700,000 identities stolen from collection company www.privateofficer.com

Indianapolis Ind. April 23 2008

A server containing personal information on some 700,000 people was stolen from a collection agency in Indiana last month prompting concerns over how that information may be used, according to an Associated Press article over the weekend.
Central Collection Bureau, Inc., based in Indianapolis, said that eight computers and a server were taken from its office on March 21.

The server contained the personal information — including names, addresses and Social Security numbers – of as many as 700,000 people.

The information consisted of billing and past-due records of consumers the collection agency was pursuing on behalf of clients.
The company said in a press release that three locked doors were breached to obtain the server. The company also said that the data on the machine was password-protected but not encrypted.
“We’re obviously heartsick about this,” Chet Klene, the company’s president, told the AP.

“We’ve been in business since 1972, and nothing like this has ever happened before.”
Central Collection offers collection services across several sectors, including health care and medical debt and child support payments.
Police have not yet found the missing equipment and the Indiana attorney general is currently investigating the incident.

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State troopers nab fleeing shoplifters www.privateofficer.com

WEST OCEAN CITY MD. April 23 2008

Kyle T. Greene

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com – A pair of Salisbury residents were arrested on felony theft charges last week after allegedly swiping over $2,000 in merchandize from several stores in the Ocean City Factory Outlets and the adjacent White Marlin Mall.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m. last Wednesday, Maryland State Police troopers from the Berlin barrack responded to the White Marlin Mall in West Ocean City for a reported theft.

Upon arrival, the troopers met with a witness who had observed a male suspect stealing items from the Dollar General store.

The witness said the suspect left the area in a green mini-van driven by a female and provided a tag number for the vehicle.
Troopers than observed the suspect vehicle in the area of Routes 50 and 589 and initiated a traffic stop.

The driver of the vehicle, identified as Terri Lynn Bivans, 29, of Salisbury, told police she had dropped the male suspect off at a nearby gas station.

The male suspect, later identified as Dexter Alfonso Kess, Sr., 55, of Salisbury, was located a short time later. Witnesses identified both Bivans and Kess as the suspects in the alleged thefts at the Dollar General.
Both Bivans and Kess were arrested and charged with theft over $500 and theft scheme over $500. They were taken to the Berlin barrack where they admitted conducting thefts at various stores in the White Marlin Mall and the Ocean City Factory Outlets including the Gap Outlet, Bass Outlet, Bath and Body Works, Radio Shack and Dollar General. The stolen items were valued at roughly $2,200.
Bivans and Kess were taken before a District Court Commissioner who ordered them held on $5,000 bonds. They were later released.

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32 People killed during violent Chicago week-end www.privateofficer.com

from the Chicago News Source
CHICAGO IL. April 23 2008 — In gang-related drive-bys, an attempted robbery and other flashes of violence, some 32 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend — six of them fatally.
A 26-year-old was killed in his home, two teens on the same South Side street, another man as he sat in the office of his plumbing business.
Chicago Police officials acknowledged that the nearly three dozen shootings were high for a short time frame but not unusual when the mercury starts rising.
“Although our recent crime data released on Friday showed that murders and shootings are slightly down, as you all know, one shooting, one murder is one too many,” Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said Sunday.
“We know that warmer temperatures are a contributing factor. More outdoor activity [means] more opportunities for crimes to occur. … No city is immune from the proliferation of illegal guns, gangs and drugs.”
The Sun-Times recorded at least 32 shootings from noon Friday to early Sunday evening. But Weis said police record their data in 24-hour cycles, noting that the shootings must be further examined to weed out the self-inflicted injuries or accidental gun discharges.
There were 22 shootings between midnight Friday and midnight Saturday, and four more between midnight and 7 a.m. Sunday, Weis said. Four of the 26 shootings were fatal, and at least three were not gang-related. Seven victims were juveniles, and of those shootings, five were after curfew, he said.
Last year, during the same 24-hour period in April, there were 19 shootings. In 2006, there were 21, Weis said, adding that there were an average of 20 to 22 shootings on recent July weekends.
For the first three months of 2008, murders fell 1.1 percent and aggravated batteries decreased 0.8 percent, when compared with the first three months of 2007. Overall, crime was up 1.9 percent this year, according to crime statistics released last week.
As violence surged Friday, Weis said commanders redeployed gang and tactical teams, targeted response units in critical districts.
First Deputy Supt. James Jackson also said the department’s violence reduction strategy is in place, including more bicycle and foot patrols in high-crime areas and gang investigations. “We will definitely be targeting the leaders,” James said.
The assurances weren’t enough for Regina Bolling.
Bolling attended to 34-year-old Marcus Hendricks as he lay gasping for air after a gunman — a plumber, according to court records — allegedly shot him in the abdomen with an AK-47 as he sat in his South Side office Friday.
“It was just really emotional. He looked like a man in shock. … His eyes were really wide,” Bolling said.
Bolling was getting her hair done next door when she heard the boom and saw the alleged gunman, Bennie Teague, run out of the office, at 714 W. 115th Pl. Teague, whom Hendricks allegedly hired last summer, was ordered held without bail Sunday in connection with the murder and shooting at three police officers later that evening.
“There’s way too much violence,” said Bolling, 41. “I think the police should pay more attention than do the other stupid things that they do.”
Hendricks’ older sister, Cynthia Flowers, disagreed. She credited Weis with “doing the best” he can and said she was “proud” of police for apprehending Teague so quickly.
“I just hope people are outraged by the numbers and that thinking people become fed up with non-thinking people who are terrorizing us. It’s sickening to me that people are out there with assault weapons out on the street,” Flowers said.

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Walmart employees battle giant shoplifter www.privateofficer.com

UNION CITY, Tenn. April 23 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com Police in Union City have charged a local man after an attack on several Wal-Mart employees.
Investigator Chris Cummings said Sidoles Lubin is charged with felony aggravated assault, felony vandalism, six counts of simple assault and shoplifting.
Cummings said an employee saw Lubin at a cash register early Saturday, then watched him try to leave through a fire exit before coming back into the store and attacking the night manager.
Police say that the Walmart employee had observed Lubin shoplifting unspecified merchandise.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Lubin is accused of knocking the female manager to the floor, punching other employees and using hair spray and rubbing alcohol on them.
While store employees called 911, others continued an all out battle with the large shoplifter and eventually subdued him.
When police arrived, about a half-dozen Wal-Mart employees were holding Lubin on the floor.

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Teacher brutally attacked by student, mother www.privateofficer.com

ATLANTA Ga. April 23 2008

By:Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com Authorities say that a local high school teacher was brutally attacked in her classroom by one of her students and the girl’s mother in what police call a savage attack in front of other students.
Police have charged the mother of the student, Georgia Thornton, 44, and her 17-year-old daughter Sequita with attacking Felecia Williams, a teacher at Southside High School on February 28.
The official charges against the mother include battery on a school teacher, disrupting a public school, criminal trespass and theft by taking in connection with the alleged attack on teacher.
Sequita Thornton was charged with battery on a teacher and disrupting a public school.
Williams told WSB-TV Channel 2 that the teenager was failing her TV Production class. The teacher claims Georgia Thornton visited the school to complain about the girl’s treatment and attacked her during the meeting, knocking her to the ground, kicking and punching her and pulling her hair. Williams claims Sequita Thornton joined the attack.
“And then she threw the book back and just took me like this and then started flinging me everywhere,” said Williams.
Williams said eventually two of her students stepped in and stopped the attack.
“It was so scary and it took administration over ten minutes to come to my classroom to assist me,” said Williams.
Williams, who is still recupirating from the injuries that she sustained during the attack said she is afraid to return to the classroom once her injuries have healed.
Sequita Thornton has been allowed to attend classes again.
Williams said she is unhappy to now be on workers comp and she’s only receiving two-thirds of her salary.
She also told Channel 2 during a recent interview that she wasn’t offered counseling and the school hasn’t responded to her request for a transfer.
Officials for the Atlanta Public School System said attacks on teachers are rare and they are investigating the attack on Williams.
School system spokesperson Joe Manguno said they are doing everything they can to help Williams through this period. He said the safety and security of students and staff are very important to the district.
There was no word on whether or not this school has an on site school resource officer or how the mother came to be in the classroom.

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Student charged with weapons of mass destruction www.privateofficer.com

High school student charged with weapons of mass destruction www.privateofficer.com

COLUMBIA, S.C. April 23 2008

By:Bryan Hill

Security News Magazine

www.privateofficer.com

A high school senior collected enough supplies to carry out a bomb attack on his school and detailed the plot in a hate-filled diary that included maps of the building and admiring notations about the Columbine killers, authorities said Sunday.
Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was arrested Saturday after his parents called police when 10 pounds (4.5 kilos) of ammonium nitrate was delivered to their home in Chesterfield and they discovered the journal, said the town’s police chief, Randall Lear.

The teen planned to make several bombs and had all the supplies needed to kill dozens at Chesterfield High School, depending on where the devices were placed and whether they included shrapnel, Lear said. Ammonium nitrate was used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 that killed 168 people.
“The only thing left was delivering the bombs,” the police chief said.
Schallenberger kept a journal for more than a year that detailed his plans for a suicide attack and included maps of the school, police said. The writings did not include a specific time for the attack or the intended targets.
He also left an audio tape to be played after he died explaining why he wanted to bomb his school. Lear wouldn’t detail what was on the tape except to say Schallenberger was an angry young man.
“He seemed to hate the world. He hated people different from him — the rich boys with good-looking girlfriends,” Lear said.
In his writings, Schallenberger said he admired the two teens who killed 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 before committing suicide, Lear said. The attack happened nine years ago Sunday, but Lear said investigators do not know whether there was any link between the anniversary and Schallenberger’s plans.
Schallenberger was one of the top students at the high school of about 580 students and had not caused any serious problems before his arrest, principal Scott Radkin said.
The teen was in the Chesterfield County jail Sunday night, charged with possessing materials to make bombs, the police chief said. A bond hearing was scheduled for Monday. Other than the bomb-making material, no other weapons were found at his home, Lear said.
Lear said Schallenberger did not have an attorney.

His parents could not immediately be located Sunday by The Associated Press.
Security will be tightened at the school when students return Monday. Students will walk through metal detectors borrowed from a courthouse, and bomb and drug sniffing dogs have been called in. Lear said he does not expect any problems.
On Tuesday,Schallenberger was arrested again, this time by federal authorities and charged with weapons of mass destruction. The material that he had was the same items used to blow up the Oklahoma Federal Building and could have killed everyone at that school a Federal Agent said.

He has been transported into federal custody and taken to Florence South Carolina where if convicted he could face life in prison.

Chesterfield is a town of about 1,500 people in northeastern South Carolina near the North Carolina line.

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Reward offerred in bank robbery, security shooting www.privateofficer.com

Gary Ind. April 23 2008

The FBI and Harris Bank are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the April 10 robbery of a branch of the bank in Gary.

About 11:15 a.m., two people dressed in light blue coveralls that resembled hospital or hazardous-material team uniforms stole an undisclosed amount of money from the Harris Bank at 2746 W. 5th Ave., according to an FBI statement.

The robbers also wore grayish-brown hoods.After entering the bank, the robbers immediately shot an armed security guard, the FBI says.

Authorities believe the firearm used was a black assault rife, such as an AR-15. After shooting the security officer, the robbers took his weapon.Then they took the money from several teller drawers, the FBI says.
When they left the bank, the robbers were seen getting into a 1988 GMC Sierra two-door pickup truck, the release says. The truck was burgundy/silver and had an Indiana license plate.

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Teacher arrested for having sex with student www.privateofficer.com

Atlanta TX. April 23 2008

By:Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com
An Atlanta High School English teacher is in serious trouble today after she was arrested Monday, April 17 for having an improper relationship with a 16- year-old male student.
Authorities are now saying that the teacher, Melissa Kay Lee, 32, of Maud was arrested as the result of an investigation by the Atlanta Police Department after the alleged sexual relationship was reported.
Lee was picked up on a warrant for sexual assault and another warrant for improper relationship between educator and student. Both offenses are second degree felonies.
Investigators say that they received a tip on the inappropiate relationship that the teacher was having and after substantial information was compliled, a warrant for the teacher’s arrest was issued.
Atlanta Independent School District Superintendent Roger Hailey said the district could not make any comment on the subject as it was a personnel matter that is under investigation.
Lee was transported to Cass County Jail in Linden and has been released on a $25,000 bond.Police did not say if any other students were involved or how they became aware of the situation.

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TV Station Executive arrested for airport disturbance www.privateofficer.com

BOSTON MA. April 23 2008 (WBZ)

Kyle T. Greene

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com― The general manager of Channel 7 in Boston was arrested after an allegedly drunken tirade at Logan Airport in which she threatened to put a trooper on TV and ruin his life, according to a police report.

State police say Randi Goldklank, 40, of Boston, was screaming and creating a disturbance at the gate of her incoming flight Sunday night.

Troopers say when they tried to quiet her, the disturbance got worse. According to the police report obtained by WBZ, “She began flailing her arms and stated ‘leave me alone, do you know who the (expletive) I am?

I’ll have a news crew down here in minutes and you will lose your (expletive) jobs you (expletive).”

The troopers said they asked Goldklank for identification, but she refused to present it and became verbally abusive again, according to the report. “I’m a bigshot in Boston and I’ll have your (expletive) jobs, you think your a (expletive) tough guy, you just watch and see what the (expletive) happens to you when I get the (expletive) out of here.”

According to the report, one trooper tried to get her ID from her pocketbook, and Goldklank hit him in the chest and broke his eyeglasses.

When the trooper tried to handcuff her, the report claims she started swinging until three troopers restrained her. Goldklank, who came to WHDH-TV last year, faces charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. She told the Boston Herald she was upset after a man sat next to her on the flight and touched her inappropriately. S

tate Police and the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office told WBZ Tuesday that Goldklank’s statements to them did not indicate that any such incident occurred.

The D.A.’s office said only Goldklank knows why the situation got out of control. According to the police report, she was so intoxicated during the booking process, a sergeant recommended waiting awhile until she could sober up. The sergeant also said he overheard Goldklank tell EMT’s that she had consumed “about three dozen drinks earlier.”

After a period of time, the report says Goldklank calmed down and her demeanor changed. “She leaned towards Sgt. Luce and stated ‘You think im cute and I think your cute, just drive me home.” When the sergeant took her to her cell, the documents state she began screaming obscenities again and told Sgt. Luce that “My station is going to put you on TV and ruin your life.”

Goldklank was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in East Boston Municipal Court. It was postponed until next month.There has been no comment from WHDH.

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Men arrested after pulling gun on security www.privateofficer.com

Fort Pierce Fla. April 23 2008

Kyle T. Greene

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com

A man who drew a gun on the security officer for the Club Diamond Ballroom, 3215 S. U.S. 1, early Sunday morning was knocked unconscious, but not before he shot a man in the leg, according to Fort Pierce Police Officer Joseph Bernardi.
Four people were walking out of the club when they saw Ramiro Melchor, 39, of the 500 block of Northwest Fifth Street, pointing a gun at Daniel Hernandez, according to a police report.

Two of the four people, Jorge Abel Maldonado, 34, of Skylark Drive, and Victor Guijosa, 22, of North Lake Drive, attempted to disarm Melchor.
In the struggle, Maldonado was shot in the upper left leg. Guijosa managed to knock Melchor out before police arrived, the report said.
Maldonado and Melchor were transported to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute, and Melchor was then arrested, officials said.
Details of the charges were not available Monday .

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Pharmacist nabbed for being Peeping Tom www.privateofficer.com

SMITHFIELD NC April 23 2008

By: Bryan Hill

Security News Magazine

www.privateofficer.com Smithfield Police investigators are looking into several cases of peeping allegedly involving a pharmacist who works at Johnston Memorial Hospital.
Smithfield Police say that they received a call and responded to a complaint of a prowler on East Stevens Street on Saturday night.
When they arrived officers say that they walked up on Ben Pell, 58.

He was found carrying a camera and walking from behind one of the homes on East Stevens Street.
Police say Pell, a pharmacist at Johnston Memorial Hospital, admitted that he was secretly videotaping his neighbor.
Police later confiscated 240-tapes from his home.

Investigators say the tapes include locations at the hospital, health clubs and beaches.
Pell has been charged with felony secret peeping and is in the Johnston County Jail on a $25,000 bond.

Police are asking the public to come forward if they have seen Pell in their neighborhood acting suspicously. Authorities say he could face other charges.

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Military allows more felons to join www.privateofficer.com

from the Washington Post
WASHINGTON DC April 23 2008 – Under pressure to meet combat needs, the Army and Marine Corps brought in significantly more recruits with felony convictions last year than in 2006, including some with manslaughter and sex crime convictions.
Data released by a congressional committee shows the number of soldiers admitted to the Army with felony records jumped from 249 in 2006 to 511 in 2007. And the number of Marines with felonies rose from 208 to 350.
Those numbers represent a fraction of the more than 180,000 recruits brought in by the active duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines during fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2007. But they highlight a trend that has raised concerns both within the military and on Capitol Hill.
The bulk of the crimes involved were burglaries, other thefts, and drug offenses, but nine involved sex crimes and six involved manslaughter or vehicular homicide convictions. Several dozen Army and Marine recruits had aggravated assault or robbery convictions, including incidents involving weapons.
Both the Army and Marine Corps have been struggling to increase their numbers as part of a broader effort to meet the combat needs of a military fighting wars on two fronts. As a result, the number of recruits needing waivers for crimes or other bad conduct has grown in recent years, as well as those needing medical or aptitude waivers.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, who released the data, noted that there may be valid reasons for granting the waivers and giving individuals a second chance.
But he added, “Concerns have been raised that the significant increase in the recruitment of persons with criminal records is a result of the strain put on the military by the Iraq war and may be undermining military readiness.”
The services use a waiver process to let in recruits with felony convictions, and many of the crimes were committed when the service members were juveniles.
“Waivers are used judiciously and granted only after a thorough review,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington said.
He added that “low unemployment, a protracted war on terror, a decline in propensity to serve,” and the growing reluctance of parents, teachers and other adults to recommend young people go into the military, has made recruiting a challenge.
According to the Army, 18 percent of the recruits needed conduct waivers in fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2007, compared to 15 percent in the 12-month period ending in Sept. 30, 2006.
“We are growing the Army fast and there are some waivers; we know that,” said Army Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, deputy chief of staff for operations. “It hasn’t alarmed us yet.”
He added that “the better part of making soldiers is about leadership. Somebody invested in me, you know. That’s the beauty of the United States Army. It’s about leadership … You’ve got to give people an opportunity to serve.”
Late last fall, the Pentagon quietly began looking for ways to make it easier for people with minor criminal records to join the military. The goal of that review is to make cumbersome waiver requirements consistent across the services — the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force — and reduce the number of petty crimes that now trigger the process.
According to the data released Monday, a bit more than half of the Army’s 511 convictions in 2007 were for various types of thefts, ranging from burglaries to bad checks and stolen cars. Another 130 were for drug offenses.
The remainder, however, included two in 2007 for manslaughter, compared to one in 2006; five for sexual crimes (which can include rape, incest or sexual assaults) compared to two in 2006; and three for negligent or vehicular homicide, compared to two in 2006. Two received waivers for terrorist threats including bomb threats in 2007, compared to one in 2006.
At least 235 of the Marine Corps’ 350 waivers were for various types of thefts in 2007, and another 63 were for assaults or robberies that may also have included use of a weapon. The remainder included one for manslaughter in 2007, compared to none in 2006; four for sex crimes, compared to one in 2006; and five for terror threats, including bomb threats, compared to two in 2006.
The total number of sailors who received felony waivers dipped from 48 in 2006 to 42 in 2007. Most were for a variety of thefts or drug and drunk driving convictions. Two in 2007 were for terror or bomb threats compared to three in 2006.
There were no Air Force recruits with waivers for felony convictions in 2007.
Army spokesman Paul Boyce said that offering waivers for those who are otherwise qualified “is the right thing to do for those Americans who want to answer the call to duty.” He said the burden remains on them to prove they should be admitted to the service.
Waivers must be approved by an officer who is ranked as a brigadier general or above, and recruits must have written recommendations and endorsements from community leaders showing they would be a good bet for the military.

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