Archive
OFFICER DOWN KANSAS
Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office
Kansas
End of Watch: Monday, September 28, 2009
Biographical Info
Age: 26
Tour of Duty: 1 year, 6 months
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Monday, September 28, 2009
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Shot and killed
Deputy Brian Etheridge was shot and killed after responding to a report of a larceny.
Deputy Etheridge was shot twice after arriving at a house on South Rock Road where the larceny was reported. He was transported to Wesley Medical Center and underwent surgery, but he succumbed to his wounds.
The suspect, a 27-year-old male, was spotted in a field about a quarter-mile from the shooting and was wounded as he exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officers. He also died from his wounds.
Deputy Etheridge had served with the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office for 18 months. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
Agency Contact Information
Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office
141 W Elm
Wichita, KS 67203
Phone: (316) 660-3900
Please contact the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
OFFICER DOWN—–TEXAS
Deputy Sheriff Francis David Blake
Burnet County Sheriff’s Department
Texas
End of Watch: Saturday, October 3, 2009
Biographical Info
Age: 42
Tour of Duty: 5 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Date of Incident: Saturday, October 3, 2009
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Deputy Francis Blake was killed in an automobile shortly after 1:00 am when his patrol car struck a deer on Highway 29. He was responding to a major accident at the time. The patrol car went out of control and struck a tree after colliding with the deer.
Deputy Blake had served with the agency for five years. He is survived by his wife and four children.
Agency Contact Information
Burnet County Sheriff’s Department
1601 E Polk Street
Burnet, TX 78611
Phone: (512) 756-8080
Please contact the Burnet County Sheriff’s Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
Security officer assaulted
Police say that a 47-year-old Canton man has been arrested for the alleged assault of a security guard after an altercation at a local theater.
Police said that the 36-year-old man from Southfield was causing a disturbance near the entrance of the Royal Oak Music Theater about 10:30 p.m.
When police arrived at the establishment on Fourth Street and Washington, security had the suspect pinned down on the street for being disorderly according to the report.
Security guards said the suspect was also threatening security officers, the report said
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Security officer in gunbattle with would-be robbers www.privateofficer.com
Police are looking for one of two men who got into a gun battle with a 71-year-old security guard at a 7-Eleven store earlier this week.
Officers are looking for Eric Oliveros, 24, of Pomona in the incident that started before midnight Wednesday when two men and a woman drove up to the parking lot in the 700 block of Holt Avenue.
An officer patrolling nearby heard shots, according to a police news release. The officer arrived to see Oliveros shoot at the guard. Oliveros ran when he saw the officer.
When the officer returned to the store, two people approached him saying they had been shot. Ricardo Rivera, 18, and a female relative were found with gunshot wounds.
Homicide detectives later determined Rivera and Oliveros had shot at the security guard, according to the statement.
Rivera and the woman were treated at a hospital. He was listed is in critical condition but expected to survive, according to the release.
The guard, a Chatsworth resident, was unharmed.
Crime tips can also be left anonymously by calling the WeTip hot line at (800) 78-CRIME
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Security officer robbed, injured www.privateofficer.com
A security guard in Colorado Springs was slightly hurt foiling a robbery Friday night.
Colorado Springs’ police report the guard confronted a man in the parking lot of a strip mall on South Academy Boulevard.
The security guard grabbed the gun and struggled with the man who bit the guard in the arm.
The guard wrestled the gun away and the man ran into a nearby apartment complex.
Police report the gun was a realistic BB gun that closely resembles a Walther PPK.
The suspect is described as a black male, thin build, 5’5″ tall wearing a grey jacket and black pants.
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Security helps nab man who pulled fire alarm www.privateofficer.com
A Green Sea man was charged with pulling the fire alarm at Conway Medical Center early Thursday, according to a police report.
Mark Anson Strickland, 42, was charged with pulling the fire alarm at 1:50 a.m. Thursday at the hospital at 300 Singleton Ridge Road, police said.
A security guard identified Strickland to police while he was in a waiting room near the emergency room, according to the report.
Strickland is being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center on $2,500 bail.
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Men arrested after robbing bank, disarming guard www.privateofficer.com
Two men from Oklahoma were charged Friday with aggravated bank robbery in connection with a heist Thursday morning at the First National Bank of South Holland.
The incident led to a high-speed chase and shootout through the south suburbs and down Illinois 394, where it ended in a four-vehicle crash that left a Sauk Village police officer injured.
Patrick Martin, 30, of Ada, and John Gower, 46, of Fairview, both were held without bond and sent to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. They will appear in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Oct. 7. If convicted, the men could face 25 years to life in prison, the FBI said.
The two men came to Chicago to rob banks and had planned the South Holland caper for several months, according to a release issued by the FBI.
The FBI said one of the men called the bank about 10 a.m. Thursday saying a bomb was there and it would be detonated if $200,000 was not given to a man who would be coming into the bank shortly.
A man the FBI identified as Martin then entered the bank with a handgun and wearing a black suit, ski mask and gloves. He disarmed a security guard and held bank employees at gunpoint for several minutes while employees put approximately $95,000 into two bags that he brought with him.
The robber then fled in a waiting van, with Gower in the passenger seat, the FBI said. South Holland and neighboring police departments gave chase after obtaining a description of the van from a witness.
South Holland Police Chief Warren Millsaps said that during the chase one of the suspects shot at police near 164th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue in South Holland and a South Holland police officer shot at the van as it sped toward him in a plaza parking lot in Lansing.
Police continued chasing the suspects through Thornton and Glenwood before the van went onto Illinois 394 at Glenwood-Dyer Road, Millsaps said.
The chase ended when the van rammed the Sauk Village squad car at Sauk Trail and caromed into a recreational vehicle waiting at a red light, Millsaps said. A South Holland squad car also was involved in the collision.
The Sauk Village police officer was taken to St. Margaret Mercy Hospital in Dyer, Ind., and later was released with minor injuries.
The suspects were treated for minor injuries before being taken into custody by South Holland police.
No explosive device was found after a search of the area around the bank
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Jackson MS. hires new police chief www.privateofficer.com
Rebecca Coleman realizes she has a huge task as she moves from overseeing 50 police officers at Jackson State University to almost 500 at the Jackson Police Department.
But the 57-year-old said she’s ready, pending approval from the City Council.
“The ultimate is to become the chief, and I had that desire … and I had set goals for myself,” she said.
Coleman, the mother of grown twin daughters, started her law enforcement career as a beat officer at JPD 35 years ago. Wanting to advance, she left after 20 years on the force to take a job as police chief in a small Texas town.
After less than a year in Texas, she returned home to take a job as JSU’s associate director of public safety. She became director in 1998.
“I’m happy and sad about moving on,” said Coleman, a Magee native.
JSU President Ronald Mason Jr. said Coleman helped instill discipline and order in the campus department. Her team of officers dealt with the disappearance and death of student Latasha Norman in 2007 and the recent investigation of hazing allegations against the JSU marching band.
“I think it’s a great move for the city,” Mason said. “She’s a seasoned professional who ran our campus safety department like a true captain.”
Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. and Coleman worked together on a JSU advisory council, and she chaired his transition team for public safety.
Coleman hasn’t committed to making any changes at JPD but said she wants to put more focus on domestic violence prevention.
Some others offered her some advice on Thursday.
Former JPD Chief Robert Johnson said Coleman needs to concentrate on surrounding herself with capable people. “That’ll be the key to her success or failure, how well she adapts to the change and whom she selects as her command staff,” he said.
Robert Johnson was chief from 1994-1997 and ran against Harvey Johnson for mayor this year. He said JPD has more troubles now than it did when he was in command.
There are issues with professionalism, low morale and diminishing resources, he said. And if Harvey Johnson is like he was in the ’90s, that could make things difficult, said Johnson, who’s now a private security consultant.
The mayor didn’t seem to trust others to make decisions and was not knowledgeable about how the department is run, he said. Harvey Johnson fired Robert Johnson. The mayor could not be reached for comment.
A good relationship with the mayor is important for a chief since the job is a political appointment, said Canton Assistant Police Chief Bracy Coleman, who isn’t related to Rebecca Coleman.
He graduated from the police academy with her, and they were partners at JPD. “She understands what goes on there, and she understands what is needed,” he said.
Ridgeland Police Chief Jimmy Houston has known Rebecca Coleman since 1974, when they worked together at JPD. He said she’ll be a good manager. The staff at JPD will work to her advantage.
“She’s got some excellent help,” he said.
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Man sent to prison for security officer assault www.privateofficer.com
An 18-year-old Columbia man who pleaded guilty to assaulting an apartment security guard was sentenced Friday to 8½ years in jail, with all but 18 months suspended.
Derrod Petterson, of the 8800 block of Flowestock Way, was one of several teenagers to confront the guard last May while the man sat off-duty in an unmarked car. One of the teenagers fired a shot that shattered the car window but did not strike the guard, who was punched as he left the vehicle.
Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McGuinn said the guard was attacked in retaliation for an altercation earlier in the day between one of the attackers and another guard. Petterson, who apologized during Friday’s hearing in Howard County Circuit Court, will also have five years of supervised probation after his release.
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Shoplifter nabbed after jumping from bridge www.privateofficer.com
A shoplifter ran from the Fairgrounds Square Mall more than a half-mile along a busy highway as a witness followed in a car, then jumped off a bridge onto the Carpenter Technology Corp. property before he was arrested, police said Wednesday.
Angel L. Tolentino, 41, of the 200 block of Windsor Street was arrested Tuesday afternoon on the grounds of the plant in Muhlenberg Township.
He was committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail after arraignment before Senior District Judge Richard A. Gatti in Reading Central Court on charges of robbery, theft and criminal trespass.
Police gave this account:
Mall security guard Kenneth Albino-Lucas was on patrol about 3:30 p.m. when James Schlegel, manager of the JC Penney store, asked him to stop Tolentino because he had stolen some items.
When Albino-Lucas approached Tolentino, Tolentino warned him to get away, saying he had a gun, even though he didn’t show one. Tolentino ran through the parking lot and Albino-Lucas followed.
Police received a 9-1-1 call from a witness in a car, Lester Kissinger Jr., address unavailable, who saw the guard chasing Tolentino a short distance away at Route 61 and George Street.
Albino-Lucas broke off the chase but Kissinger followed, giving police updates from his cell phone as Tolentino ran along Route 61 then up and onto the Route 12 overpass.
Kissinger continued to follow Tolentino until Tolentino jumped off a bridge into a wooded area at Carpernter.
Muhlenberg police Sgt. Jeffrey W. Doelp and Officer Wayne S. Moreland entered the Carpenter property on the south side of Route 12.
As the policemen approached, Tolentino emerged from the woods and was taken into custody.
Police retrieved a bag that witnesses said Tolentino threw into a trash container behind the mall. The bag contained four pairs of new sneakers with a total value of $140.
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Former Fla. A&M student sent to prison in grade scandal www.privateofficer.com
Former Florida A&M University student Marcus Barrington, 23, was sentenced Monday to 84 months (or 7 years) in federal prison for his involvement in a March grade change scandal.
Barrington’s accomplices and FAMU students, Lawrence Secrease, 22, and Christopher Jacquette, 27, pleaded guilty and are currently serving their 22-month sentences.
This brings an end to Barrington’s sentencing schedule, which has been delayed several times.
In a unanimous decision in March, a 12-member jury found Barrington guilty on five counts of conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud.
Barrington, Secrease and Jacquette were indicted last October for changing 650 grades that affected 90 students. Some students had failing grades changed to A’s and students who had out-of-state tuition had their residency changed, which lowered their tuition fees.
FAMU lost more than $100,000 as a result of the computer changes. During the trial, Assistant U.S Attorney Eric Mountain, who prosecuted the case, said early detection of the security breach saved the university from losing more money.
During his five-day trial, Barrington took the stand and denied any wrongdoing. His defense attorney argued that no fingerprints were taken when evidence was collected during the investigation.
According to the federal indictment, between June and December 2007, the three men installed keystroke loggers on university computers in the “registrar’s office to access and alter student records stored on the People Soft” system.
On Dec. 2, 2008, Jacquette entered a guilty plea to the indictment alleging that he had conspired with Secrease and Barrington, to hack into the FAMU system to change grades and residency status. The federal courts considered Secrease and Jacquette’s guilty pleas and their court testimony as part of their sentencing
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Two Houston area police officers killed on wet roads www.privateofficer.com
Wet roads played a role in two separate accidents that left two law enforcement officers dead Saturday night.
Precinct 3 Deputy Constable Robert Clenney, 38, was en route to an off-duty security job when his small SUV was hit from behind by another car on South Main in East Harris County. The deputy lost control and spun into oncoming traffic where he was hit head-on by a pick-up truck. The driver of the truck was not injured.
“It’s really hard for us right now, we didn’t see this coming,” said the deputy’s widow, Denise Clenney, a mother of two little girls. “He was an outstanding husband, father, and a great police officer. It was his dream to be a police officer. I’m lucky to have as much time as I did with him,” she said. Deputy Clenney had been with the department for just 11 months. He worked in food service before becoming a law enforcement officer.
Just minutes before the deputy died, tragedy struck in Baytown less than two miles away. Baytown Police Sergeant George Drude, 40, lost control of his pick-up truck on the rain soaked roads and crashed into a concrete culvert on John Martin Road. The 15-year veteran of the department was killed instantly.
“You get a feeling of helplessness when you lose one of your own,” said Baytown Lieutenant Eric Freed, who worked with Drude for more than a decade. “We made a lot of disturbance calls together on the streets. He was great at problem solving, very dedicated to the job and he had a really great way with the public,” said Freed.
In a disturbing revelation, the Harris County Sheriff’s Department says neither officer was wearing his seatbelt. Precinct 3 Constable Ken Jones thinks there’s a lesson to be learned. “There’s definitely a message, wear the seatbelt, it’s there for a reason, it can save your life,” he said.
And to make matters worse in Deputy Clenney’s accident, the first car that hit him never stopped. Police say they have physical evidence from the scene and hope to find the driver who could face charges. “Everything happens for a reason. Even if it was an accident, please come forward. I’m a forgiving person and I don’t hold grudges and neither did Robert,’ said Denise Clenney.
The Precinct 3 Constable’s office is planning a fundraiser for the Clenney family. Mrs. Clenney is a stay-at-home mom who is going to school. “We could really use all the help we can get,” she said.
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