FBI To Post Electronic Wanted Posters www.privateofficer.com

Washington D.C. Dec. 29, 2007

The FBI’s most wanted bank robbers, violent criminals and terrorists will soon appear on 150 digital billboards in 20 cities nationwide.
The agency has teamed up with Phoenix-based Clear Channel Outdoor to begin airing mug shots following a successful test run in Philadelphia that led to several arrests.
One of those arrests was that of a man suspected in the fatal shooting of a Philadelphia police officer, the agency said Thursday. He was captured in Florida as a result of exposure on the billboard, the FBI said.
“We’ll target very violent, dangerous fugitives,” said Scott Wilson, spokesman for the Cleveland FBI office.
Cleveland, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Newark, N.J., are among the cities where the advertising company has electronic billboards along major roadways.
The company is donating the eight-second spots, which will also feature photographs of missing children. The company can add new information to the signs within minutes.
Clear Channel Outdoor will pre-empt paid advertising if the FBI needs to broadcast an urgent message, the company’s global president Paul Meyer said.
This is the first time the FBI is posting its fugitives.
The use of electronic billboards in crime fighting has spread across the country in recent years, and criminals have been known to turn themselves in after seeing their photos.
There are about 800 such boards nationwide, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

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11 year old accussed of crime spree www.privateofficer.com

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Authorities say an 11-year-old boy and his two 15-year-old friends have been arrested after they broke into at least three Spartanburg homes on Christmas.
Police say the boys unwrapped presents at one home and took knives, binoculars, gloves and a watch from the second home.
Authorities say the youngest boy was caught when the owner of the third home walked in on them shortly after they had broken in and held him until police officers arrived. The other two boys were arrested later after an investigation and they were found to be part of the crimes.
The boys all face burglary and other charges. Their names were not released because of their ages. Police are unsure at this time if there are other victims and houses that have been burglarized or if these teens have been involved in previous burglaries in the area. This is something that we are looking into police said.

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Man severely injured using screwdriver and fireworks www.privateofficer.com

Man severly injured using screwdriver and fireworks www.privateofficer.com

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Dec. 29, 2007– Several people were injured when a St. Petersburg man tried to open a firework with a screwdriver and the device exploded.
Authorities said Paul Clements was in his bedroom with several others, including two children, when he tried to open the firework. The explosion shattered the windows. Police and fire/rescue responded to the call of an explosion and found several people injured and damage to an area of the house.
Clements’ left hand was blown off. He also suffered injuries to his eyes, face, right arm and other parts of his upper body and remains in critical condition.
Both children suffered hearing injuries. Pinellas sheriff’s officials said Clements was experienced at handling large fireworks, and has designed fireworks displays.
The explosion was deemed an accident.

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City replaces crossing guards with security company www.privateofficer.com

WARWICK R.I. Dec. 29, 2007 — The city’s crossing guards will lose their jobs as of Feb. 15, and the city will fill the positions with nonunion employees who will receive no health-care or pension benefits, Mayor Scott Avedisian said yesterday in announcing a solution to an issue that has dogged the city for more than a year.
Avedisian, who had negotiated for months with the current guards, who are represented by Local 1033 of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, said that it was time to find another option now that the City Council has rejected a tentative agreement he had reached with the union.
Although that proposal had offered some savings by including no raises for three years and keeping staff levels at a minimum, the City Council was unanimous in its opposition this month, with board members saying that the benefits were too rich for employees who work fewer than 20 hours a week.
The crossing guards, who are city employees overseen by the traffic division of the Police Department, receive health insurance, sick days and a union pension, and life time health insurance for retirees who worked for more than 10 years. For the past year and half, the guards have been working under the terms of their old contract, which expired in June 2006. As Avedisian sought to reach a new pact with the crossing guards, their benefits package drew public fire as a prime example of a costly public service that might be better handled by a private company.
Part-time municipal crossing guards and their benefits packages were in the crosshairs in Cranston four years ago when former Mayor Stephen P. Laffey used that city’s unionized crossing guards (who had benefits similar to Warwick’s) as an example of fat in government spending. Laffey and the City Council eliminated the guard positions and hired a private company — NESCTC Security Agency — to do the job.
The Cranston guards were represented by the same local of the Laborers’ Union, and the union is still fighting to get the jobs back. An appeal is pending in Superior Court.
Donald S. Iannazzi, business manager for Local 1033, was not available for comment yesterday, but Avedisian said he expects that the union will take the city to court over the issue. He said that his administration is well within its rights to fire the guards after bargaining in good faith and coming up with a tentative agreement.
The bottom line, Avedisian said, is that the contract proposal did not pass muster with the City Council, and the administration now must find another way to provide the service.
Before crafting the plan, Avedisian said that the city explored privatizing the service.
It received only one bid, earlier this month, and that was from NESCTC.
In analyzing that bid, which was rejected, Avedisian and a team of administrators began to explore ways to save even more money by retaining the crossing guards as city employees.
“I have nothing negative to say about the union or the negotiations, even though we didn’t agree,” said Avedisian, who has been criticized in recent months for persisting in trying to settle with the union. “Once the council rejected the contract and we went out to bid, it left us with the ability to look at what we were getting and to see what other options we could come up with.
“No matter what option we choose, we anticipate that the union will take the city to court. The decision to hire guards on a per-diem basis and to reject the bid to privatize will save our taxpayers a considerable sum each year.”
NESCTC’s bid offered to provide the city with 23 crossing guards at an annual cost of about $212,200, Avedisian said. By comparison, his new proposal would provide the same at a cost of approximately $183,200 per year.
Although crossing guards currently cover 23 locations near or at schools, the city currently employs 18 guards, with a couple of them doubling up on their assignment.
Avedisian said it has not yet been decided how many would be hired under his new plan, but if the number stays at 18, the savings in contrast to the NESTC bid would be even greater.
Avedisian’s plan would pay the new guards $40 per day. They currently earn between $39.50 and $42.25 per day depending on seniority.
One thing that will not change, regardless of whether the city privatizes the service or hires new employees, is that retired crossing guards currently receiving a pension and health benefits will continue to do so. City personnel director Oscar Shelton said that there are now nine retired guards who qualify for those benefits.
Avedisian said he does not need council approval for his new plan because it does not involve a contract that would require ratification. And despite the likelihood of a legal fight from the union, he and Shelton said they are moving forward with the plan, and he provided a timeline:

Layoff notices, effective at the close of business Feb. 15, will be mailed next week and the jobs will be advertised. Application screening and interviews will take place through January and early February, and the new crossing guards will be on the job Feb. 25 — the day students return to school from their midwinter break.
Shelton said that he believes that the union guards will stay on the job through Feb. 25 although he has not received any official word from Iannazzi since the union leader was informed of the new plan.
Council President Joseph J. Solomon yesterday said he had not seen the details of Avedisian’s plan but would support any move to save taxpayers’ money. “Although I’m sure our guards do a fine job,” he said, “when the contract came to the council we had to consider how heavily the cost would weigh on taxpayers.”
Solomon said that Avedisian’s proposal is an endorsement of an ordinance he introduced a couple of years ago that requires council ratification of all municipal contracts. It was the council’s rejection of the crossing-guard contract that caused the mayor to come up with this creative solution, he said.
Solomon said his only initial concern is that the change should not take place until the end of the school year for the benefit of both the guards and the children who have come to know them.
Avedisian said there was no point in waiting. “I did not want to be seen as dragging my feet or not paying attention to the council’s action,” he said.
Councilman Robert Cushman had no praise for the mayor. He said he has many questions about the legalities and practicalities of Avedisian’s proposal. Regarding the elimination of health and pension benefits, he said, “At least he’s finally seeing the light that we can’t afford lifetime health care and such. Thank God. It’s an epiphany for the mayor.”

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Security rides high on Segways www.privateofficer.com

ON THE BEAT IN CHICAGO

Dec. 29, 2007

Gurnee Mills security officers bob and weave through crowds of holiday shoppers, sometimes reaching speeds of 4 to 6 mph when they are in the clear.
The quicker pace of patrols comes courtesy of Segway Personal Transporters.
Gurnee Mills covers about two miles from one end to the other. That’s one reason the two-wheel contraptions were sought by parent company Simon Property Group, said Allison Patz, director of mall marketing.
“Simon Property Group chose Segways to augment our security force at many of our malls as a way to navigate the mall more quickly and efficiently,” Patz said.
Gurnee Mills started using Segways in August, long before holiday shoppers arrived. It joins Woodfield Shopping Center and other Chicago-area malls in using the equipment.
“We’ve been using them at Woodfield over a year now,” said general manager Marc Strich. “They’re very effective.”
Bannockburn-based IPC International Corp. is contracted to provide security at Gurnee Mills, Woodfield and more than 450 malls in North America and the United Kingdom. IPC’s Segway use is part of its “Let’s Get Visible” security campaign, launched for the holiday shopping season in November.
IPC’s executive vice president of national operations, Joseph Marcello, said the security guards gain 8 inches in height on the Segway, so they can see more on patrol. He said the Segway also has allowed malls to gently show customers a security presence while adding to their comfort level when shopping.
“We’re not going to stay away from walking,” Marcello added.
Marcello said security workers receive thorough Segway training so they can safely navigate crowds. He said the guards keep to the lower end of the three-speed Segway at 4 to 6 mph — they have a top speed of 12 mph.
Strich said the Segways aren’t used at Woodfield when the mammoth mall is jammed to capacity. However, using them to patrol Woodfield’s three levels hasn’t been a problem, he added.
Gurnee police have a full-time presence at Gurnee Mills, but deputy police chief Kevin Woodside said the officers won’t have a need for the Segway because they don’t constantly walk the mall like the security guards.

NFL PLAYER ARRESTED FOR ASSAULTING SENIOR CITIZEN www.privateofficer.com

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Dec. 29, 2007 — NFL offensive tackle Stockar McDougle was charged with felony battery after a shoving match with the owner and bookkeeper at a plant nursery Friday morning, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
McDougle, who was born in Fort Lauderdale and plays with the Jacksonville Jaguars, got into an argument over an unpaid debt, according to Broward Sheriff’s Office spokesman Elliot Cohen.
McDougle, 30, was arrested and charged with felony battery on a person 65 years of age or older Friday afternoon, and booked into the Broward County Jail. His bond is set at $2,500.

The arrest affidavit stated that the owner of Mitchell Landscaping, at 2816 W. Sunrise Blvd., called police after McDougle shoved him and his bookkeeper in an effort to leave instead of paying a five-year-old debt.
The owner, Quilone Mitchell, said McDougle became upset when they told him that they could collect interest on a bounced check of $1,200 from 2002. Mitchell said McDougle now owed him $2,229.48.
According to the affidavit, McDougle grabbed the check from the desk of the bookkeeper and started to leave, but the bookkeeper then tried to take the check back. McDougle pushed her, causing her to stumble against a wall, according to the report. When Mitchell tried to get the check, McDougle pushed him away causing him to fall against the counter.
Mitchell then struck McDougle’s car with a shovel, according to the report.
McDougle later showed up at BSO District Headquarters with an attorney, said Cohen.
He told deputies that he was at the nursery to pay a debt. McDougle alleges that when he was told he owed more money, he stated that he did not have the cash and would be back. He stated that Mitchell started yelling at him and came after him with a shovel.
BSO did not make clear whether the bookkeeper or the owner was a senior citizen.
McDougle, a former Miami Dolphin, lives in Parkland.

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Employee fired for catching shoplifter www.privateofficer.com

Employee fired for apprehending shoplifter www.privateofficer.com

ANN ARBOR MI. DEC 29, 2007

THIS ITEM IS MAKING IT’S WAY ACROSS THE INTERNET, SO WE ARE CHIMING IN…….

FROM A RETAIL LOSS PREVENTION STAND POINT……

John Schultz says he lost his job at Whole Foods Market in Ann Arbor after he tried to stop a shoplifter from making a getaway. But the company says he went too far and violated a policy that prohibits employees from physically touching a customer – even if that person is carrying a bag of stolen goods.
Schultz says he had just punched out for a break at 7 p.m. on Sunday when he heard a commotion at the front door of the store, 3135 Washtenaw Ave. He said he came to the aid of the manager who yelled for help in stopping a shoplifter. Schultz, the manager and another employee cornered the shoplifter between two cars in the parking lot.
Schultz said he told the shoplifter he was making a citizens arrest and to wait for the police to arrive, but the shoplifter broke away from the group and ran across Washtenaw Avenue and toward a gas station at the corner of Huron Parkway.
Before the man could cross Huron Parkway, Schultz caught up and grabbed the man’s jacket and put his leg behind the man’s legs. When the manager arrived at the intersection, Schultz said, the manager told him to release the shoplifter, and he complied, and the shoplifter got away.
Schultz said he was called to the store’s office the next day, on Christmas Eve, and was fired because he violated a company policy prohibiting employees from having any physical contact with a customer.
Some in the retail security field are asking; Since when is a shoplifter considered a customer?

The guy apprehended someone trying to steal from his employer. We do have the right to make a citizen’s arrest and hold a suspected criminal until police arrive. Thanks to the stupidity of the manager, the thief got away with an unknown amount of store merchandise, although over $300 in a store tote bag was recovered. Schultz had the shoplifter in custody but was ordered to release him by the manager. It’s retail theft — shoplifting — that helps drive up costs for everyone who actually pays for their merchandise.
The guy got away, needless to say, and is still at large. I doubt if he will be apprehended any time soon.

OUR VIEW; Many retailers including Walmart, Home Depot, Target and others have a strict policy that only persons employed in their loss prevention department can make a “Stop” on a shoplifter. Persumably because they have been trained as to when and how to make the apprehension and the liability involved. And there is a lot of liability involved in making that stop.

However in this case, the employee responded to assist his manager after he had clocked out and was asked to by the store manager who was actually making the apprehension. He did not iniate the apprehension and was doing so as a regular Joe, not an employee.

He may have grounds to file a complaint with the EEOC for wrongful termination or even a lawsuit could be filed since he was asked to assist and did so as a non-employee. Had he been on th clock, and he decided to go after a shoplifter knowing that company policy did not allow it, then he could be terminated for that violation and it would hold up on appeal or during an unemployment hearing.

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Female officer alledges sexual assault by other officers www.privateofficer.com

Female Officer Alledges Sexual Assault By On-Duty Officers www.privateofficer.com

GREENSBORO N.C. Dec. 29, 2007 — A female police officer reported she was sexually assaulted two weeks ago, and the suspects are three male police officers who were on duty at the time.
Police officials released that information Thursday, after the City Council voted unanimously to make the information public.
The alleged assault, which is being investigated by the Greensboro Police Department’s criminal and internal affairs divisions, took place in a vehicle sometime between 11 p.m. Dec. 14 and 1 a.m. Dec. 15, Assistant Chief Gary Hastings said Thursday.
Sgt. A.S. Wallace, 43; Officer J.O. LeGrand, 37; and Officer C.S. Stevens, 42, have been suspended with pay since Dec. 18, when the department began its criminal and administrative investigations. The three are assigned to the Tactical Special Enforcement Team, which investigates street-level drug sales and other activities associated with violent crime.
The police department doesn’t release names of victims of alleged sexual assault, Hastings said. The News & Record doesn’t identify the victims of alleged sexual assault.
According to Hastings, the female officer reported that she and a friend were leaving the area of Four Seasons Town Centre — Hastings wouldn’t be more specific — when they saw Wallace, LeGrand and Stevens.
The three on-duty officers allegedly offered them a ride, Hastings said, which they accepted. The alleged victim said the sexual assault occurred “in transit,” Hastings said, but it’s unclear whether they were in a department-owned vehicle.
Hastings said there is only one alleged victim, the female officer, who filed her complaint with the police department’s Internal Affairs Division.Hastings said the criminal investigation is under way; an administrative investigation will follow when that’s complete.
The issue of whether to release details of the allegation — and more information in general — has caused a rift among the new City Council, sworn into office less than a month ago.
The council voted to make the details of the investigation public after emerging from a private 40-minute meeting Thursday, which Councilwomen Mary Rakestraw and Trudy Wade refused to attend. The two said the discussion should take place in public.
Wade, in fact, asked the council to release the information without holding a private meeting. She was supported by Rakestraw, Councilman Mike Barber and Councilwoman Sandra Anderson Groat — one vote shy of what she needed to prevent the private meeting.
Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small called Wade’s tactic an “ambushing of ideas” that “makes us look like we don’t know what the heck we’re doing.”
Yet even Bellamy-Small voted for the information’s release, just moments after she warned that doing so would set a dangerous precedent for the public release of confidential personnel information.
The council can release personnel information if doing so is in the public’s best interest.
Until Thursday, the police department and city legal staff said details of the alleged assault that are normally public — including the date, time, location and nature of the alleged assault — were protected under personnel laws because of the administrative investigation.
The News & Record disagrees. By its own admission, the Greensboro Police Department is conducting a criminal investigation — the details of which are subject to the state’s public record laws.
The newspaper filed suit Thursday in Guilford County Superior Court seeking the information. Editor John Robinson said Thursday that he will consult with legal counsel today about whether to pursue the suit.

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BREAKING NEWS~~~~STOLEN TAINTED MEAT TEXAS AREA www.privateofficer.com

BREAKING NEWS~~~~~TAINTED MEAT STOLEN…..TEXAS AREA www.privateofficer.com

Ft. Worth Tx. Dec. 29, 2007 ―
One North Texas company is warning Texans not to purchase ground beef under, ‘questionable circumstances’.
Fort Worth-based, American Fresh Foods issued the alert after one of it’s refrigerated trucks, containing 14,800 pounds of ground beef products, was stolen.
The company is warning the public because a portion of the stolen products had been segregated for possible E. coli contamination and were being removed from fresh commercial sale.
E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. The very young, seniors and persons with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to food borne illness. So far, no illnesses from the stolen products have been reported.
American Fresh Foods’ officials say the stolen meat was placed in a refrigerated truck and was being held on the plant’s property.”Consumers need to know that our meat products being sold through normal retail channels – such as grocery stores – are safe,” said Timothy Biela, Chief Food Safety and Quality Assurance Officer for American Fresh Foods.

The stolen tractor trailer bears an “Xtra Lease” logo on both side panels. The trailer is a 2000 Great Dane model with the trailer number Q61-232. The truck has a Maine license plate number 1925071.

The consumer products subject to the public health alert include:
• 2-pound approximate weight packages of “73/27 GROUND BEEF” bearing a sell-by date of “12.30.07″ with production times between 14:27 – 15:28

• 2-pound approximate weight packages of “80/20 GROUND BEEF CHUCK” bearing a sell-by date of “12.31.07″ with production times between 13:40 – 14:27

• 1-pound approximate weight packages of “85/15 GROUND BEEF ROUND” bearing a sell-by date of “12.31.07″ with production times between 13:51 – 17:01

• 1-pound approximate weight packages of “90/10 GROUND BEEF SIRLOIN” bearing a sell-by date of “12.31.07″ with production times between 13:49 – 15:35

• 1-pound approximate weight packages of “96/04 EXTRA LEAN GROUND BEEF, 4% FAT” bearing a sell-by date of “12.31.07″ with production times between 14:25 – 17:22
The bulk product subject to the alert includes:

• 40-pound “net wt.” box of “73/27 100% GROUND BEEF; REWORK MAP”

• 260-pound “net wt.” combo bin of ” CHUCK 100% GROUND BEEF; REWORK MAP”

• 370-pound “net wt.” combo bin of “SIRLOIN 100% GROUND BEEF; REWORK”
The consumer and bulk ground beef products were produced on Dec. 19, 2007.Anyone who has purchased American Fresh Foods’ ground beef products under questionable circumstances, like in a parking lot or along the side of the road, should not eat the food. Company officials are asking that consumers keep the packaging label, discard the product, and report the incident to the American Fresh Foods consumer hotline at 1-800-724-1136 (The toll free line will be available beginning Friday, December 28, at 9 a.m.).”American Fresh Foods is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and law enforcement to find the stolen meat and truck.

Anyone with information about the theft, or the location of the tractor trailer, is asked to contact the Fort Worth Police Department’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 817-469-8477.

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Police, mall security use force to break up fight www.privateofficer.com

Independence MO. Dec. 29, 2007

The mother and grandmother of one of the Kansas City teens involved in a fight Wednesday at Independence Center said Friday they believe officers from the Independence Police Department and a mall security guard are the ones responsible for precipitating the brawl that was reported in the media.
Robin McDonald, the teen’s mother and the teen’s grandmother, Rhonda McDonald, told The Examiner that although the teen was involved in a one-on-one fight Wednesday evening outside the mall’s entrance near Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar restaurant, the teen was hardly a participant in a brawl.
“From what I understand, they keep saying it was a group of 20 kids brawling. It was a one-on-one fight.” Rhonda McDonald said.
Independence police officers used Taser guns after a mall security guard used pepper spray to break up the fight, which police officials said involved 20 to 30 teenagers.
Independence Police Chief Fred Mills said he has been briefed, but has yet to see the full reports because he is on vacation.
“There is no dispute that there was a fight, but I don’t know what their (the McDonalds) analogies are,” Mills said. “I haven’t read the reports to know what happened with everyone involved. I’m at the same disadvantage as the mother and the grandmother because I wasn’t there.”
Independence Center officials, who rejected the description of the fight as a brawl, declined to comment Friday, referring to a statement released earlier. Ryan Oester, director of mall marketing for Simon Property Group, which operates Independence Center, wouldn’t comment on whether surveillance video captured the incident. He denied The Examiner’s request for of a copy of surveillance video.
“Whenever an incident like this occurs in our community, our primary concern is always for the safety and wellbeing of our shoppers and mall employees,” Oester said. “We are committed to providing a safe, quality environment for our shoppers.”
Police officials said Thursday two female officers responded to a call from security guards at 6:53 p.m. When the officers arrived and warned the teens to leave or face arrest, officials said, close to 20 teens became unruly, surrounding the officers, who put out a call for assistance.
“They (the teenage girls) were just flailing away at each other,” Independence Police spokesperson Tom Gentry said Thursday. “Two of our female officers tried to break it up, but about 20 of the girls’ friends surrounded our officers.”
Gentry said mall security used pepper spray on the crowd, setting off pandemonium.
“Our officers had to use their Taser guns on at least three of them,” Gentry said. “They were literally out of control.”
Both Robin and Rhonda McDonald contend the police description is untrue. They gave an account that was relayed to them by close friends of their relative, who witnessed the altercation.
After their family member was accosted by another girl at the mall and sensing it would escalate, the teen informed the four other people she was with – including the group’s chaperon, 20-year-old Ronnell D. Love of Kansas City – that it was time to leave. Upon leaving, the McDonalds’ relative was assaulted outside by the other teenage female, they said. The McDonalds’ relative protected herself, and a fight between the two began.
Love’s younger sister, a juvenile, helped mediate the altercation before mall security arrived.
Once security arrived and requested police assistance, someone in a crowd of on-lookers yelled “police,” prompting the gathering crowd to disperse, Rhonda McDonald said.
“I don’t care if my granddaughter was out there behaving badly or whatever,” McDonald said, adding her granddaughter knows unruly behavior is unacceptable to both her and her daughter Robin. “I don’t care if they were out there being disrespectful to the police – which they were not. The fact is they are little girls (15 and 18 years old). Nothing justifies what they did to her and that other little girl. Nothing. They (mall security and Independence police) were the brawlers.”
Rhonda McDonald said security and police officers used pepper spray on her granddaughter and banged her head against a trash can and used a Taser gun on 18-year-old Chereyl White of Kansas City.
White was charged with with interfering with police. Rhonda McDonald said White was released on a $1,500 bond.
Rhonda McDonald scoffed at the notion her granddaughter was injured during the initial fight, but said she was injured after either the security or police officer grabbed her. McDonald contends the use of pepper spray and a Taser gun was excessive.
“(White) was standing there crying, while her younger brother was holding her,” Rhonda McDonald said, adding White weighs close to 97 pounds. “The police officer snatches her out of her brother’s arm, throws her to the ground, maces her and Tasered her. Not once, but twice. This was after the fight was over.”
Mills said he doubts if an officer within the department would use a Taser gun on someone who was “just standing there.”
“I don’t understand that at all,” Mills said of the McDonalds’ assertion. “I must assume there’s more to the story.”
The fight had no connection with Tuesday’s melee at the AMC Independence Commons 20 movie theater, despite such speculation, Rhonda McDonald said.
However, a fight involving the McDonalds’ relative at Ward Parkway Shopping Center Tuesday was connected to Wednesday’s fight.
Robin McDonald said despite Tuesday’s altercation at Ward Parkway, she allowed her daughter to go to Independence Center to shop using the money she received as Christmas gifts. She said she knows and trusts Love enough to know her daughter and the group was with responsible supervision.
“I trust these kids with my life,” Robin McDonald said. “I know these kids, I have a relationship with these kids. Because of who (Love) was, I let my daughter go with them to the mall. I can’t bar her from everything. She’s a teenager.”
Rhonda McDonald said both she and her daughter figured the group would steer clear of trouble at Independence Center because of the security factor and police presence at the mall.
“We cannot escape the irony that we thought she would be safe because they have such good security,” Rhonda McDonald said. “That’s the thing that is slapping us in our face, too. If they are not going to protect her from being assaulted by somebody else and they are going to get in on the assault too, then nobody’s really safe. People need to really understand that.”

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Shoplifter escapes, arrested for robbery www.privateofficer.com

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. Dec. 29, 2007 – Police on Wednesday arrested a Milford man accused of committing a strong-arm robbery at the Rehoboth Beach K-Mart.
Delaware State Police say the robbery occurred on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. Troopers who responded to the robbery contacted the 45-year-old security guard who confronted the suspect.
Police say that witnesses to the crime observed the suspect shoplift a PS 3 wireless game controller, a box set of cubic zirconia earrings and Microsoft computer equipment. Police say the suspect then attacked the guard and fled the scene in a car.
During the investigation, detectives reviewed the surveillance video from K-Mart and Calvin M. Tolson, 29, of Milford was developed as a suspect.
Tolson was formally charged with second-degree robbery and ordered held at the Sussex Correctional Institution on $3,000 secured bond.

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All night stores becoming big targets www.privateofficer.com

All night stores becoming big targets for robberies, shoplifting www.privateofficer.com

Broward County Fla. Dec. 29, 2007

Samantha Doman could have gone shopping for a recordable compact disc any time.She chose the early morning of June 5, a decision she regretted when armed robbers burst into the 24-hour Fort Lauderdale pharmacy and threatened to shoot her if she didn’t turn over her wallet.”Why,” thought the 20-year-old art student, “didn’t I just wait until later?”

All-night drugstores offer the convenience of anytime shopping, but the recent arrests of three robbery suspects show they also provide a temptation for criminals looking for easy money. Lack of staff, lack of traffic, and multiple cash registers combine to create an attractive target.”Society’s needs have changed, so stores have adapted — and with any adaptation, there are difficulties, such as the increased potential for criminal activity,” said Bob Preziosi, a business professor at Nova Southeastern University.As long as there is a demand, as long as people want a pack of cigarettes or need bandages early in the morning, stores will be open to sell them, he said.It would make life easier for law enforcement officers if there were no stores open after midnight and “it would be more convenient if people didn’t commit any crimes at all — but neither is likely,” said Keyla Concepcion, a spokeswoman for the Broward Sheriff’s Office.As the pharmacy robberies grew in range and frequency, the Broward Sheriff’s Office increased patrols and implemented special operations that officials still feel uncomfortable revealing after three suspects had been arrested.”The tactics we used could still work on future crime waves, so it would not be wise to put all the cards on the table,” Concepcion said.The drugstore robberies follow previous robbery trends in Broward County at pizzerias and Chinese restaurants, Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said Monday during a news conference announcing the arrests of Timothy Johnson, 34, Gerald Joshua, 27, and Deitrick Johnson, 21, all of Pompano Beach.The three men were responsible for 13 pharmacy robberies, he said.”It’s probably a comfort level,” he said. “If it works once, they’ll do it again — till we catch them.”Many pharmacy buildings stand alone, close to major roads that can be used for easy escape, said Lt. Bill Wesolowski of the Sheriff’s Office’s robbery division.”Walgreens and CVS stores are on every street corner, so they become the new 7-Eleven of choice for robberies,” he said.About 25 percent of Walgreens pharmacies are open 24 hours, said Carol Hively, a spokesman for the company.Michael DeAngelis, a spokesman for CVS, said the company looks at the overall number of stores in a market and its population to help determine how many 24-hour stores are appropriate.Hively and DeAngelis declined to elaborate on security measures recently implemented by their stores after the string of robberies in South Florida.But in the past few months, new outdoor security cameras with blinking lights that can be seen from across streets were hanging above several stores, including the Walgreens drugstore where Doman was robbed.Newer and more security cameras are one way to deter criminals, Preziosi said. Other ways include restricting access by installing a drive-through window or hiring a security guard.”A guard is the best deterrent, who serves as a signal,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s so much pressure these days to make more and more profit that sometimes companies might wait a little long before doing something for the store that will make it safer.”Doman said she still gets scared every time she visits a drugstore.”I have to bring a friend and try not to go late at night,” she said. “I get uncomfortable, uneasy — I don’t know when something like this is going to happen again.”

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74 year old arrested for stealing $3 steak www.privateofficer.com

74 Year Old Man Arrested For Stealing $3 Steak www.privateofficer.com

Gastonia N.C. Dec. 29, 2007 A 74-year-old Gastonia man was taken to jail after admitting to stealing a steak from a grocery store.
Joe Neal said he didn’t have enough money to pay for a steak he took from the Food Lion on West Garrison Street.
“It ain’t right to pick up something like that I know that, I done wrong,” he said.
Neal intended to make a birthday dinner for his son.
He says he had every intention of paying for the $3 steak, but when he went back inside the store, the produce manager insisted on calling the police.
No one inside the store was allowed to comment about the incident, but a spokeswoman at the corporate office told local news that Food Lion has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to shoplifters.

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Driver tosses dog during pursuit www.privateofficer.com

Driver tosses dog out of car during pursuit www.privateofficer.com

NORTH SALT LAKE CITY UTAH Dec. 29, 2007 – Police say a driver tossed a dog from his sunroof during a high-speed chase. The 18-year-old driver got away, but authorities tracked him down using the dog’s rabies vaccination tag. Dallas Dee Bruehl is in Davis County jail on charges of evading police and animal cruelty but insists the dog jumped out of a window after he hit a bump in the road. Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Boucher said he witnessed Bruehl throw the dog from the sunroof and that he had to swerve to avoid hitting the pooch. The dog limped off a road with “road rash all over its body” and a broken pelvis. Bruehl was arrested Wednesday. His dog, a boxer-lab mix named Dozer, wasn’t found by animal control officers until a day after Saturday’s chase.

The chase had began for some minor traffic infractures but Bruehl refused to stop for deputies and initated a pursuit.

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