicio Tolliver was arrested on charges of voyeurism, possession of criminal tools and drug abuse.
Police said Tolliver was spotted by a store security employee putting the phone under the woman's skirt. The woman had no idea that she was being recorded.
Police say that when they arrived Tolliver tried to dispose of a marijuana cigarette. They said he admitted to recording the woman but deleted the file. Police said they will try and restore the recording for their case.
Tolliver spent 12 years in prison for killing a man in 1995 and was released from parole on that sentence in February 2009, according to Ohio prison records.
Hamilton County Municipal Judge Bernie Bouchard set bond at $30,000 for Tolliver. He ordered that if Tolliver is able to post that bail, he must stay away from the biggs store on Delhi Pike.
Delmicio Tolliver was arrested on charges of voyeurism, possession of criminal tools and drug abuse.
Police said Tolliver was spotted by a store security employee putting the phone under the woman's skirt. The woman had no idea that she was being recorded.
Police say that when they arrived Tolliver tried to dispose of a marijuana cigarette. They said he admitted to recording the woman but deleted the file. Police said they will try and restore the recording for their case.
Tolliver spent 12 years in prison for killing a man in 1995 and was released from parole on that sentence in February 2009, according to Ohio prison records.
Hamilton County Municipal Judge Bernie Bouchard set bond at $30,000 for Tolliver. He ordered that if Tolliver is able to post that bail, he must stay away from the biggs store on Delhi Pike.
Police use Taser on 77 yr old shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
PORTSMOUTH NH May 28 2010 – Three days after his 77th birthday, a Massachusetts man was Tasered by a Portsmouth police officer and arrested for theft and resisting arrest yesterday.
Police said an officer responded to the BJ's Wholesale store on Woodbury Avenue for a report of a suspected shoplifter around 11:30 a.m. When the officer got there, he encountered the suspect, Richard Maynard of Reading, Mass., in the store bathroom trying to open an item with a folding pocket knife, police said. The officer said he ordered Maynard to drop the knife and, when he didn't, used a stun gun.
Police said Maynard was treated at Portsmouth Hospital before being arrested. He was released on $1,000 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on June 22
Younker's employee arrested for theft in receipt scheme www.privateofficer.com
CORALVILLE IA May 28 2010 – A Coral Ridge Younkers employee used receipts to reap off the refunds.
Johnson County deputies arrested Lane A. Hanon, 34, of Coralville for second-degree theft Wednesday.
Hanaon, Deputies said, would memorize transaction numbers from old receipts and then credit himself to a pre-paid Visa card.
Officers said Hanon made the false transactions from December 27, 2009 to May 20, 2010, about 23 times, and collected $1,442 from the fake returns.
Hanon admitted to the theft, according to the complaint.
Johnson County deputies arrested Lane A. Hanon, 34, of Coralville for second-degree theft Wednesday.
Hanaon, Deputies said, would memorize transaction numbers from old receipts and then credit himself to a pre-paid Visa card.
Officers said Hanon made the false transactions from December 27, 2009 to May 20, 2010, about 23 times, and collected $1,442 from the fake returns.
Hanon admitted to the theft, according to the complaint.
Jacksonville Walmart employee faces felony theft charges www.privateofficer.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. May 28 2010-- Police have arrested a 22-year-old Walmart cashier for employee theft after an investigation by loss prevention agents.
According to a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office police report, on Friday, Jeanae Paige, 22, of Jacksonville was working as a cashier when she was approached by a black male who handed her a Walmart money card.
Police said Paige put $818 on the card, but video surveillance showed the man did not hand over any cash in exchange for the credit. Then she requested cash from her supervisor and gave the man $818 cash for a total of $1,636 in cash and credit.
According to the report, Paige told police she did not remember the transaction and could not explain why she did not receive money from the man but put money onto his card. She also had no explanation for why she gave the man cash.
Police have identified a man who matches the man with the gift card on the surveillance video.
She is is charged with employee theft between $300 and 4,999.
According to a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office police report, on Friday, Jeanae Paige, 22, of Jacksonville was working as a cashier when she was approached by a black male who handed her a Walmart money card.
Police said Paige put $818 on the card, but video surveillance showed the man did not hand over any cash in exchange for the credit. Then she requested cash from her supervisor and gave the man $818 cash for a total of $1,636 in cash and credit.
According to the report, Paige told police she did not remember the transaction and could not explain why she did not receive money from the man but put money onto his card. She also had no explanation for why she gave the man cash.
Police have identified a man who matches the man with the gift card on the surveillance video.
She is is charged with employee theft between $300 and 4,999.
Home Depot employee arrested in thefts www.privateofficer.com
BATAVIA NY May 28 2010—A woman accused of stealing more than $2,000 over seven months while employed at Home Depot was arrested this week and charged with grand larceny, the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
Deputies say Grace Anne Stewart, of the Town of Batavia, stole the money between Nov. 1 and Monday from the Home Depot at 4181 Veterans Memorial Drive.
The store loss prevention personnel investigated the thefts but did not release how the thefts took place.
She must appear in Batavia Town Court on June 14 to answer the charge.
Deputies say Grace Anne Stewart, of the Town of Batavia, stole the money between Nov. 1 and Monday from the Home Depot at 4181 Veterans Memorial Drive.
The store loss prevention personnel investigated the thefts but did not release how the thefts took place.
She must appear in Batavia Town Court on June 14 to answer the charge.
San Bernardino uses police, security to protect schools www.privateofficer.com
San Bernardino CA May 28 2010 The San Bernardino City Unified School District has a police force larger than Highland’s with the same police powers, plus another force patrolling individual schools on bicycles.
Showing a visitor around the school police headquarters next to the Adult School in San Bernardino, Police Chief Gary Underwood shows pride in the force of sworn officers he commands, as well as a support staff to back them up.
“We have 55 campuses patrolled by campus security officers, patterned after our sworn officers,” Underwood says. “They are highly trained and educated, all on bicycles. Many use this as a step toward becoming a sworn officer.”
Underwood says there are two campus security officers at each middle school in the district, and six at each high school. Elementary schools are not staffed by security officers.
Campus security officers are uniformed and wear the familiar Sam Brown Belt equipped with handcuffs and pepper spray.
The sworn officers go through the same training as other police and sheriff’s officers, constantly updating their education, agility and firearms practice, and are empowered to make arrests anywhere in California, but generally limit themselves at and around school sites to keep students safe both at school and on trips to and from school.
“We have 26 sworn officers, most with college degrees,” Underwood says. “Our lieutenant graduated from FBI training in Quantico, Va.”
Just as any police department, applicants undergo a vigorous background check and only about two out of 10 make it into the training regimen.
The police headquarters includes an evidence locker and booking room, interview rooms with hidden cameras to record interviews, a law library, and a dispatch center with three dispatchers to coordinate police dispatches.
Monitors show where officers are and dispatchers keep tabs on their location and status.
“We make about 4,200 to 4,600 arrests a year,” Underwood says.
In the main office, a sergeant reviews reports and has a computer that can track the records of arrestees and coordinate with other law enforcement agencies. One officer is assigned to gang activity.
A briefing room is where officers gather for morning briefing and are sent out on their way to keep 55,000 students safe.
Underwood is proud of his department and likes to show off its personnel and equipment.
Showing a visitor around the school police headquarters next to the Adult School in San Bernardino, Police Chief Gary Underwood shows pride in the force of sworn officers he commands, as well as a support staff to back them up.
“We have 55 campuses patrolled by campus security officers, patterned after our sworn officers,” Underwood says. “They are highly trained and educated, all on bicycles. Many use this as a step toward becoming a sworn officer.”
Underwood says there are two campus security officers at each middle school in the district, and six at each high school. Elementary schools are not staffed by security officers.
Campus security officers are uniformed and wear the familiar Sam Brown Belt equipped with handcuffs and pepper spray.
The sworn officers go through the same training as other police and sheriff’s officers, constantly updating their education, agility and firearms practice, and are empowered to make arrests anywhere in California, but generally limit themselves at and around school sites to keep students safe both at school and on trips to and from school.
“We have 26 sworn officers, most with college degrees,” Underwood says. “Our lieutenant graduated from FBI training in Quantico, Va.”
Just as any police department, applicants undergo a vigorous background check and only about two out of 10 make it into the training regimen.
The police headquarters includes an evidence locker and booking room, interview rooms with hidden cameras to record interviews, a law library, and a dispatch center with three dispatchers to coordinate police dispatches.
Monitors show where officers are and dispatchers keep tabs on their location and status.
“We make about 4,200 to 4,600 arrests a year,” Underwood says.
In the main office, a sergeant reviews reports and has a computer that can track the records of arrestees and coordinate with other law enforcement agencies. One officer is assigned to gang activity.
A briefing room is where officers gather for morning briefing and are sent out on their way to keep 55,000 students safe.
Underwood is proud of his department and likes to show off its personnel and equipment.
Sunbather in critical condition after run over by police vehicle www.privateofficer.com
LONG BEACH, N.Y. May 28 2010 (CBS) ―
An investigation is now underway after a Long Beach sunbather is run over by a police SUV. The victim remains in critical condition Thursday with a broken spine, and now the accident has many thinking twice about allowing heavy vehicles on the beach.
You can see his sandal still sitting in the sand, along with part of a crumpled chaise lounge. The 43-year-old victim was on his cell phone, listening to the radio when police said a Long Beach SUV accelerated suddenly in response to a swimmer in distress.
"It necessitated a very sharp right-hand turn and that would be on the passenger's side, where you do have sort of a blind spot, and the unfortunate individual was in a low chaise lounge and unfortunately got run over," said Long Beach City Manager Charles Theofan.
Theofan said the accident occurred when steamy weather drove hundreds to the beach, which doesn't officially open until Saturday. With no lifeguards yet on duty, extra officers were called in in various vehicles.
"Maybe they can do something about that, but they have to be out here and we've seen them rescue people and help people," said Long Beach resident Steve Fein.
Fein and his family watched the drama unfold and wondered about beach rules and heavy police vehicles.
"I'm on the beach a lot and I always see these big trucks and I always wonder, 'Wow they are like three inches from me,'" said Gayle Fein.
Long Beach does have lighter patrol vehicles and rules keep them in an emergency lane near the water's edge. During the summer season, they may now make changes.
In Miami Beach, policy changed when a police SUV there killed a sunbathing tourist. Now, those Florida officers must patrol on bicycles and all terrain vehicles, limit speeds to 15 miles an hour, and use overhead flashing lights on the beach.
New York State Park Police have SUVs, but at Jones Beach they try to use restricted lane and snow fences as boundaries.
"We keep clear so that if there is an emergency on the shoreline they will be able to respond," said New York State Parks Spokesman George Gorman.
The sunbathing victim, identified as Marshall Starkman, remains in intensive care with a broken back. His family in Oceanside declined comment and they may be hiring a lawyer.
The officer who hit him didn't even know it until he heard the shouts.
In light of the accident, several communities around New York have pledge to re-examine their policies regarding police vehicles patrolling beaches.
An investigation is now underway after a Long Beach sunbather is run over by a police SUV. The victim remains in critical condition Thursday with a broken spine, and now the accident has many thinking twice about allowing heavy vehicles on the beach.
You can see his sandal still sitting in the sand, along with part of a crumpled chaise lounge. The 43-year-old victim was on his cell phone, listening to the radio when police said a Long Beach SUV accelerated suddenly in response to a swimmer in distress.
"It necessitated a very sharp right-hand turn and that would be on the passenger's side, where you do have sort of a blind spot, and the unfortunate individual was in a low chaise lounge and unfortunately got run over," said Long Beach City Manager Charles Theofan.
Theofan said the accident occurred when steamy weather drove hundreds to the beach, which doesn't officially open until Saturday. With no lifeguards yet on duty, extra officers were called in in various vehicles.
"Maybe they can do something about that, but they have to be out here and we've seen them rescue people and help people," said Long Beach resident Steve Fein.
Fein and his family watched the drama unfold and wondered about beach rules and heavy police vehicles.
"I'm on the beach a lot and I always see these big trucks and I always wonder, 'Wow they are like three inches from me,'" said Gayle Fein.
Long Beach does have lighter patrol vehicles and rules keep them in an emergency lane near the water's edge. During the summer season, they may now make changes.
In Miami Beach, policy changed when a police SUV there killed a sunbathing tourist. Now, those Florida officers must patrol on bicycles and all terrain vehicles, limit speeds to 15 miles an hour, and use overhead flashing lights on the beach.
New York State Park Police have SUVs, but at Jones Beach they try to use restricted lane and snow fences as boundaries.
"We keep clear so that if there is an emergency on the shoreline they will be able to respond," said New York State Parks Spokesman George Gorman.
The sunbathing victim, identified as Marshall Starkman, remains in intensive care with a broken back. His family in Oceanside declined comment and they may be hiring a lawyer.
The officer who hit him didn't even know it until he heard the shouts.
In light of the accident, several communities around New York have pledge to re-examine their policies regarding police vehicles patrolling beaches.
Man arrested for kissing-smelling feet www.privateofficer.com
ALBANY, GA May 28 2010 (WALB) –
An Albany man is arrested for conning a Darton College student into letting him kiss and smell her feet.
19-year old Daryl Melton is charged with simple battery.
He is neither a student nor an employee at Darton College.
Darton College Police say May 25th at the college library Melton told a 19 year old student he was studying to be an orthopedic therapist, and wanted to give her a survey.
In a private study room Melton asked her questions while kissing and smelling her feet.
The student ran, and Melton was arrested on campus.
Alert security officer leads police to burglary suspects www.privateofficer.com
Alameda CA May 28 2010 Police arrested two men after a security guard discovered them early Monday morning allegedly stealing copper wire and other metal from a building at Alameda Point.
The guard heard noises coming from the building in the 2600 block of Lexington Street about 4:10 a.m., and police said the men were discovered inside, dismantling electrical equipment.
Both men also reportedly were found with what police described as burglary tools, including pliers and bolt cutters.
One man, 50, who lives in Berkeley, also was carrying two syringes in his socks, and he was on probation for possessing stolen property, police said.
His 53-year-old companion lives in Emeryville and was arrested in the 2600 block of Monarch Street, where police said he was found hiding in a crawl space.
Thieves steal copper wire and other metal to sell as scrap.
The guard heard noises coming from the building in the 2600 block of Lexington Street about 4:10 a.m., and police said the men were discovered inside, dismantling electrical equipment.
Both men also reportedly were found with what police described as burglary tools, including pliers and bolt cutters.
One man, 50, who lives in Berkeley, also was carrying two syringes in his socks, and he was on probation for possessing stolen property, police said.
His 53-year-old companion lives in Emeryville and was arrested in the 2600 block of Monarch Street, where police said he was found hiding in a crawl space.
Thieves steal copper wire and other metal to sell as scrap.
Indianapolis police officer charged with arson www.privateofficer.com
Indianapolis IN May 28 2010 - An Indianapolis police officer has been arrested in connection with an Indianapolis apartment arson.
Police say 31-year-old Jesse Russel, Jr. was an IMPD officer for three years. He was arrested Thursday, held on two counts of arson, and has resigned immediately.
The first case involved a fire that happened May 14 at Lakeview Terrace Apartments near 21st and Mitthoeffer on the far eastside.
Federal, state and local teams worked the investigation, ruling out accidental causes early in the process. While there were no injuries, the damage was estimated at $30,000.
Investigators are still unclear if there is a connection to two additional fires at the Nottingham Village apartments. Those fires occurred April 23 and May 6.
Police are not releasing a mug shot for investigative purposes.
Police say 31-year-old Jesse Russel, Jr. was an IMPD officer for three years. He was arrested Thursday, held on two counts of arson, and has resigned immediately.
The first case involved a fire that happened May 14 at Lakeview Terrace Apartments near 21st and Mitthoeffer on the far eastside.
Federal, state and local teams worked the investigation, ruling out accidental causes early in the process. While there were no injuries, the damage was estimated at $30,000.
Investigators are still unclear if there is a connection to two additional fires at the Nottingham Village apartments. Those fires occurred April 23 and May 6.
Police are not releasing a mug shot for investigative purposes.
Campus security officer saves baby's life www.privateofficer.com
COLLIER COUNTY FLA May 28 2010 An Edison State College campus security officer helped save a baby's life. NBC2 found out how a penny, a baby and a quick thinking ex-cop collided for one heck of a story.
Little Anthony was saved by the quick thinking of his parents and emergency crews. The one-year-old who was choking on a penny earlier this week slept soundly Thursday night.
Sergeant Herbert Hall, a security officer at Edison State's Collier campus, helped save him.
"It stopped in the middle of the road and the doors opened and I heard yelling and screaming," said Hall.
Hall says they were parents in need of help. The mom was desperate to save her child.
"She was reaching into the infant's mouth with her finger and it was obvious to me that at that point something was caught in the child's throat," said Hall.
The mom was able to get the penny out, but Anthony still wasn't breathing.
That's when Sergeant Hall says he gave Anthony mouth to mouth.
Though he's being called a hero, Hall says it's all just part of the job.
"This is my 16th life-saving award in 42 years doing this for a living," he said.
That living includes stints at the Collier County Sheriff's Office and the Massachusetts State Police.
"The mother really saved the child's life. I was just able to help at the end," he said.
Anthony's family didn't want to go on camera, but they said they're thankful for the quick response of all the emergency crews.
And as for Hall, he said he's just happy little Anthony is alive.
"I was very elated that the child started to breathe again. That made my day," he said.
Little Anthony was saved by the quick thinking of his parents and emergency crews. The one-year-old who was choking on a penny earlier this week slept soundly Thursday night.
Sergeant Herbert Hall, a security officer at Edison State's Collier campus, helped save him.
"It stopped in the middle of the road and the doors opened and I heard yelling and screaming," said Hall.
Hall says they were parents in need of help. The mom was desperate to save her child.
"She was reaching into the infant's mouth with her finger and it was obvious to me that at that point something was caught in the child's throat," said Hall.
The mom was able to get the penny out, but Anthony still wasn't breathing.
That's when Sergeant Hall says he gave Anthony mouth to mouth.
Though he's being called a hero, Hall says it's all just part of the job.
"This is my 16th life-saving award in 42 years doing this for a living," he said.
That living includes stints at the Collier County Sheriff's Office and the Massachusetts State Police.
"The mother really saved the child's life. I was just able to help at the end," he said.
Anthony's family didn't want to go on camera, but they said they're thankful for the quick response of all the emergency crews.
And as for Hall, he said he's just happy little Anthony is alive.
"I was very elated that the child started to breathe again. That made my day," he said.
Popular Fairfax County teacher found not guilty of molestation www.privateofficer.com
Fairfax VA May 28 2010 A Fairfax County jury needed only 47 minutes Thursday to find a popular schoolteacher not guilty of molesting a 12-year-old girl in their school gym this year.
Sean Lanigan, 43, smiled and tears flowed among his dozens of supporters in the courtroom as the verdicts were read clearing Lanigan of charges of aggravated sexual battery and abduction. The case against him hinged on the testimony of two sixth-grade girls at Centre Ridge Elementary School in Centreville, who said Lanigan had scooped up one of the girls in the middle of the school gym, carried her into an equipment room, laid her down on a mat and massaged her shoulders, groping her in the process.
Lanigan testified Wednesday that he did no such thing. The married father of three said he treated students the way he treated his children, picking them up, twirling them around, laughing and joking. He taught at Centre Ridge for 12 years and coached youth soccer throughout Northern Virginia for 20 years.
Lanigan and five other people testified that there were no mats in the equipment room where the girls said he carried one of them. The main accuser, who acknowledged having a grudge against Lanigan for threatening to discipline her for her bullying behavior on the school bus patrol, alleged that Lanigan briefly touched her breast and buttock during the incident.
Jurors said the prosecution had no case, and after reading their legal instructions, it took the seven women and five men about 10 minutes to come to their unanimous decision.
"It was an easy decision," said juror Asmaa al-Ghafari. "I just hope Mr. Lanigan can get his life back."
"There was no evidence," juror Jacklyn West said. "There was no case."
Lanigan, who was thrilled by the verdict, said his arrest, suspension without pay and subsequent publicity had destroyed his life. When his attorney, Peter D. Greenspun, discussed the devastation to Lanigan in his closing argument, West broke down in tears and the trial was briefly recessed.
West and other jurors said the 12-year-old accuser "had no idea of the consequences" of accusing Lanigan of molesting her. "This poor man. That's why I cried."
Fairfax County school officials could not say whether, or when, Lanigan might be restored to his job as a physical education teacher at Centre Ridge.
"An innocent man was freed," Lanigan said. "I knew the truth would finally come out."
He added: "I'm looking forward to getting on the soccer field with my girls' team, which I'll do tonight. I'd love to come back to Centre Ridge and teach." He also coached the varsity boys' soccer team at Herndon High School.
His accuser said the incident happened Jan. 12, and it was reported to police Jan. 15. Fairfax detectives questioned Lanigan on Jan. 20, and he was arrested Jan. 29.
Since then, he said, "my life's been an absolute living hell. Everything I loved to do has been taken away."
But the support of family and friends, including neighbors and relatives cooking meals or donating gift cards, helped him and his family survive, Lanigan said. A Facebook page supporting Lanigan has more than 750 members.
He declined to discuss his legal costs but said they were in the "tens of thousands" of dollars.
After a day of jury selection Monday, jurors heard two days of testimony, then closing arguments Thursday morning.
To convict Lanigan of aggravated sexual battery of someone younger than 13, the jury would have had to find that the alleged groping was "committed with the intent to sexually molest, arouse or gratify any person, where the defendant intentionally touches the complaining witness's intimate parts or material clothing covering such intimate parts."
Four jurors said they thought that Lanigan should never have been arrested. "There wasn't really an investigation," al-Ghafari said. Greenspun had argued that detectives did not speak to other people in the school about the accuser or the circumstances she alleged.
"The prosecution didn't have enough evidence," juror Jasna Wilson said. "I think it was an injustice."
Jurors said they were gratified by the Lanigan supporters' emotional response in the courtroom, and some of the jurors spoke to Lanigan and his family afterward.
Some jurors said they thought that Lanigan's main accuser, who testified that she feared losing her spots on the safety patrol, the in-school video news team and the "PE Pals" gym cleanup crew, perhaps had her own troubles.
"I think she put herself into something she couldn't find her way out of," al-Ghafari said.
Sean Lanigan, 43, smiled and tears flowed among his dozens of supporters in the courtroom as the verdicts were read clearing Lanigan of charges of aggravated sexual battery and abduction. The case against him hinged on the testimony of two sixth-grade girls at Centre Ridge Elementary School in Centreville, who said Lanigan had scooped up one of the girls in the middle of the school gym, carried her into an equipment room, laid her down on a mat and massaged her shoulders, groping her in the process.
Lanigan testified Wednesday that he did no such thing. The married father of three said he treated students the way he treated his children, picking them up, twirling them around, laughing and joking. He taught at Centre Ridge for 12 years and coached youth soccer throughout Northern Virginia for 20 years.
Lanigan and five other people testified that there were no mats in the equipment room where the girls said he carried one of them. The main accuser, who acknowledged having a grudge against Lanigan for threatening to discipline her for her bullying behavior on the school bus patrol, alleged that Lanigan briefly touched her breast and buttock during the incident.
Jurors said the prosecution had no case, and after reading their legal instructions, it took the seven women and five men about 10 minutes to come to their unanimous decision.
"It was an easy decision," said juror Asmaa al-Ghafari. "I just hope Mr. Lanigan can get his life back."
"There was no evidence," juror Jacklyn West said. "There was no case."
Lanigan, who was thrilled by the verdict, said his arrest, suspension without pay and subsequent publicity had destroyed his life. When his attorney, Peter D. Greenspun, discussed the devastation to Lanigan in his closing argument, West broke down in tears and the trial was briefly recessed.
West and other jurors said the 12-year-old accuser "had no idea of the consequences" of accusing Lanigan of molesting her. "This poor man. That's why I cried."
Fairfax County school officials could not say whether, or when, Lanigan might be restored to his job as a physical education teacher at Centre Ridge.
"An innocent man was freed," Lanigan said. "I knew the truth would finally come out."
He added: "I'm looking forward to getting on the soccer field with my girls' team, which I'll do tonight. I'd love to come back to Centre Ridge and teach." He also coached the varsity boys' soccer team at Herndon High School.
His accuser said the incident happened Jan. 12, and it was reported to police Jan. 15. Fairfax detectives questioned Lanigan on Jan. 20, and he was arrested Jan. 29.
Since then, he said, "my life's been an absolute living hell. Everything I loved to do has been taken away."
But the support of family and friends, including neighbors and relatives cooking meals or donating gift cards, helped him and his family survive, Lanigan said. A Facebook page supporting Lanigan has more than 750 members.
He declined to discuss his legal costs but said they were in the "tens of thousands" of dollars.
After a day of jury selection Monday, jurors heard two days of testimony, then closing arguments Thursday morning.
To convict Lanigan of aggravated sexual battery of someone younger than 13, the jury would have had to find that the alleged groping was "committed with the intent to sexually molest, arouse or gratify any person, where the defendant intentionally touches the complaining witness's intimate parts or material clothing covering such intimate parts."
Four jurors said they thought that Lanigan should never have been arrested. "There wasn't really an investigation," al-Ghafari said. Greenspun had argued that detectives did not speak to other people in the school about the accuser or the circumstances she alleged.
"The prosecution didn't have enough evidence," juror Jasna Wilson said. "I think it was an injustice."
Jurors said they were gratified by the Lanigan supporters' emotional response in the courtroom, and some of the jurors spoke to Lanigan and his family afterward.
Some jurors said they thought that Lanigan's main accuser, who testified that she feared losing her spots on the safety patrol, the in-school video news team and the "PE Pals" gym cleanup crew, perhaps had her own troubles.
"I think she put herself into something she couldn't find her way out of," al-Ghafari said.
Boy may loose eye after assault with ballooon filled with bleach
LILBURN, GA May 28 2010-- Throwing water balloons on a hot summer day can be fun. But a water balloon filled with bleach thrown at a 14-year old boy from a passing car is an assault according to police.
The balloon hit Lilburn Middle School student Miguel Mesa right in the face. His right eye is bloodshot and black and blue. His left eye is covered with a bandage and Mesa said it is much worse.
He looks like he went 12 rounds with a heavyweight contender. "It hit me right in the eyes," Mesa said. "I thought I broke my nose, but then I felt my eyes were like burning."
Mesa, Juan Rivera and Oscar Rodriguez are students at Lilburn Middle School. Wednesday was their last day of school before summer vacation. Mesa said they chose to walk home from school rather than take the bus because they wanted to spend some time together.
The boys were walking on the sidewalk along Highway 29 when Rivera saw a gray minivan driving by with the side sliding door open. Rivera said he saw two teenagers in the front and one in the back. "I just heard Juan say they're throwing water balloons and I just looked up and (it hit me)," Mesa said. "I just fell down and it started bleeding and everything."
"At first I thought he was kidding around and then when I saw his eyes bleeding that's when I knew it was more than water," Rivera said.
Mesa's father wishes his son took the bus after getting a call at work from a Lilburn police officer. "I was praying my way to the hospital, actually thinking the worst," Severo Mesa said.
His son was transported by ambulance to Gwinnett Medical Center. "They (doctors) tell me that the Clorox really wasn't that much of a problem but the impact was," the boy said.
His father said his son will have an MRI on Friday to determine if he will ever see out of his left eye again. "What I was thinking is I would give my vision for his," the older Mesa said. "He's just beginning (his life) and I already lived half of my life."
There were several pieces of broken balloons along Highway 29 where Mesa was hit. The boys said the person in the back of the car was throwing balloons at other kids too.
Lilburn police are hoping someone knows the teenagers in the gray mini-van. I hope the police do everything they can to find them because it's a crime," Rivera said. "My friend could be blind by now but thanks to God he's not."
Severo Mesa said even if it was a prank, the teens need to be punished. "Anything we do has consequences," he said. "I believe they will have to deal with those consequences sooner or later."
"Lilburn police are seeking information from the public on the location of the van as well as the identity of the suspects involved in the incident," said Captain Bruce Hedley.
He said the gray minivan had a black stripe on the lower portion of the vehicle. He asked anyone with information to call Investigator Kim Banks at 770-921-2211.
The balloon hit Lilburn Middle School student Miguel Mesa right in the face. His right eye is bloodshot and black and blue. His left eye is covered with a bandage and Mesa said it is much worse.
He looks like he went 12 rounds with a heavyweight contender. "It hit me right in the eyes," Mesa said. "I thought I broke my nose, but then I felt my eyes were like burning."
Mesa, Juan Rivera and Oscar Rodriguez are students at Lilburn Middle School. Wednesday was their last day of school before summer vacation. Mesa said they chose to walk home from school rather than take the bus because they wanted to spend some time together.
The boys were walking on the sidewalk along Highway 29 when Rivera saw a gray minivan driving by with the side sliding door open. Rivera said he saw two teenagers in the front and one in the back. "I just heard Juan say they're throwing water balloons and I just looked up and (it hit me)," Mesa said. "I just fell down and it started bleeding and everything."
"At first I thought he was kidding around and then when I saw his eyes bleeding that's when I knew it was more than water," Rivera said.
Mesa's father wishes his son took the bus after getting a call at work from a Lilburn police officer. "I was praying my way to the hospital, actually thinking the worst," Severo Mesa said.
His son was transported by ambulance to Gwinnett Medical Center. "They (doctors) tell me that the Clorox really wasn't that much of a problem but the impact was," the boy said.
His father said his son will have an MRI on Friday to determine if he will ever see out of his left eye again. "What I was thinking is I would give my vision for his," the older Mesa said. "He's just beginning (his life) and I already lived half of my life."
There were several pieces of broken balloons along Highway 29 where Mesa was hit. The boys said the person in the back of the car was throwing balloons at other kids too.
Lilburn police are hoping someone knows the teenagers in the gray mini-van. I hope the police do everything they can to find them because it's a crime," Rivera said. "My friend could be blind by now but thanks to God he's not."
Severo Mesa said even if it was a prank, the teens need to be punished. "Anything we do has consequences," he said. "I believe they will have to deal with those consequences sooner or later."
"Lilburn police are seeking information from the public on the location of the van as well as the identity of the suspects involved in the incident," said Captain Bruce Hedley.
He said the gray minivan had a black stripe on the lower portion of the vehicle. He asked anyone with information to call Investigator Kim Banks at 770-921-2211.
Car destroys guardshack while officers are inside www.privateofficer.com
Hollister CA May 28 2010 The Ridgemark security building was destroyed this morning when a car crashed into it, while the two guards inside the structure were unharmed, according to a human resources official from the country club property.
The accident happened around 7:45 a.m. at the entrance to the gated community portion of the property, said Denise Orlando-Garcia, manager of the executive office and human resources.
She called it a "freak accident" and she was unsure how the collision unfolded. Ridgemark contracts with Presidential Protection Services for its security.
"The two security guards were in it, and the building fell around them," she said, noting how it "just kind of collapsed" and that the workers were "lucky."
Crews hours after the accident were at the site tearing down the remains of the building.
The California Highway Patrol responded, while an agency spokesman is gathering information on the incident.
The accident happened around 7:45 a.m. at the entrance to the gated community portion of the property, said Denise Orlando-Garcia, manager of the executive office and human resources.
She called it a "freak accident" and she was unsure how the collision unfolded. Ridgemark contracts with Presidential Protection Services for its security.
"The two security guards were in it, and the building fell around them," she said, noting how it "just kind of collapsed" and that the workers were "lucky."
Crews hours after the accident were at the site tearing down the remains of the building.
The California Highway Patrol responded, while an agency spokesman is gathering information on the incident.
Murder suspect mistakenly released from Nashville jail www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN May 28 2010
Tennessean A man accused of murder was mistakenly released from the Metro Jail and roamed the streets for at least 11 days before authorities realized he was even gone.
Finis Lewis, 32, remained at large Thursday, the beneficiary of a Davidson County Sheriff's Office "clerical error" on May 14. Officials scrambled to track him down this week, calling Lewis an extremely dangerous, high-risk inmate. Lewis is accused of murdering Kenneth Crawley in August 2008 in the J.C. Napier Public Housing Development.
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall acknowledged Thursday that his agency was to blame for the error and said they didn't know Lewis was gone until Tuesday of this week.
"It's obviously something internal," Hall said. "We clearly know it was something that happened inside our agency in the booking/releasing process."
Related
Sheriff's Office mistakenly lets accused killer free
His agency also never alerted the public that Lewis was gone. They left that for Metro police to do Wednesday night.
"That's not our role," Hall said. "We could release a press release about the circumstances, but we're not out enforcing that. I think it's a police call whether they want to roll out that information."
Crawley's mother, Lisa Crawley, still lives in J.C. Napier and remembers the night she heard the gunshots that killed her son. Since she heard Lewis was on the loose, she has barricaded her door at night and kept a metal pole in her kitchen in case she needs to defend herself.
"He knows where I live," she said Thursday. "I put stuff in front of my door, and I have booby-traps. I've lost 5 pounds in 10 days."
Crawley said she heard through friends May 15 about Lewis going free. She said she called the sheriff's office to ask about him being gone and was shocked to have it confirmed. She said no one from the sheriff's office called her about it until Tuesday of this week.
"They're supposed to protect us," she said. "It's pitiful."
Lewis was transferred from prison to the Metro Jail on Oct. 15, 2009, after serving a term for violating his parole, officials said
Once there, he was to await trial on charges in Kenneth Crawley's murder and an unrelated attempted murder case. But when prosecutors dropped the attempted murder charge, jail officials let him walk free.
Hall said the mistake came when Lewis was first transferred back to jail after the parole violation. He said jailers should have re-booked him on the attempted murder and murder charges. Instead, the move was somehow classified as an inter-agency transfer.
As a result, the murder charge was never listed as "active," Hall said.
Hall said it's not clear if the error was made by an employee, a software glitch or a problem with procedures, but his office is investigating.
Sheriff's Office mistakenly lets accused killer free
Though Crawley said she called the jail on May 15 after hearing Lewis was out, Hall said none of his employees remembered her calling.
Metro police's gang unit found out about Lewis on Monday, said police spokesman Don Aaron. Wednesday night police put out a news release alerting the public that they were looking for Lewis.
Lewis' attorney, Paul Walwyn, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Hall said his agency is helping in the manhunt for Lewis, whom he described as being "up there with the highest" risk inmates.
"He surely and clearly has the capability of harming people, and we need him back where he should be," Hall said.
Meanwhile, Crawley still deals with the pain of losing her son.
"I keep trying to move forward, to get all this behind me," she said. "I'm on pause. Still waiting."
Anyone with information about Lewis' whereabouts is asked to call police at 615-862-8600 or Crime Stoppers at 615-74-CRIME.
Tennessean A man accused of murder was mistakenly released from the Metro Jail and roamed the streets for at least 11 days before authorities realized he was even gone.
Finis Lewis, 32, remained at large Thursday, the beneficiary of a Davidson County Sheriff's Office "clerical error" on May 14. Officials scrambled to track him down this week, calling Lewis an extremely dangerous, high-risk inmate. Lewis is accused of murdering Kenneth Crawley in August 2008 in the J.C. Napier Public Housing Development.
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall acknowledged Thursday that his agency was to blame for the error and said they didn't know Lewis was gone until Tuesday of this week.
"It's obviously something internal," Hall said. "We clearly know it was something that happened inside our agency in the booking/releasing process."
Related
Sheriff's Office mistakenly lets accused killer free
His agency also never alerted the public that Lewis was gone. They left that for Metro police to do Wednesday night.
"That's not our role," Hall said. "We could release a press release about the circumstances, but we're not out enforcing that. I think it's a police call whether they want to roll out that information."
Crawley's mother, Lisa Crawley, still lives in J.C. Napier and remembers the night she heard the gunshots that killed her son. Since she heard Lewis was on the loose, she has barricaded her door at night and kept a metal pole in her kitchen in case she needs to defend herself.
"He knows where I live," she said Thursday. "I put stuff in front of my door, and I have booby-traps. I've lost 5 pounds in 10 days."
Crawley said she heard through friends May 15 about Lewis going free. She said she called the sheriff's office to ask about him being gone and was shocked to have it confirmed. She said no one from the sheriff's office called her about it until Tuesday of this week.
"They're supposed to protect us," she said. "It's pitiful."
Lewis was transferred from prison to the Metro Jail on Oct. 15, 2009, after serving a term for violating his parole, officials said
Once there, he was to await trial on charges in Kenneth Crawley's murder and an unrelated attempted murder case. But when prosecutors dropped the attempted murder charge, jail officials let him walk free.
Hall said the mistake came when Lewis was first transferred back to jail after the parole violation. He said jailers should have re-booked him on the attempted murder and murder charges. Instead, the move was somehow classified as an inter-agency transfer.
As a result, the murder charge was never listed as "active," Hall said.
Hall said it's not clear if the error was made by an employee, a software glitch or a problem with procedures, but his office is investigating.
Sheriff's Office mistakenly lets accused killer free
Though Crawley said she called the jail on May 15 after hearing Lewis was out, Hall said none of his employees remembered her calling.
Metro police's gang unit found out about Lewis on Monday, said police spokesman Don Aaron. Wednesday night police put out a news release alerting the public that they were looking for Lewis.
Lewis' attorney, Paul Walwyn, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Hall said his agency is helping in the manhunt for Lewis, whom he described as being "up there with the highest" risk inmates.
"He surely and clearly has the capability of harming people, and we need him back where he should be," Hall said.
Meanwhile, Crawley still deals with the pain of losing her son.
"I keep trying to move forward, to get all this behind me," she said. "I'm on pause. Still waiting."
Anyone with information about Lewis' whereabouts is asked to call police at 615-862-8600 or Crime Stoppers at 615-74-CRIME.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sleeping passenger left alone on plane for hours www.privateofficer.com
PHILADELPHIA PA May 27 2010 (CBS) ―
When the 50-seat United Express commuter plane arrived at Philadelphia Airport just after midnight, everyone got off – except Ginger McGuire. Instead, she was found four hours later by the jet's cleaning crew.
The sleeping passenger was found on an airplane, alone, nearly four hours after everyone else got off. It's adding a new twist to airport security concerns, as the incident is raising questions about who's watching the planes we fly.
When the 50-seat United Express commuter plane arrived at Philadelphia Airport just after midnight, everyone got off – except Ginger McGuire.
"I fell asleep on the plane. Next thing you know, I wake up at four o'clock in the morning, nobody's on the plane, nothing," McGuire said.
McGuire had been left alone after the 65-minute flight, sleeping on the empty commuter jet for nearly four hours before she was found by the plane's cleaning crew.
"I'm completely freaked out at this point," McGuire said. "I'm like, 'oh my God, why didn't somebody wake me up?'"
Passengers who expect the airlines to be vigilant say leaving a person alone, with easy access, on a plane is a clear lapse in security.
"I can't believe, on a 50-passenger plane, nobody would wake someone up like that," passenger Trevor Hirz said.
"In a sense it is a security issue, because if you're not paying attention to that, what else are you not paying attention to?" passenger Benito Martinez said.
A spokesperson for United Express released the following statement: "We are working closely with our partner, Trans States [Airlines], to investigate the cause and remedy the situation with the customer."
McGuire blames the airline.
"[This is] really easy stuff. All this drama could have been avoided if someone just made the effort to, number one, wake me up, and number two, not to just leave me there," McGuire said.
A spokesperson for Trans States, the commuter airline, says it's standard protocol to make sure all passengers are safely off the plane at the end of every flight.
McGuire, who works at a cable TV station in a Detroit suburb, says the crew simply forgot her.
Overland Park KS. police work with retailers to curb shoplifting www.privateofficer.com
Overland Park KS May 27 2010
Sun News police say a stepped-up effort to thwart a form of “organized crime” is paying significant dividends.
Just over a year ago, the department began putting extra emphasis on disrupting organized retail theft rings operating at the Oak Park Mall. Since then, dramatic decreases in merchandise losses have been reported by a number of mall retailers.
At the Macy’s department store alone, the yearly theft losses dropped from $480,000 to $266,000 after the new retail crime unit effort got under way.
Express clothing store representatives told the department that its typical weekly losses of $1,300 were reduced to $120 after the program was implemented.
The program involves new enforcement strategies and stronger efforts to better educate store management on loss prevention techniques. Similar efforts also have been used beyond the mall, but to a limited extent. Now, Police Chief John Douglass says his department will expand more aggressively to other retail centers.
Douglass says theft prevention is especially crucial to Overland Park because of its major retail centers and the city’s heavy budgetary reliance on sales tax revenues.
“We can’t let that revenue stream be attacked or eliminated,” Douglass said.
The chief added that it has been especially critical to retailers that thefts be minimized during the recession.
“If we didn’t help keep the losses down, some of (the merchants) may well have fallen over the side. That’s how important this was,” Douglass said.
Detective Dennis Reaser said patrol officers and merchants in the past often treated shoplifting cases as individual crimes. Now, police say that they and retailers are working more effectively in linking singular thefts to what could be part of much larger criminal networks.
If police nab someone they suspect to be part of a crime organization, they are more aggressive about questioning the suspect and getting him or her to divulge names of others in the group.
Police say some of their individual arrests led to information that allowed them to undermine higher-level fencing operations. In some instances, the clearing of up to 2,000 to 3,000 theft cases has stemmed from a single arrest.
One Overland Park shoplifting arrest resulted in the apprehension of eight suspects. A search warrant of the suspects’ homes in Blue Springs, Mo., led to the recovery of about $23,000 worth of items stolen from 70 different retailers including 30 at Oak Park, Reaser said. Police also recovered $11,000 worth of gift card receipts in that sweep.
Officers and retailers both are being better trained and informed about identifying tell-tale signs of professional criminal activity. The retailers are encouraged to share information about suspected thieves with other merchants and the police.
In some cases, merchants gave photos of suspected shoplifters to police, who in turn observed and then apprehend the suspects in the act of a theft.
The enforcement effort involves more than shoplifting. In a recent briefing of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, Detective Brian Pierce explained that one case involved a check scheme in which two women robbed Macy’s and Dillard’s of more than $275,000 by using fraudulent checks.
Police also recently made arrests involving the cashing of fraudulent payroll checks at the Price Chopper grocery store near 75th Street and Metcalf Avenue. Pierce said that on Fridays – the thieves’ preferred day of doing the scam – the store was cashing 10 to 25 payroll checks that turned out to be fakes. The average amount of each check was about $800.
While Reaser said that members of the theft groups should not be confused with characters from “The Godfather,” they nevertheless are well organized criminals.
“It definitely is individuals getting together and recruiting others to steal merchandise and to sell that stolen merchandise,” Reaser said.
He emphasized that shoppers should not be alarmed by such activity. The thieves do not pose a crime hazard to patrons. In fact, the offenders prefer to stay as low-profile as possible.
Small-dollar shoplifting cases usually involve young people caught stealing small items, said Officer Jim Weaver, the department’s public information officer.
In fact, misdemeanor shoplifting cases that went through municipal court last year were dominated by teens.
But the most monetary damage for stores is done in felony thefts often involving the organized groups, police say.
During one six-month period at the mall, Reaser said, police recovered almost $93,000 worth of stolen property.
While the department has had significant success in breaking up some theft rings and greatly reducing losses at the mall, Reaser said law enforcement’s job hardly is over. If police efforts are diverted elsewhere for long, the thieves soon will return, he said.
So, the department has maintained an office at the mall for several years, and when there are signs of reviving criminal activity the officers redouble efforts.
Reaser said the department’s retail unit has not gone unnoticed in the crime world.
“It sends a message, if you are coming to Overland Park we will arrest you and we will go after your entire organized retail crime group,” Reaser said.
When one city gets highly aggressive in fighting retail thefts, the thieves typically move into other communities. But Reaser said the entire area benefits from the arrests and the undermining of a theft ring.
“We work with other communities and jurisdictions,” Reaser said. “As long as we have a tie in Johnson County (to a crime group), we’ll go anywhere else they operate and we’ll try to get them charged in those other places as well.”
Sun News police say a stepped-up effort to thwart a form of “organized crime” is paying significant dividends.
Just over a year ago, the department began putting extra emphasis on disrupting organized retail theft rings operating at the Oak Park Mall. Since then, dramatic decreases in merchandise losses have been reported by a number of mall retailers.
At the Macy’s department store alone, the yearly theft losses dropped from $480,000 to $266,000 after the new retail crime unit effort got under way.
Express clothing store representatives told the department that its typical weekly losses of $1,300 were reduced to $120 after the program was implemented.
The program involves new enforcement strategies and stronger efforts to better educate store management on loss prevention techniques. Similar efforts also have been used beyond the mall, but to a limited extent. Now, Police Chief John Douglass says his department will expand more aggressively to other retail centers.
Douglass says theft prevention is especially crucial to Overland Park because of its major retail centers and the city’s heavy budgetary reliance on sales tax revenues.
“We can’t let that revenue stream be attacked or eliminated,” Douglass said.
The chief added that it has been especially critical to retailers that thefts be minimized during the recession.
“If we didn’t help keep the losses down, some of (the merchants) may well have fallen over the side. That’s how important this was,” Douglass said.
Detective Dennis Reaser said patrol officers and merchants in the past often treated shoplifting cases as individual crimes. Now, police say that they and retailers are working more effectively in linking singular thefts to what could be part of much larger criminal networks.
If police nab someone they suspect to be part of a crime organization, they are more aggressive about questioning the suspect and getting him or her to divulge names of others in the group.
Police say some of their individual arrests led to information that allowed them to undermine higher-level fencing operations. In some instances, the clearing of up to 2,000 to 3,000 theft cases has stemmed from a single arrest.
One Overland Park shoplifting arrest resulted in the apprehension of eight suspects. A search warrant of the suspects’ homes in Blue Springs, Mo., led to the recovery of about $23,000 worth of items stolen from 70 different retailers including 30 at Oak Park, Reaser said. Police also recovered $11,000 worth of gift card receipts in that sweep.
Officers and retailers both are being better trained and informed about identifying tell-tale signs of professional criminal activity. The retailers are encouraged to share information about suspected thieves with other merchants and the police.
In some cases, merchants gave photos of suspected shoplifters to police, who in turn observed and then apprehend the suspects in the act of a theft.
The enforcement effort involves more than shoplifting. In a recent briefing of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, Detective Brian Pierce explained that one case involved a check scheme in which two women robbed Macy’s and Dillard’s of more than $275,000 by using fraudulent checks.
Police also recently made arrests involving the cashing of fraudulent payroll checks at the Price Chopper grocery store near 75th Street and Metcalf Avenue. Pierce said that on Fridays – the thieves’ preferred day of doing the scam – the store was cashing 10 to 25 payroll checks that turned out to be fakes. The average amount of each check was about $800.
While Reaser said that members of the theft groups should not be confused with characters from “The Godfather,” they nevertheless are well organized criminals.
“It definitely is individuals getting together and recruiting others to steal merchandise and to sell that stolen merchandise,” Reaser said.
He emphasized that shoppers should not be alarmed by such activity. The thieves do not pose a crime hazard to patrons. In fact, the offenders prefer to stay as low-profile as possible.
Small-dollar shoplifting cases usually involve young people caught stealing small items, said Officer Jim Weaver, the department’s public information officer.
In fact, misdemeanor shoplifting cases that went through municipal court last year were dominated by teens.
But the most monetary damage for stores is done in felony thefts often involving the organized groups, police say.
During one six-month period at the mall, Reaser said, police recovered almost $93,000 worth of stolen property.
While the department has had significant success in breaking up some theft rings and greatly reducing losses at the mall, Reaser said law enforcement’s job hardly is over. If police efforts are diverted elsewhere for long, the thieves soon will return, he said.
So, the department has maintained an office at the mall for several years, and when there are signs of reviving criminal activity the officers redouble efforts.
Reaser said the department’s retail unit has not gone unnoticed in the crime world.
“It sends a message, if you are coming to Overland Park we will arrest you and we will go after your entire organized retail crime group,” Reaser said.
When one city gets highly aggressive in fighting retail thefts, the thieves typically move into other communities. But Reaser said the entire area benefits from the arrests and the undermining of a theft ring.
“We work with other communities and jurisdictions,” Reaser said. “As long as we have a tie in Johnson County (to a crime group), we’ll go anywhere else they operate and we’ll try to get them charged in those other places as well.”
NC teacher charged with having sex with disabled student www.privateofficer.com
SHELBY, N.C.May 27 2010 -- A former teacher at the North Shelby School for special needs students was charged Wednesday with having a sexual relationship with a student.
Nichole Chapman, 28, abruptly resigned her teaching job on Monday. On Wednesday, she was brought into the Cleveland County Magistrate's Office by two Shelby Police Department detectives.
As she was led in, she said, "There was no crime...Yes, I am innocent."
She was charged with two counts of taking indecent liberties with a student and two counts of committing a sexual offense with a student.
After appearing before the magistrate she challenged reporters to go talk to the 19-year-old male student and his mother. She said they "will tell you there was nothing happening."
Both the student, Vavaughia Snipes, and his mother agreed to speak to reporters.
"I ain't no victim," Snipes said.
He said Chapman and he became friends and he said she told him she was having marital problems. He said their relationship eventually became sexual and that their encounters took place at the house where he lives with his mother and family. His mother also told NewsChannel 36 that she approves of the relationship.
"If it is love, man, it's love," he said. "Nobody can stop this."
Snipes said he suffers from seizures and has a learning disability.
"I love her and she loved me so it ain't going to stop me from seeing her," he said.
Shelby Police Chief Jeff Ledford said any physical relationship between a teacher and a student, no matter what the age, is a crime.
Ledford said he was only mildly surprised that the suspect in this case was a woman.
"It's just not something you hear every day and if you do read about it, it's someplace else," said the chief.
Nichole Chapman, 28, abruptly resigned her teaching job on Monday. On Wednesday, she was brought into the Cleveland County Magistrate's Office by two Shelby Police Department detectives.
As she was led in, she said, "There was no crime...Yes, I am innocent."
She was charged with two counts of taking indecent liberties with a student and two counts of committing a sexual offense with a student.
After appearing before the magistrate she challenged reporters to go talk to the 19-year-old male student and his mother. She said they "will tell you there was nothing happening."
Both the student, Vavaughia Snipes, and his mother agreed to speak to reporters.
"I ain't no victim," Snipes said.
He said Chapman and he became friends and he said she told him she was having marital problems. He said their relationship eventually became sexual and that their encounters took place at the house where he lives with his mother and family. His mother also told NewsChannel 36 that she approves of the relationship.
"If it is love, man, it's love," he said. "Nobody can stop this."
Snipes said he suffers from seizures and has a learning disability.
"I love her and she loved me so it ain't going to stop me from seeing her," he said.
Shelby Police Chief Jeff Ledford said any physical relationship between a teacher and a student, no matter what the age, is a crime.
Ledford said he was only mildly surprised that the suspect in this case was a woman.
"It's just not something you hear every day and if you do read about it, it's someplace else," said the chief.
NC man charged with raping 6 yr old girls www.privateofficer.com
GASTONIA, N.C.May 27 2010 -- A 19-year-old Gastonia, N.C., man has been charged with raping two girls who were 6 years old at the time, police say.
Travis Bryant McFerrin, of Red Bird Lane, faces four felony counts in the case, according to Gaston County police Capt. J.D. Ramey.
Ramey said the alleged crimes took place over a three-month period from July to September in 2007, and then again last August in McFerrin’s home. It means McFerrin was 16 and 18 at the time of the alleged attacks.
Police said McFerrin had dropped out of college recently and was not working.
McFerrin is charged with two counts of statutory rape and two counts of indecent liberties with a minor.
He is being held in Gaston County Jail under $500,000 bond, police say.
Travis Bryant McFerrin, of Red Bird Lane, faces four felony counts in the case, according to Gaston County police Capt. J.D. Ramey.
Ramey said the alleged crimes took place over a three-month period from July to September in 2007, and then again last August in McFerrin’s home. It means McFerrin was 16 and 18 at the time of the alleged attacks.
Police said McFerrin had dropped out of college recently and was not working.
McFerrin is charged with two counts of statutory rape and two counts of indecent liberties with a minor.
He is being held in Gaston County Jail under $500,000 bond, police say.
Houston security officer charged with murder www.privateofficer.com
HOUSTON TX May 27 2010 -- A controversial shooting Monday night in southeast Houston ended with a 20-year-old father dead. The apartment complex security guard said he shot the man because feared for his life. But now he's been charged with murder.
Terry Beacon, 22, has been charged with murder in the death of Everette Crockett, 20.
A neighbor at the Cullen Park Apartments reportedly says Crockett bumped her car and cracked her taillight. She asked the security guard to intervene.
Officials with the security company say during the confrontation Crockett was belligerent and appeared to threaten to run over Beacon. They say Beacon fired because he was in fear for his life.
Neighbors and Crockett's mother claim there were no threats to Beacon, and the shooting was unwarranted.
According to witness reports in court documents, Beacon was scene running towards Crockett's vehicle with his gun drawn before firing into the car, striking Crockett in the upper left torso.
Beacon has been with the Top Gun security company since 2009. Bail has been set at $50,000.
College reduces police force because campus is too safe www.privateofficer.com
RALEIGH NC May 27 2010
By: Rick McCann/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
http://www.privateofficer.com/ – In a time when many colleges and universities are arming their security personnel and transitioning from a security department to a police force, one North Carolina college is downsizing police personnel.
Meredith College says that because of the low crime rate that their school has experienced that have decided to reduce its force of armed police officers.
The school laid off four of its seven officers after the college saw only one violent crime between 2006 and 2008.
Meredith school officials say that they already have a security force on campus which they will rely on mostly for campus protection.
However, security officers are not capable of making arrests or carrying guns.
A Meredith College spokesperson says the college is a very safe campus and the safety of staff and students is their highest priority and they do not feel the reduced police presence will impact the safety of their campus.
By: Rick McCann/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
http://www.privateofficer.com/ – In a time when many colleges and universities are arming their security personnel and transitioning from a security department to a police force, one North Carolina college is downsizing police personnel.
Meredith College says that because of the low crime rate that their school has experienced that have decided to reduce its force of armed police officers.
The school laid off four of its seven officers after the college saw only one violent crime between 2006 and 2008.
Meredith school officials say that they already have a security force on campus which they will rely on mostly for campus protection.
However, security officers are not capable of making arrests or carrying guns.
A Meredith College spokesperson says the college is a very safe campus and the safety of staff and students is their highest priority and they do not feel the reduced police presence will impact the safety of their campus.
Shoplifter gets prison time for stabbing police dog www.privateofficer.com
TUKWILA, Wash.May 27 2010 KOMO -- A man who assaulted two Tukwila police officers, a security guard and stabbed a police dog after a shoplifting incident last June in Tukwila was convicted Wednesday.
Kevin Pegues will spend the next 75 months in jail.
Pegues is now paralyzed from the waist down from injuries sustained in the confrontation. He says he didn't want to hurt the officers or the dog, but the jury didn't buy his arguments, and neither did the judge in handing down a six-year sentence.
Pegues tried to convince the judge he was the victim.
"They take an issue for a four-legged animal and call him a creature, then what am I?" Pegues said. "That's the question, what was I that day when they pulled the trigger and shot me in the back?"
The incident began as an argument over a $2 toy between a customer and store employees. Investigators said trouble began when a Pegues got into a scuffle with employees at the Tukwila Trading Company over the toy. When officers arrived at the store at 3725 South 144th Street, the man ran off, jumping over several fences to get away.
Police finally caught up with Pegues at a nearby housing complex. Witnesses say officers then opened fire.
"They Tased him and he went down," witness Rocky Ruvo said shortly after the incident. "And then they let the dog go on him. And then somebody said - I didn't see a knife - but somebody said he had pulled a knife and slashed at the dog. And while he was down, that's when the officer pulled his gun and shot the subject twice."
Police said when Pegues refused to give up despite a Tasing and repeated orders to drop the knife, an officer shot him in the leg.
"Other officers were very close by and tried other means to try to subdue the man," said Tukwila police spokesman Mike Murphy. "They were unsuccessful and eventually had to shoot him to stop the threat to themselves and others."
The police dog, a German shepherd named Gino, was stabbed in the neck during the scuffle and seriously injured, officials said. He underwent four hours of surgery to repair a 4-inch puncture wound in his neck, but has since recovered.
But while most of the focus was on Gino's' injury, prosecutors said the long sentence was for how Pegues threatened the officers' lives.
"He showed a knife and said, 'Let's do this,' " said prosecutor Steven Kim. "And he egged on the police and asked for a fight and he was heard saying 'You're going to have to kill me, or I'm going to kill you.' "
Pegues' 6-plus year sentence was actually on the lower end of the sentencing range. The judge said she took into account that the officers were not injured and that Gino had since recovered fully.
Kevin Pegues will spend the next 75 months in jail.
Pegues is now paralyzed from the waist down from injuries sustained in the confrontation. He says he didn't want to hurt the officers or the dog, but the jury didn't buy his arguments, and neither did the judge in handing down a six-year sentence.
Pegues tried to convince the judge he was the victim.
"They take an issue for a four-legged animal and call him a creature, then what am I?" Pegues said. "That's the question, what was I that day when they pulled the trigger and shot me in the back?"
The incident began as an argument over a $2 toy between a customer and store employees. Investigators said trouble began when a Pegues got into a scuffle with employees at the Tukwila Trading Company over the toy. When officers arrived at the store at 3725 South 144th Street, the man ran off, jumping over several fences to get away.
Police finally caught up with Pegues at a nearby housing complex. Witnesses say officers then opened fire.
"They Tased him and he went down," witness Rocky Ruvo said shortly after the incident. "And then they let the dog go on him. And then somebody said - I didn't see a knife - but somebody said he had pulled a knife and slashed at the dog. And while he was down, that's when the officer pulled his gun and shot the subject twice."
Police said when Pegues refused to give up despite a Tasing and repeated orders to drop the knife, an officer shot him in the leg.
"Other officers were very close by and tried other means to try to subdue the man," said Tukwila police spokesman Mike Murphy. "They were unsuccessful and eventually had to shoot him to stop the threat to themselves and others."
The police dog, a German shepherd named Gino, was stabbed in the neck during the scuffle and seriously injured, officials said. He underwent four hours of surgery to repair a 4-inch puncture wound in his neck, but has since recovered.
But while most of the focus was on Gino's' injury, prosecutors said the long sentence was for how Pegues threatened the officers' lives.
"He showed a knife and said, 'Let's do this,' " said prosecutor Steven Kim. "And he egged on the police and asked for a fight and he was heard saying 'You're going to have to kill me, or I'm going to kill you.' "
Pegues' 6-plus year sentence was actually on the lower end of the sentencing range. The judge said she took into account that the officers were not injured and that Gino had since recovered fully.
Tucson substitute teacher faces sexual assault charges www.privateofficer.com
TUCSON AZ May 27 2010 - A substitute teacher at Rivera Elementary School accused of inappropriately touching several female students has been arrested.
The substitute, 66-year-old Carl Peak, has been booked into the Pima County Jail on six misdemeanor counts.
Officers say they responded to the school May 24th and interviewed six female students that were in Peak's class.
Interviews with the students confirmed Peak touched each of them in the buttocks.
Officers arrested Peak after interviewing him at the Tucson Police Main Station downtown.
The substitute, 66-year-old Carl Peak, has been booked into the Pima County Jail on six misdemeanor counts.
Officers say they responded to the school May 24th and interviewed six female students that were in Peak's class.
Interviews with the students confirmed Peak touched each of them in the buttocks.
Officers arrested Peak after interviewing him at the Tucson Police Main Station downtown.
Illegal immigrant shoplifter assaults store security www.privateofficer.com
CARLSBAD CA May 27 2010 — A suspected shoplifter was arrested and his wife was turned over to immigration authorities Tuesday after police said he stole several items from a department store and threatened a security guard.
Hector Cesar Lopez Olivarria, 41, went into the Marshalls store on Marron Road just after 2:45 p.m. with a pair of wire cutters and cut security sensors off several items, Carlsbad police Lt. Paul Mendes said.
He hid the merchandise on himself and left the store, then picked up a rock and pushed the guard who confronted him outside, Mendes said.
Olivarria then ran away. Police, aided by a police dog and a helicopter, searched the area for about an hour with no result.
About two hours later, a mechanic at the Sears Auto Center at Plaza Camino Real told police he saw a man coming out of a creek area with his clothes wet and covered in leaves.
He got into a vehicle near Haymar Drive and South Vista Way. Officers pulled him over once he started to drive away, Mendes said.
Olivarria was taken into custody, and his wife, 32-year-old Alejandria Cervantes, was cited for driving without a license and insurance and was turned over to immigration authorities, Mendes said.
Olivarria was booked into the Vista jail on charges including robbery, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon, and was placed on an immigration hold.
Hector Cesar Lopez Olivarria, 41, went into the Marshalls store on Marron Road just after 2:45 p.m. with a pair of wire cutters and cut security sensors off several items, Carlsbad police Lt. Paul Mendes said.
He hid the merchandise on himself and left the store, then picked up a rock and pushed the guard who confronted him outside, Mendes said.
Olivarria then ran away. Police, aided by a police dog and a helicopter, searched the area for about an hour with no result.
About two hours later, a mechanic at the Sears Auto Center at Plaza Camino Real told police he saw a man coming out of a creek area with his clothes wet and covered in leaves.
He got into a vehicle near Haymar Drive and South Vista Way. Officers pulled him over once he started to drive away, Mendes said.
Olivarria was taken into custody, and his wife, 32-year-old Alejandria Cervantes, was cited for driving without a license and insurance and was turned over to immigration authorities, Mendes said.
Olivarria was booked into the Vista jail on charges including robbery, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon, and was placed on an immigration hold.
Man grabs winning ticket from woman at Hard Rock Casino www.privateofficer.com
TAMPA Fla May 27 2010 - A man grabbed a woman's winning slot machine ticket, knocked her over and ran out of the Seminole Hard Rock Café & Casino Wednesday night.
Casino security apprehended the suspect, whose name hasn't been released, across the street from the casino.
The Seminole Tribal Police of Tampa is handling the case, said Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the agency.
The incident happened around 7:30 p.m. inside the casino, located at 5223 N. Orient Road.
The woman who is in her late 50s was at a slot machine holding a redeemable ticket when the incident happened, Bitner said.
The value of the ticket wasn't known, he said.
The woman wasn't seriously injured. Bitner said he didn't expect her to be transported to a local hospital.
Casino security apprehended the suspect, whose name hasn't been released, across the street from the casino.
The Seminole Tribal Police of Tampa is handling the case, said Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the agency.
The incident happened around 7:30 p.m. inside the casino, located at 5223 N. Orient Road.
The woman who is in her late 50s was at a slot machine holding a redeemable ticket when the incident happened, Bitner said.
The value of the ticket wasn't known, he said.
The woman wasn't seriously injured. Bitner said he didn't expect her to be transported to a local hospital.
Teacher fired for leading class in prayer www.privateofficer.com
FRANKLIN COUNTY, MS May 27 2010 (WLBT) - A Franklin County High School teacher was fired on Tuesday for leading her students in prayer in the classroom.
Teacher Alice Hawley received a letter from the district signed by Superintendent, Grady Flemming saying her contract for the 2010-2011 school year was not being renewed.
Hawley says it's been a whirl-wind over the past two days since the district decided to reinstate her contract for the 2010-2011 school year on Wednesday.
She is thrilled they asked her to come back, but says the real challenge isn't over.
"The real victory will come when we can go in and freely pray. As we want to as the children want to, that's when real victory comes," said Hawley.
This same scenario happened once before to Hawley over 15 years ago. After several years, the district once again asked her to come back.
Even still, Hawley says she believes in the power of prayer and will continue to pray as long as her students are comfortable.
"And I'll never deny a child prayer if they ask for prayer," said Hawley.
One of Hawley's students Billy Wright says these prayers were always voluntary, and that she told every student at the beginning of the year to tell her if they didn't want to participate in prayer.
"She said you can leave a letter an anonymous email, or just tell her raise your hand in class," Wright said.
Students from Franklin High lead an outpour of comments wearing T-shirts and writing insignia saying "I broke a rule, I prayed in school."
"We should be able to do that instead of firing people for praying," student Kristie Wallace said.
Former student Amerika Shaw says she doesn't see why the district made a big deal over Hawley's classroom prayers.
"She prayed for us, our education, and if we had any problems, and just asked God to watch over us, that's about it," said Shaw.
According to state law: "It shall be lawful for any teacher or school administrator to permit the voluntary participation by students or others in prayer."
Many Franklin High students say school leaders often initiate prayer on a daily basis.
"And sometimes our principle comes and he'll bow his head and he'll pray with us," said 9th grader Triston Wilkinson.
Superintendent Flemming was not available for comment to WLBT.
Teacher Alice Hawley received a letter from the district signed by Superintendent, Grady Flemming saying her contract for the 2010-2011 school year was not being renewed.
Hawley says it's been a whirl-wind over the past two days since the district decided to reinstate her contract for the 2010-2011 school year on Wednesday.
She is thrilled they asked her to come back, but says the real challenge isn't over.
"The real victory will come when we can go in and freely pray. As we want to as the children want to, that's when real victory comes," said Hawley.
This same scenario happened once before to Hawley over 15 years ago. After several years, the district once again asked her to come back.
Even still, Hawley says she believes in the power of prayer and will continue to pray as long as her students are comfortable.
"And I'll never deny a child prayer if they ask for prayer," said Hawley.
One of Hawley's students Billy Wright says these prayers were always voluntary, and that she told every student at the beginning of the year to tell her if they didn't want to participate in prayer.
"She said you can leave a letter an anonymous email, or just tell her raise your hand in class," Wright said.
Students from Franklin High lead an outpour of comments wearing T-shirts and writing insignia saying "I broke a rule, I prayed in school."
"We should be able to do that instead of firing people for praying," student Kristie Wallace said.
Former student Amerika Shaw says she doesn't see why the district made a big deal over Hawley's classroom prayers.
"She prayed for us, our education, and if we had any problems, and just asked God to watch over us, that's about it," said Shaw.
According to state law: "It shall be lawful for any teacher or school administrator to permit the voluntary participation by students or others in prayer."
Many Franklin High students say school leaders often initiate prayer on a daily basis.
"And sometimes our principle comes and he'll bow his head and he'll pray with us," said 9th grader Triston Wilkinson.
Superintendent Flemming was not available for comment to WLBT.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)