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Teacher arrested for sending 50 sexual texts to student www.privateofficer.com
August 18, 2009
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OXFORD TOWNSHIP, MI AUG 18 2009– A 28-year-old Michigan teacher accused of sending nearly 50 sexually explicit text messages to a former student was charged Friday with distributing sexually explicit material to a minor.
Michelle Simonson of Oxford Township was arraigned and released after she posted a $1,500 bail.
Prosecutors said Simonson sent sexually explicit and partially nude photos to a 14-year-old boy from late fall of 2008 to the end of the 2009 school year.
The 14-year-old boy was Simonson’s student during the 2008-2009 school year.
The investigation was launched when the boy’s mother found the messages and turned his cell phone over to police.
During a police interview, the boy told police that the texts initially started with her wanting to help him as a student, and then they became more racy as time went on.
The boy told police that he became uncomfortable with the conversations and pictures and asked her to stop.
He also told police that he and Simonson never had physical contact or inappropriate direct conversations, but parents fear the damage is already done.
“I think it’s horrible,” said one parent. “You know we put our trust in the teachers and they go and abuse those rights and privileges. They abuse our trust. It’s wrong.”
Simonson worked at Sashabaw Middle School for two years.
The school district issued a statement Friday that read, “She will be held accountable for her actions. We have an obligation to protect students. Our district has no tolerance for these types of actions.”
Simonson does not have a known criminal record.
She waived an examination and was bound over to Circuit Court for trial
Michelle Simonson of Oxford Township was arraigned and released after she posted a $1,500 bail.
Prosecutors said Simonson sent sexually explicit and partially nude photos to a 14-year-old boy from late fall of 2008 to the end of the 2009 school year.
The 14-year-old boy was Simonson’s student during the 2008-2009 school year.
The investigation was launched when the boy’s mother found the messages and turned his cell phone over to police.
During a police interview, the boy told police that the texts initially started with her wanting to help him as a student, and then they became more racy as time went on.
The boy told police that he became uncomfortable with the conversations and pictures and asked her to stop.
He also told police that he and Simonson never had physical contact or inappropriate direct conversations, but parents fear the damage is already done.
“I think it’s horrible,” said one parent. “You know we put our trust in the teachers and they go and abuse those rights and privileges. They abuse our trust. It’s wrong.”
Simonson worked at Sashabaw Middle School for two years.
The school district issued a statement Friday that read, “She will be held accountable for her actions. We have an obligation to protect students. Our district has no tolerance for these types of actions.”
Simonson does not have a known criminal record.
She waived an examination and was bound over to Circuit Court for trial
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Unarmed security officer caught in midst of murder-suicide www.privateofficer.com
August 18, 2009
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Houston TX Aug 18 2009
Michael A. Normand was known to his neighbors as a recluse, a man who kept to himself. The 64-year-old welder would sit on his balcony and watch his neighbors’ activities, frequently making complaints to the management office. Except for one neighbor, no friends or family stopped by to visit, according to one person who lived across from him.
But early Friday, residents became aware of the ferocity of the man they hardly knew, even though he had lived at the Bayou Woods Condominiums at 7575 Katy Freeway for 25 years.
Normand, angry and screaming about an illegally parked vehicle, shot and killed a neighbor who had asked him to quiet down so the neighbor’s 2-year-old daughter would not be awakened, Houston Police Department homicide investigators said.
After killing U.S. Navy veteran and oil drilling consultant David Hampton Ledet, 37, Normand then sat on the hood of his 1977 Oldsmobile and killed himself by firing a bullet under his chin, neighbors said.
Ledet’s mother, who lives at the condominium complex, said she is angry that no one warned her or her son about Normand’s instability.
“I’m very angry nobody told us this man was volatile,” said Donna Sue Ledet, who moved into the condominiums last December and vows she will now move out. “It makes me angry that this man was a time bomb ticking away, and all our neighbors knew it.”
Managers at the condominiums’ office said they were not allowed to comment Monday and said they would pass a request for comment along to the complex’s board of directors, who did not respond to the Chronicle.
The scene in parking lot
David Ledet, a Houston native who traveled all over the world for his work, had just arrived home from Thailand on June 1, along with his 2-year-old daughter, his mother said. He and his daughter were staying at his mother’s condominium, and he planned to depart for a job in Holland in September.
Shortly before 5 a.m. Friday, as Ledet was doing graphics artwork on the computer while his mother and daughter slept, he heard yelling in the parking lot and went outside to investigate. Normand had been leaving for work but began yelling and screaming when he noticed another man’s roofing truck parked illegally, parallel to one of the buildings. The truck was not blocking his parking space, HPD homicide investigators said. But the truck’s driver argued with Normand, neighbors said.
“It was believed by witnesses that he could have backed out around it,” said HPD Homicide Division Sgt. N.T. Ruland.
An unarmed security guard approached Normand, and Ledet came outside and asked Normand to keep his voice down so as not to awaken Ledet’s 2-year-old daughter. Another neighbor, Christina Pavlovich, 42, also came outside to intervene and tried to calm Normand. As the fight escalated, the security guard went to call 911, Ruland said.
Normand then threatened to go get a gun, returned to his condo to retrieve a revolver, tucked the gun in his pants, then returned to the parking lot, Pavlovich said.
“As he was coming down the stairwell, I said, ‘Michael, Michael, what are you doing?’” Pavlovich said. “He said, ‘Mind your own business!’ It was the first time he had ever spoken to me like that.”
Physical altercation
When Normand reached the parking lot, Pavlovich said she saw Ledet slam his fists on the trunk of Normand’s car. As Normand moved closer to him, Ledet then shoved Normand, causing him to flip over the trunk of his car, Pavlovich said.
Normand then shot Ledet one time. Pavlovich was standing so close that the gunpowder burned her knuckles, she said. She started to run, but looked back to see Normand shoot Ledet several more times while Ledet was down on the ground.
Pavlovich said when she came back moments later, she saw Normand calmly leaning against his car. He had removed the clip from his gun, she said.
“He said ‘I’m fine, I’m fine. But he’s dead, he’s dead,’” Pavlovich recalled.
“I said, ‘I’m so sorry, Michael.’ He said, ‘Christina, you need to go to your condo. You need to go back inside.’”
Pavlovich said she turned to go and, from the corner of her eye, she saw Normand pick up the gun and put the clip back inside. She then heard a boom.
A regimented genius
Neighbor James Parr said nothing like this has ever happened in the 35 years that he has lived at the normally quiet condominiums. Normand did not like to interact with neighbors, Parr said.
“He was kind of a private individual,” Parr said. “He wasn’t very friendly, I’ll put it that way. He didn’t bother anybody that I know of. I would say he was more or less like an introvert or recluse or something like that.”
Pavlovich said she was one of Normand’s few friends and described him as comical and an intellectual genius, but also extremely regimented. The walls of his condo were lined from floor to ceiling with DVDs on religion, biology, science, nutrition and the law, she said.
“All he did, all day, every day, was watch lectures,” Pavlovich said. “One time he made me watch a lecture with him. I cracked his shell somehow.”
Normand “had always been alone,” said another neighbor, Disa Pierce, “He was very much into taking care of his cars. Maybe in lack of friendship, his cars were his friends.”
Michael A. Normand was known to his neighbors as a recluse, a man who kept to himself. The 64-year-old welder would sit on his balcony and watch his neighbors’ activities, frequently making complaints to the management office. Except for one neighbor, no friends or family stopped by to visit, according to one person who lived across from him.
But early Friday, residents became aware of the ferocity of the man they hardly knew, even though he had lived at the Bayou Woods Condominiums at 7575 Katy Freeway for 25 years.
Normand, angry and screaming about an illegally parked vehicle, shot and killed a neighbor who had asked him to quiet down so the neighbor’s 2-year-old daughter would not be awakened, Houston Police Department homicide investigators said.
After killing U.S. Navy veteran and oil drilling consultant David Hampton Ledet, 37, Normand then sat on the hood of his 1977 Oldsmobile and killed himself by firing a bullet under his chin, neighbors said.
Ledet’s mother, who lives at the condominium complex, said she is angry that no one warned her or her son about Normand’s instability.
“I’m very angry nobody told us this man was volatile,” said Donna Sue Ledet, who moved into the condominiums last December and vows she will now move out. “It makes me angry that this man was a time bomb ticking away, and all our neighbors knew it.”
Managers at the condominiums’ office said they were not allowed to comment Monday and said they would pass a request for comment along to the complex’s board of directors, who did not respond to the Chronicle.
The scene in parking lot
David Ledet, a Houston native who traveled all over the world for his work, had just arrived home from Thailand on June 1, along with his 2-year-old daughter, his mother said. He and his daughter were staying at his mother’s condominium, and he planned to depart for a job in Holland in September.
Shortly before 5 a.m. Friday, as Ledet was doing graphics artwork on the computer while his mother and daughter slept, he heard yelling in the parking lot and went outside to investigate. Normand had been leaving for work but began yelling and screaming when he noticed another man’s roofing truck parked illegally, parallel to one of the buildings. The truck was not blocking his parking space, HPD homicide investigators said. But the truck’s driver argued with Normand, neighbors said.
“It was believed by witnesses that he could have backed out around it,” said HPD Homicide Division Sgt. N.T. Ruland.
An unarmed security guard approached Normand, and Ledet came outside and asked Normand to keep his voice down so as not to awaken Ledet’s 2-year-old daughter. Another neighbor, Christina Pavlovich, 42, also came outside to intervene and tried to calm Normand. As the fight escalated, the security guard went to call 911, Ruland said.
Normand then threatened to go get a gun, returned to his condo to retrieve a revolver, tucked the gun in his pants, then returned to the parking lot, Pavlovich said.
“As he was coming down the stairwell, I said, ‘Michael, Michael, what are you doing?’” Pavlovich said. “He said, ‘Mind your own business!’ It was the first time he had ever spoken to me like that.”
Physical altercation
When Normand reached the parking lot, Pavlovich said she saw Ledet slam his fists on the trunk of Normand’s car. As Normand moved closer to him, Ledet then shoved Normand, causing him to flip over the trunk of his car, Pavlovich said.
Normand then shot Ledet one time. Pavlovich was standing so close that the gunpowder burned her knuckles, she said. She started to run, but looked back to see Normand shoot Ledet several more times while Ledet was down on the ground.
Pavlovich said when she came back moments later, she saw Normand calmly leaning against his car. He had removed the clip from his gun, she said.
“He said ‘I’m fine, I’m fine. But he’s dead, he’s dead,’” Pavlovich recalled.
“I said, ‘I’m so sorry, Michael.’ He said, ‘Christina, you need to go to your condo. You need to go back inside.’”
Pavlovich said she turned to go and, from the corner of her eye, she saw Normand pick up the gun and put the clip back inside. She then heard a boom.
A regimented genius
Neighbor James Parr said nothing like this has ever happened in the 35 years that he has lived at the normally quiet condominiums. Normand did not like to interact with neighbors, Parr said.
“He was kind of a private individual,” Parr said. “He wasn’t very friendly, I’ll put it that way. He didn’t bother anybody that I know of. I would say he was more or less like an introvert or recluse or something like that.”
Pavlovich said she was one of Normand’s few friends and described him as comical and an intellectual genius, but also extremely regimented. The walls of his condo were lined from floor to ceiling with DVDs on religion, biology, science, nutrition and the law, she said.
“All he did, all day, every day, was watch lectures,” Pavlovich said. “One time he made me watch a lecture with him. I cracked his shell somehow.”
Normand “had always been alone,” said another neighbor, Disa Pierce, “He was very much into taking care of his cars. Maybe in lack of friendship, his cars were his friends.”
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Bayou Woods Condominiums, church security team training, David Hampton Ledet, loss prevention agent, loss prevention association, Michael A. Normand, national association of private officers, PRIVATE OFFICER INTERNATIONAL, security association, security guard, security guard association, security guard training, security officer, security officer assaociation, security police association, security training, www.privateofficer.com
Most money tainted with cocaine www.privateofficer.com
August 18, 2009
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RICHMOND, VA Aug 18 2009(WWBT) – The cash in your wallet gives new meaning to the phrase dirty money. A new study has found that 90 percent of it is actually tainted with cocaine.
“Wow!” said Loretta Deskins. “Incredible. I mean I knew it was laced with a whole lot of nasty germs but cocaine, wow!”
“I would never put it in my mouth and be tested for drugs and come out positive because of money,” said frequent cash user, Tenoiya Carter.
“It’s not going to be absorbed across skin,” said Evelyn Waring, education coordinator for the Virginia Poison Center.
While the finds of this study are alarming, she sees no cause for major concern.
“They’re talking about micro grams of cocaine that were found on the bills that they tested,” said Waring. “This simply wouldn’t be a dangerous dose even for a small child.”
Despite the findings most people don’t see it having an affect on the way they handle their cash.
“I still have to handle it so I guess I wouldn’t do anything differently,” said Carter.
Tainted by drug deals – and spread in ATMs. While the overall average for cocaine laced cash is at 90 percent, in Washington D.C. It’s a bit higher at 95 percent. Researchers used this information to raise public awareness about cocaine abuse being a world-wide problem.
“Wow!” said Loretta Deskins. “Incredible. I mean I knew it was laced with a whole lot of nasty germs but cocaine, wow!”
“I would never put it in my mouth and be tested for drugs and come out positive because of money,” said frequent cash user, Tenoiya Carter.
“It’s not going to be absorbed across skin,” said Evelyn Waring, education coordinator for the Virginia Poison Center.
While the finds of this study are alarming, she sees no cause for major concern.
“They’re talking about micro grams of cocaine that were found on the bills that they tested,” said Waring. “This simply wouldn’t be a dangerous dose even for a small child.”
Despite the findings most people don’t see it having an affect on the way they handle their cash.
“I still have to handle it so I guess I wouldn’t do anything differently,” said Carter.
Tainted by drug deals – and spread in ATMs. While the overall average for cocaine laced cash is at 90 percent, in Washington D.C. It’s a bit higher at 95 percent. Researchers used this information to raise public awareness about cocaine abuse being a world-wide problem.
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Hospital guard arrested for downloading child porn www.privateofficer.com
August 18, 2009
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SOMERS POINT NJ AUG 18 2009 – A hospital security guard was arrested Friday after it was found he allegedly downloaded thousands of pieces of child pornography at work.
John Handel, 56, who worked at Shore Memorial Hospital, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, Somers Point Capt. Michael Boyd said Monday. He has since been terminated, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Shore Memorial administrators called Thursday “in reference to an employee illegally downloading child porn onto hospital computers,” Boyd said.
An investigation by the Police Department and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Computer Crimes Unit found about 9,000 pictures depicting children in sex acts, Boyd said, adding that they were downloaded within a four-month period.
That averages to more than 80 photos per day in an average five-day week.
Police arrested Handel on Friday, and also searched his home in the Villas section of Lower Township with the assistance of the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office. Handel had no computer in the residence nor any other child pornography, police said.
The case was investigated by Somers Point Detective Roy Gandy and detectives from the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Computer Crimes Unit.
Shore Memorial’s Information and Technology Department noticed unusual Internet activity, spokeswoman Deepa Patel said. The department notified hospital officials who contacted police.
“Our cooperation throughout this investigation is what led to the arrest,” Patel said. “We will continue to cooperate fully.”
She said she could not comment further due to the ongoing investigation.
Handel was not listed in any facilities in the state Monday evening, according to personnel at the Atlantic County Jail.
John Handel, 56, who worked at Shore Memorial Hospital, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, Somers Point Capt. Michael Boyd said Monday. He has since been terminated, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Shore Memorial administrators called Thursday “in reference to an employee illegally downloading child porn onto hospital computers,” Boyd said.
An investigation by the Police Department and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Computer Crimes Unit found about 9,000 pictures depicting children in sex acts, Boyd said, adding that they were downloaded within a four-month period.
That averages to more than 80 photos per day in an average five-day week.
Police arrested Handel on Friday, and also searched his home in the Villas section of Lower Township with the assistance of the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office. Handel had no computer in the residence nor any other child pornography, police said.
The case was investigated by Somers Point Detective Roy Gandy and detectives from the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Computer Crimes Unit.
Shore Memorial’s Information and Technology Department noticed unusual Internet activity, spokeswoman Deepa Patel said. The department notified hospital officials who contacted police.
“Our cooperation throughout this investigation is what led to the arrest,” Patel said. “We will continue to cooperate fully.”
She said she could not comment further due to the ongoing investigation.
Handel was not listed in any facilities in the state Monday evening, according to personnel at the Atlantic County Jail.
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Milwaukee mayor attacked with pipe www.privateofficer.com
August 18, 2009
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MILWAUKEE Wi Aug 18 2009 — Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was hospitalized Sunday after a man attacked him with a metal pipe as the mayor tried to assist a grandmother screaming for help near the Wisconsin State Fair.
Barrett, 55, was in stable condition at a local hospital with a fractured hand and other head and hand wounds, official said.
The mayor had gone to the fair outside Milwaukee on Saturday night with his sister, two daughters and a niece. As the group left and walked to Barrett’s car, they heard a woman screaming for someone to call 911, police said.
Police said the woman was a grandmother who was trying to protect her 1-year-old granddaughter from a 20-year-old man, an assault authorities characterized as a domestic dispute.
“The mayor stopped and said something (to the man) like, ‘Let’s all cool down here, I’m going to call 911,’” the mayor’s spokesman Patrick Curley said. “He said it one or two times according to him. When he took out his phone, that’s when the suspect attacked him.”
The suspect hit Barrett in the head and torso with a metal pipe. Barrett apparently fought back, fracturing his hand when he punched the suspect.
“I think he hit the guy,” Curley said. “I don’t know where, but it was hard enough, whatever he hit, to fracture his hand.”
The suspect then fled the area when he heard sirens. He was arrested on Sunday at a Milwaukee home, and police recovered the alleged weapon. The woman and baby were uninjured.
The mayor, who did not ask for security to accompany him to the fair because he wasn’t on official duty, underwent successful surgery Sunday on his fractured right hand and also had cuts on his head and lip stitched up, Curley said. The mayor likely will remain in the hospital through Monday, he said.
The mayor’s brother, John Barrett, said the family was optimistic about the mayor’s recovery.
“We’re extremely proud of Tom’s selflessness and his courage,” John Barrett said, fighting back tears at a news conference.
Gov. Jim Doyle said he also visited Barrett at the hospital Sunday morning and found him in “good spirits and looking good considering what happened.”
“The mayor’s heroic actions clearly saved a woman and others from harm,” Doyle said in a statement.
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said authorities had no reason to believe the suspect knew it was the mayor he was attacking. Police said the suspect was intoxicated at the time, had wanted to see his daughter and had threatened to shoot himself and others.
Under the city’s line of succession, Common Council President Willie Hines would take command if the mayor were incapacitated. Curley said he briefed Hines but didn’t expect a transfer of power would be necessary because Barrett “is engaged, he’s conversational.”
Barrett was already planning to take this week off for a family vacation, Curley said.
The mayor’s only regret about the incident is that his family was there to witness what happened, Curley said.
“He said it was hard because his kids and niece were there at the time of incident,” Curley said. “He knew he had to (intervene). It was the right thing to do.”
Barrett was elected Milwaukee mayor in 2004 and re-elected last year with nearly 80 percent of the vote. He also served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1992 to 2002. His name also has begun circulating as a possible Democratic candidate for governor in 2010 after Doyle scheduled a news conference for Monday, reportedly to announce he will not seek a third term.
Barrett, 55, was in stable condition at a local hospital with a fractured hand and other head and hand wounds, official said.
The mayor had gone to the fair outside Milwaukee on Saturday night with his sister, two daughters and a niece. As the group left and walked to Barrett’s car, they heard a woman screaming for someone to call 911, police said.
Police said the woman was a grandmother who was trying to protect her 1-year-old granddaughter from a 20-year-old man, an assault authorities characterized as a domestic dispute.
“The mayor stopped and said something (to the man) like, ‘Let’s all cool down here, I’m going to call 911,’” the mayor’s spokesman Patrick Curley said. “He said it one or two times according to him. When he took out his phone, that’s when the suspect attacked him.”
The suspect hit Barrett in the head and torso with a metal pipe. Barrett apparently fought back, fracturing his hand when he punched the suspect.
“I think he hit the guy,” Curley said. “I don’t know where, but it was hard enough, whatever he hit, to fracture his hand.”
The suspect then fled the area when he heard sirens. He was arrested on Sunday at a Milwaukee home, and police recovered the alleged weapon. The woman and baby were uninjured.
The mayor, who did not ask for security to accompany him to the fair because he wasn’t on official duty, underwent successful surgery Sunday on his fractured right hand and also had cuts on his head and lip stitched up, Curley said. The mayor likely will remain in the hospital through Monday, he said.
The mayor’s brother, John Barrett, said the family was optimistic about the mayor’s recovery.
“We’re extremely proud of Tom’s selflessness and his courage,” John Barrett said, fighting back tears at a news conference.
Gov. Jim Doyle said he also visited Barrett at the hospital Sunday morning and found him in “good spirits and looking good considering what happened.”
“The mayor’s heroic actions clearly saved a woman and others from harm,” Doyle said in a statement.
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said authorities had no reason to believe the suspect knew it was the mayor he was attacking. Police said the suspect was intoxicated at the time, had wanted to see his daughter and had threatened to shoot himself and others.
Under the city’s line of succession, Common Council President Willie Hines would take command if the mayor were incapacitated. Curley said he briefed Hines but didn’t expect a transfer of power would be necessary because Barrett “is engaged, he’s conversational.”
Barrett was already planning to take this week off for a family vacation, Curley said.
The mayor’s only regret about the incident is that his family was there to witness what happened, Curley said.
“He said it was hard because his kids and niece were there at the time of incident,” Curley said. “He knew he had to (intervene). It was the right thing to do.”
Barrett was elected Milwaukee mayor in 2004 and re-elected last year with nearly 80 percent of the vote. He also served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1992 to 2002. His name also has begun circulating as a possible Democratic candidate for governor in 2010 after Doyle scheduled a news conference for Monday, reportedly to announce he will not seek a third term.
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Breaking News-Stunt perfomer killed at Disney World www.privateofficer.com
August 18, 2009
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Orlando Fla Aug 17 2009
A Walt Disney World cast member is dead after an accident this evening at Hollywood Studios.
A Walt Disney World cast member is dead after an accident this evening at Hollywood Studios.
The accident took place during a rehearsal for the ” Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.” The stunt performer was doing a tumbling roll after 7 p.m. when he was hurt. He was transported to the hospital and has since died.
“We lost a valued cast member and our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family as we mourn his passing,” said Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez.
The name of the performer has not been released.
Monday’s death was the third in less than two months.
On July 5, monorail driver Austin Wuennenberg, 21, died when another train backed into his own. He tried to back his train away, but it was too late. The Orange-Osceola medical examiner’s office said there were no drugs in his system, and he died of massive trauma
On August 10, Mark Priest, 47, died from complications he experienced after a bad on-stage fall at the Magic Kingdom.
Priest was performing a mock sword fight during Captain Jack’s Pirate Tutorial, an interactive show in which actors lead guests through a series of pirate-skills tests, when he stumbled on a wet spot on stage and banged into a wall, his best friend said. He appeared to be improving, but died four days later.
The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, known colloquially as “Epic” to Disney cast members, is performed several times each day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Disney performers don’t impersonate Harrison Ford and Karen Allen, the lead actors from the original Indy film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, but instead demonstrate the types of stunts used to film Indy and Marian’s adventures.
The 30-minute show opens with a dramatic sequence in which the actor representing Indiana Jones dodges moving spikes and swings on a rope to get to a treasure. During the rest of the presentation, cast members perform acrobatics, stage fights, dodge moving aircraft and avoid pyrotechnics. The famous rolling-ball scene is also re-created.
The show has been performed at Disney since 1989.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration as well and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office have been contacted. The Sheriff’s office is investigating.
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