Archive
Police charge four in TJ Maxx incident www.privateofficer.com
By: Brett Davis/Staff
A security officer saw Bailey and the two girls take three clothing items, valued at $62.97, and leave without paying. He approached them as they entered the vehicle. But Scott, who was driving, backed the car toward the officer and sped away. He had to jump on the trunk lid to keep his legs from being struck.
Jacqueline Bailey and Kierra Scott, both 19 of Cleveland, were charged with robbery and taken to the county jail. The two girls, both 15, will be filed on in juvenile court for robbery.
The stolen items were recovered.
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Man hits State Trooper; commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
It all began just after 2 p.m. when a man was speeding through the parking lot at the Home Depot store at S. Utah Street and S. Lander Street in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood, said Mark Jamieson with the Seattle Police Department.
The driver clipped a parking lot attendant and hit two other cars. An off-duty trooper with the State Patrol, who was working security at the store, noticed what was happening and tried to get the man to stop. That’s when the driver made the trooper a target.
The man sped out of the parking lot and struck a Metro Transit supervisor van and a pickup truck near 6th Ave S. and S. Lander Street, Jamieson said. No injuries were reported there.
The car kept going south and smashed head-on into a semi truck cab at 6th and S. Andover Street.
Jamison says their investigators believe the driver was attempting to commit suicide. He has not been identified.
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
LA sheriff sergeant faces grand theft charges in shoplifting incident www.privateofficer.com
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sergeant could face charges of grand theft and child endangerment in connection to the shoplifting of $790 in clothing from a store in Thousand Oaks, authorities said Tuesday.
Sgt. Steven Mark Flamm, 42, was booked into Ventura County Jail Monday after he turned himself in at the Thousand Oaks police station, said Detective Eric Buschow, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
Flamm, of Simi Valley, came to the police station voluntarily after Ventura County sheriff’s investigators contacted him and explained he was a suspect in the theft of two jackets worth a total of $790 from the Nordstrom store at The Oaks, Buschow said.
Flamm was initially stopped by Nordstrom’s loss prevention officers outside the store after the alleged theft, which occurred on the afternoon of May 1.
A Ventura County sheriff’s deputy responded to the scene at 346 W. Hillcrest Drive, and decided, along with store officials, to release Flamm pending further investigation, Buschow said. Authorities determined they had probable cause to arrest Flamm after reviewing surveillance video and the circumstances of the incident, he said.
Flamm was booked into jail on suspicion of felony grand theft and misdemeanor child endangerment, Buschow said. The child endangerment charge relates to Flamm’s alleged use of his young daughter as a participant in the crime, he said.
The girl is younger than 10 years old, Buschow said. He declined to discuss the specifics of the girl’s alleged involvement in the theft.
Flamm was released from custody Monday on $10,000 bail, Buschow said. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Ventura County Superior Court on May 18.
He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Flamm has been relieved of his law enforcement powers and placed on paid leave from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, said department spokesman Steve Whitmore.
If the Ventura County District Attorney charges Flamm with a felony, he will be placed on unpaid leave, Whitmore said.
Emphasizing that Flamm is presumed innocent until proven guilty, Whitmore said the allegations are disturbing.
Flamm will remain on leave until the criminal proceedings are concluded, Whitmore said. If he is found guilty, he could be fired.
A member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department since 1988, Flamm recently worked in the department’s training bureau, Whitmore said.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeants can earn between $75,000 and $98,000 a year, plus overtime, according to documents posted on the county’s Web site.
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Sheriff lays off deputies, security staff www.privateofficer.com
daytondailynews.com
Five Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies and 10 security officers will be laid off June 1, Sheriff Phil Plummer announced on Wednesday, May 13.
He notified the employees, and also eliminated three unfilled sergeants positions that he had planned to fill. The cuts will save $800,000 this year, part of a 2.5 percent across the board cut requested by county commissioners to deal with a mid-year General Fund budget shortfall.
Despite the cuts, Plummer said he will make do.
“We’re working hard. We’re going to keep the people safe and these gang bangers are gonna get it,” Plummer said. “I’ve had enough of them.”
Plummer is the only county official to announce new layoffs, although Clerk of Courts Greg Brush said he is likely to layoff an undetermined number of staff by July 1.
County elected officials have until early June to present their planned cuts to county commissioners, who are dealing with a nearly 13 percent decline in sales tax revenue this year, along with declines in investment income and real-estate related fees.
The county projects a $7.6 million deficit for the current year and County Administrator Deborah Feldman has warned that additional cuts will be needed for 2010.
Plummer had vocally opposed the across-the-board cuts, saying public safety was too important to cut by that amount. He said Wednesday that he did not prevail in convincing commissioners to modify their request.
Two of the laid off deputies are on road patrol, two transfer prisoners to and from court and one provides security for the probation department.
The 10 security officers, who are not sworn deputies, work in the prisoner property area and assist with security wanding and other task at the courts building, Plummer said.
He said he had not filled the sergeants’ positions because no one had been able to pass the test. However he said he had still hoped to fill those jobs, which were in special investigations, organized crime/drugs, and road patrol.
Feldman said she understands Plummer’s concerns but that the county’s financial troubles were too large to exempt any offices from the cuts. She said criminal justice makes up almost 70 percent of the General Fund.
“We are facing an unprecedented drop in revenues and that will require every department in the county’s general fund to make some very difficult decisions,” Feldman said. “The sheriff has done that. I think he is making difficult choices and we of course support him in making those choices.”
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Delaware trooper charged in sexual extortion www.privateofficer.com
A Delaware State Police corporal is charged with sexual extortion and other offenses for allegedly engaging in a sexual act with a woman he had arrested on a shoplifting charge.
Police said the act was in exchange for taking the woman home instead of to court.
The officer, 32-year-old Joshua A. Giddings, says the act was consensual.
Delaware State Police Superintendent Thomas Mac Leish said Giddings, a seven-year veteran of the force, agreed not to take the woman to court for outstanding warrants, unrelated to the shoplifting arrest, if she performed a sexual act on him. Giddings is charged with sexual extortion and receiving a bribe, both felonies, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor. He has been suspended pending termination.
“I and other troopers are repulsed by the actions of which Mr. Giddings is accused,” Mac Leish said at a news conference Monday. “Those actions are in no way representative of the men and women of the DSP … those men and women adhere to and respect the trust that the public has placed in us to protect and serve. Please let me make it very clear: Mr. Giddings is an aberration.”
The investigation began after the woman, a 39-year-old from New Castle, contacted police.
On the night of March 19, Giddings was dispatched to the JCPenney store at Christiana Mall for a report of shoplifting. The woman was arrested on a single count of shoplifting and also had warrants for driving with a fictitious or cancelled registration and driving with a suspended or revoked license, according to court records.
The woman told police Giddings took her to his patrol vehicle and drove to a secluded area on a gravel road near the mall.
She said Giddings suggested to her that he would take her home, rather than immediately to court to face the charges, if she performed a sexual act on him. After the two engaged in the sexual act, Giddings issued the woman a summons to appear in court at a later date and drove her home, police said.
“She had charges against her and should have been taken forthwith to court and she was not,” Mac Leish said.
She’s a victim in this incident,” Sgt. Joshua Bushweller said.
While investigating the incident, detectives obtained a jacket belonging to the woman that had traces of DNA evidence, the affidavit said. Investigators obtained a search warrant to get a DNA sample from Giddings.
The two samples subsequently were sent to the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which concluded that both matched the DNA profile for Giddings.
Mac Leish said Giddings was suspended with pay and benefits when the investigation began. On Monday, state police said he remains on suspension, pending dismissal.
Giddings turned himself in on Monday and upon arraignment was released on $8,000 unsecured bond.
A Smyrna resident, Giddings was assigned to Troop 9 in Odessa, where he was among the leaders in criminal arrests, according to the troop’s Web site.
Police said the woman is not expected to face charges related to the case other than for shoplifting and the outstanding traffic offenses.
According to court records, Giddings told investigators the woman said she didn’t want to go to jail and would do “anything he wanted” to go home. Giddings said he told the woman that she was less likely to go to jail if she turned herself in, rather than if he took her to court. He said the woman, who was handcuffed in the rear of the vehicle, promised to turn herself in and he agreed to issue her a summons.
Giddings said he asked the woman multiple times what she meant by saying she would do anything for him. He said that he removed her handcuffs, placed the woman in the front passenger seat of his vehicle and drove to the gravel road. He said that, after asking a final time, the woman made sexual advances toward him and the two subsequently engaged in a sexual act, court records said.
Giddings’ lawyer, James Liguori, said his client had the option of whether to take the woman immediately to court or to issue her a summons for a later date. He said the sexual act was consensual.
“He denies that there was any extortion, coercion or anything at all with regard to this young lady,” Liguori said.
Mac Leish said the case continues to be investigated and that any additional victims should contact the State Police. He said DSP looks carefully into the pasts of prospective officers but “nobody is a predictor of the future.” He said the agency also will review its policies to see if anything could have been done internally to prevent the incident or others like it.
Whenever you have an incident of this nature, one of the first things you look at is supervision, could or should the supervisor have been aware,” Mac Leish said. “But troopers work independently on the street.”
State police have been plagued in the past with accusations of sexual harassment within the agency. Last year, Diane L. Miller, an administrative specialist at the state police academy, filed a lawsuit that charged that top brass failed to protect her from the unwanted sexual advances of Capt. John J. Laird even after she expressed concern about working for him.
Miller’s lawsuit is the fourth since 1997 in which female troopers alleged inappropriate sexual conduct by colleagues or superiors. In 2004, a female captain sued former Superintendent Col. L. Aaron L. Chaffinch, saying he would not put women in top posts, recited smutty limericks, propositioned female workers and bragged about his sexual prowess. Chaffinch was disciplined and stepped down that year.
Two female troopers had claimed in previous lawsuits that women in the agency are groped and subjected to unwelcome sexual banter.
Upon replacing Chaffinch, Mac Leish vowed to reform the agency’s culture .
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Crowd turns on police during shoplifting arrest www.privateofficer.com
portlandpress.com
Several juveniles and adults face charges following a melee at Franklin Arterial and Fox Street that began when police stopped and arrested a shoplifting suspect and an unruly crowd gathered.
Police responded to a report that a man had stolen two bottles of vodka at 7 p.m. Friday at the Hannaford on Forest Avenue.
Workers at the store provided a description of the suspect and the car he left in, and police pulled the car over at Franklin Arterial and Fox Street a couple of minutes later, police said.
As police were arresting Jimmy Odong, 19, of Portland and recovering the stolen merchandise, a group of about 15 to 30 people gathered, with about 10 of them becoming aggressive toward police, officers said.
A number of other officers were dispatched to the area, which is alongside the Kennedy Park housing development. Members of the gathering group, some of whom are Sudanese, like Odong, and some who are from other African countries, began calling the officers names, including “killers” and “murderers,” in apparent reference to the police shooting of a Sudanese immigrant, David Okot, last month.
When police prepared to tow the car Odong had driven, some of the crowd jumped on the car to try to prevent it from being taken, police said.
Three juveniles eventually were arrested, two of them on charges of assault after they allegedly punched the officers, police said.
Police also charged Yannick Mulongo, 21, of Clark Street with unlawful interference with a law enforcement dog, after he allegedly taunted a police dog named Taz; and Sara Langoia, 18, of Anderson Street with obstructing government administration.
Police said they had to use pepper spray in making the arrests.
The shift commander reported that additional arrests were warranted, but officers opted not to arrest others so the confrontation would not escalate.
Police said the minors were referred to juvenile corrections authorities, who planned to release them to the custody of their parents.
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Police chief suspended for wearing jeans www.privateofficer.com
That’s why Mayor Luther Maddox said he wants Chief Brad Johnson to wear a uniform, instead of blue jeans and boots on the job.
At a hearing Wednesday, Johnson appealed a suspension imposed by Maddox after refusing to give up his jeans.
Maddox said he had no choice but to suspend Johnson for 5 days for insubordination.
Johnson’s attorney argued that Maddox never ordered his client to stop wearing jeans.
“Did you tell him to quit wearing the blue jeans?” asked Johnson’s attorney.
Maddox replied, “I did not tell him to quit wearing the blue jeans. I did tell him that blue jeans are not professional attire.”
Johnson was back at work Wednesday, but sought to have the suspension removed from his record and back pay.
The Jonesboro City Council deliberated and decided to cut the suspension in half to 2 1/2 days.
Johnson said he will begin wearing a uniform.
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Armed man tries robbing security officer www.privateofficer.com
By: Rick McCann
Private Officer News Network
http://www.privateofficer.com/
Police respnded on May 12, 2009, at approximately 11:30 pm, to assist a security officer who had been threatened by an armed man.
The security officer was inside a security building in the 300 block of Feu Follet Road when a white male approached. The suspect approached the guard and lifted his shirt, exposing a small caliber handgun in his waist band.
The suspect demanded the victim’s wallet, but police say that the security officer refused to comply. The suspect fled the area on foot towards Kaliste Saloom Road.
The victim, a 45 year old male of Lafayette, described the suspect as a white male, medium build, 5’7″, brown shoulder length hair wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans.
Detectives are asking anyone who might have witnessed the incident or can identify the suspect to contact the Lafayette Police Department or Crime Stoppers at 232-TIPS.
The security officer was not injured in the robbery attempt and no shots were fired according to police.
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Police kill 77 yr old man after officer shot www.privateofficer.com
Michael Woods had earlier told undercover investigators that he had a large amount of marijuana stashed at the house at 2500 East Ashford Dr. in Foley, Wilson said. With that information, a judge issued a warrant to search the home for drugs, he said.
At about 6 a.m. today, Foley police officers executed the search warrant at the home.
The officers knocked, then announced they were coming in. The officers entered, yelling “Police! Search Warrant!” Wilson said. After Michael Woods and his mother were detained a man — later identified as Robert Woods — came out of the master bedroom holding a handgun.
More than one officer yelled for Robert Woods to drop the gun, but he fired and shot Officer Randy Stallworth then pointed the weapon at other officers, the release states. Several officers returned fire, killing Robert Woods, according to Wilson.
Stallworth was taken by medical helicopter to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola for a serious gunshot wound to the upper right thigh. The officer was expected to undergo surgery to remove the bullet soon, Wilson said.
Wilson said he had called in outside police agencies to investigate, which is procedure in any officer-involved shooting. The Alabama Bureau of Investigation will be the lead investigating agency and will be assisted by the Baldwin County District Attorney’s Office and the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, he said.
The officers involved in the shooting will be placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation’s outcome, Wilson said. Michael Woods was arrested on two felony counts of marijuana possession and remained in police custody, he said
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Security officer attacked by gang members www.privateofficer.com
Police arrested two suspected gang members Friday evening after they attacked a 23-year-old security guard at the Gilroy Premium Outlets in what sources said appeared to be revenge for his leaving the gang life.
Sgt. Jim Gillio would not confirm or deny if the victim, from Morgan Hill, ever belonged to a criminal street gang, but sources suggested the young man was trying to turn his life around. Jerry Sarmientoluna, 21, and Nathaniel Gonzalez, 19, apparently weren’t having it, though, when they approached the victim at his job just before 6 p.m. Friday and yelled gang slogans before attacking him with their hands and feet.
Witnesses called police while the incident occurred, and officers caught up with and arrested the suspects who fled on foot shortly thereafter. No weapons were used during the attack, which did not cause any serious injuries even though the victim his head against the cement, police said.
Sarmientoluna, who has been denied bail, was arrested for violating the terms of his parole, and police charged both the suspects from Gilroy with assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime. Gonzalez also remains in jail with a $30,000 bail, and investigators are trying to add gang enhancement charges to both cases, which would stiffen the penalties the men face. The pair are scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, according to the Santa Clara County Department of Corrections.
A police report also indicated Gonzalez’s occupation was “U.S. Military,” but a soldier at the U.S. Army recruiting center on Westwood Drive said he could not look up service records, and spokespeople in a national military office could not be reached late Tuesday afternoon.
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Police know who killed Joyce Meyer’s security guard’s family www.privateofficer.com
“Our investigation reveals who is responsible for these deaths,” said Maj. Jeff Connor, deputy commander of the Major Case Squad, adding it was “one person.”
He said he is “still anticipating charges in the future.”
Connor would not say whether that suspect is Christopher Coleman, whose wife, Sheri, 31, and sons Garett, 11, and Gavin, 9, were found dead in their bedrooms last week.
Police have kept a very obvious surveillance on Coleman, virtually camping out near his parents’ home in Chester, Ill., where he has stayed. The victims were buried Wednesday at Evergreen Cemetery in Chester, and Coleman was at the grave site. Later, detectives followed Coleman and his parents to what a lawyer said was a doctor’s appointment in Cape Girardeau for his mother.
On Monday, police got a court order to take fingerprints from Coleman, a former Marine and now a security officer for the worldwide Joyce Meyer Ministries, based in Jefferson County.
But Wednesday afternoon, officers watching the house in Chester abruptly left town. Connor said they would stop monitoring Coleman’s movements.
The Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday that police have interviewed a woman in Largo, Fla., whom they said was Coleman’s girlfriend. The woman, a friend of Sheri Coleman’s since at least high school and onetime hostess at a men’s club, has not responded to messages left at her parents’ home and current workplace, where she is a cocktail waitress.
Coleman’s lawyers have declined to comment on whether he had a girlfriend. Sheri Coleman’s relatives have said they were unaware of an affair.
Connor would not discuss it, except to confirm that police had been to Florida.
He said investigators presented their evidence Wednesday to Monroe County State’s Attorney Kris Reitz. “It was decided at this time to defer charges until further forensics (testing) comes back, and/or further interviews, documents, reports,” the detective said.
Reitz told a reporter later Wednesday, “I can’t talk about the progress of the investigation. I don’t have any comment beyond that.”
Without witnesses, police have been left to try to build a circumstantial case based on various factors, such as time of death.
Officials assured neighbors from the start that the victims appeared to have been specifically targeted.
Christopher Coleman had complained of work-related threats, but police would not give details.
Connor, of the Granite City police, said the Major Case Squad will decide today whether to continue or turn the investigation back to Columbia police. The squad is a multi-agency cooperative that provides short-term manpower and expertise to small police departments.
By law, Reitz has two ways to bring charges: He can file a complaint and leave a judge to decide in a public preliminary hearing if the evidence is sufficient for trial. Or he can take the evidence to a grand jury, which would decide in secret if a trial is warranted. Either way, Illinois has a rigid timetable if someone under charges demands a speedy trial.
The case has drawn national attention to a mainly rural county that rarely sees a murder, let alone three at once. Monroe County’s last big murder case came a few years ago.
In October 2004, Reitz filed a first-degree murder charge against the husband of Twila Wiley, 21, a pregnant woman found shot to death 14 months earlier in a park at Waterloo. The prosecution cited her extramarital affair as a motive, but the jury acquitted the man after the defense argued that her death was really a suicide.
Police said Christopher Coleman left home at 2854 Robert Avenue about 5:45 a.m. May 5 to work out at a gym in St. Louis County, and called police shortly before 7 a.m. because he could not reach his family by phone. Officers found the bodies. Neighbors said police told them the victims were strangled.
Connor said detectives have focused a search along a stretch of Interstate 255 near the Jefferson Barracks Bridge, not mentioning that it would be Coleman’s route to the gym.
“We believe there was evidence discarded along this route,” he explained, but did not say what.
Connor also said a window was found open in the back of the house, with no sign that it was forced.
Neither Coleman nor his immediate family members have spoken publicly about the crime.
Derek Doiron, a longtime family friend, said Coleman’s parents are standing behind their son and do not believe he had anything to do with the slayings. Doiron is associate pastor at Grace Church in Chester, where Chris Coleman’s father, Ronald Coleman, is a minister.
“There is still somebody who is capable of murder still out there,” Doiron said.
He emphasized that he is not a spokesman for the church or family, but said he talks frequently with them.
“It’s just been very difficult for the family,” he said. “That’s the side you don’t see or you don’t hear. They are breaking down. … Just because you don’t see them crying doesn’t mean they don’t hurt.”
Doiron said investigators have not shared any details of the case with the Colemans. “It’s been a week and we don’t have any information,” he said.
He said that while some seem to be pointing a finger at Christopher Coleman, the family believes the victims were targeted by an outsider. He said he believes Coleman is not capable of such acts.
“Look at his history and the things that he’s done in his lifetime,” Doiron said. “He’s got an exemplary record.”
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
