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Modesto police officer succumbs to injuries www.privateofficer.com
Sergeant Steven May
Modesto Police Department
California
End of Watch: Thursday, July 23, 2009
Biographical Info
Age: 53
Tour of Duty: 23 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Vehicular assault
Date of Incident: Monday, July 29, 2002
Weapon Used: Automobile
Suspect Info: Deceased
Sergeant Steve May succumbed to injuries sustained seven years earlier when his patrol car was rammed by a suspect in a stolen vehicle.
The suspect had rammed two Stanislaus County deputies earlier in the evening as they investigated the vehicle’s license plates. The man fled into Modesto, where he was located and followed by a Modesto police officer.
As the driver began to flee from the officer he ran a stop sign at the intersection of South Santa Cruz and Mono Drive and crashed into Sergeant May’s patrol car. The collision knocked the suspect’s vehicle into a nearby house, which collapsed on him and killed him. Sergeant May’s vehicle was pushed into a tree, causing him to suffer a fractured skull and other injuries.
Sergeant May remained never regain consciousness and succumbed from his injuries seven years later.
Sergeant May had served with the Modesto Police Department for 23 years at the time of the crash. He is survived by wife, son, and daughter.
Agency Contact Information
Modesto Police Department
600 10th Street
Modesto, CA 95354
Phone: (209) 552-2470
Please contact the Modesto Police Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
Buffalo police officer killed by drunk driver www.privateofficer.com
When Jose A. Colon was given his police badge and began patrolling city streets 12 years ago, his family knew he was starting a dangerous job.
But they never imagined he would die while coming home from work at the hands of an alleged drunk driver.
Colon, a 39-year-old Orchard Park resident, died at about 1 p.m. today, nine hours after his SUV was struck on the Niagara Thruway. Police said the operator of the other vehicle, 21-year-old Raymond E. Jamison Jr. of Boston, was drunk.
Colon’s relatives and friends gathered outside Erie County Medical Center this afternoon, some appearing dazed, while others fought back tears.
Patricia Schmidt, who has been married to the late officer’s father for a decade, made a brief statement on the family’s behalf.
“We believe that drinking and driving today in the United States is much more dangerous than drugs or gangs,” Schmidt told reporters.
Jamison, who was not seriously injured, has been charged with driving while intoxicated and second-degree vehicular manslaughter. The latter charge could carry a term of up to seven years in prison. Investigators have not ruled out lodging other charges.
Schmidt said Colon’s relatives are hoping justice will be done.
“We are hoping and praying that the driver of this vehicle is punished to the greatest extent of the law.”
The officer’s father, Jose Colon, spoke in a whisper, struggling to find words to describe his son.
“He was a good boy,” said the father. “Very generous.”
The officer grew up on Buffalo’s Lower West Side and attended Hutchinson-Central Technical High School. He later attended Rochester Institute of Technology, relatives said.
The officer was divorced and has an 18-year-old son, said police officials.
Colon underwent surgery for internal wounds. He died in ECMC’s Trauma Intensive Care Unit.
Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson described Colon as a “very active officer” who was assigned to the Mobile Response Unit. Gipson noted that Colon is the third city officer to die in the past five months. Earlier this year, Officers Richard D. Woods and Richard Cruz both died after suffering apparent heart attacks while off duty.
“This is being felt throughout the department,” Gipson said. “It has shaken the entire department.”
Jamison suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including facial cuts when his face struck the windshield. He was arraigned in Buffalo City Court this afternoon and remanded to the Erie County Holding Center on $50,000 bail.
Jamison had four passengers in his car, only one whom was seriously injured. Steven E. Pelc, 21, suffered head injuries in the crash, which occurred at about 4 a.m. on the southbound Niagara Thruway, between Smith and Clinton streets in South Buffalo.
Three passengers in the back seat of Jamison’s vehicle were not seriously hurt. They were Alissa Beth Marshall, Katherine M. Pelc and Sarah Brothwell, all 19.
“We do know, based on our initial interviews, that they were downtown at some establishments,” said State Police Captain Michael P. Nigrelli, who declined to identify the businesses until details could be confirmed.
Colon had his flashers on when the crash occurred, said Nigrelli, but it was unclear whether he was actually in traffic or starting to move from the shoulder.
Colon, who has worked in the Ferry-Fillmore District and more recently the Mobile Response Unit, joined the police force in 1997, according to computer records.
Colon had a reputation as a go-getter, an aggressive officer never afraid to get out of his patrol car and chase down a suspect when necessary.
At the 2005 Buffalo Police Benevolent Association dinner, he was honored as officer of the month from the previous November, for his work in chasing and catching a heavily armed young man.
While on night patrol near Jefferson Avenue, Colon spotted a teenage boy crossing the street and then pulling a black handgun from his waistband. The armed teen fled north on Dodge Street, then broke into an apartment occupied by a mother and five children on Gerhardt Street. Colon found the boy hiding in a bathroom, according to police reports. Backup officers helped subdue the teen, before confiscating three handguns, a bullet-proof vest and crack cocaine.
The Buffalo News archives are filled with numerous other stories involving Colon’s arrests, often in cases where he chased and apprehended armed suspects, especially in the Ferry-Fillmore District.
Once, he and another officer even chased a man with a gun into a funeral home during a wake, in an incident that upset some people but earned the officers some praise in the department for aggressively pursuing an armed man.
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Bank robber holds gun on security www.privateofficer.com
A bank security officer at Webster Bank on 894 Whalley Ave. saw the suspect pacing back and forth in front of the bank around 11:15 a.m. When she approached him, he stuck a gun into the officer’s side and walked her over to a teller working in the bank.
Police say the man held the gun in the security officer’s side, while he told the teller to fill a bag with cash. A dye pack then exploded in the bag, the suspect dropped it and took off.
He then got into the passenger side of a small grey Mazda and fled West bound on Fountain Street. No one saw the driver of the vehicle.
No one was injured.
Police have released a quick description of the suspect, saying he is a heavy-set black male.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call New Haven Police at (203) 946-6304.
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Security officer stabbed at festival www.privateofficer.com
Police say a festival on Long Island turned violent when Dylan Bryan allegedly stabbed a security guard checking IDs.
Witnesses say Bryan, 17, shoved and fought with security guards at a festival checkpoint where he stabbed security guard, Robert Martinez, in the leg.
Bryan was subdued by other security guards and held down until police arrived.
Martinez was treated at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital and released. Bryan, who also suffered a minor injury to his leg was treated at Stony Brook University Medical Center.
Police say the guards were checking attendees’ ages to put wristbands on those under 18.
Bryan faces assault and posession of a weapon charges.
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Suffolk County teacher arrested for inapropriate contact with teen www.privateofficer.com
A 29-year-old music teacher was arrested Thursday for having inappropriate conversations with a minor in Wheatley Heights, Suffolk police said.
Donald Jones, of Bay Shore, established a friendship with a 15-year-old girl while he was employed by the Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts as a music director. He “displayed his desire to have sexual relations with the girl through computer instant messaging, phone calls, phone text messages and in person conversations,” police said. Sixth Precinct officers arrested Jones at the Usdan Center on Colonial Springs Road shortly after noon.
A search warrant was executed at Jones’ home and his computer was seized, police said. He was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. He posted bail and is due to appear at First District Court in Central Islip on Sept. 22. The investigation is continuing
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Mall security, police nab armed man www.privateofficer.com
Anne Arundel County Police arrested a 21-year-old Virginia man Saturday at Arundel Mills Mall after discovering he was carrying a loaded pistol and marijuana in his backpack and had a loaded shotgun in his car.
Timothy John Barnes, of Wake, Virginia, was charged with possession of a handgun, possession of a concealed deadly weapon, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.
Police said mall security contacted them about 11:41 a.m. after they saw someone spray painting a car in the parking lot near Muvico Theaters. An officer with the county police department’s Bike Patrol Unit, who was on the mall parking lot, found the suspect near a mall entrance carrying a backpack and smelled the odor of spray paint.
The suspect admitted spray painting the car, which he said he owned, police said. When the officer escorted him back to the car, the suspect said “I should just kill everyone,” police said.
The officer discovered a loaded .45 caliber pistol, empty pistol magazines, shotgun shells and a small amount of marijuana in the suspect’s backpack and a loaded shotgun in his trunk.
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Police charge man with assault on security www.privateofficer.com
The incident occurred on July 11. Police announced the arrest on Friday, but did not release the identity of the suspect.
The man was reportedly attempted to break into a private event on the campus and was barred by the security officer, who was building supervisor and security officer for the Fischer Center.
The suspect allegedly struck the guard in the face several times, allegedly with a blunt object, breaking his left cheek bone, orbital and other areas of his face, which will require surgery, officials said.
The suspect and two others with him fled the scene after the assault.
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NC Teacher charged with sales of illegal drugs www.privateofficer.com
Police said 26-year-old Sheena Pankey was selling Ecstasy.
Pankey taught first grade and then second grade at Diggs Elementary School in Winston-Salem.
Friday night she was out of jail on a $75,000 bond, but her future in the classroom is questionable. Police arrested the teacher at her Clemmons apartment earlier Friday.
Court documents said Pankey had a large quantity — between 100 and 500 dosage units — of MDMA, more commonly known as Ecstasy. She is charged with drug trafficking and storing drugs in her apartment.
“It’s shocking to me because that person of her character would do anything like that,” said parent Scottie Abdulsalaam.
Abdulsalaam’s two children both learned in Pankey’s classroom at Diggs.
“She was hands-on,” he said. “They respected her. She was a good teacher and she brought the best out of the students.”
He and others Diggs parents said they find it hard to believe that an accused drug dealer taught their children for seven hours every day.
“When you work for children, around the children, you are supposed to make sure you keep yourself away from stuff that could bring harm to children,” Abdulsalaam said.
School officials told WXII that no suspension or disciplinary action has been issued against Pankey. It could be next week before any decision is made.
Under school policy, Pankey has five days to report the incident to a supervisor. Then, she will meet with officials, where they will discuss the incident. School officials said that will likely happen next week.
Pankey’s court date is just three weeks before the first day of school. Under school policy, a felony conviction will cost her her job.
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Mexican police arrest 4 in murder of Border Patrol agent www.privateofficer.com
The men detained in Mexico are allegedly part of an immigrant smuggling ring, and 21 people were found with them when police detained them and seized four guns near Tecate, Mexico, said Elias Alvarez Hernandez, coordinator of federal police in Baja California state.
During a news conference Saturday, Mexico police did not say what evidence they had against the four, whom they identified as Jose Quintero Ruiz, 43, and his brother Jose Eugenio Quintero Ruiz, 49, and taxi drivers Jose Alfredo Camacho, 34 and Antonio Valladares, 57.
Agent Robert Rosas was killed Thursday while responding alone to a suspected border incursion near Campo, a town in rugged, arid terrain in southeastern San Diego County. He was shot in the head and body and was dead when other agents arrived, said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego bureau.
Alvarez said that one of the suspects told police that a man detained Friday with a handgun had shot Rosas. Tecate police said Friday they had arrested 36-year-old Ernesto Parra Valenzuela near the crime scene with a Border Patrol-issued weapon after the shooting, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The man, who was injured, was taken to a hospital, according to a news release. Federal investigators have said they notified hospitals on both sides of the border to be on alert for patients with suspicious or unexplained injuries.
Investigators have said blood evidence at the scene indicated at least one culprit and possibly others had serious injuries, perhaps by gunfire. They didn’t know how many shots were fired, if Rosas fired any shots himself, or how many guns were used.
But FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth told The Associated Press in an e-mail late Saturday that he could not confirm or comment on any arrest reports. The bureau did not return calls left throughout the day.
American officials have expressed concerns that the drug cartel battles plaguing Mexico could spill into the United States with the targeting of U.S. law enforcement officials. Slotter said investigators aren’t ruling out the possibility that Rosas was slain by drug smugglers or even human smugglers.
Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, said Mexican law enforcement agencies are cooperating in the case.
“This is a tragic example of the violence we keep facing at our common border as President (Felipe) Calderon continues to roll back transnational organized crime, and underscores the need for both our countries to keep working as full partners to guarantee the safety and security of those living on both sides of our border communities,” Sarukhan said in a written statement Saturday.
Rosas was the first Border Patrol agent to die in a shooting in more than a decade, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page Inc., which tracks fallen officers using information provided by law enforcement agencies. Another agent, Luis Aguilar, was intentionally run over by a fleeing man driving a drug-laden Hummer in January 2008.
Rosas, a three-year Border Patrol veteran, had a 2-year-old son and an 11-month-old daughter, said Richard Barlow, acting chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector.
Authorities could not confirm reports that he called for backup and then went ahead before anyone arrived, but said it isn’t unusual for agents to work alone along the border.
Since 1919, 108 Border Patrol agents have died on duty, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page. Gunfire was the leading cause with 30 deaths, followed by automobile accidents and aircraft accidents.
The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers.
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Pro boxer “The Viper” killed in carjacking www.privateofficer.com
Police say that Forrest stopped at a gas station to put air in the tire of his Jaguar when he was approached by two men.
The shooting happened on McDaniel Street near Fulton Street in the Mechanicsville community.
Police said Forrest, 38, was shot about eight times. Police said the gunmen had two semi-automatic weapons.
Police said Forrest had his girlfriend’s son in the vehicle at the time of the shooting. The child remains in police custody until his mother arrives from Texas.
Police are looking for two black males last seen leaving the scene in a Red Monte Carlo.
Forrest, a native of Augusta, Ga., who lived in Atlanta, was a member of the 1992 Olympic team. He was also a former WBC super welterweight champion.
Forrest took two wins over Sugar Shane Mosley in 2002. On Sept. 13, 2008, Forrest reclaimed his WBC 154-pound title by beating Sergio Mora.
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