Archive
Georgia security guard charged with faking his attack www.privateofficer.com
Georgia security guard charged with faking his attack http://www.privateofficer.com
Braselton police said Michael Williamson, 53, said he was attacked while on duty. He worked in the guard shack at Chateau Elan Estates, a gated community.
Police said Williamson told them he was attacked from behind, stabbed and choked with a wire by an unseen assailant while on overnight duty at the guard shack. Williamson had scratches on his forearms and hands and had a small puncture to his torso. Police said they saw signs of a struggle at the scene, but they felt Williamson’s wounds didn’t match his story.
The state medical examiner said Williamson faked the injuries by scratching himself with a coat hanger.
Williamson has denied any wrongdoing. Police said they do not know why Williamson made up the story.
He’s charged with lying to police and filing a false report.
He remains in jail on $8,100 bond.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Student, parents arrested for felony drug charges www.privateofficer.com
Student, parents arrested for felony drug charges http://www.privateofficer.com
Investigators said the drug, commonly used as a treatment for heroin addiction, made its way into the hands of two other students after it was resold, causing all three student buyers to become ill.
Authorities said one of the students went into cardiac arrest and had to be shocked with a defibrillator on campus.
“This is probably one of the most serious incidents that has occurred on our campus,” said Forsyth County schools spokeswoman Jennifer Caracciolo.
“All three were transported to the hospital. A couple spent several days and were released,” said Capt. Frank Huggins with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities arrested the student, a junior at South Forsyth High, and her parents, Deborah Pendleton, 45, and Oscar Carter III, 65. They face felony drug charges, said authorities, following the Oct. 3 incident.
Authorities said Carter owns a methadone clinic in Louisiana, but failed to register or properly store the drug when he came to Georgia following a recent hurricane.
Authorities said the incident could have been worse.
“The consequences occurred on campus which allowed us to have medical responders there immediately, but if it happened off campus, we don’t know what would have happened to their lives,” Caracciolo said.
Authorities said all the male students who took the drug face one or more felony counts of drug possession. School officials said the students may be suspended or expelled from the district.
“I don’t think she knew how serious it was. She’s 16 years old…she should have known. Her parents should have had better control of the situation. It’s very serious. She could have killed three boys,” said Huggins.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Arizona corrections officer killed in carjacking www.privateofficer.com
Arizona corrections officer killed in carjacking http://www.privateofficer.com
Bradley Jay Gerrard, 28, left his home around 11 p.m. to buy an air mattress for a visiting family member. Gerrard was apparently attacked on his way home from Wal-Mart, police reported.
A passer-by found his body just after midnight Sunday in a median along Tartesso Boulevard near Bruner Road. Officers found Gerrard’s partially burned vehicle several miles away.
Buckeye police are processing both scenes for evidence, interim Cmdr. Phil Harris said Monday. Police have no potential suspects.
Gerrard had been a corrections officer for four years. He was assigned to the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis, near Buckeye.
Police have not found any evidence linking Gerrard’s slaying to his work with DOC.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Buckeye Police Department at 623-349-6400.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Campus police officers charged in theft from school www.privateofficer.com
Campus police officers charged in theft from school http://www.privateofficer.com
Police said after the two guards at Wentworth Institute of Technology swiped the gps surveying equipment from a basement storage area, they allegedly tried to sell it on eBay.
The stolen equipment was worth $40,000.
When school officials reported the equipment stolen, Police went straight to eBay and discovered that it went to bidders from out of state.
Wentworth security officer, 27-year-old Jonathan Carroll, of Mansfield, was listed as the seller.
Police confronted Carroll, who confessed saying he had too many bills and he didn’t want to lose home.
Police also charged Carroll’s accomplice , Jay Cunha of Braintree.
The two were arraigned Thursday and charged with larceny and breaking and entering.
All equipment was ultimately recovered.
Both of the security guards were fired.
“The two campus police officers who are involved with this case are no longer employees at Wentworth. The actions of these two campus police officers are in no way a reflection on the Office of Public Safety and the current officers,” said Jamie Kelly, Director of Public Affairs at the Wentworth Institute of Technology.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
———————————————————————–
Washington State Troopers Investigated for Fake Diplomas www.privateofficer.com
Washington State Troopers Investigated for Fake Diplomas http://www.privateofficer.com
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/– The Washington State Patrol has placed nine of its troopers and sergeants on paid leave while they’re investigated for using fake diplomas to get higher pay.
The troopers’ jobs are on the line in what has turned into a criminal investigation.
“Well, it’s very tough. This is something that we take very seriously when we have allegations like this come forward, even when we don’t know all of the facts yet, because we take pride in following the rules, the laws and the regulations of the state of Washington,” said State Patrol Capt. Jeff DeVere.
The accused men are Trooper Dennis Tardiff of Seattle, Sgt. Chris Sweet of Kelso, Trooper Spike Unruh, Trooper John McMillan of Wenatchee and Trooper Dan Mann of Spokane. Sgt. Robert Brusseau, Sgt. Jason Linn, Trooper Gabriel Olson and Trooper Brian Ensley – all of Vancouver – are also accused.
The crackdown grew out of an investigation of a Spokane diploma mill which awarded thousands of fake diplomas before the operators were shut down and sent to federal prison. However, the State Patrol refused to specify whether the nine in question obtained their diplomas from the former Spokane operation.
The State Patrol is not alone in its investigation at its headquarters. All state agencies are looking at possible fake diplomas, including the military, the state department and even the White House.
It is not a crime to have a fake diploma, but it is a crime to use the diploma to get higher pay or advancement in rank. A four-year degree boosts a trooper’s pay by 4 percent, and a two-year degree earns a 2-percent hike.
“We take these kind of allegations very seriously in the patrol and we want to remove any perception that we have somebody who may have participated in fraud out protecting our public,” said DeVere.
For now the troopers have been placed on paid leave without their badges or weapons. They are prohibited from performing any law enforcement duties until the investigation, which may take several weeks, is completed.
==================================================
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Miss Tenn Louisiana arrested for drugs, theft www.privateofficer.com
Miss Tenn Louisiana arrested for drugs, theft http://www.privateofficer.com
Bossier City spokesman Mark Natale said Wednesday that police found 18-year-old Lindsey Evans’ pocketbook when they were called to a restaurant where four young women left Saturday without paying a $46.07 check.
He said her driver’s license and suspected marijuana were inside. Police arrested all four for theft when the group returned for Evans’ pocketbook, and three were booked on drug charges.
Sponsor RPM Productions, Inc. said Evans was stripped of the title Tuesday because of her arrest.
The next Miss Teen Louisiana will be crowned Nov. 1 at a pageant in Lafayette.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
——————————-
American Idol Diane DeGarmo battles identity theft www.privateofficer.com
American Idol Diane De Garmo battles identity theft http://www.privateofficer.com
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
www.privateofficer.com
An American Idol runner-up fears she will never escape a Melbourne woman who was today ordered to stand trial on charges of stalking.
Entertainer Diana DeGarmo told investigators that “no matter what I do I cannot get away from” the woman.
Ms DeGarmo, who lives in Nashville, Tennessee, accused Tanya Maree Quattrocchi of stealing her online identity and harassing her friends and family.
“I cannot have any private or professional life without her infiltrating it,” Ms DeGarmo said in a statement tendered today in Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Quattrocchi, 22, today pleaded not guilty to four charges of stalking Ms DeGarmo and others between November last year and January this year, through electronic messages.
She is accused of posing as a friend of Ms DeGarmo and sending emails of a sexual nature to her, her relations or friends.
Police who raided Quattrocchi on April 25 this year seized two computer hard drives.
The court heard that one had no data and the files recovered from the other showed Ms DeGarmo’s website had been accessed but no date or time of access could be determined.
Quattrocchi was bailed to appear in the County Court next year on conditions that included not accessing any device that allows internet or email access or communicating in any way with Ms DeGarmo or anyone or any organisation connected to her.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
University of Louisville Deans charged With Fraud, Thefts www.privateofficer.com
University of Louisville Deans charged With Fraud, Thefts http://www.privateofficer.com
During the past seven years, former University of Louisville Education Dean Robert Felner and a colleague siphoned $2.3 million from grants and contracts, keeping the money for themselves, according a federal indictment returned yesterday.
The alleged scheme began two years before Felner came to Louisville, and officials said yesterday that it was his former employer — the University of Rhode Island, not U of L — that was the bigger victim.
The 10-count indictment by a federal grand jury in Louisville charges Felner and Thomas Schroeder of Port Byron, Ill., with mail fraud, along with conspiracy to commit laundering and to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.
The long-awaited indictment, which caps an investigation that rocked U of L after being made public in June, also charges Felner with six counts of tax evasion for allegedly underreporting $1.6 million in income and spending it on personal expenses and stocks.
It also seeks forfeiture of $2.1 million in cash, one of Felner’s two homes in Florida, and Schroeder’s home in Port Byron.
U.S. Attorney David Huber, who credited U of L for bringing the allegations to light, told reporters yesterday that he doesn’t expect anyone else to be charged.
“This was a tightly controlled operation that two people kept to themselves — and did pretty well by,” Huber said, citing the facts of the indictment.
If convicted, Felner faces a maximum of 75 years in prison and Schroeder up to 45 years.
Though the sentences likely would be much shorter, Huber said offenders convicted of tax evasion in the Western District of Kentucky usually get prison time rather than probation.
Schroeder and his lawyer didn’t respond to messages yesterday. Scott C. Cox, one of Felner’s attorneys, said he would plead not guilty and looks forward to contesting the charges.
U of L concerns confirmed
The indictment charges that Felner and Schroeder conspired to steal about $1.7 million from the University of Rhode Island and about $576,000 from the University of Louisville.
Huber said the money allegedly taken from U of L has been recovered, but not the funds from Rhode Island.
“URI took the biggest hit,” Huber said.
The amount stunned Rhode Island officials, who said yesterday that, while they knew Felner was being investigated for misappropriating money, they didn’t know how much.
“I think we were surprised by the large dollar amount they identified, the $1.7 million,” said Robert Weygand, the university’s vice president for administration.
U of L President James Ramsey said yesterday that the indictment “confirmed our initial concern of wrongdoing in the management of federal grant funds in the College of Education and Human Development.
“While the past few weeks have been difficult for the university community, we believe we have taken the necessary steps to address the issues that have surfaced and to begin the healing process on campus and in the community.”
The indictment charges that from 2001 to 2008, Felner solicited survey business from school districts across the United States.
The money from those contracts was supposed to go to the National Center on Public Education and Social Policy, which Felner founded at the University of Rhode Island.
Instead, Felner and Schroeder allegedly diverted about $1 million from the Atlanta school district, $326,000 from Buffalo, N.Y., and $375,000 from Santa Monica, Calif., into another center that Schroder founded in Illinois — and eventually, into three bank accounts he and Felner controlled.
The surveys were done by the Rhode Island center, but the money never got there, according to the indictment.
The indictment also accuses Felner and Schroeder of sending about $100,000 in grant money from U of L to the Rhode Island center to pay for printing costs of the surveys that were done for the school districts.
Responding to the grand jury’s charge that the defendants pocketed some of the money paid by school districts for student surveys, Cox said: “I don’t think it is illegal in America to earn a profit.”
Former Kentucky Education Secretary Virginia Fox said the indictment offers a possible explanation as to why Felner so relentlessly sought more survey work from state and local school districts.
“You never thought it was going to benefit him,” she said.
U of L losses detailed
The money allegedly taken from U of L involves $450,000 out of a $694,000 federal earmark grant, and $126,000 from other funding sources at the university.
The indictment charges that Felner and Schroeder also attempted to get $240,000 more.
The federal earmark was supposed to support local research on the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but the $450,000 ended up in a BB&T bank account in Louisville controlled by Felner, according to the indictment. It says Felner ultimately used it to pay personal expenses and make investments.
“The account was not used for any business purposes,” the indictment states.
The grand jury also charged Felner with underpaying about $500,000 in federal income taxes, and said he and Schroeder created several false IRS Form 1099s to conceal income.
Former U of L professor Bryant Stamford, one of several faculty members who filed complaints or grievances against Felner during his tenure in Louisville, said he had mixed feelings about the indictment.
“I am just glad that the truth is getting out, and I am really glad he is no longer in a position to hurt people,” said Stamford, who now teaches at Hanover College and writes a fitness column for The Courier-Journal. “But I am sad because there was part of Robert I liked very much. It was almost like there were two of him.”
University was shaken
Huber said several police agencies, including the Secret Service Financial Frauds Task Force, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, contributed to the investigation, which Huber said was expedited because of “great community concern” about the allegations.
In a statement, Huber’s office said the initial alleged embezzlement at U of L was uncovered in April and investigated by a detective on the campus police department. The university brought it to the attention of federal authorities.
Huber declined to discuss how it was detected.
The scandal shook the university, especially after U of L officials had credited Felner for turning around the education college by improving teaching preparation and dramatically expanding its involvement in local public schools.
But a dozen former U of L faculty members, including some Felner recruited, described his tenure there as a nightmare, saying that he humiliated professors in front of their peers and punished those who challenged him, driving away talented people.
Ramsey initially dismissed some 31 complaints from faculty and staff as “anonymous crap,” but he later apologized to the faculty, acknowledging that many people had been hurt by Felner and that “I should have never let that happen.”
Since the investigation became public, the university has called for six reviews aimed at improving oversight and management.
They include an internal review of the education college’s finances; an external review of the university’s grant and contract management systems; and several other reviews that are focused on governance, conflict of interest and faculty grievance polices. A committee also is investigating the alleged improper awarding of a doctoral degree, the university recently announced.
U of L Trustee Bill Stone said yesterday he has “no doubt that the university will come out better, stronger and more nationally important because of this experience.”
“The university” he said, “is better today than it was six months ago.”
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Police hunt down armed shoplifters www.privateofficer.com
Police hunt down armed shoplifters http://www.privateofficer.com
Sacramento sheriff’s deputies are asking for help locating a third person suspected of shoplifting at a south Sacramento Ross store Wednesday night after a nine-hour search and extensive evacuation.
Two people were arrested in connection with the shoplifting incident at Ross Dress for Less on Florin Road, but a third person — who reportedly was armed with a gun — continues to elude authorities.
Deputies and other law enforcement officers searched on roofs and inside the Ross Dress for Less on Florin Road and nearby stores until about 1:15 a.m. but did not locate the suspect, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran stated in a news release.
The search was called off because officials think the suspect was “somehow able to get outside of the perimeter and evade capture,” Curran said.
The incident began about 4:19 p.m., when deputies were called to the store to arrest three people who were detained for shoplifting by store security guards, Curran said.
One of the people was armed with a handgun, the 911 caller told authorities.
Customers were running out the store’s front doors when deputies arrived. Witnesses told deputies the three detainees had escaped from the security guards. Several people confirmed one of the suspected suspects was armed.
Deputies quickly spotted two of the suspected shoplifters and arrested them. A 17-year-old boy from Utah was arrested on suspicion of petty theft and conspiracy. He is being held in Sacramento County Juvenile Hall.
Jason Billy Washington, 20, of Sacramento, is being held without bail in Sacramento Main Jail on suspicion of petty theft, conspiracy, being an accessory after the fact and violating probation. Washington, who has a listed alias of “Potato Chip,” is scheduled to be arraigned in Sacramento Superior Court on Friday.
After the two were arrested, deputies ordered evacuations of the store and nearby businesses.
A perimeter was set up, and as evacuations progressed, a deputy saw a person matching the third suspect’s description on the shopping center’s roof, Curran said. Members of the department’s Aero Squadron, K-9 unit, SWAT team, High Impact Motor Unit, Gang Suppression Unit, Critical Incident Negotiation Team, California Highway Patrol and Rancho Cordova, Sacramento and Elk Grove police officers also were called to the scene.
Hundreds of customers and merchants at Southgate Plaza spent the evening wandering across Florin Road after deputies evacuated the shopping center.
After the roof was found to be clear, the search was shifted to individual stores, which include a Wal-Mart, Office Max and HomeTown Buffet.
Originally deputies moved evacuees to the sidewalk at the perimeter of the parking lot, but later authorities forced the crowd to move across Florin Road.
About 50 to 75 people whose cars were stuck in the Southgate parking lot mingled with onlookers west of the Home Depot. Eventually, the gathering took on the feeling of a block party.
Robert Rios, an employee of Sketchers shoe store, said his boss told him that he and other employees had to stick around so that they could close up the store whenever they were allowed back into it.
“I’ll sit here all night if I have to,” Rios said. “I’m getting paid to.”
Rios said deputies “rolled up and started telling everyone to back up. They told us to get all the customers out.”
Employees of other stores also said they were told to leave in a hurry.
“My associate said, ‘Get in your car and get out.’ She said, ‘It’s three guys with a gun,’ ” said Yelena Zhuk, who works in the pharmacy at Wal-Mart.
HomeTown Buffet general manager Michael Swedon said his restaurant was full when two officers ran into the restaurant and screamed, “Get out!” Staff and customers dropped everything, including dinner plates, and rushed out.
Curran did not identify the rooftop suspect, but about 7:20 p.m., an officer using a loudspeaker implored someone identified as Tony Morgan to surrender peacefully.
“The complex is surrounded,” the officer said. “Let’s end this peacefully.”
Denise Williams, who had been at the Sally Beauty Supply store, said she lives nearby but was stranded because officers were not allowing people to retrieve their vehicles.
By 9 p.m. the first onlookers were allowed to retrieve vehicles parked near a Taco Bell at the corner of Florin Road and Bowling Drive. About two dozen vehicles remained in the parking lot.
The huge deployment of officers left traffic in chaos along Florin Road during the evening commute.
Anyone with information about the suspect’s identity is asked to call the sheriff’s department at (916) 874-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357 . Callers may remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
