Archive for April 1st, 2008
Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Target employee faces felony theft charges www.privateofficer.com
BILLINGS MT April 1 2008
A Billings woman was charged Thursday in Justice Court with a felony count of theft by embezzlement.
According to court documents, Katie Marie Coobs, 21, stole more than $5,000 in cash from the Target department store at 2601 Central Ave. from October 2007 through January 2008.
A loss prevention officer for Target reported the theft to the Billings Police Department on Jan. 24 after investigating a cash shortage at the store, court documents said.
The loss prevention officer discovered security tapes of Coobs taking cash from two registers and the cash room, the documents said.
Coobs is accused of committing at least 87 individual thefts from tills at the store from October 2007 to January 2008, according to the court documents.Coobs is scheduled to appear in court again on March 31. She faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Security officer struck by angry driver www.privateofficer.com
HOBART, Ind. April 1 2008
Bryan Hill /Security News Magazine – Police say that a father-to-be purposely hit a security officer with his car while taking his pregnant wife to the hospital.
Police officers say that 28-year-old Duke A. Dubuque of Hobart was attempting to drive his wife who was about to give birth to the emergency room at St. Mary Medical Center recently when he found the service road blocked.
According to the police report, hospital security officer Teddy Walsh told police he had blocked the road with a security vehicle because a helicopter was landing on the nearby landing pad.
Walsh said Dubuque became angry and drove toward Walsh and struck security officer Walsh in the side.
Authorities say Dubuque later admitted to police that he had struck the security officer intentionally because he was upset and trying to get his wife into the emergency room.
Dubuque was charged this week in Hobart City Court with failure to stop after an accident resulting in injury.
Other charges could be forthcoming in this matter.
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Hotel ditches bible, adds wider selection www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN. April 1 2008
By RACHEL STULTS and NATALIA MIELCZAREK • Staff Writers
http://www.tennessean.com/
Visitors to Hotel Preston won’t find the Holy Bible in their nightstand.
Instead, travelers will have to call room service to order it from a “spiritual menu,” which will include other literary offerings like the Book of Mormon, the Quran and books on Scientology, said Dina Nishioka, public relations director for Hotel Preston.
Oregon-based Provenance Hotels, which owns the Hotel Preston, is breaking away from a longstanding tradition of placing Bibles from Gideons International in its rooms. The goal is to offer variety to travelers who aren’t Christians or to visitors looking to learn about a different faith, Nishioka said.
“Our guests come from different places and they definitely come from different cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities, so we want everyone to feel welcomed and comfortable,” Nishioka said.
Brian Ruf, president of the Travel and Tourism Research Association, said the idea of a spiritual menu is so “leading edge” that the international organization has not done research that would show whether Hotel Preston is on the cusp of a trend. Ruf said he thinks the switch might be politically controversial but said travelers with a more international perspective might appreciate it.
“They obviously have made an observation about the segment of the market they want to go after and it’s a calculated risk,” Ruf said.
‘Only positive feedback’
Hotel Preston has been in the spotlight recently for its unconventional marketing techniques.
Owners put the one-time Radisson through a makeover in 2004 and now visitors to the 200-room hotel are offered complimentary pet fish, rubber duckies and lava lamps for their rooms, as well as a pillow menu. Most recently, as part of a living art display, Hotel Preston began hiring young women to take turns wearing pink lingerie and living in a glass-plated mock hotel room in a corner of the hotel’s cocktail lounge.
Hotel Preston and the four others owned by Provenance Hotels are so-called boutique hotels that have mushroomed across the country in recent years. They target a hipster clientele, with trendy furniture, amenities and entertainment options.
The laminated spiritual menus will be rolled out in the next three to four weeks.
Gideons International spokesman Steve Smith said the Nashville-based organization had not heard of the change at Hotel Preston, and would not comment on “issues regarding Scripture distributions.” The Gideons organization has been distributing Bibles since 1908.
A team of Provenance managers came up with the spiritual menu’s lineup, Nishioka said, which will feature the King James Version of the Bible and the New American Bible, the Torah, the Quran, the Tao Te Ching, The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, the Book of Mormon, books on Scientology and Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text.
“We’ve only had positive feedback because we’ve included the Bible and we’ve actually added on to it to have two versions. I think we’ve made everybody happy,” she said.
‘An opportunity for all’
Joe McInerney, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, said this is the first time he has heard of a spiritual menu, but he thinks Hotel Preston’s managers made a good business decision.
“If they want to be ecumenical, that’s a great way to do it,” McInerney said. “It’s taking a positive look at a thing that has been commonplace. What could be wrong with it if they’re providing an opportunity for all religions to read their scripture?”
According to a 2006 survey by the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the number of religious texts provided in hotels is going up each year, with 9 of 10 American hotels touting some sort of religious material.
The increase could be attributed to the rising number of hotels that are built each year, McInerney said.
Gideons International sends Bibles every time a new hotel is built, he said.
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Judge orders white lawyers out of courtroom www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA. April 1 2008 — Judge Marvin Arrington insists he’s not a racist; despite ordering white lawyers out of his courtroom on Thursday.
The Fulton County Superior Court judge said he was just fed up seeing a parade of young black defendants in his courtroom.
“I came out and saw the defendants, about 99.9 percent Afro-Americans, and some point time I excused some of the lawyers, most of them white, and said to the young people in here ‘What in the world are you doing with your lives,’” he told WSB-TV Channel 2 reporter JaQuitta Williams.
Arrington said he thought his message might have more power if it was delivered to a blacks-only audience.
“I didn’t think about racism or reverse racism, I practiced law for 30 years and 75 percent of my partners were white,” he explained.
The judge said the majority of people who appear before him accused of crimes such as murder, rape and robbery are black and he wanted to do something about it, one on one.
“I didn’t want them to think I was talking down to them; trying to embarrass them or insult them; be derogatory towards them and I was just saying ‘Please get yourself together,’” he said.
Arrington added that he may make a similar speech next week, but this time he’ll allow everyone to hear it.
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Security officer shot during robbery attempt www.privateofficer.com
MIAMI FLA. April 1 2008 — A security officer was shot and another person was killed Sunday morning in an apparent robbery attempt outside a Winn-Dixie, Miami-Dade police said.
The shootings occurred in the parking lot of the Winn-Dixie at 11130 NW Seventh Ave. at about 9:45 a.m.
According to Miami-Dade police, the security officer was on routine patrol when two armed men approached him.
Witnesses said the security guard appeared to be making his rounds at the center in a golf cart when he was approached by the men.
There was a confrontation that escalated. Investigators said one of the men pulled a gun and shot the guard in the upper chest. The guard returned fire, hitting one of the men, who fell in the parking lot.
The second man took off into a nearby neighborhood just northeast of the shopping center.
The security guard along with the other man were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Hospital, Williams said.
What we know for sure right now is that a struggle ensued and the security guard was shot once in the upper torso, Miami-Dade police Detective Robert Williams said.
The wounded security officer returned fire, shooting one of the men multiple times. He was pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Family members identified the suspect as Jeremy Cobb, 19.
“He asked for their I.D. and after that, it was like a confrontation and then there (were) shots,” Cobb’s brother, Jesse, said. “That’s what I discovered.”
Cobb’s mother, Arlene, said she didn’t understand why the guard shot her son, claiming he didn’t have a gun.
The security officer was also taken to JMH, where he underwent emergency surgery for his wound. The other man got away on foot.
Police are still looking for the second man and the whole situation is still under investigation police said.
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Illegal immigrant security officers arrested www.privateofficer.com
DALLAS TX. April 1 2008– A task force led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 50 illegal immigrants in weekend raids of mostly Latino night clubs in Dallas, officials said Sunday.
Authorities raided 26 businesses, including night clubs, restaurants and pool halls. They were targeting employees working as security guards for two security companies, which officials declined to identify.
Law enforcement teams of local, state and federal officials simultaneously hit the 26 businesses around 11 p.m. Saturday and arrested 49 people. They recovered four pistols.
Those arrested will faces charges of being in the United States illegally. Federal law also prohibits illegal immigrants from possessing weapons.
Four people arrested were from El Salvador and the rest were from Mexico, officials said. One of the Salvadorans arrested was a legal immigrant, and it is unclear whether he will face any charges.
“Hopefully, this operation will help us send a message that we will not tolerate the falsification of documents for undocumented aliens under the guise of providing security,” Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said.
Under state law, commissioned security officers must successfully complete a 30-hour school. Once the course is completed, commissioned officers must wear a specific uniform indicating the company by whom they are employed while carrying their weapons.
Applicants for licensing or registration by the Private Security Bureau must have undergone a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history check. Applicants who have been convicted of a felony or a Class A misdemeanor cannot be considered for a license for 20 years. Applicants convicted of a Class B misdemeanor can apply for consideration after 5 years. Some Class B misdemeanors, such as first-time DWI, do not disqualify an applicant from receiving a license or application
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Father kills 3 children at hotel www.privateofficer.com
BALTIMORE MD. April 1 2008
By: Rick McCann
Ntl Assoc. Private Officers
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Three children were found dead in a downtown hotel room after their father called the front desk to say he had killed them, police said.
Mark Castillo, 41, of Silver Spring, called the desk at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards about 1:15 p.m. Sunday and said he had just killed his two sons and daughter, police spokesman Sterling Clifford said.
Police identified the children as Anthony, 6, Austin, 4, and Athena, 2.
After hotel security called police, officers went to a 10th-floor room and found three children dead and Castillo with minor cuts that appeared to have been self-inflicted, the police spokesman said.
“Why he brought them here to do this, is something we don’t know yet,” Clifford said.
Castillo, 41, of Rockville confessed to drowning the children inside a hotel bathroom at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards.Castillo was taken to a hospital for treatment of the cuts and is in police custody, Clifford said.
Police charged Castillo with 15 charges including three counts of first-degree murder and six counts of child abuse. He was charged about 1 p.m. Monday after his release from a hospital where he was treated for self-inflicted cuts to his neck, police said.
The children’s mother, Dr.Amy Castillo was notified of the deaths by police soon after the discovery of the bodies.
It appears from court documents that a custody battle over these children has taken the most tragic turn.
Dr. Castillo wrote in court documents that her husband had threatened to make her suffer by killing the children. She sought a protective order Dec. 25, 2006, in Montgomery County District Court and asked that the court order Castillo to receive counseling.
“He has never actually hurt (the children), but did tell me that the worst thing he could do to me would be to kill the children and not me so I could live without them,” she wrote in the petition.
She also wrote that when her husband took the children for visits, he would not tell her where they were staying.
A temporary protective order was approved three days after the petition was filed, but Circuit Judge Joseph Dugan rejected a permanent order Jan. 10, 2007. In explaining his decision, Dugan wrote there was “no clear or convincing evidence that the alleged acts of abuse occurred.”
According to court charging documents, Castillo confessed to the murders and told police he stabbed himself several times in the neck with a steak knife. He then consumed more than 100 Motrin pills.He fell asleep. When he woke up Sunday, realizing he had not killed himself, he called hotel staff. “We know that by virtue of a custody agreement Mr. Castillo, who was separated from his wife, was to return the children to her Montgomery County home at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday,” said authorities.
Many guests at the hotel on Sunday were unaware of what had happened, particularly because the killings took place on the top floor. A few hours after the killings, the only clues that something out of the ordinary was going on were a few television trucks parked outside and a police officer by the elevator bank asking guests to which floor they were heading.
Mark Castillo had no criminal history.
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Driver leaps from moving car, leaves kids behind www.privateofficer.com
Suffolk County NY April 1 2008
A Riverhead man left his two children in a moving car when he jumped out of a 1993 Jeep during a high-speed police chase yesterday and ran away, authorities said.Keith Griffin, 41, of 40B Wood Road Trail, was arrested after a short foot chase, police said. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest and endangering the welfare of a child and will be arraigned today in Central Islip, police said.
Around 2:45 a.m. yesterday, Griffin was driving on Wavecrest Drive at Mastic Road in Mastic Beach when a Suffolk County police officer attempted to pull him over for an unknown traffic violation, police said.Griffin refused to stop and led the officer on a short high-speed chase, and at one point he slowed his Jeep drastically and jumped out while the car was still moving, fleeing the police, said Sgt. Jeffrey Maggio. “A male passenger managed to slide over to the driver’s seat and stop the car,” Maggio said.
Police found Griffin’s 12-year-old and 6-year-old children in the backseat, along with his girlfriend, whom authorities declined to identify. No one was hurt. Attempts to contact Griffin yesterday were unsuccessful
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Security officer shoots would-be robber www.privateofficer.com
Miramar Fla. April 1 2008
By: Bryan Hill
Security News Magazine
www.privateofficer.com
On Sunday, a Marion security officer who was having lunch in front of the Foot Locker at 3194 South University Drive saw a man covering his face with a bandana and taking out a gun . the security officer immediately confronted the man and fired several rounds injuring the would be robber said police.
Miramar police have identified the man they say attempted to rob a Foot Locker Store as 19-year-old Dontrell Daniels of Miami Gardens.
Investigators said the injured suspect then fled in a wafting white Nissan, but was later found in Miami Gardens at 889 NW 214th Street. Miramar police have now identified that man they say attempted to rob the Foot Locker Store as 19-year-old Dontrell Daniels of Miami Gardens.
Daniels was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery and is expected to recover. Investigators said Daniels, is in stable condition in intensive care at Memorial Hospital in Hollywood on Sunday after a security shot him four times.
Detectives are still looking for the Nissan driven and another passenger they believe was in the car. They describe the vehicle as a 1996 or 1997 white Nissan Maxima or Altima.
Police said charges are pending for Daniels.
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
80 Year old arrested for protesting at mall www.privateofficer.com
Long Island NY April 1 2008
By: Rick McCann
Ntl Assoc. Private Officers
http://www.privateofficer.com/
Police say that they were called by security at Smith Haven Mall because of a disturbance.
When officers arrived they were told by mall security that a group had gathered to protest the war and were asked to disassemble and to leave the area.
Security also asked a man wearing a T-shirt which had spotted blotches of red to simulate “blood” to remove the T-shirt and he refused.
The man, an 80-year-old church deacon was removed from the Smith Haven Mall yesterday in a wheelchair and arrested by police for refusing to remove a T-shirt protesting the Iraq War.Police said that Don Zirkel, of Bethpage, was disturbing shoppers at the Lake Grove mall with his T-shirt, which had what they described as “graphic anti-war images.” Zirkel, a deacon at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Wyandanch, said his shirt had the death tolls of American military personnel and Iraqis – 4,000 and 1 million – and the words “Dead” and “Enough.” The shirt also has three blotches resembling blood splatters which security thought was offensive.But Zirkel said he was sitting in the food court drinking coffee with his wife Marie, 77, and several others when police and mall security officers approached and demanded they remove their anti-war T-shirts.
The others complied, but Zirkel said he refused, and when he wouldn’t stand up to be removed and arrested, authorities brought over a wheelchair. “They forcibly picked me up and put me in the wheelchair,” said Zirkel, a deacon at one of the poorest Catholic parishes on Long Island, where a devastating fire recently destroyed the rectory and storage areas.Zirkel was arrested by mall security and charged with criminal trespassing and resisting arrest. He was released on bail. A spokeswoman for mall owner Simon Property Group did not immediately return calls seeking comment.Police said in a release last night that Zirkel was handing out anti-war pamphlets to mallgoers and that mall security told him to stop and turn his shirt inside out. Zirkel refused to turn his shirt inside out and wouldn’t leave, police said. Security placed him on “civilian arrest” and called police. When police arrived, Zirkel passively resisted attempts to bring him to a police car, the release said.
Generally speaking, a mall has the right to control what happens on its property, said John McEntee, a Uniondale commercial litigation lawyer.As Zirkel was being wheeled to the police car, the crowd chanted “We shall not be moved!” Moments later, they moved; police and mall security had ordered them off the property. Many joined a larger anti-war crowd assembled by the mall’s entrance, off mall property, on Veterans Memorial Highway.
Authorities say that the mall is private property open to the public and such demonstrations and displays of disorder are disruptive to the mall’s business and as such they have a right to remove anyone causing the disturbance. When a person is asked to leave a business and they don’t, at that point it is considered trespassing.
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Security officers stage strikes www.privateofficer.com
Sacramento CA, April 1 2008
According to SEIU, about 1,500 of these security workers have been working for the last two years to join the union and they’ve been met by “threats” and “intimidation” from Inter-Con.
SEIU Local 24/7 is not a member of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions or the Labor Management Partnership and the guards are not Kaiser employees, according to a spokeswoman for Kaiser, Gerri Ginsburg.
The union will also be holding pickets throughout the week:
§ at 2 :30 p.m. Tuesday at Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center.
§ at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Kaiser Hayward Medical Center.
§ from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday at Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center.
§ at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Kaiser’s national headquarters in Oakland.
Catherine Ross, a spokeswoman with Inter-Con in Pasadena, said that the company had no comment.
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Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
Armed shoplifter scares shoppers www.privateofficer.com
Boston MA. April 1 2008
Shoppers at a local Lord & Taylor’s store on Boylston Street in Boston Mass. were friegtened and scared when a shoplifting apprehension got out of hand and the shoplifter began to yell that he was armed and would open fire if security personnel didn’t back off.
.“Don’t make me pull this out!” Mark W. Coburn, 33, of Boston, allegedly warned security personnel while reaching for his waist. The officers backed off and Coburn bolted from the department store, according to police.
Boston police officers responded and combed the area near the store and was able to locate a male subject that matched the description of the shoplifter.
Police arrested the suspect at the corner of Clarendon and Stanhope streets, charging him with shoplifting and armed robbery, police report.
Police did not say whether or not they recovered a weapon from Coburn.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: booster bags, employee theft, identity thefts, loss prevention, loss prevention training, macy's, refund scam, retail security, retail security aganet, scheme, sears, shoplifter arrested, shoplifting, shoplifting devices, store security, target. rite-aid, walmart | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on April 1, 2008
NYC security try to avert strike www.privateofficer.com
Brooklyn NY. April 1 2008
By:Bryan Hill
Security News Magazine
www.privateofficer.com
Talks are underway with some security officers in the city to avert any kind of strike or interruption of security services.
Local 32BJ kicked off a campaign to bargain new union contracts for nearly 4,000 security officers in the city. The talks began Tuesday, when the union presented contract proposals to the Realty Advisory Board (RAB) for approximately 1,500 of the officers.
Local 32BJ will negotiate new contracts for members with several major owners and security contractors, as well as continue to work with non-union officers through the “Stand for Security” organizing campaign, in an effort to raise standards across the private security industry.
At issue here is the same issue that security officers face nationwide; money. The wages are far too low and there needs to be benefits and insurance coverage for the security workers a union rep said.
We need to be treated with respect for the job we do,” said Gaspar Santiago, an officer at 30 Rockefeller Center and member of the bargaining committee. “This is the first time we are all joining together to fight for new contracts at the same time, and we have the support of all 32BJ members behind us.”
For far too long, security officers have been left behind. Now it’s time to significantly improve the wages, benefits and training for security officers, who are at the front lines of keeping the public safe and secure,” said Kevin Doyle, Local 32BJ SEIU executive vice president. “We offered fair proposals to the RAB that New York City’s wealthy real estate market can afford.”
Private security nationwide is plagued by low wages and poor training Doyle said and this is about raising standards across the entire industry and empowering officers to get ahead.”
With more than 100,000 members in six states and Washington, D.C., including 70,000 in New York, Local 32BJ is the largest property services union in the country. The union represents 6,000 security officers.
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