School violence leads to eight arrests www.privateofficer.com

Denver CO. April 20 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com
Police officers were dispatched to assist a security officer at a district school. Authorities say that a scuffle between students got out of hand and the security officer and a Denver police officer were injured and eight people were arrested.
GW Principal Steve Goldstein said Friday, “To the best of my knowledge, there never was a fight.”
Most students had already gone home by 4 p.m., but among those still on campus, a disagreement broke out, and “there was some posturing,” Goldstein said.
“A district security officer, for whatever reason, felt threatened and made an initial call for backup,” which quickly brought another security officer and police officers, Goldstein said.
“Some kids watching this whole thing transpire felt that the security officer and the police officer were in the wrong,” he said.
“So some of the kids made really poor choices. One of the kids tried to stop the police officer from doing what he was doing,” Goldstein said.
It was at this point the Denver officer requested more back up and another dozen officers responded to the school.
Friday was a teacher work day, so except for the 50 students helping plant some trees, there weren’t students around. So Goldstein hasn’t been able to quiz students about what happened.
“I’m sure the kids are going to say there was a police overreaction.
“Do we think there was an overreaction by police? No.
“Do I think the initial call may have been an overreaction? Possibly.”
Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said injuries to the officer and a couple students were “very minor.”
He said a district school security officer tried to break up a fight, and that the first responding officer was assaulted. “We ended up arresting eight people — seven juveniles and one adult.”
The students who showed up for the tree-planting Friday had various reasons to be there — to fulfill community-service requirements, to make up for being tardy, because they like doing something positive for the school.
“We really do care,” said freshman Darren Gardner, digging a five-foot-diameter hole. “Yesterday was a bad moment.
“When you see things like that, you do things like this to make up for it. Because this is how we really like to be seen.”
Police and school officials will investigate what started the whole incident next week when class is back in session.

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Security, police deal with protestors www.privateofficer.com

FEDERAL WAY, Wash.April 20 2008 — Four protesters were arrested Thursday in front of the Weyerhaeuser Co. headquarters after three of them chained themselves to a flower pot as shareholders were streaming into an annual meeting, Federal Way police said.
The Rainforest Action Network said one woman and three men went to the meeting with the expectation they could be arrested. The group wanted to draw attention to a situation in northern Ontario, Canada, where indigenous people are trying to stop the forest products company from logging in their territory of Grassy Narrows.
One of the people arrested is from San Francisco, the others are from Washington state.
The group had about 20 protesters in front of the building, including five shareholders who went inside to the meeting, said Brant Olson, campaign director for Rainforest Action Network.
Three people locked themselves together with metal chains and pipes and hooked the chains to a small concrete planter box immediately in front of the door just before 8:30 a.m., Olson said. Minutes later four people were arrested by Federal Way police.
“It all happened pretty quickly,” Olson said. “They had counted on those planter boxes being heavier than they were.”
Police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock said a corporate security officer asked the protesters to move, because they were blocking the entrance. The four people refused so police were notified and when the officers arrived they lifted the flower pot and led them away from the building, she said.
Three were cited for misdemeanor trespassing and released, Schrock said. Brady McGarry, 25, of Seattle, was arrested for driving with a suspended license and booked into the Fife Jail, she said.
Protester Annie Sartor, 26, of San Francisco, said the experience was exciting, but faster than they hoped. The two other people arrested were Justin Rolf-Redding, 26, of Seattle; and DSame, 34, of Olympia.
“There were shareholders walking over us. We were on the ground in front of the door. It was wild,” said Sartor, who is on the staff of Rainforest Action Network. “Can you imagine going to a shareholders meeting and stepping over people to get in the door?”
She said a court hearing has been set for April 29.
Weyerhaeuser spokesman Bruce Amundson said the company chose not to comment on the arrests. He characterized the shareholder meeting as “pretty tame,” said about 600 people attended, elected the proposed slate of officers and did not approve a shareholder proposal to make the chairman of the board a non-executive.
Olson said his organization has attended the past three Weyerhaeuser shareholder annual meetings to draw attention to the situation in northern Ontario.
“The intent was to alert shareholders that five years is too long to continue dragging their heels,” he said, explaining that residents of the Grassy Narrows community have been objecting to logging in their territory for about five years.

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Security helps nab graffiti vandals www.privateofficer.com

Security officer helps nab graffiti vandals www.privateofficer.com

MIDVALE Utah April 20 2008

By: Bryan Hill

Security News Magazine

http://www.privateofficer.com/ – Two graffiti artists triggered quite the stir at a Midvale sports store late Wednesday night.

Police said a security officer looking at camera footage noticed two men on the roof of a Sportman’s Warehouse, at 165 W. 7200 South, about 11:30 p.m. and called police.

Six Midvale officers responded and officers soon surrounded the building.

Unable to get to the roof where the suspects were located police brought in a fire truck and then made their way up a ladder to arrest the men, who had just begun a mural.

Officers called in a ladder truck from the Sandy Fire Department to hoist the men down.

Once on the ground, the men were arrested and cited and released, said Sgt. Marcelo Rapela, a Midvale police spokesman.

The men were not creating gang graffiti, Rapela said, but did appear to be regular contributors because of the amount of spray paint in their car.

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PRIVATE OFFICER DOWN…..ALABAMA www.privateofficer.com

Blountsville Al. April 20 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private officers

www.privateofficer.com
A security officer employed by the DSI Security Services company was killed this week in an industrial accident, authorities said.
Blount County Coroner John Mark Vaughn said that security officer Allen L. Hayes, 70 of Locust Fork Alabama was working at the Tyson Chicken plant on Tuesday when he was struck by a truck in the loading dock area of the business.
Emergency medical personnel called for a helicopter and Hayes was airlifted to the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) hospital but was dead by the time that he arrived, Vaughn said.

The accident is being investigated by county law enforcement and OSHA will also be called in to conduct their investigation officials said.
At this time it is not known if the truck backed up over the security officer or if he was struck when he crossed in front of the vehicle. There was little detail on the official report.
There was no details about Mr. Hayes family.

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Security officer slashed during hospital incident www.privateofficer.com

Scranton Pa. April 20 2008

By: Bryan Hill

Security News Magazine

www.privateofficer.com

A Mercy Hospital security officer suffered a 2-inch gash to his left wrist after a patient slashed him with a box cutter early Thursday, police said.
Quincy Johnson, 42, of 600 Prescott Ave., is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment.

The incident happened around 3 a.m. after Mr. Johnson became upset with hospital staff who would not prescribe him certain drugs, according to an affidavit.

As security officers were attempting to escort Mr. Johnson from the building, he allegedly lunged at a nurse. A struggle ensued with security guards, who wrestled him to the ground.

Security officers allowed Mr. Johnson up and, again, tried to escort him outside. But he took out a box cutter and slashed Ron Lahnemann, who was taken to the emergency room, according to an affidavit.S

cranton police arrived at the hospital at 3:22 a.m. and interviewed Mr. Johnson, who claimed the security officers hit him in the face, the affidavit states.

As Patrolman Kenneth James was speaking to Mr. Johnson, the suspect tried to put his hands in his front pocket, but Patrolman Joseph Harrison stopped him and recovered a black, 6-inch box cutter.

Mercy spokesman Jack Coyle declined to comment on the incident. He would not release any information on Mr. Lahnemann’s condition.

Mr. Johnson, meanwhile, was arraigned and remanded to Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $40,000 bail.

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Police nab suspect for lewd acts at college www.privateofficer.com

Police nab suspect in lewd acts at college www.privateofficer.com

Homewood Ala. April 20 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com

Police investigating a string of lewd acts on the Samford University campus say that they have made an arrest and charged a Birmingham man with indecent exposure in a string of incidents that has occurred over a lengthy period of time.
Investigators say that they arrested Richard Hightower last Sunday night as he was in the act of being a “peeping tom”.
According to a press release from the Homewood Police Department, Hightower would sneak up to the windows of a girls dorm room and take pictures.
Police and campus safety officers have been receiving numerous complaints and have been seeking the suspect for a long time, an officer said.
Dana Wilkes said that the school had notified them of the incidents and sent out emails telling them what the suspect looked like and the administration was on top of this guy she said.

But that knowledge didn’t help the unease they felt with the suspect lurking around at night. “It was really scary. Just us being girls even in a group it was kind of scary because you just didn’t know. I had no idea what he looked like except that he was a white male” says freshman Jessi Leffler.
Even though the girls we spoke with didn’t know anyone allegedly victimized by Hightower, they still say it’s creepy just knowing he was out there. “Girls would have their entire blinds closed and there would be a portion of it open and they’d see a white hand with a camera or like a man’s face, a freshman said.
The Samford campus is a closed campus at night with security officers at checkpoints and roving campus safety officers on patrol.
This isn’t Hightower’s first charge of indecent exposure. He spent four years in a Mississippi prison for similar offenses. And last November he was busted on the University of Alabama campus for indecent exposure, sexual abuse, public lewdness, and other crimes.

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Military stores face shoplifting increase www.privateofficer.com

Military stores facing shoplifting increase www.privateofficer.com

from the Stars and Stripes
Atlanta Ga. April 20 2008
Despite enhanced preventive measures, theft at Army and Air Force Exchange Service stores worldwide increased last year, which led to higher costs for military consumers, according to a news release.
In 2007, there were 7,635 cases in which shoplifters were caught, compared to 7,542 the previous year. While incidents were up only about 1 percent, the average cost of products in detected cases climbed more than 8 percent, from $119 per incident in 2006 to $129 last year.
Throughout Europe in 2007, the number of shoplifters caught at AAFES stores rose while the value of the lifted merchandise fell.
During 2006, 1,096 shoplifters were caught stealing about $158,209 in goods, according to AAFES spokesman Army Lt. Col. David Konop. In 2007, 1,112 shoplifters attempted to pocket about $149,325 worth of stuff, a decrease of about $9,000, he said. The average cost of the stolen goods dropped from $144 in 2006 to $134 in 2007 in Europe.
In the Pacific, there were 808 shoplifting cases in 2007, up from 694 in 2006. The total cost of stolen goods jumped to $146,305 in 2007, from $88,169 in 2006, according to Judd Anstey, AAFES headquarters spokesman.
Name-brand electronics, designer purses and perfumes were among the hottest items stolen in 2007, the release stated. It triggered increased costs for the military community as losses of “high-end” merchandise soared from $898,851 to $985,244 worldwide last year, a nearly 10 percent rise from 2006.
“Shoplifting at the exchange results in a reduced return on investment to our primary shareholders — the military community,” Gerald Danish, vice president of loss prevention for AAFES, said in the release. “Because AAFES [has] a mission to return earnings to [Morale, Welfare and Recreation] activities, shoplifting at the BX or PX is essentially the same as taking money directly from the pockets of the military families that exchanges serve.”
Konop agreed.
“It goes right back to myself, the serviceman,” he said, adding that people are basically stealing from themselves.
In the past decade, AAFES has contributed more than $2.4 billion to military quality-of-life programs, according to the release.
The organization says it continues focusing efforts on reducing the temptation of customers to steal. AAFES has safeguards in place to discourage shoplifting, ranging from video surveillance to undercover store detectives who mingle with customers.
Loss-prevention associates also are testing “intelligent video analysis solutions” capable of alerting personnel to crucial incidents as they happen, the release states. The new systems will allow security to intervene before merchandise even leaves the store.
“No one likes catching shoplifters,” Danish said. “In fact, one of our major objectives is to deter shoplifting before it ever happens by educating shoppers of all ages on the exchanges’ ability to monitor and record activity throughout the store. It’s our hope that individuals who might be considering theft will see the security measures, think twice and make the right decision for their family and career.”
AAFES loss-prevention officials detain all shoplifting suspects and notify military police.
Active-duty servicemembers usually are prosecuted through military legal channels, with disciplinary action often left to a commander’s discretion. Civilians and dependents charged with shoplifting are referred to base disciplinary boards.
Punishment may include suspension of AAFES privileges, community service and loss of job opportunities. In some instances, repeat offenders face banishment from base. In addition, AAFES charges shoplifters and accomplices a $200 fee through the Federal Claims Collection Act, a civil recovery program that allows retailers to pursue merchandise losses and administrative costs.
In the release, AAFES said there may be further penalties, depending on the stolen merchandise’s condition.

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Weight Watcher’s employee steals cupcakes www.privateofficer.com

PORT ST. LUCIE Fla. April 20, 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com She was there to demonstrate how anyone can loose weight just by following the Weight Watches program. She set up her table and her demo items and was doing well and then decided to take a stroll through the Publix store.
It was that little walk away from her demo area and around the aisles of the store that seems to have been too much for her. She gave in to temptation and was arrested after shoplifting cupcakes and other items, according to a police report obtained Friday.
A loss prevention agent for the store told police that Kelly L. Barber, 47, was in the store in the 3200 block of Southwest Port St. Lucie Boulevard Thursday “conducting a demo for Weight Watchers.”
The loss prevention agent said she saw Barber “conceal store items” in a blue bin and leave the store without paying for the goods, which included Weight Watchers cupcakes, a book and teeth whitening strips.
Officers took Barber into custody for theft but there was no word on why she took the items or if she’s lost her demo position with Weight Watchers.

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Fired city employee arrested for theft again www.privateofficer.com

Greensboro, NC April 20 2008

By: Bryan Hill

Security News Magazine

www.privateofficer.com

A former Greensboro city employee is now facing additional charges in connection with thefts from city parking meters.
Police say that Wesley Alan Gregory used keys he had taken from the city to continue to steal money from the meters even after his initial arrest and termination from his job.
. He has been charged with new counts of felony larceny, misdemeanor breaking or entering of a coin-operated device, and misdemeanor larceny in connection with the theft of $1,000 and city keys.
Gregory was fired from his job in December after he was initially charged with embezzlement. At that time, he was accused of stealing $2,550 from city parking meters. He had worked for the city since 1983.

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Man’s prison sentence vacated in security officer murder www.privateofficer.com

Man’s prison sentence vacated in security guard murder www.privateofficer.com

from the Chicago Sun Times
Chicago IL. April 20 2008
A grinning Eugene Logan stood outside the Cook County Jail Friday evening and announced to no one in particular: “Man been locked up for 26 years! He’s about to walk through them gates.”
And about half an hour later, his brother Alton Logan — appearing dazed and with tears streaming down his face — did just that.
As relatives and friends swarmed around him, Alton Logan offered one whispered word to describe how he felt: “Great.”
“To shake his hand, man, is just a great feeling and to know he’s going to breathe some of this free air,” Eugene Logan said moments after hugging his brother.
Earlier Friday, Cook County Judge James Schreier vacated Logan’s convictions in the murder of a security guard during a robbery at a South Side McDonald’s in January 1982. In ordering a new trial, Schreier said new evidence in the case may well convince a jury of Logan’s innocence. Schreier set Logan’s bond at $10,000, requiring family to post 10 percent of the amount.
That new evidence in the case includes the words of two attorneys who testified in court earlier this year that their client, Andrew Wilson, told them he — not Logan — murdered the McDonald’s security guard. Those attorneys, W. Jameson Kunz and Dale Coventry, kept secret what Wilson told them for 26 years, because they felt they had an ethical duty to protect their client — until his death in prison last year.
“At last,” Kunz said after Schreier’s ruling.
On Friday, before the judge’s decision, Logan’s attorneys presented more new evidence, including a woman who worked at the South Side McDonald’s the night of the shooting. She testified Friday that Wilson, not Logan, was the shooter. The woman, Gail Hilliard, didn’t explain on the stand why she didn’t come forward sooner with what she knew. Harold Winston, one of Logan’s attorneys, said later Friday: “My guess is she was a little scared . . . and she didn’t want to get involved.”
Lawyers with the state attorney general’s office argued in court that three separate witnesses — including another security guard who was shot but survived the McDonald’s robbery — identified Logan as the man who shot and killed security guard Lloyd Wickliffe, an off-duty Cook County sheriff’s employee, during the robbery.
Prosecutor Vincenzo Chimera said in court that his office wants to know the truth of what happened, but said the state is at a “serious disadvantage” because Wilson is dead and can’t be interviewed.
Later Friday, Chimera said his office hasn’t yet decided whether to seek a retrial.
Despite evidence hidden for decades that might have set Logan free many years ago, his family says they are not bitter.
“We’re not angry with [Kunz and Coventry],” said Logan’s aunt, Barbara Cannon. “They did what they had to do.”
Logan is due back in court May 12.

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Three Kroger employees stabbed during shoplifting incident www.privateofficer.com

VIRGINIA BEACH VA. April 20 2008

Kyle T. Greene

Ntl. Assoc. Private officers

www.privateofficer.com
Virginia Beach police have charged a juvenile in connection with the stabbing of three employees of a Kempsville supermarket on Thursday.
The employees were stabbed after they tried to detain the 17-year-old suspected of shoplifting at Kroger, police said.
Police could not release his name because he is a juvenile. He was charged with four counts of malicious wounding, one count of petit larceny and one count of possession of marijuana, said Officer Adam Bernstein. He also was served with warrants for failing to appear in court and violating probation.
Wayne Gilbert, a police spokesman, said the incident happened shortly before 5:30 p.m. at the Kroger store in the 5200 bock of Providence Road at the Providence Square Shopping Center.
None of those hurt sustained life-threatening wounds, he said. The identities of the victims, all treated at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, were not released.
Gilbert said the events began when store employees spotted a man shoplifting.
Three workers then followed him into the parking lot where they confronted him.
Initially, the man returned with them to the store, Gilbert said.
Once inside and at the front of the market, however, “he began to scuffle with the employees and produced an edged weapon,” Gilbert said, “and began stabbing those employees around him.”
The assailant then fled.
Police arrived moments later and, with information from the victims and witnesses, officers fanned out around the area in hopes of tracking down the assailant.
Just 10 minutes later, Gilbert said, officers spotted a man fitting the description of the attacker in the 5300 block of Glenville Circle, a short distance from and behind the shopping center.
He was taken into custody without further incident, Gilbert said.
Police did not say if a weapon had been recovered.

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Private Officer Down…….Los Angeles Ca. www.privateofficer.com

Los Angeles CA. April 20 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com

LAPD investigators say that a security officer was killed Friday night in a shooting at an Auto Zone store in the Arlington Heights area, and another victim was taken to a hospital, authorities said.

The shooting on Washington Boulevard near Western Avenue was reported around 10:15 p.m., an officer from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Station said.

One victim, the security officer at the business, was fatally shot, he said.

Another shooting victim was taken to a hospital, but his or her condition was not immediately known.

It was unclear whether any arrests were made, the officer said. LAPD did not release the security officer’s name or the name of the other shooting victim.
Because this is an ongoing investigation, officers would not release information about the shooting, if it was a robbery or if the security officer was armed and if he/she fired back at anyone.

Police were at the scene investigating the shooting, the officer said.

The National Association of Private Officers has contacted the Los Angeles authorities for more information and to obtain the security officer’s name. As soon as that information is made public, we will post it on our blogs and at www.privateofficer.com/officerdown.

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Shoplifter pulls fake gun on store employees www.privateofficer.com

Memphis TN. April 20 2008

After being confronted for shoplifting in West Memphis Tuesday night, a 19-year-old man pulled a BB gun from his pocket and claimed to be a cousin of slain 12-year-old DeAunta Farrow.
Deniko Keaundra Wallace then surrendered the realistic-looking gun — as well as deodorant cans and pork chops — to authorities at the Big Star grocery store at 2050 E. Broadway, West Memphis police chief Bob Paudert said Wednesday.
But the incident drew disturbing parallels to last June 22, when West Memphis police officer Erik Sammis shot DeAunta after he mistook the boy’s toy gun for a real weapon.

I just can’t explain why anyone would do that, particularly after all the publicity we’ve gone through over here,” Paudert said of Wallace’s actions.
“Had he pulled that gun on anybody, we might be facing another situation where he was shot,” he added. “We just went through all that. I don’t understand it. A 19-year-old should have enough common sense not to carry that.”
Wallace was arrested on a misdemeanor shopping charge, but is now out of jail.
Paudert said the gun, which was not loaded, uses carbon-dioxide cartridges to fire pellets. The gun resembled a .40- or .45-caliber pistol, he added.

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CNN reporter arrested for drugs www.privateofficer.com

CNN reporter arrested with drugs www.privateofficer.com

New York City NY April 20 2008

Kyle T. Greene

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com

A CNN reporter was arrested Friday in Central Park with a small amount of methamphetamine in his pocket, but he avoided jail time by agreeing to undergo drug counseling and therapy.
Richard Quest, 46, was arrested around 3:40 a.m. on a count of possession of a controlled substance — a misdemeanor that usually refers to a personal use amount of a drug. He was also charged with loitering; the park officially closes at 1 a.m.
When police saw and detained Quest, he told them, “I’ve got some meth in my pocket,” according to the complaint filed in court. The complaint said he had a plastic sandwich bag containing methamphetamine in a jacket pocket.
Quest, who is British, is a correspondent for CNN International and is known for his reports on business travel. He hosts “CNN Business Traveler” and “Quest.”
At his arraignment in Manhattan’s Criminal Court, Judge Anthony Ferrara told Quest that if he attends the counseling and therapy designated by prosecutors for the next six months, his case will dismissed.
The judge allowed Quest to leave court without posting bail. He warned that if Quest failed to comply with the counseling schedule, he could be back in court and on his way to jail.
Quest’s lawyer, Alan M. Abramson, said his client “did not realize the park had a curfew. He was returning to his hotel with friends.”
CNN had no immediate comment on Quest’s arrest.

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