Archive
Missing Nashville girl found after 6 years http://www.privateofficer.com
FBI agents said Hope Lazarides illegally took her child, Sophia, in 2003. Lazarides was arrested and charged Tuesday night after agents in Nashville got a tip she was living with her daughter in Dallas.
Sophia Lazarides is now 14 years old. She was 8 years old when police said her mother abducted her from her Nashville home.
Sophia has been reunited with her father, songwriter Kostas Lazarides, who lives in Montana.
Hope Lazarides will be returned to Nashville to face charges.
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Woman arrested for trading kids for birds http://www.privateofficer.com
Authorities said she arranged the deal with a couple who had been trying for years to have their own child.
Donna Greenwell is in custody on charges of aggravated kidnapping.
Also charged are a man and woman identified as the would-be adoptive parents, Paul and Brandy Romero. A sheriff’s detective said they appeared to have “good intentions,” and that the kids were well treated by them.
Authorities said the transaction for the 5-year-old boy and the 4-year-old girl was negotiated by phone. They said Greenwell had contacted the couple after spotting a flier selling a cockatoo for $1,500.
It’s not known just what the relationship is between Greenwell and the children. The children’s father is being questioned, and authorities are looking for the mother.
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Repo industry becoming more violent http://www.privateofficer.com
The 67-year-old railroad retiree grabbed a gun, walked out the back door and confronted not a thief but a repo man and two helpers trying to tow off the Chrysler Sebring. Shots were fired, and Tanks wound up dead, a bullet in his chest.
The man who came to repossess the car, Kenneth Alvin Smith, is awaiting trial on a murder charge in a state considered a Wild West territory even by the standards of an industry that’s largely unregulated nationally. Since Tanks’ death last June, two other repo men from the same company Smith worked for were shot, one fatally.
“It’s gotten to where it’s a crazy world out there,” said Smith, 50, an ex-Marine who preaches part-time and sings gospel music. Smith said Thursday that he fired in self-defense after Tanks fired a shot.
With the U.S. dealing with an economic slide that has cost millions of jobs, the number of vehicle repossessions is expected to rise 5 percent this year. That’s after it jumped 12 percent to 1.67 million nationally in 2008, said Tom Webb, chief economist with Manheim Consulting, an automotive marketing firm. That followed a 9 percent increase in 2007, creating more opportunities for bad outcomes in an industry where armed confrontations and threats happen every day.
Joe Taylor, whose Florida-based company insures repossession companies, said licensing and training is the answer to avoiding such violence.
“If a guy is just put right on the street without training, the potential for violence is very, very high,” said Taylor, who runs Insurance Services USA.
Federal law says workers can’t “breach the peace” while repossessing items, but it doesn’t go further to state just what that means, leaving definitions up to courts.
All three Alabama shootings were in the middle of the night, which an industry leader said was a sign of a problem.
“The smart operators aren’t out there at 2 or 3 o’clock at night with people who can put you in a bad situation,” said Les McCook, executive director of the American Recovery Association, a trade group for repossession companies.
It was June 26 that the repo man came for Tanks’ car in Halsell, a tiny, rural Choctaw County town near the Mississippi line. Tanks already had filed for bankruptcy and was behind on his payments, court documents show.
Tanks heard a noise and went outside with a gun, something anybody would do, said Choctaw County Sheriff James Lovette, who knew Tanks for years. Smith was indicted Tuesday, but no charges were filed against a man and his teenage son who accompanied Smith, said Lovette.
Smith’s defense lawyer, Rusty Wright, said Tanks came out of the trailer and fired, and that Smith “just wanted to stop him.”
“This is not the gunslinging cowboy that people think about with repo guys,” Wright said. “(Smith) wasn’t out to kill the guy.”
The sheriff declined comment on whether Tanks shot at Smith.
Lovette said Smith worked out of Birmingham with Ascension Recovery, a subsidiary of the Chicago-based Renovo Services. The same recovery firm employed a repo man who was shot and killed on Jan. 8 in Birmingham, as well as a third worker who was wounded while towing a vehicle in the city on Feb. 10.
The CEO of Renovo Services, David Cowlbeck, didn’t respond to questions sent by e-mail about the fatal shootings. He called the unsolved February wounding of 30-year-old Jason Williamson “a random act of violence.”
“We trust that the perpetrators are quickly apprehended and charged accordingly,” Cowlbeck said in a statement.
Lovette is asking the Alabama Sheriff’s Association to push a bill limiting the hours when repossession companies can operate and requiring them to contact local law enforcement before working in an area.
“There’s a time and place for everything, and 3 a.m. is not it,” said Lovette.
The three states that actively license and monitor recovery agents — California, Florida and Louisiana — report less violence than other states, Taylor said. But most state legislatures aren’t interested in repossession law until people start dying, he said.
“You don’t find many state legislators who have had a car repossessed. They are just unfamiliar with that world,” said Taylor.
Tanks was killed just two weeks after he married Georgia Tanks, who keeps a floral spray at the spot where he died beside the car, which is long gone. She wasn’t at home the night he was killed because she was away teaching Vacation Bible School in nearby Meridian, Miss. She has filed a wrongful death suit in the slaying.
“It’s senseless,” she said, wiping away tears as she looked at their wedding photograph. “The legal stuff I don’t know anything about. I just know God is going to let justice be done.”
Smith, too, is haunted by what happened that night.
“I’ve played it through in my mind a million times to see if I could have done something different,” he said. “I couldn’t have.”
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Shoplifter charged with assault on security agent http://www.privateofficer.com
Police have arrested a Union Beach man who they say threw a store security guard to the ground when the worker tried to stop him from shoplifting.
Jason S. Connelly, 27, of Cambridge Avenue, was charged Wednesday with robbery and shoplifting.
Around 6:45 p.m., Connelly stole $60 worth of sneakers and $8 worth of socks from Kohl’s on Route 35, but when a security guard confronted him, he grabbed the guard, threw him to the ground and tried to punch him in the face, said Detective Sgt. Louis Torres. Connelly then stopped resisting and pleaded with the security guard to let him return the items, police said.
At that point, police arrived and Connelly was arrested by Sgt. Vincent Imperato.
Connelly was wanted on an outstanding Tinton Falls municipal court warrant.
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Bank security aids police in capture of rapist http://www.privateofficer.com
An intruder robbed and raped a South Memphis woman Wednesday afternoon has been arrested thanks to the calmness of the victim and the assistance of a bank security officer.
Police said that the suspect forced the woman to go to a bank to withdraw money after raping her and it was there that she was able to get help.
The woman told a bank security guard to call police which he did as he then went outside to see if he could assist further.
According to police, the intruder broke into the 40-year-old woman’s house in the 1600 block of Preston about 1 p.m. He demanded money at gunpoint, then raped her.
The man then forced the victim drive to the Regions Bank at Third and Belz, where he ordered her to withdraw money, but woman saw a security officer and asked for his help.
At that point the suspect, identified as Willie Miller, 18, fled and jumped on a city bus as bank security notified police of the suspect’s wherebouts.
Police stopped the bus, and the suspect hopped off and ran, but officers caught him several blocks away.
Miller told investigators it was true that he’d broken into the house, but the sex act was consensual and the woman wanted to give him money.
He’s been charged with aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and evading arrest.
Miller pleaded guilty in 2008 to aggravated burglary and was given a three-year suspended sentence.
Miller is being held in the Shelby County Jail on $500,000 bond.
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Woman charged in credit card scam www.privateofficer.com
Woman charged in credit card scam http://www.privateofficer.com
The women, both 23, were arrested about 3 a.m. Wednesday at the Jewel grocery at 1210 N. Clark St., according to police, who said they remain in custody but had not been charged as of early Thursday morning.
Police said the women were spotted allegedly using the stolen credit card in the self-check out lanes and, swiping it several times and each time asking for $100 cash back after a small purchase like gum or soda.
A security guard called police, who arrested the women — one who of whom was still inside and the other outside running away, police said.
They had allegedly stolen about $1,000 and both have prior arrest histories with Chicago Police.
The pair may have been involved in similar incidents described in a community alert issued by Belmont Area detectives Wednesday. The alert was issued after a man met two women outside a River North bar last month and later discovered his bank debit card was missing and $8,600 was withdrawn from his account.
Detectives said there have been numerous incidents downtown and on the Near North Side in which men have been approached by women “offering a ride or a good time.”
The women convince the victims to withdraw cash from an ATM, watch him enter his PIN and later take his credit/debit card without his knowledge and use it at self-checkout lanes at the Jewel stores at 1224 S. Wabash Ave., 1210 N. Clark St. and at Ohio and State.
In last month’s incident, after the women got the man’s card, they purchased a low-priced item at the South Wabash Jewel, then depleted the man’s bank account by $8,600 by withdrawing cash in $100 increments, the alert said.
Police advise men to be alert to suspicious people extending invitations to “go for a ride” or who offer a “good time.” Additionally, police advise against carrying an excessive amount of cash and/or credit cards.
“It’s the perfect crime,’’ according to a police source, who said the crimes are hard to prosecute for at two reasons.
The victims often don’t want to come forward because they don’t want their names used, especially if they are married; and the amounts are not significant enough for the bank to aggressively seek action.
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Security agents nab sexual assault suspect http://www.privateofficer.com
idahostatesman.com
Boise police arrested a man Thursday after he grabbed and forcibly held and kissed two young boys in a crowded supermarket. The suspect was a stranger to the boys, police said.
Netra P. Mishra, 27 of Boise, is charged with kidnapping and battery.
Police detectives are searching for more possible victims.
On Saturday around 12:30 p.m., Boise police were called to the Winco grocery store on the 8200 block of Fairview Ave.
Store security employees were detaining a man after a woman reported to them that the man had just grabbed, forcibly kissed and held her 5-year-old son.
After viewing store security video, officers found the man had also attacked a 10-year-old boy in much the same way just prior to attacking the 5 year old.
It appears the older boy was also shopping with his mother. However, it appears the boy’s mother didn’t see the attack, and the boy didn’t tell her after he ran from the man. Detectives have since located the family and interviewed the boy.
Officers say the evidence indicates the suspect approached the first boy and talked to him briefly as the two walked behind the boy’s mother. The boy’s mother turned out of the aisle, and the attack occurred. The boy was eventually able to wrestle himself away and run.
The suspect attacked the second, younger boy just feet from his mother as she picked out items from store shelves. The suspect apparently used his body to block the mother’s view of the attack.
The mother turned and saw the suspect holding her son, yelled at the suspect, and he walked away. The woman then went and alerted store employees.
Boise police detectives have learned Mishra has only been in Boise for the past month, staying with family in an apartment complex near Hartman Street and Fairview Ave.
He speaks Nepalese and does not have any immigration holds, said police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower.
Anyone with information about Mishra or possible additional victims, or anyone who may have been shopping in Winco and seen the suspect or witnessed these attacks but has not been interviewed by police is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 343-COPS.
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NYC Security officers to get back pay http://www.privateofficer.com
The recent settlement of the workers claims was secured by City Comptroller Bill Thompson. Back in 2006 television station WNYC looked into complaints from employees and their union that Tristar Patrol Services was shortchanging workers who protect city buildings and the Staten Island Ferry.
WNYC’s probe found that just a few years earlier, the state comptroller cited Tristar for misrepresenting the training and qualifications of the guards, and the Tristar’s owner was previously convicted of assualt and forced to resign from the Port Authority police force.
The city selected a new contractor to supply security guards and now those previous security officer’s may get all of the money that has been due them. A spokesman for the New York secretary of state, which regulates the guard industry, says Tristar’s license was revoked in 2007.
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TBI Agent killed in Iraq www.privateofficer.com
TBI Agent killed in Iraq http://www.privateofficer.com
A Tennessee National Guard soldier who died in Iraq when Iraqi policemen opened fire on U.S. soldiers was a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation special agent with a strong sense of patriotism, his boss said Thursday.
First Lt. William E. Emmert, 36, died Tuesday in Mosul, according to a Department of Defense news release.
The attack also injured three other Tennessee National Guard soldiers, Guard spokesman Randy Harris said.Emmert was deployed at the end of January to serve as a platoon leader in the 269th Military Police Company, 117th Military Police Battalion, from Murfreesboro.Two Iraqi policeman opened fire during a U.S. military inspection of a police post in northern Iraq, killing Emmert and an interpreter.
The Tennessee National Guard would not release the names or conditions of the other three soldiers. The unit of about 170 soldiers remains in an area around Mosul, Harris said.Emmert had worked for the TBI Criminal Investigation Division as a field agent in Lincoln and Moore counties since 2007.
TBI Director Mark Gwyn called Emmert an “outstanding” agent.”Not only was he an excellent investigator, but more importantly, a tremendous person full of integrity, character and patriotism,” Gwyn said. “He is a true American hero and will be greatly missed by all who knew him personally and professionally.”Emmert’s father told The Associated Press the family was making funeral arrangements and planned to meet with military officials.The attack has renewed concerns about insurgents infiltrating Iraqi security forces.
The shooting was the fourth attack in the region since late 2007 with suspected links to Iraqi security units.The two policemen began shooting as the Americans toured an Iraqi police unit guarding a key bridge in Mosul, about 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saeed al-Jubouri said.
Al-Jubouri denied reports that the gunmen could have been insurgents dressed in police uniforms — a tactic used before in suicide bombings and attacks.
“Absolutely these were policemen,” al-Jubouri said.
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Security officer robbed; police officer shot during chase www.privateofficer.com
Security officer robbed; police officer shot during chase http://www.privateofficer.com
Police say the gun battle happened off Van Gogh Avenue around 3:45am in the Melrose East neighborhood. The whole ordeal started when a security guard called police to report he had been robbed at an apartment complex in an area known as Mall City.
Lieutenant Bobby Glaser, the commander of the K-9 division who is known to work nights, got the call and noticed a young man fitting the robber’s description. From there, it’s unclear as to what happened next, but eventually the officer and the suspect got into what amounts to a gun battle.
Investigators say they exchanged several shots, during which the teenage suspect a teenager was hit in the arm and took off running. Glaser, a 24-year veteran with the police department, was shot in both legs. Although he was bleeding badly, the officer was still able to get to his radio and relay information, like descriptions, to his fellow officers so they could eventually catch the 16-year-old.
Ambulances took both the officer and the 16-year-old suspect to the hospital. They are both expected to survive. Now investigators have to piece the entire incident back together.
The police department’s academy class is getting a first-hand look and invaluable training through this experience. It is eye-opening insight to prove how their lives could be on the line at any moment. The cadets are also helping investigators look for clues.
Lots of alphabetized evidence markers were placed near the officer’s police car. Every letter, from A to at least W, represents shell casings and other pieces of what could become evidence.
Police say the teen will be charged upon his release from the hospital, but they haven’t determined exactly what those charges will be. They say because he is a juvenile, his identity cannot be released.
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Security officer deploys Taser during fight http://www.privateofficer.com
Police say that a security guard had to deploy his Taser during a fight at a neighborhood bar.
Police said that when they arrived at Debbie’s Destiny on Northland Boulevard around 2 a.m. they found the victim of the assault on the floor unconcious.
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Armed and Off-Duty http://www.privateofficer.com
By: Rick McCann
Executive Director
http://www.privateofficer.com/
Always on duty is a tag line that many law enforcement officers have either put on themselves or become accustomed to the thinking of such because of movies, the public’s general opinion, or possibly departmental policy.
A number of years ago when crime was increasing in metropolitan areas, agencies asked that any officer carrying a weapon or driving a “take home” police vehicle while off-duty get more involved in criminal activity that they either saw or heard via the police radio. Some departments even required that off-duty officers respond to priority type calls when in the area of the call and to get involved in criminal activity that they observed including moving violations.
But armed and off-duty doesn’t have the same meaning for private security personnel. While many supervisors and managers of private security firms and departments are required to be on-call during certain times and may even be required to carry arms during
those hours or once they arrive on their employer’s property, it does not equate to being armed for the purpose of enforcing laws or responding to or getting involved in activities that are not occurring in or around their employment location or employer’s property.
While being armed does give a person a certain level of comfort and security in situations that may be or may become violent, dangerous or cause the person to become a victim of crime, the reactions of the off-duty security person should be no more than that of a reasonable and prudent citizen who has a concealed carry permit.
Being an off-duty security officer is no different that being a plumber or a doctor or a painter who is off work even if the security officer is armed.
While some citizens do get involved in chasing suspects in crimes that the person has witnessed and in some cases make a difference in whether or not the suspect is caught and brought to justice, it is a dangerous action even for the off-duty law enforcement officer and should be done with reasonable care and caution.
I know that packing heat can sometimes make us feel bullet-proof and ten feet tall, but in reality, we’re not Superman and we need to make that split second decision with due care.
Personally, I’ve been involved in many of those off-duty chases and I know that there’s not much time if any to react to a purse snatcher who has just knocked an old lady down while grabbing her purse and I’m definitely not trying to discourage anyone from getting involved. I am however invoking a word of caution and suggesting that a person take reasonable actions.
Off duty private officers are often times observant and suspicious by nature which is a good thing. This trait can help the person to be alert to possible criminal activity or persons or situations and when this occurs the security officer should contact the police and not get involved other than to observe and report.
While responsibilities and required response may be different for the officer on their job, this is public streets and the officer has no authority or jurisdiction more than that of a private citizen.
Recently two incidents were mishandled by off-duty security personnel that got both of them arrested for impersonating a police officer.
In the first incident, the private officer saw several people arguing and walked over and flashed his badge and told them to split. One of the persons involved in the argument called police and because a badge was flashed and words said, the security officer was arrested.
In the second incident, the security officer in plainclothers wearing his security badge on his belt and his firearm walked into a nightclub and when the bouncer asked he was a police officer he said something that was taken as a yes and the police were called and the security person arrested.
Carrying weapons off-duty if you have a permit to do so is fine, but carrying, flashing or wearing badges and guns is only going to get you in trouble.
People getting involved in their community whether as a volunteer fireman, neighborhood watch or in any area that makes a difference is important and so is citizens who are alert and crime smart and has a nose for when something doesn’t look or smell right. But it’s important to stay within the boundaries of the law and to notify law enforcement when there is a legal issue, suspicious person, vehicle, or incident.
Know what you can and can not do and make all decisions smart, prudently and with much thought.
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Four mall security officers charged with assault http://www.privateofficer.com
A fifth person — a young adult in a program designed to give kids interested in law enforcement a glimpse into a police work — was also involved in the incident, officials said.
The five are being accused of improperly handcuffing and detaining the woman, officials said. Security guards don’t have police powers and may detain someone for police only if that person has committed a crime in their presence, according to police.
The four guards and the youth all turned themselves in and were arraigned on assault and battery charges in the 39th District Court, Roseville Deputy Police Chief Anthony Cona said. Assault and battery is a 93-day misdemeanor.
Cona identified the defendants as Edward Mazaluaskas, Gregory Taylor, Dewayne Brown, Jamar Pennington and Tywuan Brintley. A judge set bond for each of the defendants at $5,000.
Police say the incident occurred at about 2 p.m. on Jan. 27
Mall security told police the woman had been banned from the shopping center and when she returned was told to leave.
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Mall security, police nab jewelry thief www.privateofficer.com
Mall security, police nab jewelry thief http://www.privateofficer.com
Montgomery County Prosecutors on Thursday, Feb, 26, approved a fourth-degree felony grand theft charge against Trevor L. Holloway, 37.
Holloway, of Cincinnati, and an accomplice were arrested Wednesday afternoon outside on Osterman Jewelry Store said Maj. John DiPietro of the Miami Twp. police.
The man with Holloway has yet to be charged.
“By the time they left the store got in their car and got to 741 and 725, we were on top of them,” DiPietro said. “I’m very proud of how well our system worked in this case.”
DiPietro said a pair of men entered the Osterman Jewelers in the Dayton Mall shortly before 5 p.m. and asked to see a Rolex watch that was on display. When the store clerk removed the watch from the case, one of the men snatched it, and they ran from the mall.
DiPietro said that thanks to a grant from the Homeland Security Department, the Miami Twp. police have sophisticated communication links to the Dayton Mall. He said the department has access to video surveillance camera images from mall security and direct radio links to the mall’s major retailers.
“The idea is to make the mall a harder target for terrorists, but the system has a lot of day-to-day benefits when it comes to controlling crime,” DiPietro said.
DiPietro said a pair of officers patrolling near the mall were in radio contact with mall security moments after the theft occurred and were able to spot the suspects at the main intersection just northwest of the mall parking area.
The officers found the stolen watch in the car and also found drugs and cash, DiPietro said.
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MetroLink security aid in robbery arrest http://www.privateofficer.com
The supervisor chased two robbers for several blocks, McCuller said.
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Ohio student points gun at security www.privateofficer.com
Ohio student points gun at security http://www.privateofficer.com
According to the superintendent, the Whittier Junior High School student had had a previous run-in with the security guard and confronted him in the gym. The student pulled out the gun and aimed it at the guard.
The security guard tackled the student and retrieved the weapon. Another student who was with the student with the gun tried to run, but administrators caught him too.
The superintendent says the weapon was a pellet gun.
The school does not have metal detectors but staff say they had practiced for just such an incident and say the training is why the situation was resolved quickly.
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Target security agents injured when shoplifter goes berserk www.privateofficer.com
Target security agents injured when shoplifter goes berserk http://www.privateofficer.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.Feb 27 2009
Police said that the suspect, thirty seven year-old Steve Fumando was subdued and has been arrested on several charges after the 5:30 p.m. incident, in which the Great Kills man allegedly “went crazy” after being caught trying to steal a Blu-Ray DVD player.
When security stopped Fumando, he allegedly began fighting and punching the security officers. He is now charged with misdemeanor assault, harassment, and petit larceny, and is jailed in lieu of $1,500 bail.
Kimberly Bethie, one of the loss prevention agents said that the 6-foot, 220-pound Fumando tried to choke her during the assault.
Both security agents received minor injuries during the incident.
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Dead body found in car ticketed 7 times http://www.privateofficer.com
wpbf-tv.com– A car found in a Gainesville neighborhood with a dead body in the back seat had been ticketed seven times by city parking enforcement.
Police found the body when a resident called authorities Monday afternoon to report the car, which had been parked on the street for days.
A preliminary autopsy helped police identify the body as 42-year-old John Waldo, who had been missing since Feb. 11.
Police said the autopsy revealed no obvious cause of death. Investigators are awaiting toxicology results, which may take up to six weeks.
City records show the first ticket was issued to the 2001 BMW on Feb. 12, the day after Waldo was last seen alive.
A Gainesville city spokesman pointed out that ticket officers are not trained police officers but work out of the city’s public works department.
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Security officers take down robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
Security officers take down robbery suspect http://www.privateofficer.com
valley news: Police arrested two 17-year-old robbers last night relating to a Tuesday afternoon robbery when the two males robbed a male victim near 2nd/ Howard. One of the males pointed a black colored semi-auto handgun at the victim and demanded money. The suspects fled the area on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.
On Wednesday evening the victim called 911 to report that he saw the same suspects standing near the STA Plaza at 701 W. Riverside. Spokane Police Officers arrived and both suspects fled on foot running in opposite directions.
Officers chased the first suspect as he repeatedly shoved his hands in his waistband as if he was trying to access a weapon. Robber number one eventually stopped next to a parked car where he tried to hide a stolen semi-auto handgun and was apprehended.
The second robber was arrested by STA security. He was also found to be in possession of a second stolen handgun. Both handguns were stolen during burglaries. One of the burglaries was from the Spokane Valley area on February 11, 2009. The second gun was stolen in the Tacoma area.
Both teenage suspects claim to be from the Tacoma area and are are charged with multiple felonies. The first robber was charged with 1st degree robbery, possession of a stolen firearm, and 2nd degree possession of a firearm. The second robber was charged with 1st degree robbery, 1st degree unlawful possession of a firearm and 2 counts of possession of a stolen firearm.
They were both booked into the Spokane County Juvenile facility on Wednesday, but knowing how the juvenile justice system works in Washington State, both are presumably were out “kiddy jail” before the officers even finished their reports and are probably searching for another crime to commit
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Police recover stolen gun from shoplifters www.privateofficer.com
Police recover stolen gun from shoplifters http://www.privateofficer.com
mercurynews.com — Two suspects in a shoplifting at a lingerie store were arrested after efforts to conceal the crime that were as semi-transparent as the items they’re accused of stealing, police said.
The theft also led officers a stolen firearm in the getaway car, said police Cpl. Kerry Cerletti.
A man and woman walked into Sarah’s Bare Necessities, 1865 Adobe St., about 1:05 p.m. Wednesday, walked around the store, chatted with the clerk and then tried to leave out the front door, but the store security alarm went off.
The clerk approached the two and asked them to return whatever they took. The pair refused, argued with the clerk and then got into their car and drove off, but so slowly that the clerk was able to take down a license plate number. She then called police.
About 15 minutes later, an officer stopped a car and two occupants that matched the descriptions given by the clerk, who was brought to the scene to identify the pair and give police a description of some of the stolen items, Cerletti said.
When officers began searching the car, the woman confronted them, trying to get in their way before she was subdued and detained. Besides items stolen from the store, they found a loaded handgun that had been reported stolen in Antioch.
Shanoria Sasser, 20, of Pittsburg, was arrested on suspicion of theft, possession of a concealed handgun and possession of stolen property. She was held in West County Jail in Richmond on $40,000 bail.
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Security officer disarms robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
Security officer disarms robbery suspect http://www.privateofficer.com
HONOLULU HI Feb 27 2009
Police said that a man entered the store and asked to see the most expensive watches. When the salesperson put one of two watches on the man’s wrist the alleged robbery suspect tried to flee the store.
At that point police say that a security officer spotted the robbery and tried to stop him. After a brief struggle, the man pulled out a knife but the officer was able to disarm him.
The two men wrestled and the suspect then dropped the watch and fled.
The suspect is described as Japanese, in his 20′s, around 5′ 4′, and between 140 to 160 pounds with brown eyes. His was wearing a white t-shirt, black shorts, black slippers and glasses.
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Security finds mall streaker on MySpace http://www.privateofficer.com
The mall security officer also filed a report with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday.
According to the sheriff’s department, the mall officer located the MySpace page of the alleged streaker and then with a little more research found the video posted to Liveleak.com.
The streaker ran through the crowded food court, out the side doors into a waiting vehicle without being caught.
At the end of the video, he credits the cameraman and the get away driver.
The streaker was identified by the mall security guard as 18-year-old Brandon Krueger and sheriff deputies have charged him.
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Mother charged with killing infant www.privateofficer.com
Mother charged with killing infant http://www.privateofficer.com
pe.com
Greg Burchett walked into his Riverside home late Monday to find his 17-month-old son, Garrison, dead in a tragic scene that police are now piecing together.
“I found my baby, and my wife was traumatized,” said Burchett, an assistant biology professor at Riverside City College.
Police arrested Burchett’s wife and the child’s mother, Lori Burchett, 38, a former Mt. San Jacinto College employee.
The toddler suffered blunt force trauma to the head and a puncture wound to the abdomen, a Riverside Police Department news release said. Information about a motive was not released.
Burchett said Tuesday he was immediately concerned about their 3-year-old son, Gregory, and her 15-year-old son, Nick. They were home but unharmed.
“I’ve always been extremely supportive of my wife but I don’t understand what happened,” Burchett said.
Riverside police said officers responded at 11:07 p.m. Monday to the home on Via Terreno in Riverside’s Sycamore Canyon Park neighborhood.
The deceased toddler was found in a bedroom, stated an agency news release. His death marks Riverside’s fifth homicide of 2009. Last year, the city saw a spike up to 20 homicides, the highest in five years.
Lori Burchett is scheduled to make her first court appearance Thursday, according to jail records. She is being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center. Bail has been set at $1 million.
Police remained on the scene Tuesday morning and neighbors said the road was blocked until about 8:30 a.m.
By the afternoon, television trucks dotted the suburban Riverside cul-de-sac lined with large trees and landscaped yards.
Friends went in and out of the red tile roofed home with cream stucco to give Burchett support.
“This is extremely shocking,” Sylvia Thomas said as she left the home. “This is a devastating loss.”
Lori Burchett had worked as the curriculum coordinator for Mt. San Jacinto College from 2003 to 2008. Greg Burchett is the chairman of Riverside City College’s life science division and is an assistant professor of biology, according to representatives of the respective colleges.
Anyone with information may contact detectives Rick Cobb at 951-353-7135 or Rick Wheeler at 951-353-7134.
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Shoplifters cause rukus before fleeing www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifters cause rukus before fleeing http://www.privateofficer.com
Police in Gastonia say the three people who stole clothing from a store Tuesday afternoon at Westfield Eastridge Mall managed to cause quite a ruckus before they fled.
The three became involved in a series of fights with employees at the Hollister Co. clothing store in the mall.
It happened about 3:45 p.m., police say.
A 26-year-old male employee of the store, which sells clothing aimed at teens and young adults, said two men and a woman entered Hollister Co., started a fight with him, and then grabbed 20 T-shirts.
Another employee, a 25-year-old man, saw what was happening and came to help. He got involved in a fight with one of the suspects. Police say that when a third employee, a 26-year-old woman, tried to call mall security, the female suspect jumped on her and began fighting.
Then a fourth employee, a 25-year-old woman, returned to the store after a break, spotted the ruckus, and also tried to call mall security. That woman told police that the female suspect then assaulted her.
The three suspects got away with clothing valued at $485, police say.
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Newborn dumped in jail toliet www.privateofficer.com
Newborn dumped in jail toliet http://www.privateofficer.com
According to Sheriff Terry Deese, Cornelia Kornegay, 25, of Roberta had the infant in a holding cell Wednesday morning and told jailers her baby was in the toilet.
Deese said deputies found the infant upside down submerged in water, but deputies were able to revive the infant and the toddler survived. Deese said jailers were unaware that Kornegay was pregnant.
Kornegay likely will face a charge of felony cruelty to children and other offenses. She was already being held at the facility for violating probation.
Deese said the infant, a 7 pound, 6-ounce girl was taken to a local hospital and was listed in good condition.
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Flagstaff teacher arrested for sex with student crimes www.privateofficer.com
Flagstaff teacher arrested for sex with student crimes http://www.privateofficer.com
azdaily.com
Flagstaff police arrested a Coconino High School teacher and karate studio owner on charges that he had sex with two minor students of his.
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Shoplifters bite their way to freedom www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifters bite their way to freedom http://www.privateofficer.com
Two Montgomery residents are accused of taking a different slant on McGruff the Crime Dog’s well-known admonition to “take a bite out of crime.”
Their interpretation of the saying also brought a different criminal charge from the one they would have otherwise faced.
Charges against the duo, who were initially charged with shoplifting, were upgraded to robbery after one of them reportedly bit a security employee who tried to stop them from leaving a local retailer Monday with several items of merchandise for which they had allegedly not paid.
The other suspect ran into a wooded area and sparked a brief foot chase that ended when an Alabama State Trooper helped nab him in a wooded area behind Jameson Inn, just off Cobbs Ford Road.
According to Prattville Police Department reports, the suspects — 19-year-old Covecchio Deshaun Taylor and Adreanna Thomas Johnson, 20, each of whom gave a home address in the capital city — were charged with one count each of robbery in the second degree.
The incident occurred shortly before noon, when the two reportedly tried to take “about $150″ worth of baby clothes and other items from Prattville’s Big Kmart without paying for the goods.
According to reports, when the store’s loss-prevention personnel tried to detain them, Johnson resisted the attempt and allegedly bit the security officer on the upper arm, breaking the skin and drawing a small amount of blood. While his partner remained at the store and tried to prevent her arrest, Taylor ran from the store and into the wooded area.
Police Chief Alfred Wadsworth said the petty theft incident turned into a robbery when the suspect bit the security officer, thereby displaying the use of force in the commission of the alleged crime.
City police pursued the woman, and the trooper — who was reportedly working on reports at a nearby business — joined in.
The trooper was eventually able to help take Johnson into custody, putting an end to the incident, at least part of which was reportedly witnessed by several diners, shoppers and motorists in the area.
“The reports show that two suspects were caught shoplifting,” Wadsworth said. “When the loss-prevention people tried to detain them, the male suspect broke loose and ran across McQueen Smith Road and into a ditch that ran through the woods. The woman resisted the security people.”
Both suspects were taken to the Autauga Metro Jail, where bond was set at $5,000 for each. According to an employee of the jail’s booking and release division, Johnson was released late Monday after posting bond, while Taylor remained in the county lockup Tuesday afternoon
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Ala. teacher faces charges of sex with students www.privateofficer.com
Ala. teacher faces charges of sex with students http://www.privateofficer.com
al.com — A Central Baldwin Middle School teacher and coach faces 12 charges related to accusations he had sexual contact or inappropriate communication with four students, authorities said Tuesday.
Bryan Christopher Pettibone was an eighth-grade science teacher and boys basketball coach for nearly 3 1/2years before being put on paid leave Dec. 19 when suspicious behavior was first reported by a parent of one of the girls, said Baldwin County public schools spokesman Terry Wilhite.
“All these situations would begin with text-messaging and phone calls and eventually led to actual contact,” said Sgt. Rex Bishop, chief investigator for the Robertsdale Police Department.
The suspect is accused of having sexual contact with three of the girls, authorities said.
All the girls were 14 at the time, Bishop said. One is still a middle school student while three have moved on to high school since those incidents allegedly occurred last school year, Bishop said.
Authorities declined to provide details about the alleged sexual contact except to say some of it occurred at the campus on Ala. 59, just north of Robertsdale.
“The allegations are that he crossed the boundary and there was actual physical contact, and this did occur on school grounds not only during the school times, but sometimes during extracurricular activities, mostly centered around basketball games,” Bishop said.
Pettibone, 34, of Mobile turned himself in to Robertsdale police Tuesday after being indicted by a Baldwin County grand jury, Bishop said.
Pettibone is charged with:
Three counts of second-degree sexual abuse.
One count of attempted second-degree sexual abuse.
Four counts of enticing a child under the age of 16.
Four counts of harassment.
He was transferred to the Baldwin County Corrections Center and released on bail Tuesday night.
Baldwin County District Attorney Judy Newcomb said the abuse charges are related to alleged sexual touching of students, and the attempted sexual abuse charge is for reportedly trying to have sexual contact with the fourth. The enticing charges are related to the text or cell phone conversations, authorities said.
Bishop said investigators hope there are no additional allegations involving Pettibone but urged parents or students to report them if there are.
Newcomb said the evidence shows the misconduct was “pervasive” in the school before it was reported.
“Kids are sometimes reluctant to talk about it. It is not their fault. If you are accosted inappropriately by a teacher, it is the teacher’s fault; it is not the child’s fault,” Newcomb said.
Because he is tenured, Pettibone has been on paid leave and his permanent employment status will be determined at an upcoming Board of Education meeting, Wilhite said.
Pettibone made $48,362 as a teacher and received a coaching supplement of $1,685.00 for a total salary of $50,047, Wilhite said.
Pettibone was hired in August 2004 as a teacher at Summerdale Elementary, where he worked for a year before transferring to CBMS in August 2005, Wilhite said.
All school system employees undergo criminal background checks and sexual harassment prevention training, he said.
“This is a very, very, very serious matter,” Wilhite said. “Our hearts go out to them. It’s a sad day and age we live In, and when we hear something like this, it upsets us greatly.”
The suspect is the son of former Foley High Principal Melvin Pettibone, Bishop said.
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Group arrested for giving suicide assistance www.privateofficer.com
Group arrested for giving suicide assistance http://www.privateofficer.com
Four members of the Final Exit Network were charged Wednesday with helping a 58-year-old Georgia man end his life by inhaling helium. The group assigns those seeking to end their lives a guide who instructs them to purchase two new helium tanks and a hood, known as an “exit bag,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many deaths were being investigated by law enforcement agencies that include the FBI, but authorities in Arizona were looking into whether a death there involved the group.
Group members Thomas E. Goodwin, who was identified as the organization’s president, and Claire Blehr, a member, were both arrested Wednesday at a home in northern Georgia, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. The arrests came after a sting operation in which an undercover agent posed as a member of the group.
Maryland authorities arrested the organization’s medical director, Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert, 81, of Baltimore, and Nicholas Alec Sheridan, a Baltimore man who is a regional coordinator for the group.
The four were charged with assisted suicide, tampering with evidence and a violation of Georgia’s anti-racketeering act.
Their charges stem from the June 2008 death of John Celmer in an assisted suicide in Cumming, about 35 miles north of Atlanta, said GBI spokesman John Bankhead.
Betty Celmer, the man’s mother, said her son had suffered for years from cancer of the throat and mouth and that he had undergone extensive surgery with several more rounds to go.
“I know he was depressed, he called me every single Sunday,” said Celmer, who is 85. She said she was suspicious of his death, but his siblings have denied it could have been suicide.
She contended that the group shouldn’t face charges if they helped her son.
“If they helped John to die, that is what he wanted. I would never find them guilty for helping him,” she said.
Authorities were executing search warrants at 14 sites in Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, and Montana, according to the GBI and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Arizona. Included in the searches were a group office in Georgia and a company in Montana that authorities said supplied items used in suicides.
Also raided were the homes of group volunteers in the other seven states.
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Arizona detectives are investigating whether the group assisted in a Phoenix woman’s death.
Bankhead said new members of the group pay a $50 fee and follow an application process. When ready to commit suicide, the member is led through the process by two guides, he said.
The group’s vice president said it supports those with irreversible illnesses who choose to end their lives, but its volunteers don’t actively participate in the life-ending procedures. The group started in 2004 and has 3,000 dues-paying members.
“When they choose to exit, as we call it, we just hold their hand. That’s about it,” said Jerry Dincin, who’s also a clinical psychologist in Chicago.
He said members are given a book, “The Final Exit,” that outlines how they can end their lives. He said volunteers never encourage the members to commit suicide, but support them if that’s their choice.
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NC prison guard arrested for having sex with inmate www.privateofficer.com
NC prison guard arrested for having sex with inmate http://www.privateofficer.com
wavy.com – A female prison guard in Bertie County, N.C. has been criminally charged for allegedly having a sexual relationship with an inmate and getting pregnant with the inmate’s child.
Investigators with the Windsor Police Department say Tameka Mebane was on duty as a guard at the Bertie Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Windsor, when she had sex with the inmate, who is doing hard time for armed robbery.
Police say the guard and the inmate had sex throughout the prison, including in a break room and a closet.
“We are not supposed to be friends,” said Mebane. “But, after a while you get close to them. They are human too.”
Mebane, who has since resigned her position as a guard, admits she had a relationship with the inmate but denies that he is the father of her baby.
When asked about the identity of the father Mebane responded, “God.”
Windsor Police Sgt. Rick Morris told WAVY.com he questioned Mebane and she confessed.
“According to her, she was pregnant from the inmate. That’s what she told me,” said Sgt. Morris.
WAVY.com obtained a police report that indicates the investigation into the relationship between the guard and the inmate began last October when the inmate was caught with a cellphone and calls were traced right back to the guard, Mebane.
According to the report, police also discovered pictures of a female, they believe is the prison guard, “with only underwear on… who appeared to be pregnant…and about four months along.”
“I’m only human,” said Mebane. “Everyone makes mistakes.”
And Mebane claims she is not the only female guard at the Bertie prison who has had sexual relationships with inmates.
“I know about about seven or eight of them,” said Mebane. “They didn’t get pregnant, but they had sexual encounters with the inmates.”
Police in Windsor say that’s true. But, they say this is the first time a prison guard has been criminally charged for having sex with an inmate because this is the first time they have had enough evidence to prosecute.
Mebane remains out on bond.
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