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3 Charged in bank robbery plot www.privateofficer.com
Albany Police say a sharp-eyed employee likely prevented a bank robbery. She saw the men acting suspiciously. Police took them in for questioning and now say they were obviously preparing to commit a violent crime.
When police grabbed the three men here in the Heritage Bank parking lot on Westover Boulevard, they had a loaded handgun, knives, pepper spray, and masks.
Bank security officials say they are not sure if the three men were planning on coming into the bank to stick it up, or attacking a customer out here in the parking lot. But they are sure that security training and procedures they give all employees paid off, stopping the attempt before it could occur.
25 year old Clifford Thomas, 22 year old Gilbert Morris,and 22 year old Kendall Robinson are charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, and possesion of tools in commission of a crime.
Bank security officials say an alert employee spotted them parked in front of the Heritage Bank in this white Cadillac.
“They were up to no good, whatever it was,” said Heritage Bank Security Officer Bill Reilly.
The woman noticed them acting suspiciously, and for 20 minutes bank officials watched the three from the upper floors of the building until calling Police.
“They were parked and they kept getting in and out of the car. Opening the trunk. They weren’t really coming in the bank. Then when they moved their vehicle. They were up closer and moved it and backed in so no one could get a tag number, that was when they decided that is enough, let’s call Police,” Reilly said.
Police found a gun, knives, pepper spray and masks in the car. Investigators say the three have made statements, but have not explained why they were in the bank parking lot.
Bank officials say all employees get security training when they are hired, and refreshers three times a year, and this is proof that it works.
If you do what you are supposed to do, everyone gets to go home at the end of the day,” Reilly said.
Bank security officials say you should always stay alert when you are going in and out of any business in the parking lot for suspicious people. Through a string of armed robberies in Albany recently, Police have been recommending that business employees keep an eye on the parking lot for suspicious activity, and this proves that it does work.
Police aren’t saying much as their investigation continues, but they do say other people could be arrested, and that Clifford Thomas could be a suspect in other robberies.
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Union secures raises, benefits for NYC security www.privateofficer.com
Months of negotiations with national security contractors AlliedBarton and FJC have culminated with new union contracts that provide significant wage increases, employer-paid family health care and benefits for some 3,000 City-contracted security officers over three years.
“For too long, private security officers were left behind in low-wage, dead-end jobs,” said Mike Fishman, President of 32BJ. “The contracts we standards and win respect for private security officers, not just in New York, but in all cities.”
AlliedBarton employs 1,100 security officers who work at more than 100 City facilities throughout the City, including the Municipal Building in Manhattan, Staten Island Ferry Terminals and Brooklyn Borough Hall. FJC employs 1,820 security officers who protect sites in the City’s Human Resources Administration agency and Department of Homeless Services.
The two new agreements raise officers’ wages to private-sector wages of over $13 an hour. Officers also gain employer-paid family health coverage, paid days off, 401K and advanced security training.
“Our greatest needs were family health care, job security and annual wage increases,” said Enoch Edmond, an AlliedBarton officer working in Manhattan.
“This contract gives us that and more.”
For six months, the union has negotiated on behalf of security officers protecting City buildings and facilities in all five boroughs. These City-contracted workers now join thousands of other 32BJ members who have won contracts improving security standards in the private sector.
“This is an inspiring victory for thousands of security officers, their families and communities,” said Reverend Johnny Ray Youngblood of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Brooklyn. “These workers have shown that by uniting together in a union they can win the living wages and health care they deserve.”
“The best outcome for workers, employers and the public is achieved when labor and management work together,” said Fishman. “AlliedBarton and FJC should be commended for working with 32BJ to professionalize the security industry so officers receive the pay they need to make ends meet and the training they need to provide first-rate security at city buildings.”
With more than 110,000 members in eight states and Washington D.C., including 70,000 members in New York, 32BJ is the largest property service
union in the country.
The union’s campaign to raise security industry standards has lead to higher wages, more benefits and professional training for over 8,000 security officers in New York City.
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Hospital security helps nab robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
Quick work by security teams at two local hospitals has one man in custody tonight. That man is accused of approaching two women at two area hospital parking decks in the past 24 hours and trying to steal their bags.
A Nurse was walking to her car on the third floor north-parking deck of OSF St. Francis Medical Center Wednesday evening when a white male approached her.
“Who attempted to grab her purse. He continued to try and grab her purse and she pulled back, finally falling and keeping her purse and then he ran away”, said OSF St. Francis Medical Center, Spokeswoman, Amy Paul.
The woman notified security, and police of the incident. She was unharmed.
Then Thursday morning, a woman was loading her children into her car in parking deck two of Methodist Medical Center when a man ran up and snatched her diaper bag from a stroller, and ran.
“I met with the victim, and she gave me a pretty good description of the suspect. I remember seeing the suspect in the main lobby of our hospital”, said Methodist Medical Center Security Coordinator, Christopher Sidener.
Sidener located the man still in the building. The suspect fled when he saw the security officer.
“He ran out the side door and I ran out the front door, and I pursued and chased him up towards St. Francis Hospital”, said Sidener.
Paul said, the suspect “ended up toward our second parking garage and during that time stole two chain saws from the grounds maintenance of OSF St. Francis”.
Police and hospital security apprehended the suspect shortly after.
OSF Security says he match the description of the attacker the previous day.
“Nationwide, Peoria, Illinois included you’ll see a spike at the beginning of the summer in violent crimes or any type of crimes for that matter”, said Peoria Police Department Community Service Officer, John Williams.
He says the economy could have something to do with it as well.
But the officer says there are some things you can do to stay safe.
Always carry a cell phone, know your surroundings, and if someone is trying to take something from you, it’s best to let them have it.
“Height weight, distinguishing scars, marks, anything along that. Clothing’s always good. If they’ve got a vehicle-make and model”, said Williams.
Chistopher Sidener says it’s descriptions like the ones given by the two victims that lead to the apprehension of the suspect.
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Man arrested for stealing critically injured officer’s gun www.privateofficer.com
A 22-year-old South Side man was charged in connection with the theft of a 9 mm Beretta belonging to a Chicago police officer as he lay critically injured following a traffic crash Wednesday at 98th and Halsted Streets, authorities said tonight.
Rasaan Shannon, of the 9800 block of South Morgan Street, was charged with strong arm robbery, disarming a peace officer and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, police said, adding that the injured officer’s gun was recovered.
Officer Densey Cole II was unconscious in his police SUV after the accident, officials said, which happened about 11:45 a.m. Wednesday.
“Whoever would prey on a wounded officer, incapacitated, take his weapon and then roll him around with a spinal injury to try and steal his wallet, is reprehensible,” Police Supt. Jody Weis said Thursday.
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$250,000 falls from armored truck www.privateofficer.com
One man walking out of a barber shop and another man walking to his car on North Salina Street discovered at least $250,000 had fallen out of an armored Loomis truck. At first, both men say they thought the bags were trash.
“I saw it and thought who dumped that trash off? As I got closer I realized that these bags were full of money, lots of money! Plastic bags full of hundred dollar bills and twenty dollar bills and I thought oh my goodness,” said Syracuse Antiques Exchange owner David Jenks.
“Two postal bins rolled over, the money spilled. I tried to catch the one bag before it went down the drain and in the water,” said Liverpool resident Hanson Herring.
Jenks took the money into his store where there happened to be a police officer inside.
Syracuse Police are working with Loomis to figure out how the money fell out of the truck.
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Teacher arrested for sexual classroom romps with student www.privateofficer.com
A Queens public school teacher turned a 2nd-floor classroom into an after-school sex den, luring her teenage student into a torrid fling, prosecutors said.
Melissa Weber, 27, a social studies teacher at Middle School/Intermediate School 8 in Jamaica, seduced the 14-year-old male student seven times over the past month, prosecutors said.
She allegedly warned the teen not to tell anyone about their affair – warning him, “I could lose my job and my teaching license.”
Weber is being held pending arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on charges of second-degree rape, sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors said.
The pair met between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. from Apr. 13 – May 14, prosecutors said.
The sessions came to light when the victim’s mom, who is on the Parent Teacher Association, was tipped off by someone in the school, prosecutors said.
The resourceful mom got Weber’s cellphone number and compared it to her son’s phone.
There were hundreds of exchanges between the pair – including a text message from Weber that read, “erase your phone,” prosecutors said.
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