Archive for July 25th, 2008
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Hospital patients, workers and visitors fall victim to many crimes www.privateofficer.com
Exclusive Investigation
Charlotte NC July 25 2008
By: Rick McCann
Executive Director
Ntl. Assoc. Private officers
It’s 3 in the morning and you’re having chest pains so you call 911 and an ambulance takes you to the nearest medical center. Or you’re involved in a bad wreck on the interstate while driving to work and you get rushed to the emergency room. Doctors and nurses meet you there and they begin to take care of you and you’re admitted to the hospital for a few days. When you get to your room you begin to think about your family, do you have insurance to cover these medical bills and maybe even about the fact that you’ll miss some time from work This scene plays out hundreds of times a day across America.
But one of the things that hospital patients seldom ask themselves or consider is, am I safe here?
Most people assume that when they are at a medical facility surrounded by caring professionals that everyone is going to take care of them and their property. Who really thinks that they could be robbed or raped while at the hospital? When we are injured or sick, the last thing that we want to think about is that someone, maybe even a hospital employee will take advantage of us in some way. But the facts are that there is a better chance of being a victim of a crime in a hospital than in your own home, workplace or while out shopping at a mall.
Many hospitals today are caverness and spread out making them a city within a city. Floors upon floors, buildings on top of buildings, block after block the hospital stands as much a monument to itself as to a medical service to the city.
In Atlanta Georgia the Grady Healthcare System one of the largest hospitals in the area and the hospital that serves the city’s low income, has found itself in the spotlight lately as it struggled to stay afloat financially but also because of a recent theft of a diamond ring from a dying patient and the arrest of an employee in that case. But that’s not the only theft or victimization of a Grady hospital patient.
An Open Records Act request from an area news reporter showed that numerous patients have come to Grady for medical care since January 2007 and have left wondering what happened to their valuables or money.
“It’s got to be clearly 180 degrees from what we expect in an institution of care and shelter,” said Atlanta attorney Mark Spix, who says he represented a man whose wife lost an engagement ring after being flown to Grady in October 2004 with fatal injuries. “I just think that is unacceptable.”
There were 260 thefts involving patients, employees and visitors in 2007, compared with 262 in 2006 and 279 in 2005, Grady spokeswoman Denise Simpson said.
Up the interstate and just a few miles from Atlanta at the Keystone Hospital in Marietta, an employee there has been charged with sexual battery after the orderly wheeled the woman from surgery into a private room and fondled her. Police are still searching for the employee identified as Raphael Telles.
Police reports detailing reports of sexual abuse and assaults at Chandler Regional Medical Center in Arizona showed that there were five allegations include the firing of two employees and the resignation of another since January 2006.
The most serious allegation stems from a patient complaint against certified nursing assistant Nathaniel DeLa Cruz. According to a Chandler police report, a chronically ill patient says that DeLa Cruz molested her and performed sex acts in front of her during her several stays at the hospital between 2003 and 2005. She reported the incidents while staying at another Valley hospital in 2007.
A nurse’s aid walking to her car in Pineville North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte, was gunned down in the parking lot of the Carolina Medical Center by an ex-boyfriend. She was later found in her car by a hospital security officer. A visitor to a California hospital is accosted in the parking lot near her vehicle and knifed to death when she refused to hand over her purse.
A bank robbery suspect in May of this year led police on a chase through Nassau County New York before fleeing on foot into the medical center causing an all out panic and lock down of the facility as armed security and police officers searched the entire facility floor by floor, room by room until the suspect was captured.
At another hospital an employee is caught stealing patient social security numbers and opening credit cards in their names and charging more than $150,000 before she is arrested.
While most hospitals do have some form of security including guards, security cameras, electronic key systems and checks and balances to make them a safe secure place to work, visit or be a patient at, it’s fast becoming obvious to many in the security field that hospitals need to do more.
Like a city with a rising crime rate, police officers can’t be on every block John Mason, a healthcare security director and author said. Security officers can not be outside every patient’s room or in every hallway.
While medical facilities do run background checks on employees, patrol interior hallways and exterior parking areas and monitor those doing business, working or being treated at the facility, there is no way to be every place and see everything all of the time Mason said.
Patients and visitors need to be aware that they could become a victim of crime at a hospital just like they could at a mall or in their house.
Bad people and those looking to take advantage of us are everywhere Mason said.
Posted in police, security | Tagged: atlanta ga, grady hospital, hosital thefts robbery, hospital security, hospital theft, patient security, victims at hospital | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Attorney nabbed in internet sex sting www.privateofficer.com
LOS ANGELES CA. July 25 2008
By: Rick McCann
Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers
FBI agents working undercover on an internet sex sting say that they were contacted on line by a man thinking that he was talking to a 13 year old girl.
The man, according to agents was identified as an area attorney and had been sending sexual messages and content to the “child” via the internet.
Now prosecutors say David Cohn, an attorney was arrested Tuesday at his home in Woodland Hills.
Cohn is accused of sending sexually explicit Internet messages over the last year to the posing agent.
District attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons says investigators searched Cohn’s home in August of last year and found child porn.
The 50-year-old lawyer was charged last week with one misdemeanor and four felony counts.He was booked and released after posting $190,000 bail.
Posted in police | Tagged: attorney arrested, attorney david chn, david cohn arrested, FBI, los angeles ca. | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Shoplifters steal $1000 of meats from store www.privateofficer.com
SANDWICH MA July 25 2008 Three people were arrested yesterday afternoon for allegedly shoplifting more than $1,000 worth of meats and other items at the Super Stop & Shop on Route 6A, police officials said.
Nicole Waidner, 30, of Bourne, Stephen Babbin, 37, of Carver and Jamie Lynne Neto, 27, of Carver were arrested at the grocery storeat 65 Route 6A and are being charged with larceny over $250, Sandwich police Sgt. Joseph Cotter said.
Police discovered the alleged shoplifters at about 4:46 p.m., when Sandwich police Lt. Lynne Gourley drove by the store on a routine patrol of the area and saw a suspicious vehicle parked at the side of the building, Cotter said.
At the same time, security guards inside called police to report they had caught a shoplifter, Cotter said.
Gourley, assisted by Sandwich police Officer Robert Brun, arrested one alleged shoplifter inside the store and the other two outside, Cotter said.
The suspects are scheduled to be arraigned today in Barnstable District Court.
Posted in loss prevention | Tagged: abc news, area news, casino security, casinos, cbs news, cnn, cops, crime news, crime news blogs, fox news, hotel security, k-mart, Kohl’s, local news, loss prevention, Macy’s, mall security, metro news, news blogs, news report, police, police news, regional news, resorts, retail security, security news, security officer, shoplifting, target, walmart | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Newlywed charged in murder of husband www.privateofficer.com
TALLADEGA, Ala. July 25 2008
By: Rick McCann
Ntl. Assoc of Private Officers
www.privateofficer.com – Authorities in the eastern part of Alabama say that a Talladega woman has been arrested and is accused of murdering her husband of about one month.
Sheriff’s Department Chief Investigator Capt. Mike Hubbard said 38-year-old Josetta Burns Jones is being charged with murder in the death of 41-year-old Reginald Jones.
Hubbard said a deputy was responding to a possible domestic situation at about 6 p.m. Monday and upon arrival the deputy discovered that Reginald Jones was dead in the home the couple shared.
Deputies and investigators say that Reginald Jones had been shot more than once and authorities recovered a handgun at the scene.
According to the sheriff’s department, Josetta Jones was taken into custody at the scene and transported to the county detention center and charged with murder.
Authorities were still waiting on a forensic report to determine the cause death Wednesday afternoon.
Hubbard said Josetta Jones was released on a $75,000 bond Wednesday.
Posted in police | Tagged: josetta burns, newlywed kills husband, reginald jones, talladega alabama | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Police charge father of infant with murder www.privateofficer.com
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (Metro Atlanta) July 25 2008
Kyle T. Greene
Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers
http://www.privateofficer.com/ An 18-year-old father is accused of killing his 2-month-old son, Douglas County authorities said Thursday.
Alonzo Toler has been charged for allegedly killing 2-month-old Demond Toler. Demond was pronounced dead Wednesday night at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Hospital officials said it appeared the baby was suffering from a fractured skull and other injuries.
“Upon interviewing Mr. Toler, he has told investigators from my department and the Major Case Unit that he punched the child and threw the child down on the floor sometime between the time he got the child and the time we got the call from the hospital,” said Douglasville Police Chief Joe Whisenant.
Officials said they are still investigating and trying to determine exactly what happened.
The baby’s mother lives in Riverdale. Officials said Alonzo Toler picked his child up from the mother late Tuesday night.
Toler is in the Douglas County Jail.
Posted in police | Tagged: alonzo toler, baby killed, demond toler, douglasville georgia, murder | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Man charged with copper theft at ASU www.privateofficer.com
Phoenix AZ July 25 2008
A man was arrested Sunday after Arizona State University police said he attempted to steal copper and brass from storage facilities underneath a parking structure.
An ASU police aide reported seeing Mark Adam Marchbanks, 41, walking into the Fulton Center Parking structure at College Avenue and University Drive.
An officer responded and found that Marchbanks had pried into a storage office, ASU police Cmdr. Jim Hardina said.
Marchbanks had also attempted to take copper and brass from two other areas, Hardina said.
When ASU police arrested Marchbanks, they found methamphetamine and a pipe in his possession, according to police.
He was arrested on suspicion of burglary, possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and a felony warrant.
Posted in police | Tagged: arrest, asu, copper theft | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Lawsuit pending against security for rough treatment at Billy Joel concert www.privateofficer.com
New York City NY July 25 2008
A New Jersey couple are in a rip-roaring New York state of mind — as in a possible lawsuit — after they claimed they were roughed up and handcuffed by security guards during last Friday’s Billy Joel concert at Shea Stadium.In a notice of claim filed with the city comptroller’s office, Bryan and Wendy Siegel of North Brunswick, N.J., charge that they were roughed up by stadium security guards. The action puts the city on notice that the Siegels plan to file a $5.5-million lawsuit.
The incident occurred, according to the couple’s lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein of Brooklyn, after they intervened in a dispute an older couple had with four rowdy, beer-swilling and possibly drunk women during Joel’s farewell concert to the stadium, which is to be torn down after this baseball season.A
ccording to Rubenstein, when the Siegels tried to intervene on behalf of the older couple, security guards roughed up the Siegels and Bryan Siegel, 28, was handcuffed. Rubenstein said Wendy Siegel, 26, received a bruise in the incident but wasn’t handcuffed
It is a travesty that two innocent people attempt to tell the truth to Shea Stadium security about the victimization of an elderly couple get assaulted by Shea Stadium security, one charged with a criminal act , when they did nothing wrong,” Rubenstein said yesterday.
Rubenstein said the notice was filed against the city, something that has to be done before a lawsuit is filed, because the city owns Shea Stadium.
As a result, the Siegels have to put the city on notice of the claim even though it appears the guards were employees of Shea Stadium, he said.”We haven’t received the lawsuit, but as soon as we do, we will review it thoroughly,” said Parks Department spokesman Phil Abramson.
“We have no report on the matter and are looking into it,” said Mets spokesman Jay Horowitz.
Posted in security | Tagged: billy joel concert, bryan siegel, lawsuit filed, nyc, security, shea stadium, wendy siegel | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Man charged with televison thefts at Wal-Mart www.privateofficer.com
Wheeling WV July 25 2008
Kyle T. Greene
Ntl. Assoc. Private officers
http://www.privateofficer.com/
A Moundsville man is facing felony charges after he allegedly tried to steal two large televisions from the Moundsville Wal-Mart earlier this week.
According to Moundsville police, James Duerr Jr., 26, is has been charged with two counts of third offense shoplifting. He also was charged with two misdemeanor counts of trespassing.
On Sunday, police were contacted by the store’s Loss Prevention Officer, who said he had detained Duerr. The officer told police he witnessed Duerr remove a security device from a 22-inch LCD television and attempt to walk out of the store with the television. The officer also told police he had reviewed the security videos for that day, and said he had a video from earlier that day showing Duerr doing the same thing.
The videos have been provided to police.
Duerr was arrested and taken to the Northern Regional Jail where he remained Wednesday on a $10,000, cash-only bond.
In 2007, Duerr was convicted of a shoplifting charge in Marshall County, and had been ordered not to return to Wal-Mart.
In 2006, he was convicted of a shoplifting charge in Ohio County, according to police.
If convicted of the latest charge, he could be sentenced to one to 10 years in prison and be fined between $500 and $5,000.
Posted in loss prevention | Tagged: abc news, area news, casino security, casinos, cbs news, cnn, cops, crime news, crime news blogs, fox news, hotel security, k-mart, Kohl’s, local news, loss prevention, Macy’s, mall security, metro news, news blogs, news report, police, police news, regional news, resorts, retail security, security news, security officer, shoplifting, target, walmart | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Retired police officer forces police into gun battle www.privateofficer.com
Staten Island NY July 25 2008
Carrying two handguns and a Bible, a retired city police officer was killed in a gunfight early Tuesday on a residential street in Staten Island by former colleagues who returned his fire, the authorities said
When the shooting ended, the officer, Jason Aiello, 36, was slumped at the wheel of a cousin’s truck on the street in front of his home in the Rosebank neighborhood, with his wife, Rachel, sitting next to him, officials said. His three young children were in another family car across the street.
Only moments earlier, Mr. Aiello had abruptly bolted from a local hospital’s psychiatric unit about 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday and headed home, intending to take his family to Pennsylvania, said officials and a lawyer for his family.
Law enforcement officials and those who knew him said Mr. Aiello’s actions had been erratic since last Wednesday, when agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation questioned him again about the April 29 shooting of his employer, Louis Antonelli, outside a restaurant on Staten Island.
Mr. Antonelli, a jeweler whom the F.B.I. believed to be an associate of the Genovese organized-crime family, was shot twice in the chest with a .22-caliber gun and died on May 12 at Richmond University Medical Center.
Mr. Aiello had retired with the rank of sergeant from the Police Department in October 2006, after 12 years on the force, because of a knee injury. He had been working as a bodyguard and driver for Mr. Antonelli, 43, officials said, adding that he was present during the shooting. Two men have been charged with murder in the case.
His relatives told investigators that in recent days — ever since his questioning in the Antonelli killing, which federal officials believe was ordered by at least one member of the Genovese family — Mr. Aiello had been talking about the hereafter and had been quoting Scripture.
“The F.B.I. badgered him for weeks on end, but then, after a while, they realized he had nothing to do with it,” said Peter M. Antioco, the Aiello family’s lawyer. “But they terrorized him so much that he just broke down. I think he just freaked out.”
Mr. Aiello’s mother, Maureen Zavarelli, said: “He couldn’t take the pressure. He was very paranoid. He got very nervous.”
About 11 on Monday night, William Frasco, a cousin of Mr. Aiello’s, and some of Mr. Aiello’s friends took Mr. Aiello to a psychiatric emergency program at Bayley Seton Hospital, Mr. Antioco said.
A doctor phoned Mr. Frasco about 3 a.m. to tell him that Mr. Aiello would be admitted, voluntarily, to the program, Mr. Antioco said. At 4:30 a.m., orders to admit him were written.
But Mr. Aiello escaped from a locked area about 6:30 a.m., said Jennifer E. Sammartino, a spokeswoman for the Richmond University Medical Center, which runs the psychiatric program at Bayley Seton.
“There was a patient being transported out, and he saw the opportunity to get out, and he pushed those people out of the way and ran out the door,” Ms. Sammartino said. At 6:35 a.m., a nurse dialed 911, the police said.
The nurse told the operator that Mr. Aiello — wearing blue jeans and a khaki shirt and carrying a black Bible — could be dangerous because, as a former police officer, he had access to guns, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.
On his permit to carry a gun, Mr. Aiello had listed two 9-millimeter handguns: a Glock and a SIG Sauer, both with an 11-bullet capacity.
At 6:49 a.m., two more 911 calls came in. One was from a neighbor reporting a disturbance in the street; Mr. Aiello’s mother made the other to say that her son was “out of control” and taking the family hostage, Mr. Browne said.
“She also talks about him standing in the street talking about the Lord,” said Mr. Browne.
Mr. Aiello had come out a back door of his home and was walking through an alley to the street as his cousin, Mr. Frasco, who had also been called by hospital officials, pulled up in a Lincoln sport utility vehicle, Mr. Browne said. Officers from the 120th Precinct soon arrived.
Mr. Aiello had been trying to take the family to the Poconos, Mr. Browne said. His children — a 7-year-old boy and two girls, 5 and 3 — were in the family’s Toyota minivan, parked at the curb. But his wife, who was also outside, had hidden the keys to that vehicle
A sergeant at the scene saw the SIG Sauer in a holster on Mr. Aiello and grabbed it from him, Mr. Browne said. As the sergeant and another officer were trying to search and handcuff Mr. Aiello, he broke free, pulled his Glock, ran toward the back of the Lincoln and fired two times at the officers, the police said.
The sergeant radioed for more assistance and could be heard on the transmission saying: “Jason, put down the gun. Jason, put down the gun,” Mr. Browne said.
The officers ran across the street, took cover and returned fire. Mr. Aiello continued to fire at least six more shots as he climbed into the Lincoln before his gun jammed, the police said; eight of his shell casings were recovered. None of his shots struck the police officers, Mr. Browne said.
During the gunfight, the police fired 19 shots. The 36-year-old sergeant, with 10 years on the force, fired 9 times; a 30-year-old police officer with 4 years on the job fired 10 shots.
As the bullets were flying, Rachel Aiello jumped into the Lincoln’s passenger seat to try to get the keys, and ducked down. “As the shooting subsides, she takes the gun, Aiello’s gun, and throws it out the door,” said Mr. Browne. The Bible was found at the scene.
Mr. Aiello was hit three times on his right side, suffering a “deep graze” to his head and two bullet wounds to his shoulder or back area, Mr. Browne said.
Hours after the shooting, the family lawyer, Mr. Antioco, criticized the police, saying Rachel Aiello could have also been killed. He said he wanted the Staten Island district attorney to investigate.
Mr. Browne said a preliminary investigation showed that the shooting appeared justified. “It was certainly within department guidelines,” Mr. Browne said. “The officers were clearly in danger of being killed themselves and took appropriate action to defend themselves.”
Mr. Antioco also said he was angry at hospital officials for allowing Mr. Aiello to escape. “He could not leave,” said Mr. Antioco. “They don’t let these guys out without being discharged by the doctor in charge.”
Ms. Sammartino said the hospital was investigating the escape. “It is unfortunate that he did escape; it is obviously a tragedy,” she said. “It was a question of him waiting for an opportunity.”
Mr. Browne said Mr. Aiello was appointed to the force in February 1994 and retired as a sergeant in 2006, with an ordinary disability, a knee injury. He had worked in precincts in Brooklyn and on Staten Island and in the transit and housing bureaus.
Police detectives had spoken frequently to Mr. Aiello in connection with the killing of Mr. Antonelli.
Two men, Charles Santiago and Joseph A. Gencarelli, both 25, have been charged with murder in that case. “The circumstances regarding Mr. Antonelli’s shooting remain under investigation, including Jason Aiello’s presence at the scene, when he was apparently driving Mr. Antonelli,” said William J. Smith, a spokesman for the Staten Island district attorney, Daniel M. Donovan Jr.
Posted in police | Tagged: cop killed by police, jason aiello, nypd, police officer killed, sgt. jason aiello, staten island ny | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
UGA Police charge catering company employee with theft www.privateofficer.com
Athens GA. July 25 2008
By: Rick McCann
Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers
http://www.privateofficer.com/
University of Georgia police say that a man who was on campus property to assist in catering an event has been arrested on charges that he stole a purse and sunglasses while helping to cater a wedding reception at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia last weekend.
Jonathan Phillip Perry, 20, of 285 Shadow Moss Drive, was arrested by university police after they received a complaint of missing property.
Perry allegedly stole the sunglasses and purse with its contents, valued at nearly $900, between 4 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday from a guest at a reception held at the botanical garden, which is operated by UGA.
Victims reported the thefts to a UGA officer, who was working a side security job at the reception.
The officer questioned Perry and was able to recover all of the stolen items except for $20 and an insurance card that were in the purse, police said.
Perry was charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds, felony theft and two misdemeanor counts of theft by taking.
The officer said that he found a 9 mm pistol on the floor of Perry’s car, according to police.
Posted in police | Tagged: athens georgia, jonathan phillip perry, theft arrested, uga, university of georgia | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Phoenix AZ July 25 2008
By: Bryan Hill
Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers
http://www.privateofficer.com/
A shoplifter who concealed expensive cosmetics was soon caught because police say that she left her six-year-old daughter behind.
According to a police report, Birgit Mahler stuffed $160 worth of cosmetics in her bag and tried to leave the store without paying for the merchandise.
As she exited the store, the alarms went off and she fled leaving her daughter behind. Police responding to the store found the 33 year old’s child and other officers began searching the area for the suspect.
Police were able to catch up with Mahler and and took her into custody.
Mahler now faces theft charges and may be charged with crimes relating to shoplifting with her child.
She was taken to the county detention center pending a bond hearing. There was no word on who took custody of the six year old.
Posted in loss prevention | Tagged: abc news, area news, birgit mahler, casino security, casinos, cbs news, cnn, cops, crime news, crime news blogs, fox news, hotel security, k-mart, Kohl’s, local news, loss prevention, Macy’s, mall security, metro news, news blogs, news report, police, police news, regional news, resorts, retail security, security news, security officer, shoplifting, target, walmart | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
WILMINGTON, Del. July 25 2008 The family of a 17-year-old who claims he was beaten at Christiana Mall has filed a lawsuit alleging the mall was negligent in the attack.
The lawsuit alleges the mall and related companies allowed a dangerous condition to exist because security personnel weren’t trained to maintain a safe environment.
The family claims that Timothy Fowler was attacked in October 2006 after his sister got into an argument with other teens. The lawsuit claims Fowler was knocked down and kicked repeatedly, breaking bones in his face.
State Police say they do not have any report on file.
The mall recently banned anyone under 18 from visiting on weekend evenings without a chaperone over 21-years-old.
A mall spokesman is not commenting on the lawsuit or the alleged incident.
Posted in security | Tagged: lawsuit, mall security, suit | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Police arrest store employee for theft and fraud www.privateofficer.com
Salina KS July 25 2008
BY: Bryan Hill
Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers
http://www.privateofficer.com/
An employee of an area store is accused of stealing nearly $5,500 in merchandise and cash from a store she worked at inside the Salina Central Mall according to police.
Police say that they were notified by the business that while 27-year-old Tiffany Quevedo was employed at Claire’s, she wrote 85 checks to the business.
The checks were used to purchase merchandise, and to get cash and that at the time that the checks were written she knew that her account had no money in it and in fact that it had been closed. They were all written between April and July of this year police said.
The store management filed a complaint with the police department for fraud after terminating Quevedo and she was arrested Wednesday.
Police say that charges range from felony theft, issuing bad checks and fraud.
The ex-employee was taken to the county jail and was being held pending bail.
Police aren’t sure yet if there are other retailers in the mall who may have also received checks form Quevedo.
Posted in police | Tagged: abc news, area news, casino security, casinos, cbs news, claires department store, cnn, cops, crime news, crime news blogs, employee arrested, fox news, hotel security, k-mart, Kohl’s, local news, loss prevention, Macy’s, mall security, metro news, news blogs, news report, police, police news, regional news, resorts, retail security, salina ks, security news, security officer, shoplifting, target, tiffany quevedo, walmart | Leave a Comment »
Posted by privateofficernews on July 25, 2008
Apartment maintenance worker hides camera in tenants bedroom www.privateofficer.com
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga.( Metro Atlanta) July 25 2008
By : Rick McCann
Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers
www.privateofficer.com Police arrested a maintenance worker at a DeKalb County apartment complex after a woman found a video camera hidden in a vent in her apartment.
Officers responding to a complaint from an apartment tenant said that a camera had been placed inside a vent in the apartment without her permission.
Investigators said the woman noticed something in a vent over her bed at the Creekside Apartments on Pleasantdale Rd. When she opened the vent, a camera attached to a remote antenna fell out.
Investigators later determined that an apartment maintenance employee had entered the apartment without legal reason and placed the camera above the tenants bed.
Julio Rodriguez, 56, was charged with unlawful surveillance and criminal trespass.
Rodriguez operated the camera remotely using a computer in his apartment at the complex, according to police.
Police are checking other apartments at Creekside for more hidden cameras and will examine his computer for further evidence.
Additional charges may be forthcoming according to a police investigator. This could be the only victim or it could be the tip of the iceburg he said.
Rodriguez was taken into custody and transported to the city jail and was being held pending a bond release.
Posted in police | Tagged: atlanta georgia, camera in vent, creekside apartments, dekalb county georgia, julio rodriguez | Leave a Comment »
