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Teenager steals credit card, flys to California www.privateofficer.com
Someone thought it was odd that a 13-year-old boy was walking alone through San Jose’s airport at a time when he probably should have been safe at home doing schoolwork.
That someone was right.
A Transportation Security Administration noticed the boy Tuesday evening and alerted a San Jose police officer, who spotted the teen near the United Airlines counter in Terminal C and quickly determined the boy was a runaway. After running the boy’s name through the system, the officer learned the teen was reported missing out of Florida. Working with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the boy’s parents were notified and San Jose police were given permission to release the boy to relatives in Santa Clara County.
Kenton Weaver, 13, used his father’s credit card to purchase a ticket on Southwest Airlines from Fort Lauderdale to Mineta San Jose International Airport, according to a Florida newspaper, the SunSentinel. The boy, who lives in Boca Raton with his father, Dean Weaver, and an 8-year-old brother, packed a carry-on bag, took his dad’s Ford Explorer without permission and drove himself to the Fort Lauderdale airport early Tuesday morning, according to the SunSentinel.
The boy’s mom lives outside Fresno, the newspaper reported.
The boy’s parents told the SunSentinel that he has a heart condition and Asperger’s syndrome, which affects a child’s ability to socialize and communicate effectively with others. The boy’s mother,
Kimberly Casey, described her son as a unique boy who lacks inhibition when he wants to do something, the SunSentinel wrote.
“Kenton has an exaggerated sense of self,” Casey told the SunSentinel. “He has said on many occasions he’s old enough to drive and doesn’t understand why driver’s license laws can’t be changed.”
Dean Weaver told the Florida newspaper that Kenton took his credit card and Ford Explorer without permission and had no ID on him during his travels. Officials said it is not against the policies of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport or Southwest Airlines for a 13-year-old to travel alone, with or without identification, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Anyone under 18 years of age needs only a boarding pass to get through airport security, Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Nico Melendez told the Mercury News.
The teen’s parents told the Florida newspaper that their divorce had been especially tough on the boy. Dean Weaver and his sons had also recently moved from St. Louis to Florida.
“He’s having issues,” Casey told the SunSentinel. “He was utlimately trying to get to me.”
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CSX Security officer finds dead body www.privateofficer.com
Police have released the name of a homicide victim whose body was found in a wooded area in Jacksonville Monday.
The remains of Terrance Buck Decatur, 30, of Jacksonville was found about 10 a.m. Monday in the 5300 block of West First Street. The body was found by a CSX security officer checking property owned by the railroad.
A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. No cause or estimated time of death were released.
Anyone with information can contact the Sheriff’s Office at (904) 630-0500 or First Coast Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-8477 (845-TIPS) to remain anonymous and be eligible for rewards.
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72 yr old man charged as serial killer www.privateofficer.com
The woman, a 67-year-old retired school administrator, was dead inside her red-and-black ’65 Chevy Chevelle, two blocks from her west Los Angeles apartment.
The young homicide detective popped open the trunk and saw Elizabeth McKeown lying on her side. She was naked from the chest down. She’d been beaten, raped and strangled three days earlier.
Despite his efforts and a $25,000 reward, Manchester and his colleagues could not solve the killing. For 33 years and long after he retired, Manchester, now 64, berated himself. He would clip newspaper stories about similar murders in hopes of spotting a clue.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Department announced it had solved McKeown’s case. The suspect, they said, was likely responsible for the murders of as many as 30 women, dating to the mid-1950s, which would make him the most prolific killer in city history.
“I was crying,” Manchester said of his reaction when he learned John Floyd Thomas Jr., 72, had been arrested. “It was remarkable that they caught him.”
Thomas, an insurance claims adjuster, is charged with two killings after cold-case detectives matched his DNA to the McKeown murder and to the 1972 strangling of Ethel Sokoloff, 68, who was sexually assaulted.
The LAPD said it also has partial DNA matches to two other killings, and he is a suspect in three killings in Inglewood. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is looking at him in at least two other cases.
“We believe that Thomas is likely connected to many more sexually motivated murders,” Deputy Chief Charlie Beck said.
Thomas, who was being held on $1 million bond, could not be reached for comment. The public defender’s office said he had yet to be assigned an attorney.
Because the killings occurred before the 1977 reinstatement of the death penalty, prosecutors are seeking life in prison without parole. If Thomas is charged in later cases, they may seek death.
In Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, a man police dubbed “The Westside Rapist” entered the homes of elderly women who lived alone, raped them and choked them until they passed out or died. Beck said police believe Thomas is the rapist and may be involved in scores of unsolved rapes.
The attacks stopped in 1978 — the year Thomas went to prison for the rape of a Pasadena woman.
He may also be involved in killings beyond Los Angeles. A decade later and 40 miles to the east, at least one elderly women in Claremont was found raped and killed. The Los Angeles Times reported Thomas was being investigated for the death of five elderly women in that city, but sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said only one case was being looked at there.
The victims in all 30 cases under review were older white women, mostly of lower incomes and often widows living alone. All were sexually assaulted and most were strangled.
Police said Thomas, who is black, likely targeted the women because of their vulnerability and because they all lived alone. Cold-case detective Richard Bengston said serial killers frequently select victims of a different ethnicity.
Thomas had been twice convicted of sexual assault, and as a registered sex offender, he was required to check in annually with police.
During one visit in October, officers took a saliva swab to collect his DNA, which is a requirement for all sex offenders. Police weren’t sure why he had not given a sample sooner.
Police Chief William Bratton and other officials credited Proposition 69, a voter-approved initiative that requires convicted felons and certain arrestees to submit DNA samples that are stored in a statewide database.
DNA and fingerprinting are the most important tools at a cold-case detective’s disposal, Bengston said. When the killings were first investigated, there was no central computer system to quickly flag possible connections between crimes, and detectives relied on teletypewriter printouts and monthly meetings to exchange information.
Thomas was arrested at his South Los Angeles apartment on March 31, authorities said. Soon after, he resigned from his job with the State Compensation Insurance Fund in Glendale.
Born in Los Angeles, Thomas was 12 when his mother died. He was raised by an aunt and godmother and joined the Air Force in 1956. He was considered sloppy and late and was dishonorably discharged, according to the Times, which first reported the story.
In 1957, he was convicted of burglary and attempted rape in Los Angeles and sentenced to six years in prison. After his release, parole violations sent him back behind bars until 1966.
The allegations about Thomas stunned a friend, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, prominent host of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable and a commentator and author of books on the black experience in America.
“Shocked, shocked, shocked,” said Hutchinson, who had known Thomas since about 1989. “He was very engaging, very involved, seemed very informed.”
He said Thomas is married and has children.
Los Angeles police are still investigating at least a dozen other murders connected to an unidentified serial killer who has been dubbed the “Grim Sleeper.”
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Security officer pinned between cars by shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
A Stater Bros. security guard was injured Tuesday when a man stealing liquor fled the store and pinned him between two vehicles, sheriff’s officials said.
San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies said a man left the store at 14168 Highway 395 without paying for a bottle of Jack Daniels and Ketel One vodka.
The man swung the bottles at the guard when the guard tried to stop him, sheriff’s officials said.
Deputies said the thief got into a 1990s-model Lexus driven by another man. When the guard tried to stop the men from leaving the parking lot, the driver backed up the vehicle and hit a passing car, pinning the guard between the vehicles, sheriff’s officials said.
Deputies arrived at 7:50 p.m. and found the victim, who had suffered injuries to his ribs and a leg. Paramedics took him to an area hospital.
The vehicle is a cream-colored Lexus with a brown stripe on the bottom of both sides. The driver’s-side door and the front of the vehicle should have collision damage.
Anyone with information may call the sheriff’s Adelanto station, (760) 246-1000 or WeTip, (800) 78-CRIME.
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Correction officer commits suicide after hit-run crash www.privateofficer.com
An off-duty Cook County sheriff’s correctional sergeant apparently killed himself after a three-vehicle, hit-and-run crash last night on Chicago’s Northwest Side, authorities said.
Edwin Garcia, 40, was found fatally shot inside his home and was pronounced dead at 12:20 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
Garcia suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. An autopsy is scheduled for later Friday, the medical examiner’s office said.
Cook County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Lisa Gordon said Garcia was a correctional sergeant. She said the death and confirmed the death is an apparent suicide.
Prior to the shooting, Garcia was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Blazer that rear-ended a 1993 Honda Accord at 3400 W. Fullerton Ave. After the initial crash, the Honda then struck a 2006 Acura, according to Chicago police.
The Chevrolet fled after the crash, police said.
The 19-year-old woman driving the Honda was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in good condition, police said. The 20-year-old man driving the Acura refused treatment.
Grand Central Area detectives are investigating.
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Security officer, 2 others stabbed at bar www.privateofficer.com
democrat and chronicle.com
Three people, including a male suspect, were hospitalized early Friday morning with stab wounds following a fight outside a West Main Street tavern in Rochester.
The altercation occurred outside the Cafe Underground Railroad at 480 West Main St. about 2:20 Friday morning.
Lt. Mark Dibelka of the Rochester Police Department said that two male victims were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital by ambulance. The first victim, a 36-year-old city resident working as a disc jockey at the tavern, was the most seriously injured, with stab wounds to the face and chest.
Dibelka termed his injuries as serious but not life-threatening.
The second victim, a 23-year-old city resident working as a security guard at the tavern, suffered injuries to his hand and elbow.
Dibelka said that the security guard was armed during the incident.
“When he was confronted with the knife, he did have his gun available to him,” said Dibelka, who added that no shots were fired during the incident.
“The only injuries came from an edged instrument,” Dibelka said.
The male suspect, a city resident whose age was not provided, was taken to Rochester General Hospital by ambulance with cuts on a hand, Dibelka said.
“There was some type of possible domestic issue,” Dibelka said. “Security attempted to break it up, at which point the knife came out. It did start alongside the building here and carried over into the parking lot.”
Dibelka said that the suspect was being interviewed by police investigators.
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NC Pastor charged with rape www.privateofficer.com
He’s accused of raping a 16-year-old member of his church.
According to warrants, the victim spent the night at Ragland’s house on April 11 after Ragland told her parents she needed some counseling.
Investigators say Ragland gave the victim a cup of beer with a straw and told her to drink it. Ragland then told the victim he had something on his computer to show her, it was a video clip of people having sex
Ragland began touching the victim and told her he wanted to do her a favor, but she said no. Ragland then began to fondle her. The victim told him no, but he proceeded to take her clothes off and began having vaginal intercourse with her. Ragland went to the bathroom, then returned and said he was going to order pizza and drinks.
A short time later Ragland returned to the room and told the victim to again take off her clothes. She said no. He then had anal sex with her. Ragland went to the bathroom again and when he came back he took the sheets off the bed, sprayed air freshener and put the sheets in the washing machine.
Ragland then ordered pizza and it was delivered at 9:42 p.m. After eating pizza, Ragland had sex with the victim again, even after she said ‘no’ once again.
According to the warrants, the victim says Ragland told her that he would “hit her so hard that she would need to wear a wig if she told anybody.” Ragland also told her that if she told, it would hurt many people in the church.
The incident allegedly happened at Ragland’s home on Melanie Lane in the Willow Springs community in western Johnston County on April 11. The victim reported the incident on April 12 after undergoing treated at WakeMed.
Ragland was charged with second-degree rape, second-degree sex offense, and sex offense – parental role. Ragland was jailed under a $35,000 bond and released.
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Florida radio personality arrested for shooting wife www.privateofficer.com
Orlando radio personality Edward Shannon Burke of Real Radio 104.1 is behind bars this morning, accused of firing a shot inside his Altamonte Springs area home that injured a family dog and then grazed his wife in the head.
Burke, 43, faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and animal cruelty. He is being held without bail in the Seminole County Jail.
He told deputies he became angry with the pet late Thursday and was waving a firearm that he thought was not loaded, Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kim Cannaday said.
“I need an ambulance right way,” Burke said in a recording of his 911 call, released today. “I was playing with a gun I didn’t know was loaded. It went off and I’ve hit my wife.”
The bullet passed through the dog’s leg and then grazed his 48-year-old wife Catherine, she said.
Catherine Burke was taken to Orlando Regional Hospital. The dog, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was taken to an emergency vet clinic.
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