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Shoplifter charged with robbery www.privateofficer.com
Borough police said that at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, police received a call from loss-prevention officers at the Sports Authority reporting that a man they suspected of shoplifting had fled the Route 36 store with women’s sports apparel valued at $2,500.
Police said Alejandro Rea, 37, of Queens pushed and shoved store security guards as they attempted to detain him for police.
Rea fled east on Route 36 in his 2004 BMW sport-utility vehicle and pulled into the driveway of Monmouth Park Self Storage, hiding the stolen merchandise in the underbrush, according to police.
Patrolman Jayson Moore located and arrested Rea, while Patrolman Scott Rockhill and Detective William Lynch used machetes to make their way through the underbrush to recover the items.
The Sports Authority’s loss prevention staff identified the items as stolen from the store, according to police, who charged Rea with attempted robbery, simple assault, criminal mischief, tampering with evidence and shoplifting.
Bail was set at $35,000, and Rea was taken to Monmouth County Jail. Rea’s vehicle was also seized for forfeiture, police said.
Also assisting in the arrest were Cpls. Archie Symonds and F. Douglas Haviland and Detective Marlowe Kuhl.
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Drake University football player charged in assault www.privateofficer.com
A top returning defensive lineman on the Drake University football team was arrested over the weekend on criminal charges after he allegedly was found unconscious early Saturday morning inside a law school building.
Andrew Lee Asbell, 21, of Machesney Park, Ill., was charged with two counts of assault on a police officer, criminal mischief, interference with official acts and public intoxication.
The 6 foot 4, 250-pound senior tackle was arrested inside Cartwright Hall about 5:55 a.m. Saturday.
Police were called after Drake security officers found an intoxicated person at 2621 Carpenter Avenue.
Security officers pointed out a broken door. Officers Jacob Hedlund and Charles Tomlinson walked into the entry area and found Asbell asleep on the floor. They asked him if he was OK, but received no response.
Then they tried to wake him, according to a report. “Asbell opened his eyes and looked at me as I was dressed in full DMPD uniform,” Hedlund said in the report. “I ordered Asbell to roll over and place his hands behind his back, however he did not comply.”
Police said Asbell cursed the officers then kicked Hedlund in the legs. He allegedly took an aggressive stance and officers hit him with pepper spray.
Additional police units were requested, due to the suspect’s size. Police said Asbell bent over a broken bench nearby and acted as if he was contemplating picking it up and use it as a weapon. “However, due to the spray he was unable to do so,” police said.
Asbell then walked out the door. Officers followed him, telling Asbell to get on the ground. He ignored their orders. Officers tried to take him into custody but they said due to his size they were unsuccessful. Security officers from Drake offered their assistance and he was finally taken to the ground, according to police reports.
Officers struggled to get a handcuff on a wrist. Kicks and punches administered by police officers appeared to have no effect.
Officers finally used a stun gun and Asbell was taken into custody. Officers asked him some questions but Asbell was mumbling. They asked his name and he told them it was “Gator.” Police said he had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.
Asbell was taken to Broadlawns Medical Center for treatment of injuries to his head, knees and arms.
After being treated at the hospital he was taken to the Polk County Jail in a police wagon.
“This is a matter we take extremely seriously,” Drake athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb said in a news release. “Mr. Asbell’s behavior as described in the police report is antithetical to our values and aspirations as a University community.”
Hatfield Clubb added: “The length of the suspension, as well as other possible disciplinary actions by the University, will be based not only upon what is eventually determined from a legal standpoint, but also on the conclusions reached by the dean of students in the course of the university’s normal disciplinary procedures relating to student conduct and our expectations for members of the Drake community.”
Drake football coach Chris Creighton was not immediately available for comment.
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Woman commits suicide at Ohio gun range www.privateofficer.com
Police in the Cincinnati suburb of Sharonville say they believe Ann Fukuyama committed suicide Sunday at Target World, a public range that sells and rents guns and has a dozen 25-yard target shooting lanes.
Witnesses say the woman gave no warning or indication anything was wrong.
But police say she may have attempted suicide before and they believe she went to the target range to kill herself.
Target World manager Jeff Mann says the range is operating normally. He won’t discuss the woman or the shooting.
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Handcuffed man steals police car and escapes www.privateofficer.com
Harry Houdini has nothing on 38-year-old David Todd Martin.
Lincoln County authorities say Martin somehow managed to steal a police cruiser and drive away overnight — despite being handcuffed.
Authorities in Lincoln and Gaston counties were still looking for the man this morning.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said Martin, of Mount Holly, was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy overnight for a traffic stop, on N.C. 16 south near the Lincoln-Gaston county line.
The deputy handcuffed Martin and put him in the back of the cruiser. Somehow, authorities say, Martin managed to get into the front seat of the Ford Crown Victoria and drive away. A short time later, police in Gaston County found the cruiser near Lucia River Road and Underwood Drive.
The vehicle was abandoned.
Martin had been arrested in late June in Lincoln County on charges of resisting arrest and having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
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Bank robber escapes pursued by security www.privateofficer.com
An African-American male entered the National City Bank located on South Moreland shortly after 3:00 p.m. Monday afternoon.
He gave the teller a demand note and said he had a weapon.
The suspect left the bank with an undisclosed amount of money.
F.B.I. officials say there was a short pursuit by the bank security guard but he got away.
The suspect is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall, stocky build, wearing a red shirt and red baseball cap.
The F.B.I. has bank surveillance video photos which will hopefully help them locate the suspect.
If anyone knows anything about the suspect or his whereabouts, call the F.B.I. at 216.522.1400.
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Man kidnaps children, throws them in dumpster www.privateofficer.com
DAYTON OH JULY 28 2009— Two young children found in a trash bin behind a local business have been taken away from their mother by Montgomery County Children’s Services and put in foster care.
Ashonti Johnson, 23 months old, and her 8-month-old brother Tommie John
son III were found about 8:30 a.m. Monday, July 27, by an electrician arriving for work.They had been in the heavy-duty, green plastic bin for as long as 13 hours, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said.
The empty but dirty bin was sitting in the sun at 902 E. Second St. [MAP]
About an hour after the children were found, Ashonti’s father, Tommie Lee Johnson Jr., 39, confessed to dumping them in the trash bin, Sgt. Tom Flanders said.
Baron Bates, 23, of Beavercreek, said he heard Ashonti crying, opened the lid of the trash bin and found the children covered in stinky mud and soaking wet from sweat.
“(Ashonti) was crying and reached out and I couldn’t believe it,” Bates said.
Bates and his boss Dale Felty gave the kids water and Little Debbie treats until paramedics arrived.
The lack of airflow, combined with sunlight quickly turned the 4-foot-tall bin into a virtual oven, Flanders said.
Detectives said the children had literally “hours” to live.
The children’s mother, Alisha Whitehead, 27, said Johnson tried to choke her during a fight and then took the children from their home about 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
Whitehead said Johnson, her boyfriend, had consumed six 40-ounce bottles of beer and some of her prescription medication before leaving with the kids. He was not going to let her have them, she said.
“I never knew he would do something like this,” Whitehead said.
Police did not issue an Amber Alert because there was no evidence the children had been abducted or harmed, Flanders said.
Johnson Jr. said he dumped his biological daughter and her infant brother in a trash bin because he wanted them to go to “a better place.”
A handcuffed Johnson then said he had a lapse “in judgment” as he was led to Montgomery County Jail about 10:30 a.m. Monday.
Johnson had just confessed to police after 12 hours of interrogation that he dumped his 23-month-old daughter, Ashonti Johnson, and her 8-month-old brother, Tommie Johnson III, in an empty city-issued bin, officials said.
Two electricians found the children soaked in mud inside the 4-foot bin behind Felty Electric, 902 E. Second St.
Police believe the children were in the bin the entire 12 hours Johnson was being questioned.
Johnson, who is not the biological father of the infant, first said he took the children from their mother’s house, in the 400 block of N. Cherrywood Ave., about 7:30 p.m.
Whitehead, 27, said Monday “friends” threw Johnson out of her house.
Johnson reportedly said he walked with them to a baby sitter’s house and returned to Whitehead’s place without the children.
That turned out to be the first of many bogus stories Johnson told Sunday night and into Monday morning, Flanders said.
Establishing a “bull’s-eye”
Dayton police, along with area law-enforcement agencies, combed East Dayton all night, while detectives continued to question Tommie L. Johnson Jr. at police headquarters.
U.S. Marshals offered their services in the search, along with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
“We were going door-to-door, after establishing a bull’s-eye (the center of the search) and branched out,” Lt. Patrick Welsh said. “We put out a broadcast to all local law-enforcement groups and gave a description of the children.”
Welsh said the children’s mother could not provide a picture of the children, making the search more difficult.
Despite many discussions about issuing an Amber Alert, none was issued.
“Right away there was a discussion about issuing an Amber Alert,” Welsh said. “It isn’t ‘are we OK with not issuing an Amber Alert.’ We didn’t meet the criteria to issue one.”
Johnson was arrested at 1:52 a.m. on felony charges of domestic violence, child endangering and inducing panic, according to jail records.
In handcuffs, Johnson still refused to tell a detective the whereabouts of the children.
Flanders said since the children were found hours later inside a sun-baked trash bin turned plastic oven, he will push “more serious charges” against Johnson.
Flanders is expected to meet with Montgomery County Prosecutor’s today.
On again, off again
Alisha Whitehead described her relationship with Tommie L. Johnson Jr. as on-again, off-again.
Police said the couple are boyfriend and girlfriend involved in a relationship plagued by alcohol and drugs.
Johnson has a 2004 conviction for domestic violence and numerous convictions for public intoxication and disorderly conduct.
Montgomery County Jail records show he has been arrested eight times since 2003.
County court records show Whitehead has no criminal record.
Montgomery County Children’s Services has a previous case involving Whitehead.
In 2005, two other daughters, now 4 and 5, were removed from her custody and placed with a relative, spokeswoman Ann Stevens said.
Stevens would not elaborate on that investigation.
Stevens said caseworkers will try to place Ashonti and Tommie Johnson III in the care of a relative, but if a suitable home is not found, they will remain in foster care.
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