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RETAIL SECURITY/LOSS PREVENTION NEWS www.privateofficer.com

April 12 2008

ANDERSON SC — Two men charged with shoplifting took different approaches Thursday in appearances in Anderson Municipal Court.
James Morrison, 17, of Anderson pleaded guilty to stealing scissors and a digital camera that was removed from its packaging, requiring restitution, officials said.
Judge Ken Mattison ordered him to pay $1,087.50 or spend 30 days in jail plus making a $39.44 restitution payment within 14 days of his release.
Minutes later, Rayford Moore Jr., 39, of Anderson was allowed to sign a $1,087.50 bond after pleading not guilty to shoplifting and asking a jury to decide his guilt. A May 21 trial date was set.
According to the police reports, Mr. Morrison, who was physically restrained after attempting to leave the Wal-Mart on Liberty Highway in Anderson, was arrested around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday at that store.

ANDERSON SC — A Clemson woman is facing charges of going “postal” at Wal-Mart in Anderson, causing $2,800 in damage when store managers terminated her from her job in the store’s delicatessen.
Shanay Buie allegedly became upset about 3:30 p.m. Friday at 3812 Liberty Hwy.
“She returned to the deli and threw 2 chickens at 2 customers,” according to the incident report. “At that time, she also threw on the ground 2 printers worth about $1,000 each. She also threw to the ground 2 sets of dishes worth about $400 a set.”
An arrest has not been made, according to records at the Anderson City Jail.

Elyria policeThursday, April 34:35 p.m. – Macy’s, Midway Mall, Daniel J. Coon, 39, Lorain, charged with theft.

SUNRISE FLA.
Shoplifting suspect arrested: Security personnel at the Neiman Marcus store in the Sawgrass Mills mall, 12801 W. Sunrise Blvd., told police that at 5:50 p.m. March 18, they observed a 23-year-old auto detailer placing an Ed Hardy T-shirt down his pants and putting a pair of sandals into a shopping bag. He was stopped outside the store. The T-shirt was valued at $80 and the sandals at $93.

WESTON FLA.
Shoplifting suspect arrested: Sheriff’s deputies said a 16-year-old girl walked out of Zucco Boutique, 1717 Main St., without paying for merchandise valued at $440. She was stopped outside at 1:40 p.m. March 23 and arrested on charges on shoplifting and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana.

Middletown NJ

Adele B. McDonald, 37, Kingapple Ln., 12:15 p.m., wed, retail theft at Boscov’s, Oxford Valley Rd., to receive summons, $864 value.
Dawn Beckett, 39, West Thompson St., Philadelphia, 6:20 p.m., Wed, theft by deception at Abercrombie Kids and Hollister Store, Oxford Valley Mall, $275 value

Police in Lewiston, Maine, are looking for a shoplifter who hid a guitar in his pants.
Two of his friends acted as lookouts while the man placed the Fender Stratocaster in his pants and then put on a sweatshirt.
It isn’t the first time someone has tried that in the store. A man was caught back in 2006 doing the same thing.
Oakland CA.

At around 5 a.m. this morning, Oakland police found the body of a woman inside a car at the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot. So far the body is unidentified, and the police have yet to determine whether or not she died from foul play or natural cause.
According to the Oakland Tribune, “the woman had gone to the store about 9:30 p.m. Sunday and purchased a large amount of groceries at about 10 p.m.” It seems the woman remained in her car after buying her groceries, repeatedly refusing to talk to security guards. Wal-mart employees found her at 5 a.m. and non-responsive. Homicide detectives are investigating the scene, according to police.

Hanover MA.
4:54 p.m. Washington St., larceny-shoplifting. Arrest: Jolene A. Files, 28, 22 Bates Ave., South Weymouth. Shoplifting over $100 worth.
5:19 p.m. Washington St., larceny-shoplifting.
5:54 p.m. Washington St., and Spencer’s Gifts, larceny-shoplifting. Arrest: Cesar Valle Jr., 22, 33 May Terrace, South Weymouth. Charges: Shoplifting by asportation.

7:33 p.m. Washington St., larceny-shoplifting. Arrest: Kelli J. Hebert, 38, 10 Atherton Rd., Hull. Charges: Larceny of property over $250.

7:24 p.m. Washington St., adult arrest-shoplifting. Arrest: Phillip K. Reason, 33, 316 Hunting Ave., Dorchester. Charges: Larceny of property over $100, shoplifting over $100 worth

Iberia LA. Parish Sheriff’s Deputies ended up making a “two-for-one” arrest. Originally called to a New Iberia grocery store on a shoplifting call, they ended up arresting the suspect for also stealing pills from a pharmacy.
According to investigators, Dale Comeaux, 47, had a large quantity of pills that were connected to an earlier pharmacy burglary.
Comeaux is jailed on burglary and drug possession charges.

Niagara Falls NY• ARREST: A Falls woman was arrested after a shoplifting incident. Diana Marie Johnson, 27, 475 24th St., was charged with petit larceny. A Falls police officer said she was in the Wilson Farms store in the 2600 block of Niagara Street at 9 a.m. Thursday when she saw Johnson put something in her purse and conceal it. The officer said she found a jar of coffee in Johnson’s purse and a package of bacon concealed in her jacket.

Newfane NY.• SHOPLIFTING: Harley W. Davis, 19, 6587 Wisterman Road, was charged Wednesday morning with petit larceny. A store employee told store security about 3:39 a.m. that she saw Davis walk out the door with a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and four bags of Oh Boy Oberto Beef Jerky. Store security stopped Davis at his car and detained him until deputies arrived. Davis reportedly told deputies he knew what he did was “stupid” but that he was “looking for a rush.” The items, worth $27.45, were returned to the store. Davis was released on an appearance ticket and is due at court in April in Newfane Town Court

NATICK MA- Three teens were arrested Saturday at 5:33 p.m. after police said they shoplifted at J.C. Penney.Kieu T. Nguyen, 17, of 20 Larrabee Ave., Framingham, and Julie D. Nguyen, 17, of 2 Fisher Terrace, Woburn, were both charged with shoplifting of property worth more than $100 and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, police said.A 14-year-old was also arrested and charged with shoplifting of property worth more than $100, police said.

MELBOURNE FLA. — Police said they have put an end to a theft ring at Wal-Mart stores.According to police, a security officer at the Wal-Mart in Melbourne saw three people putting razors and other hygiene items into a large bin.Melbourne Police were notified, and once there, found a fourth person acting as a lookout.The four people, from Ft. Lauderdale, were arrested for theft of $3,000 worth worth of razors and other items.Police later realized that the four were suspected in other thefts at Wal-Marts in Viera and Daytona Beach.The suspects’ children were with them in the store during the arrests. They were turned over to the Department of Children and Families.

Denver CO. Woman shoplifts, injures security guardA 29-year-old Longmont woman was arrested at 6:10 p.m. April 1 at King Soopers, 995 S. Hover St., on suspicion of theft and third-degree assault. Officers were dispatched to the store on a call of store security needing assistance detaining a shoplifter. When they arrived, the loss prevention officer had handcuffed the woman, who was sitting in the security office. She told the officers, “Yeah, I stole the stuff – so what?” The woman also told police that she was on probation for two previous shoplifting charges. The security guard said that he saw her take things from the shelf and put them in her own King Soopers bag, attempting to leave the store. The guard then contacted the woman, who attempted to run and screamed, “rape!” The woman also reportedly grabbed the man’s scrotum and fell to the ground, injuring him. The woman allegedly took $50.78 worth of merchandise. She was held at the Boulder County Jail.

NATICK MA – A Natick woman was arrested Tuesday at 7:02 p.m. after police said she shoplifted from the Super Stop & Shop on Rte. 9.Julie K. Doherty, 40, of 32 Longfellow Road, was charged with shoplifting of property worth more than $100, police said.

Stafford NJ. Laura A. Sytsma, 40, of Tuckerton was arrested for shoplifting April 1 from the Route 72 Wal-Mart. Police responded to the store after being alerted to the incident. Patrolman Daniel Samaritano was the resting officer

BLOOMINGTON – One 15-year-old boy was arrested in a fight involving up to 10 people in Eastland Mall on Saturday evening, police said.A display case at Kay Jewelers was broken during the fight about 5:05 p.m. inside the mall, police said. Officers’ reports on the fight were not completed as of Tuesday, and no further details were immediately available

Round Lake Beach IL.
• Arthur L. Wittert, 54, 745 N. Overlook Circle, Round Lake, was arrested around 2:35 p.m. March 26 and charged with retail theft at Super Kmart, 400 E. Rollins Road. He is accused of taking lighters and weight-loss pills and leaving without paying, police said. Value was estimated at $54. A court date was not available.
• Gail M. Dalessandro, 23, 10201 Main St., Richmond, was arrested around 5:35 p.m. March 26 and charged with retail theft at Kohl’s, 230 E. Rollins Road. She is accused of taking cosmetics and an MP3 accessory and leaving without paying, police said. Value was estimated at $50. A court date was not available.
• Vanessa M. Ramos, 21, 626 Navajo, Round Lake Beach, was arrested around 7:10 p.m. March 28 and charged with retail theft at Kohl’s, 230 E. Rollins Road. She is accused of taking merchandise and leaving without paying, police said. Her Round Lake Beach court date was not available.

Vernon Hills IL.
• Sarah E. Heupel, 21, 704 Crane Blvd., Libertyville, was arrested March 27 and charged with theft. She is accused of making fraudulent returns valued at $288 at Icing in Westfield Hawthorn mall, police said. Her Mundelein court date was set for April 28.
• Lamar E. Lee, 26 Riverview Ave., Fox Lake, was arrested March 29 and charged with theft at Wal-Mart, 555 Townline Road. He is accused of taking a GPS unit and leaving without paying; then returning and trying to get a refund for it, police said. His Waukegan court date was set for April 18

Naples Fla. April 12 2008
Yes, that was meat in his pants, and no, he wasn’t happy to see a Collier County sheriff’s deputy.
Alberto Caban, 48, whose address in Immokalee was not released, was arrested Tuesday and charged with shoplifting and resisting property recovery by a retail merchant after deputies said he tried to steal two packs of meat from a store.
Just before noon on Tuesday employees of the Fiesta Food Store, 103 S. Third St., in Immokalee, noticed Caban put two packs of meat in his pants and attempt to walk out without paying for them, according to an arrest report.
Victor Mendoza, an employee, attempted to stop Caban, who punched him in the face.
Mendoza was able to pull Caban to the floor and hold him there until deputies arrived. The meat, which was priced at just over $14, was returned to the store and restocked.
Caban was convicted of retail thefts three times in the 1990s, reports said.

TOWN OF WALLKILL NY April 12 2008- Retail security agents notified the state police that they had four shoplifters detained who tried getting out of the store with a lot of their merchandise.
Responding officers arrested four people Monday night on charges that they stole more than $3,000 worth of merchandise from the Kohl’s store on Route 211.Joey Rose, 18, Caesar Page, 20, and Edward Rose, 20, all of Middletown, were charged with grand larceny, a felony. The three adults were transported to the county jail pending a court hearing while a 15-year-old girl was also charged was referred to Orange County Family Court
Police did not release the type of merchandise that the four was trying to steal.

Security officer shot, saved by vest www.privateofficer.com

Security officer shot, saved by his vest www.privateofficer.com

New Orleans LA. April 12 2008
Three people were shot in two overnight shootings, and a fourth person — a security guard on duty at a club in Treme — escaped injury thanks to his bulletproof vest, police said.
Around midnight police found two men suffering from gunshot wounds in the 7000 block of Boston Drive in eastern New Orleans, said Officer Shereese Harper.
The unidentified men were transported to a local hospital but their conditions were unknown, Harper said. Police had no suspects or motive for the shootings, she said.
Less than an hour later, an unidentified New Orleans man was shot in the leg on Toulouse Street, Harper said.
Harper provided no details on the shooting, and couldn’t give the exact location or the condition of the victim. Police had no suspects or motive in the case, she said.
About 4:40 a.m., an unidentified security guard for Club Fabulous in the 800 block of North Claiborne Avenue was shot, but was saved by his bulletproof vest, Officer Jonette Williams said.
Williams said the shooting occurred outside the club, and police believe that the guard was not the “intended target.”
Nobody was injured in the shooting and police had no suspects or motive, she said.
Meanwhile, police are requesting the public’s assistance in locating 19-year-old Marion Taylor of New Orleans in connection with the shooting death of a man Monday afternoon in the Lower Garden District.
Taylor is wanted for the murder of 27-year-old Jerome Sparkman, whose body was found in a white Chevrolet Impala near the intersection of Laurel and Josephine streets. Police said Sparkman’s car had crashed into a truck parked on Josephine Street, apparently as a result of the shooting.
A day after the shooting, 16-year-old Justin Collins turned himself in and was booked with second-degree murder.
When located, Taylor also will be booked with second-degree murder, police said.
A reward is available for information leading to an indictment. Call Crimestoppers at 822-1111, toll-free at (877) 903-7867.

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Police officer arrested for bank robbery www.privateofficer.com

Police officer charged with bank robbery www.privateofficer.com

Reading PA. April 12 2008
With a derby and a blond wig stashed in his getaway car, a New York City police officer robbed a bank in Pennsylvania on Thursday and made off with $113,000 before he was arrested, according to the police and a criminal complaint.
The police in Muhlenberg Township, Pa., said the officer, Christian A. Torres, 21, of Woodhaven, Queens, robbed a Sovereign Bank branch in the township just after 8 a.m. He was charged with robbery, ordered held in $500,000 bail and suspended from the New York force.
One of the arresting officers, Christopher A. Orvech of the Muhlenberg police, said a man wearing a black suit approached a bank employee outside the branch at 8:11 a.m. and asked her about mortgage rates. She told him she would help him when the bank opened. He then turned away, but when the employee entered the bank, he pushed his way in, Officer Orvech said. An employee already at her desk saw the disturbance and triggered a silent alarm, he said.
The robber then ordered the employees into the vault; he ordered one employee, at gunpoint, to put money in a shopping bag, and threatened to harm the workers, the criminal complaint said. The robber then fled.
Officer Orvech, who said he was in his patrol car when he heard about the bank alarm, arrived to find a man dressed in business attire leaving the bank with a full plastic bag.
“He looked just like a regular customer,” he said.
As the man got into a car and started to drive away, Officer Orvech said, he noticed that the license plate was turned backward so the numbers were facing the bumper. A bank employee pointed to the car, and Officer Orvech pulled it over.
The driver, who said he had just come out of a CVS store, said he was a New York City police officer, showing his badge and identification, Officer Orvech said. He found a 9-millimeter Glock handgun in the man’s waistband and discovered the wig, the derby and a CVS bag with bundles of cash on the floor of the vehicle, Officer Orvech said. The police said it was not clear whether Officer Torres had intended to use the wig and the hat as a disguise.
As he was being handcuffed, “he was very calm, almost like he was going to talk his way out of it,” Officer Orvech said. Officer Torres was charged with two counts of robbery, assault, theft, as well as other counts, the police complaint said.
The most serious charge, felony robbery, carries a prison sentence of 10 years or more, said Judge Dean R. Patton of Berks County Magisterial District Court in Reading, Pa., who set bail at $500,000.
Judge Patton scheduled a preliminary hearing for April 21. Officer Torres was being held in the Berks County Prison.
Paul J. Browne, a New York Police Department spokesman, said Officer Torres had been suspended from the force. He joined the department in July 2007 and was assigned to the Brooklyn transit bureau, Mr. Browne said. The New York department is also investigating the robbery.
The police union in New York City, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, declined to comment.

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Officer charged with lewd acts www.privateofficer.com

Bennettsville SC April 12 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com

A training officer for the Bennettsville Police department has been arrested after sexual abuse allegations was made against him and a grand jury indicted him earlier this month.

Bennettsville police officer, Jerry Starnes, 57, has been arrested and charged with four counts of lewd acts on a minor.
Authorities say Starnes committed the acts on four boys between 1969 and 1981. One of the alleged victims told the Morning News of Florence that he was a member of a junior police force when he was molested.
Investigators had been made aware of these incidents recently and after completing their initial reports, turned them over to a grand jury to decide if there was enough probable cause to issue a warrant. The jury agreed that there was.
No one has said why these allegations are just now surfacing or whether or not Starnes has an attorney.
Bennettsville Police Chief Larry McNeil told WBTW-TV that Starnes has been placed on administrative leave from his job as a training officer.

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The rush hour zebra www.privateofficer.com

Zebra joins rush hour crowd www.privateofficer.com

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. April 12 2008 — Motorists see a lot of things along I-75, but this was a horse of a different color.
Actually it wasn’t a horse at all, but a baby zebra.
Morning commuters reported the animal was grazing next to the Interstate in Henry County on Tuesday.
When would-be rescuers from the Department of Natural Resources got to the scene they realized they’d need help and called in the folks from Noah’s Ark, an animal rehabilitation center just down the road in Locust Grove.
Staffers retrieved the zebra and dubbed him Evidence. That’s what police officers on the scene were calling him and the name stuck.
They said from his injuries it appears Evidence fell from a truck or trailer and then was hit by another vehicle. Noah’s Ark veterinarian Dr. Karen Thomas checked out Evidence and found extensive injuries.
“There were more than 50 wounds on his body, including two knocked out teeth,” officials at Noah’s Ark said in a release.
Realizing the zebra needed emergency care he was rushed to the veterinary school at Auburn University. Doctors there discovered Evidence suffered a crushed pelvis and other internal injuries.
Auburn doctors performed surgery and Evidence is expected to recover and will have a permanent home at Noah’s Ark.
If you want to contribute to a fund to help cover the $5,000 in medical expenses go to noahs-ark.org for more information.

Police investigate teenager’s death www.privateofficer.com

Police investigate suspicous death of teenager www.privateofficer.com

PORTSMOUTH VA.April 12 2008

By: Bryan Hill

Security News Magazine

http://www.privateofficer.com/

Police investigators here are working a death of a 16-year-old girl was found murdered in her family’s Portsmouth home yesterday.Police have identified her as Meghan N. Landowski, a Woodrow Wilson High School student. Landowski was found dead in her family’s home on Roberts Court West in the city’s Simonsdale section.Investigators say the girl’s stepfather came home shortly after 4 p.m. and found her dead.

A cause of death has not been determined, but police are treating the case as a homicide.Police spokeswoman Jan Westerbeck also said a Norfolk resident, identified only as a “person of interest” in the case, came and spoke with investigators in Portsmouth last night.

She said detectives interviewed him and released him. Westerbeck said the person “is not considered a suspect at this time.
Investigators processing the scene of the possible homicide did not disclose the cause of death or any details about evidence or other clues collected.
It looks like someone, possibly a person that she knew came in and killed her a police officer said but right now we don’t know what happened here.

On her page at the MySpace social networking Web site, Landowski describes herself as someone who “lives in the stars” and “lives life the way it is.” Some of her friends have already begun posting “Rest in Peace” messages for her on the site.

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Woman lives amoung rats www.privateofficer.com

Woman lives in infested rat house www.privateofficer.com

ROCHESTER, Wash. April 12 2008

By: Bryan Hill

Security News Magazine

www.privateofficer.com

Authorities armed with a search warrant raided the home of a woman they say say has been found living with hundreds of rats and four malnourished snakes in a home outside Rochester for months.Thurston County Animal Services Director Susanne Beauregard says an official from the Area Agency on Aging alerted authorities about a month ago and animal service officers responded to her home, but the woman has been uncooperative.

She says the woman calls the rats her friends.On Wednesday a search warrant was obtained and officers found the floor covered with rat droppings and the carpets soggy with rat urine. Beauregard says two malnourished boa constrictors, a corn snake and a king snake were seized from cages.Investigators believe the woman bought some rats to feed the boa constrictors, but they got loose and multiplied like rabbits and soon filled the house with hundreds of rats.
It’s the rats who have charge of the house, one officer said.
Investigators wore protective clothing while removing the snakes and were able to round up some of the rats. authorities say that the house is in unlivable condition and will work to relocate the woman.

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Police say students sold guns at school www.privateofficer.com

Police say students sold guns at schools www.privateofficer.com

from the Washington Post
Kensington MD. April 12 2008

Police charged five Montgomery County teens and one adult yesterday with being linked to what authorities said was a scheme to steal guns from a student’s home and sell them to classmates, a sale broken up when a 14-year-old potential customer accidentally fired a bullet into the wall of a restroom stall.
The gunshot, at lunchtime Wednesday, jolted the Albert Einstein High School community in Kensington, a campus with some of the premiere academic offerings in southern Montgomery County and one of the most diverse student populations in Maryland.
It also revealed divisions within the student and parent community on such basic issues as whether the school is safe to attend. About 75 students staged a dramatic midday demonstration against handgun violence along the school’s central hallway, shuffling chairs to mimic the movement of a train and chanting, “No more guns.” Other students elected to stay home out of fear.
“The school is a time bomb waiting to happen,” said Vanessa Johnson, mother of two Einstein students. Johnson sent them to school only after being told by a receptionist that they could not be excused.
Students reported entire rows of empty desks yesterday. Principal James Fernandez said he did not know the full extent of absenteeism.
But some parents sent their children back without a second thought. “I never for a moment worried that my daughter was in danger,” said Kelly Giblin of Kensington, who leads the PTSA.
Reaction was as diverse as the school itself, whose service area includes parts of Kensington, Silver Spring and Wheaton. It ranks second among Montgomery’s 25 high schools in terms of students living in poverty: Two-thirds have received federal meal subsidies at some point. The student population is 41 percent Hispanic, 24 percent black, 23 percent white and 12 percent Asian.
School officials and police shut down the campus for much of Wednesday afternoon, pulled suspects from classrooms one by one, plucked the spent bullet from the bathroom wall and traced the weapons — a .45-caliber handgun, a .22-caliber handgun and a .38 special — to a book bag in a student’s locker. More than 50 school employees worked late to search the campus for additional contraband. None was found.
Police said tensions among students rose late last week after a fight outside the school. Students said the fight took place at Newport Mill Park, adjacent to the school. The principal said the fight started between an Einstein student and a former student. Students said it escalated to a larger conflict that broke along racial lines.
A law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case involves juveniles, said the fight involved rival gangs. One of the gangs was a subset of Mara Salvatrucha, the Latino gang known as MS-13, and the other was an African American gang, the source said.
Reached last night, a police spokesman couldn’t immediately confirm what gangs were involved but said the fight involved “some gang members.”
Last weekend, a 15-year-old Einstein student and his girlfriend, also 15, plotted to steal guns kept under lock and key by her family, police said. They said she knew where the key was hidden and left a window open. Police said the boyfriend took four guns, knives and jewelry. Their purpose, police said, was to make money.
The boy brought three guns to a second-floor boys’ bathroom Wednesday to show them to potential buyers, police said. One potential customer, a 14-year-old, took a pistol into a stall, examined it and accidentally fired it. The boys dispersed.
Police said everyone involved in the transaction has ties to gangs or has acquaintances who are gang members.
Jose Ramos, 16, and Geovani Lazabara, 17, both of Silver Spring, were charged as adults with participating in an illegal sale of a regulated firearm and other offenses. Authorities said the two were prospective buyers in the abandoned sale. In court, Assistant State’s Attorney Jeffrey Wennar called Lazabara a “validated gang member.” They were held on $100,000 bond each.
Jose Ramos’s father, Cesar, a construction worker from El Salvador, said his son is no gang member.
“He’s a good boy,” the elder Ramos said from the family home. “I don’t know what happened at the school. The authorities haven’t let me talk to him. He pays attention to us, he loves us. He gives us hugs every day.”
Luis F. Gomez Jr., attorney for Lazabara, said his client “maintains his innocence, absolutely, at his point.” Gomez said Lazabara’s parents would have trouble raising money to pay the bond. Lazabara’s mother is a housekeeper, and his stepfather is contractor.
Police said that a fourth stolen weapon was traced to another potential customer, 20-year-old Raul Garcia, who was charged with handgun violations and conspiracy to break in and steal. Authorities said Garcia helped line up potential customers for the firearms.
The 15-year-old boyfriend and girlfriend alleged to have stolen the guns were charged as juveniles, as was the 14-year-old alleged to have fired the shot. The students, all from Silver Spring, were charged with either burglary or handgun offenses.
Police said another suspect, 16-year-old from Silver Spring, has not been charged. His role remains under investigation.
Fernandez said yesterday he is “99 percent positive” the gun transaction was not related to Friday’s fight. “To the best of my knowledge, I don’t think these kids have been in trouble before,” he said of the suspects. The 14-year-old freshman who fired the gun, he said, plays on the school baseball team.
The investigation began when several Einstein students told school security officers they had heard a loud noise coming from the bathroom. Security officers worked on the case for more than an hour before alerting the principal.
Immediately after being told just after 1 p.m., Fernandez put the school in Code Blue, a state of heightened alert. Ten minutes later, when it was confirmed that a gun had been fired, he upgraded to Code Red, full lockdown.
Investigators turned to the school’s security cameras, which yield images “so good,” Fernandez said, “it’s as plain as me sitting across the desk from you.” The images led investigators to the suspects, and Fernandez pulled them from their classes, so as not to alarm classmates. Police arrested and searched the students in the hallway.
Police learned the location of the weapons after talking to suspects.
Speaking on the public address system yesterday, Fernandez told students that some of them had clearly let the school down. “Sadly, it seems that several people knew the weapons were in school and endangered us all by not telling someone what they knew,” he said.
The school will hold a spirit day today and a community meeting at 7 p.m. Monday to seek input on safety concerns.
Einstein has no metal detectors, and parents are divided on whether they should be installed. “I think metal detectors are only going to address a larger problem, and that is disenfranchised kids,” said Giblin, the PTSA leader.
Aishah Striggles of Silver Spring, whose niece attends Einstein, takes another view. “This is what they do in D.C.,” she said, alluding to the magnetometers in the city’s high schools. “And to me, Wheaton is as urban as D.C. I mean, we have to be real about these things.”

Officer claims discrimination against MLB www.privateofficer.com

HOUSTON TX. April 12 2008 – A police veteran who provided security for the Houston Astros has filed a racial and age discrimination complaint against Major League Baseball.
Lt. George McKay was in his ninth year working as a resident security agent when he said MLB officials demoted him to a non-paying position.
Houston television station KRIV reports McKay filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today.
The 57-year-old is white and was replaced with another Houston police officer who is black.
McKay says baseball is sensitive to the lack of African-Americans in positions of authority and thinks they wanted more visibility of a black employee.
MLB spokesmen did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press for comment Thursday night.
Complaints of discrimination are reviewed by the EEOC before the can get to federal court.

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25 Correction officers fired after investigation www.privateofficer.com

25 Correction officers fired during investigation www.privateofficer.com

HAGERSTOWN MD April 12 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com

Officials here confirmed today that eight correctional officers at a state prison near Cumberland, Md., were fired Thursday, bringing to 25 the number of correctional officers to lose their jobs there and at Roxbury Correctional Institution south of Hagerstown in the last week amid allegations of excessive use of force.
Ron Smith, a Maryland Classified Employees Association labor relations specialist, said Thursday he heard that additional officers might lose their jobs. Smith discussed the possibility of more firings during a meeting of the MCEA Thursday afternoon at the American Legion in Funkstown.
“Having to fire this many officers at two prisons is certainly not only highly unusual, but deeply troubling,” Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Gary Maynard said in a prepared release. “But this has not been done recklessly or hastily. It’s been done because the investigation has shown serious violations of departmental policy. No one is happy about these situations, but we cannot tolerate violence against our officers or inappropriate behavior by them.”
Thursday’s firings at the maximum-security North Branch Correctional Institution followed the April 4 firing of nine RCI correctional officers and Tuesday’s firing of an additional eight officers from RCI.
Maryland State Police are leading a criminal investigation into the allegations of excessive force and inmates who have been injured as a result of that force, authorities said.
At least two injured inmates were involved in the separate incidents that led to the allegations, Mark Vernarelli, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said Thursday evening.
One inmate at RCI was found to be injured during the weekend of March 8 and was hospitalized. Prison officials have said that incident might have been connected to a March 6 assault by inmates on officers.
Subsequently, at least one inmate at North Branch, who had been housed at RCI, alleged he was a victim of excessive force, Vernarelli said Thursday.
The firings were based on “flimsy, contradictory evidence,” said Joe Lawrence, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Correctional officers don’t condone using excessive force on inmates, but also can’t stomach their colleagues being railroaded, he said.
The firings were not a deliberate application of justice, and will undermine the department’s credibility with its officers and with the public, Lawrence said.
MCEA officials also spoke out against the firings.
“With the amount of people who have been fired at this point, morale is not very high,” said John Reamy, MCEA Chapter 88 president and a sergeant at RCI, a medium-security facility that houses about 1,750 inmates. The most recent round of firings at North Branch will take morale even lower, he said.
After finding out about the North Branch firings, Reamy said the situation was “bordering on ridiculous.”
Smith, who is handling the cases of two RCI officers and one North Branch officer as they take their cases to administrative hearings, said he was sure the officers would get their jobs back.
Union officials are concerned about the well-being of the prison employees, said David Boschert, executive director of MCEA. The union wants to make sure the firings were “above board” and done according to procedure, he said.
Authorities said that their investigation is continuing and can’t rule out the possibilty of more officers being terminated for the use of excessive force.

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Shoplifter jumps into river to escape www.privateofficer.com

Nashville TN. April 12 2008

While helicopters and rescue boats scoured the Cumberland River Tuesday night to save a suspected shoplifter who dove into the fast-moving river, police said, he was swimming downstream and nodding a friendly hello to passing barge operators.
The suspect is a Navy sailor, a crew member on a submarine stationed on the coast of Georgia. Metro police believe he stole some boxes of ammunition and a T-shirt from the Bass Pro Shop in the Opry Mills Mall and left the items in the trunk of a car in the parking lot before he was chased by a security guard

That car was registered to the U.S. government, according to Metro police spokesman Don Aaron, and was later towed as an abandoned vehicle. It was not reported stolen in Nashville, Aaron said, but was reported as such to the owner: the U.S. Navy. The car was assigned for the use of five sailors who were on leave, Aaron said.
Aaron said Metro police detectives are working with the Navy’s criminal investigations division to identify the suspect through surveillance photos.
“His naval training is, we believe, responsible for him being able to negotiate the Cumberland River and getting out of the water,” Aaron said.
A helicopter using a heat-indicating device was unable to locate the suspect. The Nashville Fire Department also put two boats in the water to search the shoreline but didn’t find the man. The Office of Emergency Management decided against using a diver since the river is so rough and contains so much debris.
A person reported seeing a drenched man in Shelby Park later that night, and a barge operator told police he saw, and was acknowledged by, a man swimming down the river that same evening.

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Security overreacted at IU concert www.privateofficer.com

Private security overreacted at IU concert www.privateofficer.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind April 12 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

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A concert sponsored by the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity on the lawn of a frat house at Indiana University on Wednesday ended abruptly after officers began spraying pepper spray into a crowd who was rowdy. Authorities say that the group, DMX left the stage after playing only a very songs and the concert- goers, most having payed $25-35 per ticket to see the concert began yelling and being unruly trying to bring the band back to the stage.
University police today said that it was contract security officers hired by the fraternity — not Indiana University police — who sprayed Mace on a rowdy group of students who grew upset .
Capt. Jerry Minger of the IU Police Department said the security officers were apparently hired by members of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, which staged Wednesday night’s charity concert on the lawn of its on-campus fraternity house.
He said fraternity members had not returned repeated messages left by the department.
A message seeking comment was left Friday by The Associated Press with Lambda Chi Alpha’s campus office.
Minger said that the problem was that the fraternity had agreed with IU’s student activities office that the concert would run from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. but that DMX did not begin performing until the program was supposed to end.
A half-hour later, after DMX had performed only a few songs, Minger said representatives of IU’s student activities office told the fraternity the concert needed to end because the house is near a residential area.
Minger said he could clearly hear the booming concert from his home seven blocks away.
“So you can imagine what it would be like if you were right across the street,” he said.
When DMX left the stage, Minger said students immediately became loud and unruly and were soon sprayed with Mace by the private security officers.
Minger said he had seen a cell phone video that shows the crowd being sprayed twice, the second time heavily.
“They, (the security people) walked away and then came back and pretty well doused the people up front,” he said. “We don’t use that kind of force unless we’re protecting property or there’s a threat of injury to someone else or ourselves. It didn’t appear from the video that that was the case.”
Minger said the video shows security officers wearing distinctive uniforms — duty belts, shoulder patches and what appeared to be badges — that may have led some students to believe they were police officers.
Authorities including the University police are now investigating the incident and after completing their report will forward it to the Monroe county Prosecutor’s office and let them decide if charges should be brought against the security officers involved.
Nyla Washington, who handles publicity for DMX, said the artist was upset by events but left the stage before the situation escalated.
“DMX was not the instigator,” Washington said in a prepared statement. “DMX feels it’s unfortunate that he could not fully perform … for this charity show and he hopes to return to Indiana University in the future for another show.”
Organizer Jake Hoffberg would not discuss the incident.

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Beer run turns into robbery www.privateofficer.com

Santa Rosa Ca. April 12 2008

By: Bryan Hill

Security News Magazine

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Three teenage shoplifters thought it was just another beer run as they headed to a local grocery store with thoughts of not buying, but stealing some brew and whatever else they could get out of the store with.

Santa Rosa police Sgt. Rich Celli said a 6:35 p.m. call of a strong-arm robbery in progress at the Lucky store on Bicentennial Way involved one person confronted by security officers after allegedly trying to steal liquor. As the store security officers tried to detain that individual, two more men entered the store and attempted to intervene, pushiing the security officers in an attempt to help their friend escape..
Jakeima Rohrbach, 18; William Kammerer, 18; and Andrew Pomele, 22, all of Santa Rosa, were rounded up by responding police and store security and now all are being held on suspicion of robbery, police said.

“One subject claimed to have a firearm, and the security officers retreated,” Celli said.An off-duty Sonoma County sheriff’s detective who was in the area called in vehicle information as the trio fled and headed south on Mendocino Avenue in a Chevrolet Lumina, police said.

When the car pulled into a parking lot, the suspects were surrounded by police units and the three were arrested. Celli said no weapons were found.

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