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OFFICER DOWN OKLAHOMA www.privateofficer.com
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office
Oklahoma
End of Watch: Sunday, July 26, 2009
Biographical Info
Age: 23
Tour of Duty: 1 year, 3 months
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Sunday, July 26, 2009
Weapon Used: Handgun; 9 mm
Suspect Info: Apprehended
Deputy Robbie Whitebird and Deputy Marvin Williams were shot and killed while attempting to serve an arrest warrant.
The deputies, along with an officer from the Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police, were fired upon as they approached the home’s door. Deputy Whitebird and Deputy Williams were both struck by the gunfire.
After being struck, Deputy Whitebird fell into the home. Other deputies entered the home and pulled him to safety, however he succumbed to his wounds at the scene. Deputy Williams succumbed to his wounds while being flown to a hospital in Oklahoma City.
The suspect surrendered a short time later after barricading himself in his home.
Deputy Whitebird had served with the agency for 15 months.
Related Line of Duty Deaths
Deputy Sheriff Marvin Williams
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, OK
EOW: Sunday, July 26, 2009
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Agency Contact Information
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office
110 S. Wewoka Street
Wewoka, OK 74884
Phone: (405) 257-5445
Please contact the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
OFFICER DOWN OKLAHOMA www.privateofficer.com
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office
Oklahoma
End of Watch: Sunday, July 26, 2009
Biographical Info
Age: 43
Tour of Duty: 7 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Sunday, July 26, 2009
Weapon Used: Handgun; 9 mm
Suspect Info: Apprehended
Deputy Marvin Williams and Deputy Robbie Whitebird were shot and killed while attempting to serve an arrest warrant.
The deputies, along with an officer from the Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police, were fired upon as they approached the home’s door. Deputy Whitebird and Deputy Williams were both struck by the gunfire.
After being struck, Deputy Whitebird fell into the home. Other deputies entered the home and pulled him to safety, however he succumbed to his wounds at the scene. Deputy Williams succumbed to his wounds while being flown to a hospital in Oklahoma City.
The suspect surrendered a short time later after barricading himself in his home.
Deputy Williams had served with the agency for seven years.
Related Line of Duty Deaths
Deputy Sheriff Robbie Chase Whitebird
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, OK
EOW: Sunday, July 26, 2009
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Agency Contact Information
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office
110 S. Wewoka Street
Wewoka, OK 74884
Phone: (405) 257-5445
Please contact the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
Two Oklahoma deputies killed www.privateofficer.com
Ezekiel Holbert, 26, was jailed on murder complaints, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown said.
Holbert was in his mother’s home, 503 N Second St., about 3 p.m. when she called authorities, Brown said.
“She found out he was inside. He was not welcome, so she called Seminole County deputies,” Brown said. “When they knocked on the door, the suspect came out, Mr. Holbert, firing a weapon.”
Brown said they don’t know what kind of a weapon was used.
Two deputies died, Brown said.
One died at the scene and the other at OU Medical Center.
A woman walking along the street was hit by stray gunfire, Brown said.
The woman was identified by her brother-in-law as Jennifer Bowen. He said the bullet went through her arm and into her chest. He said she was flown to OU Medical Center, but her condition was not known Sunday night.
The names of the deputies were not released Sunday night.
Deputies were serving a warrant issued in May for a charge of domestic assault and battery by strangulation.
Bryan Hause said he was next door when the shooting occurred.
“They said, ‘You got two seconds to open the door,’ and they kicked the door in,” Hause said.
Terry Bowen said he was standing on his back porch a couple of houses away when the shooting began.
“We all thought it was firecrackers,” he said.
He said Jennifer Bowen was walking down the street with her two daughters when a law enforcement official ran past.
A short while later, she was hit.
“Next thing you know, she spins around yelling ‘Ow ow ow ow ow ow,’” Terry Bowen said. “My little 2-year-old niece comes running to me … and she said ‘something’s wrong with Mommy.’”
Police then began evacuating nearby houses.
Terry Bowen said he’s angry about how the situation was handled.
“They jerked my little sister down the stairs and cut her arm,” he said. “She couldn’t walk down the steps. They don’t need to get in that big of a hurry. They come to serve a warrant doing their job, and he goes and fires on them. Yeah, I understand. But, you know, they could have had the courage enough to tell everybody to stay in the house, or at least holler over here at her (Jennifer) and tell her to back up.”
Several law agencies were called in to assist in the search. Neighborhood streets were lined with police vehicles.
About 7 p.m. the Oklahoma Highway Patrol used a robot with an audio speaker to enter the house where the shootings had occurred.
“Through a PA system on that robot, tactical units announced their presence and required the suspect to come out and surrender,” patrol Lt. George Brown said.
The suspect surrendered without incident.
Holbert was jailed in Seminole County on murder complaints.
Jean Fowler, who lives in a nearby apartment complex, said police searched all the apartments in her building.
“They checked it and they were very professional,” she said.
“They tried their best not to scare anybody, but they were thorough.”
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Seven indicted on terrorism charges in NC www.privateofficer.com
Daniel Boyd, 39, and six others are charged with providing material support to terrorism.
The Justice Department in Washington says Boyd, who it describes as the ringleader, is a US citizen, trained in Afghanistan who fought there against the Soviets between 1989 and 1992. It says when he returned to the United States he recruited others.
The six others are:
Hysen Sherif, 24, a native of Kosovo and a legal permanent resident of the U.S.
Anes Subasic, 33, a naturalized citizen of the U.S.
Zakiriya Boyd, 20, a citizen of the U.S and Daniel Boyd’s son.
Dylan Boyd, 22, a citizen of the U.S and Daniel Boyd’s son.
Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22, a citizen of the U.S.
Ziyad Yaghi, 21, a naturalized citizen of the U.S.
The federal indictment alleges that the seven plotted to support terroristic activities in countries outside the United States – including acts of murder, kidnapping and maiming persons.
They also face multiple weapons charges including buying many semi-automatic assault style rifles. The men allegedly trained with the guns on property on Caswell County North Carolina near the Virginia border.
“The indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd is a veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan who, over the past three years, has conspired with others in this country to recruit and help other young men to travel overseas to kill,” said Assistant Attorney General David Kris.
The indictment claims Boyd traveled to Israel in 2007 with several of the defendants, hoping to engage in “violent jihad.” The attempt was unsuccessful, though, and the men returned home, officials said.
All seven were arrested in North Carolina on Monday and made an appearance in Raleigh federal court.
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation said they were concerned about the number of weapons the men possibly had in their possession, and so federal SWAT teams were called in from Virginia and other locations to help with the arrests. Some of the men were captured in Willow Spring – east of Raleigh.
Federal officials said the operation went much more smoothly than they feared, and the men were taken into custody without incident.
Prosecutors said the arrests show that the threat of terrorism is still very real.
“These charges hammer home the point that terrorists and their supporters are not confined to remote regions in some faraway land but can grow and fester right here at home,” said United States Attorney George E. B. Holding.
The seven all face a possible maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
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Colorado officer killed, 2 others shot www.privateofficer.com
A domestic disturbance exploded into gunfire in an affluent Montrose neighborhood, and when it was over, three police officers and the suspect lay wounded or dying.
Killed late Saturday was Sgt. David Kinterknecht, 41. Wounded were Officers Rodney Ragsdale, 55, and Larry Witte, 23.
Police did not identify the suspect, who was killed, or indicate whether police had shot him or he shot himself.
Beverly Howell, a neighbor who witnessed some of the events at 16915 64.50 Road, said police had gone to the house on domestic-violence calls several times over the past year.
Property records show that the $632,320 home across the road from the Cobble Creek Golf Course is owned by Dennis and Pamela Gurney.
Through a friend, Cindy Gay Dick, Pamela Gurney, 50, declined an interview with The Denver Post on Sunday.
Sheriff’s deputies and police went to the home about 8:30 p.m. Saturday and began talking to the person who reported the incident, according to a police statement.
A man who had locked himself in the garage began shooting, hitting the three police officers, the statement said.
All three officers were taken to Montrose Memorial Hospital. Police Chief Tom Chinn said Sunday that both survivors were doing well.
Jim Howell, Beverly Howell’s husband, said police arrived at the home several hours before the shooting started. He said he was in his bathroom when he heard two or three gunshots.
Beverly Howell said she saw Dennis Gurney, 52, back away from police, his hands above his head, as she looked through her kitchen window.
“Then it looked like he crouched down and went around the back of the garage,” she said.
“There was a lot of chaotic activity, and we heard some shots, and then some more shots,” she said.
Pamela Gurney had told the Howells that she was a victim of domestic abuse, Beverly Howell said.
Tisha Langston Slater, a Vermont resident who was once engaged to the Gurneys’ son, Eric, was shocked to hear of violence at the house.
“His parents took me in,” she said. “His parents were great people. They were always so nice to me.”
Dennis Gurney had been badly burned when he worked on an oil rig that exploded several years ago, Slater said.
“I know that Mr. Gurney had been disfigured in a fire and that he had been depressed,” Beverly Howell said.
Kinterknecht joined the department, which has 43 officers, in 1999 after serving in sheriff’s departments in San Miguel and Montrose counties.
“He is a Montrose boy. He grew up in Montrose; all his roots are here,” said Chinn, the Montrose police chief.
According to the Officer Down Memorial website, Kinterknecht was the second Montrose officer to die in the line of duty.
In April 1983, Officer Larry F. McMaster was shot to death and another officer was twice wounded after they entered a bar where a disturbance had been reported.
In the incident Saturday, Ragsdale was shot three times in his left leg and once in his right, said his daughter-in-law, Victoria Ragsdale.
Doctors operated on him and placed a rod in one leg, she said, adding that he was doing well.
“He has been joking and laughing, and that is a good sign,” Victoria Ragsdale said.
Rodney Ragsdale is a 20-year veteran of law enforcement. He previously served with the Northglenn Police Department and, before that, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Victoria Ragsdale said.
Rodney Ragsdale moved to Montrose in November.
“He always wanted to live in a mountain town,” his daughter-in-law said.
Witte joined the department about three years ago after graduating from Western State College in Gunnison, where he was a track star, Chinn said.
“He is a very athletic kid,” he said.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the 7th Judicial Critical Incident Team are investigating the incident.
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Police officer kidnaps, assaults fellow officer www.privateofficer.com
Fulton County police said the incident was a domestic dispute between two off-duty officers that began at a home in the 7200 block of Connell Road in south Fulton County.
“The female officer alleged that the male officer choked her, handcuffed her and held her against he will at gunpoint for approximately two hours,” said Detective Melissa Parker of the Fulton County Police Department.
Neighbors called 911 after the woman escaped, ran across the street and asked for help.
“When Fulton County police arrived, there was no one at the house,” said Parker. “Apparently, the male subject fled.”
Several hours later the male officer, identified as Jessie Lee Burden Jr., was picked up in Spalding County. He was taken back to Fulton County for questioning.
Officials said Burden has been charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment and battery. He was taken to the Fulton County Jail.
The alleged victim’s name has not been released.
Parker said both Burden and the victim work for the East Point police department. The two are not married.
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Triple shooting leave elderly couple, grandchild dead www.privateofficer.com
Police said that it appears to be a murder-suicide crime and that it was a sad situation.
Investigators have identified the victims as George Doby, 87, his wife, Edna Doby, 82, and their grandson, Jacob Doby, 12.
Detectives beleive George Doby shot his grandson first, then his wife, finally turning the gun on himself.
Police said that Edna Doby suffered from Parkinson’s Disease and said the 12-year-old grandson was autistic.
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Church deacon charged with $230,000 church theft www.privateofficer.com
Police have arrested a cgurch deacon for theft from his church.
Harden, 57, was arrested June 18 on charges of grand theft and fraud.
Det. Rob Waller, Leon County Sheriff’s Office financial crimes unit, said Harden misused around $230,000 of funds designated for the construction of a parking lot for the church, 615 Tuskegee St.
Waller said Harden, who was a deacon at the church, pitched himself as a contractor and put in a bid to take over the building of the parking lot.
Although Harden properly spent a “minimal amount” of money at the beginning of the parking lot’s construction, Waller said he began depositing the money into several different bank accounts, using it to pay bills and write checks to friends of his.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the loan for the construction of the parking lot was obtained through Hancock Bank, which was forced to pay off 13 subcontractors a total of $157,055.61. The net loss to the church was around $177,000
Harden is being held at the Leon County Jail and bail remains set at $100,000.
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17 Shot, 2 killed in Baltimore violence www.privateofficer.com
At least 17 people were shot and two killed in separate incidents Sunday night, including a shooting at a backyard cookout in East Baltimore that left 12 people injured. Among the victims in that shooting were a pregnant woman and a 2-year-old girl, police said.
The spate of violence, which occurred over a stretch of about three hours on the city’s east side, was unprecedented this year. Police said they didn’t immediately know of a motive in the shootings, and no arrests were reported. Many of the victims were rushed to Johns Hopkins Hospital, which became a crime scene later in the evening when a car riddled with bullet holes pulled up to the emergency room.
The incidents began shortly before 9 p.m., when at least one gunman entered the small back yard of a rowhouse in the 2600 block of Ashland Ave., in the Madison-East End community, during the cookout and opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon of unknown caliber, hitting at least a dozen victims before fleeing on foot, according to Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman.
Two hours later, before 11 p.m., two males, ages 18 and 19, were fatally shot in the 200 block of N. Conkling St., in the Baltimore Highlands community. At least two young men were seen being led away from the crime scene in handcuffs, as officers went door to door trying to gather information.
Additional shootings were later reported, one in the 2800 block of Harford Road, near Clifton Park, and a double shooting at East Baltimore and South Bond streets.
At Johns Hopkins Hospital, authorities shut down East Monument Street as detectives investigated a vehicle that pulled up to the emergency room. A white Lexus, with its lights still on, was observed parked in front of the entrance. Its driver’s side had at least eight bullet holes to the door and window. On the passenger side, the door was open and appeared to be mangled.
On the sidewalk outside the passenger side door was what appeared to be a sports trophy, several shirts and a sandal. Police could not immediately determine where the shooting had taken place, but said it did not occur at the hospital.
Among the 12 victims at the Ashland Avenue cookout, Moses said there were no life-threatening injuries. Moses said ambulances took some of the victims to area hospitals, while others were taken to hospitals by private vehicles.
Specific conditions were not available, and the victims’ names were withheld pending notification of family members. Moses said the victims were struck in their shoulders, legs and backs and that multiple 911 calls came in from area residents.
Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III was among the officers who reported to the scene. He had no comment last night when approached by a reporter. Moses said the commissioner responded moments after the shootings were reported to make sure the investigation was coordinated and that extra officers from at least one other police district assisted in the investigation.
Deputy Commissioner Anthony Barksdale and Col. John Skinner, the chief of patrol, were also observed visiting the crime scenes.
Heading into Sunday night, homicides were up about 5 percent over the same time last year. Nonfatal shootings were down significantly.
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Security officers hired to enforce water regulations www.privateofficer.com
Griff Welsh, the mayor of the village just east of Trail, says residents use too much water.
In a year when forests are tinder dry and fires have forced thousands to flee their homes, Welsh is worried there may not be enough water to fight a dangerous forest fire because people are more worried about their lawns.
“We are very concerned,’ said Welsh. “(Residents) just use way too much water.’
Welsh noted that on a rainy day, the village uses 125,000 gallons of water, but when it’s dry, the figure rises to 300,000.
The village council elected last week to hire a private security firm to police the village’s watering restrictions.
Selkirk Security officers will be on guard for water offenders during the night.
“That’s when our biggest problem is,’ Welsh said.
Residents are allowed to water their lawns for a maximum of four hours per day, though Welsh said it’d be better if it were less.
“We think a lot of people are watering for the full four hours,’ he said. “I have a real problem with it. It’s not that you can’t shower, but what if there was a fire?’
Montrose’s fire hydrants and other water needs are supplied by two wells at Beaver Creek, from which water is pumped up to two large tanks.
Those tanks are dipping at times below the 50 per cent mark.
“The wells have never gone dry,’ said Welsh. “We just can’t pump it up fast enough. I don’t want a disaster to happen.’
Last weekend, 12,000 people in West Kelowna were forced from their homes due to two forest fires.
They were all allowed back on Thursday, hours before another evacuation order affecting 2,200 due to a third fire in the area was declared.
Only half of those people were home by this weekend.
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Bank teller thwarts armored car robbery www.privateofficer.com
The employee of the BankAtlantic at 4201 N. Andrews Ave. was walking into work shortly before 9 a.m. when she saw an armed man crouching behind a Brinks truck parked outside the bank, said Broward Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Keyla Concepción.
“He looked at her. She looked at the suspect. He pulled [down] his ski mask and at that point, I guess, decided it wasn’t a good idea to rob the Brinks truck and bolted to his car,” Concepción said.
The gunman drove off in a red or burgundy Cadillac Eldorado with a luggage rack, she said.
The Sheriff’s Office did not release a description of the gunman this morning.
Two Brinks guards who had been inside the bank dropping off money had no idea what happened outside, authorities said.
When the guards left the bank, they got into their truck and drove off. That’s when the bank employee realized the guards hadn’t seen or heard anything suspicious and she called 911.
A BankAtlantic spokesman said the employee was a little shaken, but fine.
“Fortunately her quick actions made this a nonevent,” said spokesman Leo Hinkley.
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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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Brinks guard shoots-kills robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
A Brinks security guard shot and killed a would-be robber who attacked him while he was making a routine stop at a South Miami-Dade health clinic Friday, according to witnesses.
After the 2 p.m. shooting outside the Doris Ison Health Center, 10300 SW 216th St., Miami-Dade police arrested two other suspects after a search of surrounding neighborhoods.
Miami-Dade police have not identified the dead man. Those arrested also were not identified. According to investigators, shots were fired when three subjects, armed with firearms, attempted to rob an armored truck crew making a pick up or delivery at the health center located at 10300 SW 216th Street,” a Miami-Dade police statement said late Friday.
One employee of the health center, who did not want to be identified, told The Miami Herald that the shooting took place after the apparent robber attacked the Brinks security guard. The guard, said the witness, then shot the man outside the health center, which remained under lockdown for hours as police officers swarmed the area in search of the other suspects.
Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS 4 reported that police found the other suspects less than a mile away at the Cutler Creek Town Homes.
They reported that police officers went house to house and then surrounded one home.
Much of the area surrounding the health clinic and the neighborhood near the townhomes was swarming with police officers following the shooting.
La Petite Academy, a day care center on 216th Street in Cutler Bay, was placed on lockdown for hours, with parents not allowed to pick up their children, the station reported.
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UCONN student charged in $1 billion marijuana operation www.privateofficer.com
Authorities say UConn law student John M. Belanger was a high-level operative in a $1 billion international marijuana operation. At the same time, others say, he was a doting father.
Their 9-year-old son would stay with his grandparents when Belanger wasn’t around, the child’s mother, Jessica Reddick, said Friday.
Reddick — who broke off her relationship with Belanger nine years ago but kept up a custody fight — said she had an inkling that Belanger might have been into something illegal, but had no idea of the size and the scope of the operation outlined by police.
Reddick, 25, of Massachusetts, said it appears now that Belanger led a double life.
Belanger, 27, was indicted June 10 as part of a two-year investigation that led to the arrests of more than 45 people from Quebec to Florida on charges of smuggling about $1 billion worth of high-grade, hydroponic marijuana across the Canadian border over a four-year period.
Belanger, of Hartford, was one of 13 people indicted June 10 in a bust called Operation Iron Curtain, which involved federal and Canadian officials and New York police. He was arrested in Hartford on July 7.
Authorities said the operation smuggled about 300 pounds of marijuana a day into cities in the Northeast and Miami, though they don’t say any of the drugs moved through Connecticut.
Belanger recruited, hired and coordinated a team that smuggled the pot from Canada across the border into New York, authorities said. He was an assistant to Steven Sarti, 23, of Brossard, Quebec, who was arrested in June on a variety of drug trafficking charges as the leader of the operation, a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice states.
The marijuana was grown in eastern Canada and smuggled across the border, often crossing through Native American reservations, using boats or snowmobiles, authorities said.
“He put on his glasses, he was the law student,” Reddick said. “He took them off, he was … I don’t know, it’s crazy. I knew he was out and about very often, but I didn’t know where. My son would stay with his grandparents a lot. I wish, for my own sake, that I knew what he was doing.”
Reddick said she and Belanger, who had lived in Dudley, Mass., had a relationship when they were both in their mid-teens.
“We were young. We were not smart,” she said.
She said Belanger was awarded custody of their son in 2000. Reddick had generous visitation rights.
“We were both caring parents. I was working as a receptionist in a salon during the day and going to hairdressing school at night. John was with his girlfriend at the time, and I guess the judge felt he could provide something more stable. … And John was very smart.”
Belanger attended Bryant College in Rhode Island before UConn. His senior honors project at Bryant, submitted in April 2007, was titled “The Modern Application of the ‘Best Interests of the Child’ Theory in Custodial Law.”
Reddick said Belanger married his girlfriend, and they later divorced.
“My son never wanted for anything. John was always good to him and made sure he had everything he needed. My son was happy and comfortable,” said Reddick. Her son now lives with her.
On July 16, Reddick filed a request for full custody in Superior Court in Rockville, where Belanger had lived.
“I did it in case John got out on bond,” said Reddick.
A UConn professor who taught Belanger, who has completed two years at the UConn School of Law, described him as a regular student.
Authorities say UConn law student John M. Belanger was a high-level operative in a $1 billion international marijuana operation. At the same time, others say, he was a doting father.
Their 9-year-old son would stay with his grandparents when Belanger wasn’t around, the child’s mother, Jessica Reddick, said Friday.
Reddick — who broke off her relationship with Belanger nine years ago but kept up a custody fight — said she had an inkling that Belanger might have been into something illegal, but had no idea of the size and the scope of the operation outlined by police.
Reddick, 25, of Massachusetts, said it appears now that Belanger led a double life.
Belanger, 27, was indicted June 10 as part of a two-year investigation that led to the arrests of more than 45 people from Quebec to Florida on charges of smuggling about $1 billion worth of high-grade, hydroponic marijuana across the Canadian border over a four-year period.
Belanger, of Hartford, was one of 13 people indicted June 10 in a bust called Operation Iron Curtain, which involved federal and Canadian officials and New York police. He was arrested in Hartford on July 7.
Authorities said the operation smuggled about 300 pounds of marijuana a day into cities in the Northeast and Miami, though they don’t say any of the drugs moved through Connecticut.
Belanger recruited, hired and coordinated a team that smuggled the pot from Canada across the border into New York, authorities said. He was an assistant to Steven Sarti, 23, of Brossard, Quebec, who was arrested in June on a variety of drug trafficking charges as the leader of the operation, a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice states.
The marijuana was grown in eastern Canada and smuggled across the border, often crossing through Native American reservations, using boats or snowmobiles, authorities said.
“He put on his glasses, he was the law student,” Reddick said. “He took them off, he was … I don’t know, it’s crazy. I knew he was out and about very often, but I didn’t know where. My son would stay with his grandparents a lot. I wish, for my own sake, that I knew what he was doing.”
Reddick said she and Belanger, who had lived in Dudley, Mass., had a relationship when they were both in their mid-teens.
“We were young. We were not smart,” she said.
She said Belanger was awarded custody of their son in 2000. Reddick had generous visitation rights.
“We were both caring parents. I was working as a receptionist in a salon during the day and going to hairdressing school at night. John was with his girlfriend at the time, and I guess the judge felt he could provide something more stable. … And John was very smart.”
He took three tax courses with me and was always very engaged,” Richard Pomp said. “I had no indication whatsoever he could be involved with this. He was very unpretentious. We should, of course, remember that he has a presumption of innocence and has only been accused. But he didn’t drive a flashy car or anything like that. He was just a regular student.”
One of the three tax courses Belanger took was Indian Tax Law, Pomp said.
Belanger also served as Dean for a Day, purchasing the prize at a charity auction conducted by the Public Interest Law Group in the spring of 2008, UConn spokesman Michael Kirk said. Belanger got to sit in the dean’s office for a few hours, and proceeds from the auction went to fund public interest fellowships, which pay students who work at public interest law firms, such as Legal Aid.
“The university is aware of the situation and is taking it very seriously,” Kirk said in a statement.
Belanger was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, conspiracy to import more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
Officials said they seized more than $7 million, about 2½ tons of marijuana and more than 60 pounds of cocaine during the bust.
The organization transported the marijuana in heat-sealed bags inside large duffel bags labeled with a number and customer identification or destination, the press release states.
The drug ring used two primary routes for smuggling drugs across the border. One went through a secluded wooded area near Churubusco, N.Y., via couriers led primarily by Anthony Plata, 28, of Montreal, who was also indicted, authorities said.
The second went across the St. Lawrence River and through the Snye, Quebec, compound of another indicted man, Richard Todd Adams, 35, of Summerton, Ontario, on Akwesasne Mohawk Indian territory, authorities said.
The Department of Justice release went on to say the smuggling operation was meticulous. The smugglers used rental vehicles that traveled in tandem with “blocking” vehicles, which scouted ahead for police and tipped off the couriers.
Belanger’s case has been transferred to the federal court in the Northern District of New York. An arraignment date has not yet been set, and it is not clear whether Belanger is still in Hartford or in transit to New York.
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Armored cars under seige in Arizona www.privateofficer.com
Bandits targeting armored cars have federal agents and bank operators on a heightened state of alert and are pushing the Valley to record-breaking territory for armored-car heists in a single year.
A single group is responsible for most, if not all, of the seven armored-car robberies in the Phoenix area this year, said Lance Leising, an FBI special agent and the bureau’s bank-robbery coordinator in Arizona
At least one of the men uses a long-barreled assault rifle in the robberies that resembles an AK-47, Leising said, and the other typically carries a handgun.
They strike when guards are making deposits or picking money up, and the men frequently arrive in a stolen car and flee on foot or in a white sedan.
There’s a $50,000 reward for information that leads to their arrests and convictions, and with little for authorities to go on, agents are hoping that bounty will erode any honor among thieves.
“We don’t have good photos, so we’re not expecting someone to look at a photograph and recognize that person,” Leising said. “Someone already has knowledge that this group has come into a large amount of money.”
Both men are described as Black and in their 20s, with one man standing between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall with a slight build and the other between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet 1 inch tall, with a heavy build.
The spike in armored-car robberies was disturbing enough that Loomis Armored sponsored a meeting in Phoenix last month where nearly 50 representatives from banks and law enforcement came together with security experts to share ideas about ways to curb the trend.
The cause for concern is legitimate: As bold as bank robberies are, the majority are pulled off with a threatening note, and acts of violence were committed in only 4 percent of the 6,849 robberies reported to the FBI last year.
The Phoenix area is also on pace to set a new high mark for bank robberies in a single year, with another occurring in Scottsdale on Tuesday.
Armored-car robberies are more dangerous and frequently more violent.
“It takes a lot of planning and guts to attempt one, and the success rate is very small,” Leising said. “They’re going after armed guards.”
In one of Phoenix’s more notorious cases, Jason Derek Brown, 40, is suspected of killing Robert Palomares, a 24-year-old armed guard, outside an Ahwatukee Foothills movie theater in November 2004.
The FBI says Brown escaped with more than $56,000, and he remains on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
Brown is Leising’s case, too.
“Bank robberies, armored-car robberies, they’re an unusual crew, they’re usually charismatic, very sociable. Banks and armored cars are kind of the ultimate of robbery,” he said.
The trend in armored-car robberies mirrors the bank-robbery spike the area has seen in recent years, but there is some good news on that front since a half-dozen law-enforcement agencies created a task force in May to address the problem.
The 10-member team has made 40 arrests, accounting for 97 of the 139 bank robberies committed in the Valley so far this year.
With detectives from different agencies working side-by-side on a daily basis and showing up to crime scenes together, the crooks have a harder time skirting the law by hopping from city to city, Leising said.
When agents shut down the “Raggedy Ann” bandit earlier this year, the suspect had moved her operations from Phoenix to Tucson after a spate of media attention.
When the bandit robbed a bank in Tucson, authorities there alerted task-force members here who placed unmarked units along Interstate 10 and ultimately pulled over the car they’d been searching for in the Valley, with the suspected “Raggedy Ann” bandit behind the wheel.
As for the notion that the spike in robberies was tied to the recession, the undulating pattern over the last six years, including a high in the boom-year of 2005, points to other factors.
“People ask me all the time why do these guys do this and the answer is desperation,” Leising said. “Nine times out of 10 when I’m interviewing these guys, it’s got something to do with drugs.”
Robberies
2009 – 160*.
2008 – 236.
2007 – 175.
2006 – 166.
2005 – 228.
2004 – 161.
2003 – 116.
*Through Tuesday.
Source: FBI
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Police find 150 dead dogs in freezers at Michigan home www.privateofficer.com
Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad said the 56-year-old man found Wednesday in the suburban Detroit home with the animals may have been living with an increasing number of dogs for up to three or four years.
“The house was in complete disarray, very cluttered and, with 100-plus dogs running around in there, very filthy,” he said.
A criminal investigation was under way at the two-story brick home, Haddad said. He said the case could be forwarded to prosecutors for possible animal-cruelty charges.
Haddad said 112 live dogs had been removed from the home as of Friday, and police believe about five more may be hiding inside. He declined to release details about the breed of the dead dogs.
The man living in the house was taken to a local hospital for observation. He had no health insurance and a mental impairment that stemmed from rubella as a child, and had lived for years alone in the home after his parents retired to Florida, said lawyer James G. Schmier, who was acting as a family spokesman.
“I think this is a very human story of a guy who had some very severe mental issues,” Schmier said.
Neighbors in the past had complained of an odor at the Dearborn home, which had a neatly cut lawn and manicured bushes. But this week was the first time officials got inside, and crews needed masks to breathe.
Trash was piled from floor to ceiling in places, and feces and urine was throughout the home. Forty-two ailing and feces-covered dogs were rescued Wednesday. Crews returned Thursday and found more than 60 dogs, and about 10 more were rescued Friday, police said.
The smell, noticeable from the street Thursday and Friday, may have been contained previously because windows were closed and covered.
The rescued dogs were taken to the Dearborn Animal Shelter, where residents brought dog food donations and filled out pet adoption applications. Sandra Boulton, a spokeswoman for the shelter, said the dogs were either Chihuahuas or Chihuahua mixes, and while most had long nails and fleas, they were relatively healthy.
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Parking meter officer charged with thefts www.privateofficer.com
A Coral Gables employee has been arrested and charged with grand theft and organized fraud after he was allegedly caught taking coins from the city’s parking meters and turning them over to his father in a school parking lot.
Rolando Hernandez, 37, was paid $16.35 an hour as a parking meter collector for the city, which hired him in 2006. But police say he was taking home considerably more.
Found in his father’s truck after the two were stopped Monday: $3,584.95 in coins.
Police said Hernandez told them he had been doing the same thing three times a week for about six months, taking the coins to the change machine at Publix so he could exchange them for paper bills.
“He would keep a separate container, fill the container, and then take it to Publix to change the coins to dollars,” the police report stated.
Hernandez was charged with third-degree grand theft and organized fraud of up to $20,000, both felonies. Police could only charge him for the money they found Monday. Police Chief Richard Naue said there could be more charges filed against Hernandez because they are still investigating.
Hernandez, who listed his address as 2450 SW 78th Ave., posted $5,000 bail and was out of jail Tuesday. He has been suspended without pay by the city as police continue to investigate.
Naue said Monday’s take was extraordinary because Hernandez had taken on an additional route for another employee who could not come in that morning. But the chief said Hernandez told police he averaged $800 each time he skimmed, which is $2,400 a week and about $57,600 in total.
“But we don’t know exactly how much it is,” Naue said. “It could be more, it could be less.”
Police began to follow Hernandez and other employees after “the parking department noticed some fluctuation of revenue,” Naue added. “While they felt that because of the economic times, less people were shopping and so less people were coming, that didn’t really account for the sharp drop-offs and the spikes so they started to look with some concerns that it possibly might be someone inside.”
Employees collect the coins in the mornings and bring them to the parking department. The money is counted and then sent to the bank in an armored car.
Police had Hernandez under surveillance at 5 a.m. Monday as he collected coins from parking meters. They followed him to the parking department, in the same building as the police station, where he turned in “some of the money,” wrote Det. Andrew Cachinero in his report.
Police followed as he then drove his city vehicle to South Miami Senior High School, 5210 SW 69th Ave., where he met his father in the parking lot by the baseball field, the report says. Both men were seen taking coins from the rear of the city vehicle and putting them into a bucket. They then hoisted the bucket into the bed of the black pickup and drove away.
Jose Hernandez was stopped first at the corner of Southwest 68th Avenue and Southwest 48th Street. Within eyesight of the detectives: the bucket of coins in the truck’s bed. They also found more coins in the toolbox attached to the bed.
Rolando Hernandez drove back to where his father’s pickup was and was quickly arrested. His father was not arrested, but had to be treated by fire-rescue because he became agitated, and the officers were concerned about his health.
“We firmly believe he had no knowledge of what his son was doing,” Naue said. “He was called by his son to meet him and he came from a construction site. He was certainly taken off guard.”
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SEIU reaches agreement for Kaiser Permanente security www.privateofficer.com
The Service Employees International Union’s Local 1877, which represents 2,000 security guards who watch over Kaiser Permanente health care facilities nationwide, says a tentative contract agreement with a private security company, reached Wednesday, could avert the threat of a strike, which appeared imminent a few weeks ago.
The Oakland-based union’s bargaining committee reached a provisional agreement with Securitas, the private security company that Kaiser contracts with for security personnel, on July 22. That agreement requires ratification by members.
Securitas Security Services USA Inc., based in Parsippany, N.J., has 450 branch offices and employs more than 100,000 security guards, according to its Web site. Officials there could not immediately be reached for comment.
As recently as July 1, the union said talks had broken down over what it called Securitas’ refusal to restore the “affordable health care coverage” the security guards had under a contract with a prior contractor. Securitas implemented deep cuts in employer-paid coverage, causing costs for deductibles, prescription drugs and copays to increase dramatically, resulting in coverage that was “definitely inadequate in our view,” said an SEIU spokeswoman. Under the new contract, union members would pay lower co-pays and no deductibles, according to the union.
About 1,600 or 80 percent of the union members work at facilities in California for Oakland-based Kaiser, a $40 billion health care behemoth with more than 8.6 million enrollees, 35 hospitals and more than 400 clinics nationwide.
The bulk of the security guards in the local, who reside in California, will vote on the proposal Saturday. The new contract, which was unanimously recommended by the bargaining committee, would “restore” benefits that were eliminated in February when Kaiser replaced its former security contractor, Inter-Con, with Securitas, according to the union. It would also slightly boost minimum hourly wages.
The contract, if approved, would be the SEIU local’s first with the company, the union says. Other Securitas security personnel who work at Kaiser facilities in the Washington, D.C, area and Colorado are expected to vote on the proposed contract next week, said SEIU spokeswoman Rachele Huennekens.
SEIU’s property service division represents 300,000 janitors, security officers, airport workers and other service workers nationwide, including 40,000 in California who are part of SEIU United Service Workers West.
Officials at Securitas’ offices in Westlake Village and Walnut Creek were not available to answer questions about the proposed contract.
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How to turn an $8 an hour job into a high paying career
By: Rick McCann
Long before our economy went sour and jobs were harder to find then diamonds in your backyard, people have had to work $7 and $8 an hour jobs to survive. Some are even working for less than that at or near the minimum wage.
There are all kinds of reasons why people have found themselves in these jobs and many reasons why they have stayed there without out investing in the time and energy that it takes to secure a better position with a higher wage and benefits.
Recently divorced, loss of spouse, teens just entering the work force, those laid-off from higher paying positions and others that have few or no skills or education mainly make up this tier of the workforce.
While many would look at these positions as the lowest point in their life, others have chosen to view the work as a paid training course and have taken advantage of every hour spent “in-class” while being paid to learn a business from the most entry level of positions.
Myricka Johnson, a Houston mother of three, found herself working at a McDonald’s to support her children and keep a roof over their heads after her husband left her for another woman. She was stranded with only a few dollars and no relatives in the area to help her and was forced to apply for the job the next day. She reasoned that it would just be for a few weeks while she sought other employment and that she might even get to take some left over food from the restaurant home to her children until she could financially get on her feet.
Working forty hours and taking care of three children didn’t leave much time for Myricka to head out to other job interviews so she began to concentrate on the job that she had working on the assembly line putting together hamburgers and Big Mac, filet sandwiches and doing whatever the manager asked of her.
She soon worked her way up to a team manager, went to the library and read books from Raymond Kroc, CEO of McDonald and Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s and restaurant management and went from making a few hundred dollars a week to making more than enough to support her children and have money left in her bank account.
Jerry Wilson started at the Home Depot while still in high school. It was just a way for him to make enough cash to be able to take girls out on dates on the week-end, pay for his car insurance which was an agreement that he had made with his parents when he was hired and still have money left over to feed the snack machine at school.
But as Jerry was working at the store, he realized that he liked working with people and with home supplies. He too applied himself to the low paying hourly job and learned the various departments within the store. First the paint department, learning what colors to mix to create the perfect color scheme for customers. Then he moved to the appliance and the lumber areas of the store and trained on the front end as a cashier.
By the time Jerry graduated from school, he was settled in to the position and looking at Home Depot as a career. Though his parents wanted him to go a university, he opted for community college and began working full time for the store.
Wilson’s attitude, hard work, and drive soon put him in the position to be trained as an assistant manager.
Anyone in any position could look at their job as paid training for a higher, better paying career in the industry where they are working. With the right attitude and willingness to learn, you could inhale everything that there is to know about the company, what they do and how, what makes them tick, how they like to do business, customer service and even what vendors they use. This information is certainly going to invaluable to any employer who honestly promotes from within.
Large numbers of security guards have worked their way up from minimum wage to substantial salaries by learning the security business, taking any and all free training, certifications or other on-the-job training and moving up the rank from guard to shift supervisor or site manager, patrol supervisor, training officer, operations or branch managers and beyond. The same is true for many in the loss prevention field. Though they may start out as a LP agent, those who stay focused, learn the ropes of the business, and soak up all that they can about retail security, soon progress within the company and find themselves advancing to loss prevention managers, district or regional level management or are quickly scooped up by the competition and paid attractive salaries and benefits.
For those who may not have a college degree and think that they’ll never obtain such levels, Myricka and Jerry are just two examples of what on the job training, dedication and commitment, and loyalty to your employer and your job regardless of what it pays at currently can do for you.
Giving any business your complete effort and staying in the right frame of mind can educate and train you far more than sitting in a classroom for years wishing that you were somewhere else.
As with anything in life, it’s all what you make of it and your current employment just might be the vehicle for true success, happiness, and even wealth.
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Grand Jury refuses to indict security in trespasser’s death www.privateofficer.com
A McLennan County grand jury found no criminal violations Wednesday in two separate incidents involving deaths, clearing two security guards who restrained a man at a Waco apartment complex and a West woman who struck and killed four people on a dark road near her home.
In both cases, investigating officers made no arrests but sent evidence to the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office for screening. Prosecutors, in turn, presented the facts of the cases to 12 members of a grand jury, who reviewed the evidence and determined that no criminal offenses occurred in either case.
The first case involved the December 2007 death of Orlando Gamble, who died after struggling with two security guards at the Parkside Apartments in the 1200 block of North Ninth Street.
Gamble’s mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this month against the owners of Texas Star Security Co., alleging that the guards, identified in the lawsuit as “John Doe I” and “John Doe 2,” used improper restraint techniques that led to Gamble’s death.
Former Waco police detective Andy Degnan, who now lives in New York, testified about the case to the grand jury.
“The grand jury heard the evidence presented and decided it was not worthy of criminal prosecution,” Assistant District Attorney Mark Parker said.
Richard Renschler, co-owner of the security company, said when the lawsuit was filed that Gamble had a lengthy criminal record and that it is his company’s job to prevent unwanted trespassers from gaining access to the pro- perties where its guards are employed.
Gamble, 32, who the officers said tried to flee by running into the apartment complex, served 10 years for voluntary manslaughter and six years for cocaine possession, according to court records. Renschler has said that if Gamble had run away from the complex, his officers would not have pursued him.
In the other screening case, a West woman who struck and killed four people who were walking on the Interstate 35 access road near West in August 2008 also was cleared of wrongdoing.
Brandee Thorpe, the 20-year- old single mother of Austyn Fontenot, 2, and Kinzee Fontenot, 1, and their friend, Gregory “Marty” Howell, 25, of Robinson, all were killed that night while walking near Wiggins Road, a few miles south of West.
Howell was giving Thorpe and her children a ride to Hillsboro when his truck apparently ran out of gas, family members have said. They were walking on the dark, two-way access road when a 2003 Chevrolet SUV struck them from behind, authorities have said.
“The Department of Public Safety investigated and found no offense,” Assistant District Attorney Melanie Walker said. “The DPS never believed there was an offense, and neither did we. The cause of the accident was people walking in the middle of the road.”
Marty Howell’s father, John Howell, said Wednesday that he and his wife are “extremely disappointed” in the grand jury’s findings.
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Man charged with impersonation of federal agent www.privateofficer.com
LaSalle Parish Sheriff’s deputies, state police and U.S. Marshal Service officers, arrived at Glen Ray Seymour’s home on Wednesday and according to officers, they found evidence that Seymour had passed himself off as an officer with the U.S. Marshal Service and the Department of Homeland Security.
Officers say they found various fraudulent items — law enforcement identification cards, badges and SWAT uniforms. Also they found illegal explosives, including grenades and grenade components, a large cache of assault weapons, handguns, an illegal weapon silencer and thousands of rounds of assorted ammunition.
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