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TASER issues new warning on shooting into chest area www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.Oct 22 2009 — The maker of TASER stun guns is advising police officers to avoid shooting suspects in the chest with the 50,000-volt weapon, saying that it could pose an extremely low risk of an “adverse cardiac event.”
The advisory, issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin, is the first time that TASER International has suggested there is any risk of a cardiac arrest related to the discharge of its stun gun.
But TASER officials said Tuesday that the bulletin does not state that TASERs can cause cardiac arrest. They said the advisory means only that law-enforcement agencies can avoid controversy over the subject if their officers aim at areas other than the chest.
The recommendation could raise questions about whether police officers will find it more difficult to accurately direct the probes emitted by a TASER gun at a recommended body area in order to subdue a suspect. TASER officials say the change won’t hinder officers’ ability to use TASERs.
In a memo accompanying the bulletin, TASER officials point out that officers can still shoot the guns at a suspect’s chest, if needed.
Police departments across the United States and in Canada and Australia reacted immediately to the bulletin, with some ordering officers to follow TASER’s instructions and begin aiming at the abdomen, legs or back of a suspect.
Officials with the Phoenix Police Department, one of the first in the country to arm all its officers with TASERs, said Tuesday that the new guidelines are being adopted by trainers who are reviewing departmental policy for possible changes.
Critics, including civil-rights lawyers and human-rights advocates, called the training bulletin an admission by TASER that its guns could cause cardiac arrest. They called it a stunning reversal for the company, which for years has maintained that the gun was incapable of inducing a cardiac arrest.
Scottsdale-based TASER insisted that the revision admitted no risk of cardiac arrest and served only as risk-management advice for law enforcement.
In the past, TASER has cautioned that use of its stun gun involves risk inherent in police-suspect conflicts, including the risk that suspects fall after being struck by a TASER.
“TASER has long stood by the fact that our technology is not risk-free and is often used during violent and dangerous confrontations,” TASER Vice President Steve Tuttle said in an e-mail. “We have not stated that the TASER causes (cardiac) events in this bulletin, only that the refined target zones avoid any potential controversy on this topic.”
TASER’s training bulletin states that “the risk of an adverse cardiac event related to a TASER. .. discharge is deemed to be extremely low.” However, the bulletin says, it is impossible to predict human reactions when a combination of drug use or underlying cardiac or other medical conditions are involved.
“Should sudden cardiac arrest occur in a scenario involving a TASER discharge to the chest area, it would place the law-enforcement agency, the officer and TASER International in the difficult situation of trying to ascertain what role, if any, the TASER. .. could have played,” the bulletin says.
The bulletin recommends that when aiming at the front of a suspect, the best target for officers is the major muscles of the pelvic area or thigh region. “Back shots remain the preferred area when practical,” it says.
For years, TASER officials have said in interviews, court cases and government hearings that the stun gun is incapable of inducing ventricular fibrillation, the chaotic heart rhythm characteristic of a heart attack.
The guns are used by more than 12,000 police agencies across the country, including every major law-enforcement agency in the Valley. Many authorities credit the weapon with preventing deaths and injuries to officers and suspects.
Advocacy groups such as Amnesty International allege that TASER guns are often used by police as a compliance tool on unarmed individuals who pose no deadly threat, who are drunk or on drugs and simply quarrel with officers.
Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union, who has tracked TASER issues for years, said the bulletin means that police departments should now be asking questions about liability and reconsider how the stun gun is used.
“This is further evidence that law-enforcement agencies need to stop and ask if they have been sold a bill of goods,” he said. “This (training) bulletin confirms what critics have said for years: that TASER has overstated its safety claims.. .. (It) has to be read as if TASERs can cause cardiac arrest.”
Since 2001, there have been more than 400 deaths following police TASER strikes in the United States and 26 in Canada. Medical examiners have ruled that a TASER was a cause, contributing factor or could not be ruled out in more than 30 of those deaths.
The training bulletin is drawing significant attention in Canada, where controversy erupted after the 2007 death of a Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport. The man stopped breathing after being shocked five times by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers.
A Canadian government investigation in July concluded that TASER stun guns can cause death, spurring law-enforcement agencies across the country to put severe new restrictions on how and when police there can use the weapons.
In view of TASER’s bulletin, the Mounties revised policies to urge officers to avoid firing at suspects’ chests.
The advisory, issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin, is the first time that TASER International has suggested there is any risk of a cardiac arrest related to the discharge of its stun gun.
But TASER officials said Tuesday that the bulletin does not state that TASERs can cause cardiac arrest. They said the advisory means only that law-enforcement agencies can avoid controversy over the subject if their officers aim at areas other than the chest.
The recommendation could raise questions about whether police officers will find it more difficult to accurately direct the probes emitted by a TASER gun at a recommended body area in order to subdue a suspect. TASER officials say the change won’t hinder officers’ ability to use TASERs.
In a memo accompanying the bulletin, TASER officials point out that officers can still shoot the guns at a suspect’s chest, if needed.
Police departments across the United States and in Canada and Australia reacted immediately to the bulletin, with some ordering officers to follow TASER’s instructions and begin aiming at the abdomen, legs or back of a suspect.
Officials with the Phoenix Police Department, one of the first in the country to arm all its officers with TASERs, said Tuesday that the new guidelines are being adopted by trainers who are reviewing departmental policy for possible changes.
Critics, including civil-rights lawyers and human-rights advocates, called the training bulletin an admission by TASER that its guns could cause cardiac arrest. They called it a stunning reversal for the company, which for years has maintained that the gun was incapable of inducing a cardiac arrest.
Scottsdale-based TASER insisted that the revision admitted no risk of cardiac arrest and served only as risk-management advice for law enforcement.
In the past, TASER has cautioned that use of its stun gun involves risk inherent in police-suspect conflicts, including the risk that suspects fall after being struck by a TASER.
“TASER has long stood by the fact that our technology is not risk-free and is often used during violent and dangerous confrontations,” TASER Vice President Steve Tuttle said in an e-mail. “We have not stated that the TASER causes (cardiac) events in this bulletin, only that the refined target zones avoid any potential controversy on this topic.”
TASER’s training bulletin states that “the risk of an adverse cardiac event related to a TASER. .. discharge is deemed to be extremely low.” However, the bulletin says, it is impossible to predict human reactions when a combination of drug use or underlying cardiac or other medical conditions are involved.
“Should sudden cardiac arrest occur in a scenario involving a TASER discharge to the chest area, it would place the law-enforcement agency, the officer and TASER International in the difficult situation of trying to ascertain what role, if any, the TASER. .. could have played,” the bulletin says.
The bulletin recommends that when aiming at the front of a suspect, the best target for officers is the major muscles of the pelvic area or thigh region. “Back shots remain the preferred area when practical,” it says.
For years, TASER officials have said in interviews, court cases and government hearings that the stun gun is incapable of inducing ventricular fibrillation, the chaotic heart rhythm characteristic of a heart attack.
The guns are used by more than 12,000 police agencies across the country, including every major law-enforcement agency in the Valley. Many authorities credit the weapon with preventing deaths and injuries to officers and suspects.
Advocacy groups such as Amnesty International allege that TASER guns are often used by police as a compliance tool on unarmed individuals who pose no deadly threat, who are drunk or on drugs and simply quarrel with officers.
Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union, who has tracked TASER issues for years, said the bulletin means that police departments should now be asking questions about liability and reconsider how the stun gun is used.
“This is further evidence that law-enforcement agencies need to stop and ask if they have been sold a bill of goods,” he said. “This (training) bulletin confirms what critics have said for years: that TASER has overstated its safety claims.. .. (It) has to be read as if TASERs can cause cardiac arrest.”
Since 2001, there have been more than 400 deaths following police TASER strikes in the United States and 26 in Canada. Medical examiners have ruled that a TASER was a cause, contributing factor or could not be ruled out in more than 30 of those deaths.
The training bulletin is drawing significant attention in Canada, where controversy erupted after the 2007 death of a Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport. The man stopped breathing after being shocked five times by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers.
A Canadian government investigation in July concluded that TASER stun guns can cause death, spurring law-enforcement agencies across the country to put severe new restrictions on how and when police there can use the weapons.
In view of TASER’s bulletin, the Mounties revised policies to urge officers to avoid firing at suspects’ chests.
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Boston man charged in terror plot www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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BOSTON MA Oct 22 2009 — A pharmacy college graduate made a defiant appearance in federal court Wednesday, hours after being charged with conspiring with two other men in a terror plot to kill two prominent U.S. politicians and carry out a holy war by attacking shoppers in U.S. malls and American troops in Iraq.
Authorities say the men’s plans – in which they used code words like “peanut butter and jelly” for fighting in Somalia and “culinary school” for terrorist camps – were thwarted in part when they could not find training and were unable to buy automatic weapons, authorities said.
Tarek Mehanna, 27, was arrested Wednesday morning at his parents’ home in Sudbury, an upscale suburb 20 miles west of Boston, and appeared for a brief hearing later in the day. When ordered by the judge to stand to hear the charge against him, he refused. He finally did stand – tossing his chair loudly to the floor – only after his father urged him to do so.
“This really, really is a show,” his father, Ahmed Mehanna, said afterward. When asked if he believed the charges against his son, he said, “No, definitely not.”
Prosecutors say Tarek Mehanna worked with two men from 2001 to May 2008 on the conspiracy to “kill, kidnap, maim or injure” soldiers and two politicians who were members of the executive branch but are no longer in office. Authorities refused to identify the politicians.
Mehanna – a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in Boston, where his father is a professor – conspired with Ahmad Abousamra, who authorities say is now in Syria, and an unnamed man, who is cooperating in the investigation, according to authorities.
The three men often discussed their desire to participate in “violent jihad against American interests” and talked about “their desire to die on the battlefield,” prosecutors said. But when they were unable to join terror groups in Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan, they found inspiration in the Washington-area sniper shootings and turned their interests to domestic terror pursuits while they plotted the attack on shopping malls, authorities said.
Mehanna had “multiple conversations about obtaining automatic weapons and randomly shooting people in shopping malls,” Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Loucks said. Prosecutors would not say which malls had been targeted.
Loucks said the men justified attacks because U.S. civilians pay taxes to support the U.S. government and because they are “nonbelievers.”
The mall plan was abandoned after the men failed to track down automatic weapons, Loucks said.
Mehanna’s attorney, J.W. Carney Jr., would not comment on the allegations. Mehanna is being held until his next court appearance on Oct. 30.
Court documents filed by the government say that in 2002 or 2003, Abousamra became frustrated after repeatedly being rejected to join terror groups in Pakistan – first Lashkar e Tayyiba, then the Taliban.
“Because Abousamra was an Arab (not Pakistani) the LeT camp would not accept him, and because of Abousamra’s lack of experience, the Taliban camp would not accept him,” FBI Special Agent Heidi Williams wrote in the affidavit.
Mehanna and Abousamra traveled to Yemen in 2004 in an attempt to join a terrorist training camp.
Mehanna allegedly told a friend, the third conspirator who is now cooperating with authorities, that their trip was a failure because they were unable to reach people affiliated with the camps. The men, who had allegedly received tips on whom to meet from a person identified in court documents as “Individual A,” said half the people they wanted to see were on “hajj,” referring to the pilgrimage to Mecca in Islam, and half were in jail.
“They traveled all over the country looking for the people Individual A told them to meet,” authorities allege in the criminal complaint.
Abousamra was rejected by a terror group when he sought training in Iraq because he was American, authorities said.
The men later decided they were not going to be able to get terror training in Pakistan and “began exploring other options, including terrorist acts in the United States,” the affidavit said.
Mehanna, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in November and charged with lying to the FBI in December 2006 when asked the whereabouts of Daniel Maldonado, who is now serving a 10-year prison sentence for training with al-Qaida to overthrow the Somali government.
Mehanna told the FBI that Maldonado was living in Egypt and working for a Web site. But authorities said Maldonado had called Mehanna from Somalia urging him to join him in “training for jihad.”
Authorities said Wednesday that Mehanna and his conspirators had contacted Maldonado about getting automatic weapons for their planned mall attacks.
Carney, who represented Mehanna in the previous case, said at the time: “If this is the FBI’s idea of a terrorist, they are using a net that is designed to catch minnows instead of sharks.”
After his arrest, Mehanna developed a cult following among Muslim civil rights groups and Web sites that believed Mehanna was wrongly arrested. Web sites like the London-based cageprisoners.com, a human rights group that advocates for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees as part of the U.S. war on terror, asked supporters to write Mehanna in prison to keep up his spirits.
The site MuslimMatters.org asked supporters to pray for his release and published a letter they said Mehanna wrote from prison.
In the letter, Mehanna thanked supporters and said he was being treated well.
“I can only think of the countless imprisoned Muslims in the jails of tyrants around the globe and hope that if it is not Allah’s Decree to free them in the near future, that they taste the sweetness that Allah has placed them in prison to taste,” Mehanna wrote.
He signed the letter, “Your brother in the green jumpsuit.”
Authorities say the men’s plans – in which they used code words like “peanut butter and jelly” for fighting in Somalia and “culinary school” for terrorist camps – were thwarted in part when they could not find training and were unable to buy automatic weapons, authorities said.
Tarek Mehanna, 27, was arrested Wednesday morning at his parents’ home in Sudbury, an upscale suburb 20 miles west of Boston, and appeared for a brief hearing later in the day. When ordered by the judge to stand to hear the charge against him, he refused. He finally did stand – tossing his chair loudly to the floor – only after his father urged him to do so.
“This really, really is a show,” his father, Ahmed Mehanna, said afterward. When asked if he believed the charges against his son, he said, “No, definitely not.”
Prosecutors say Tarek Mehanna worked with two men from 2001 to May 2008 on the conspiracy to “kill, kidnap, maim or injure” soldiers and two politicians who were members of the executive branch but are no longer in office. Authorities refused to identify the politicians.
Mehanna – a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in Boston, where his father is a professor – conspired with Ahmad Abousamra, who authorities say is now in Syria, and an unnamed man, who is cooperating in the investigation, according to authorities.
The three men often discussed their desire to participate in “violent jihad against American interests” and talked about “their desire to die on the battlefield,” prosecutors said. But when they were unable to join terror groups in Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan, they found inspiration in the Washington-area sniper shootings and turned their interests to domestic terror pursuits while they plotted the attack on shopping malls, authorities said.
Mehanna had “multiple conversations about obtaining automatic weapons and randomly shooting people in shopping malls,” Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Loucks said. Prosecutors would not say which malls had been targeted.
Loucks said the men justified attacks because U.S. civilians pay taxes to support the U.S. government and because they are “nonbelievers.”
The mall plan was abandoned after the men failed to track down automatic weapons, Loucks said.
Mehanna’s attorney, J.W. Carney Jr., would not comment on the allegations. Mehanna is being held until his next court appearance on Oct. 30.
Court documents filed by the government say that in 2002 or 2003, Abousamra became frustrated after repeatedly being rejected to join terror groups in Pakistan – first Lashkar e Tayyiba, then the Taliban.
“Because Abousamra was an Arab (not Pakistani) the LeT camp would not accept him, and because of Abousamra’s lack of experience, the Taliban camp would not accept him,” FBI Special Agent Heidi Williams wrote in the affidavit.
Mehanna and Abousamra traveled to Yemen in 2004 in an attempt to join a terrorist training camp.
Mehanna allegedly told a friend, the third conspirator who is now cooperating with authorities, that their trip was a failure because they were unable to reach people affiliated with the camps. The men, who had allegedly received tips on whom to meet from a person identified in court documents as “Individual A,” said half the people they wanted to see were on “hajj,” referring to the pilgrimage to Mecca in Islam, and half were in jail.
“They traveled all over the country looking for the people Individual A told them to meet,” authorities allege in the criminal complaint.
Abousamra was rejected by a terror group when he sought training in Iraq because he was American, authorities said.
The men later decided they were not going to be able to get terror training in Pakistan and “began exploring other options, including terrorist acts in the United States,” the affidavit said.
Mehanna, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in November and charged with lying to the FBI in December 2006 when asked the whereabouts of Daniel Maldonado, who is now serving a 10-year prison sentence for training with al-Qaida to overthrow the Somali government.
Mehanna told the FBI that Maldonado was living in Egypt and working for a Web site. But authorities said Maldonado had called Mehanna from Somalia urging him to join him in “training for jihad.”
Authorities said Wednesday that Mehanna and his conspirators had contacted Maldonado about getting automatic weapons for their planned mall attacks.
Carney, who represented Mehanna in the previous case, said at the time: “If this is the FBI’s idea of a terrorist, they are using a net that is designed to catch minnows instead of sharks.”
After his arrest, Mehanna developed a cult following among Muslim civil rights groups and Web sites that believed Mehanna was wrongly arrested. Web sites like the London-based cageprisoners.com, a human rights group that advocates for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees as part of the U.S. war on terror, asked supporters to write Mehanna in prison to keep up his spirits.
The site MuslimMatters.org asked supporters to pray for his release and published a letter they said Mehanna wrote from prison.
In the letter, Mehanna thanked supporters and said he was being treated well.
“I can only think of the countless imprisoned Muslims in the jails of tyrants around the globe and hope that if it is not Allah’s Decree to free them in the near future, that they taste the sweetness that Allah has placed them in prison to taste,” Mehanna wrote.
He signed the letter, “Your brother in the green jumpsuit.”
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Categories: police
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Robber hugs, and prays with victim before fleeing www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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INDIANAPOLIS IN Oct 22 2009
A man who police said was involved in a bizarre robbery in which he hugged and prayed with a frightened store clerk turned himself in after his mother saw him on TV.
Indianapolis police Lt. Jeff Duhamell said Gregory Smith, 23, had a gun when he went to the Advance America Store in the 900 block of East Washington Street Monday.
Police said Smith jumped behind the counter and pointed a gun at the female clerk, but then became remorseful when she began crying and talking about God.
“He, at that time, starts to basically console her,” said Indianapolis police Detective Kevin Wethington.
Police said the robber told the clerk that he hated to do it, but times are hard and he has a 2-year-old child to support.
Surveillance video showed the clerk praying with the robber, who even went so far as to hug the frightened female clerk.
“They were actually praying at this point about the decisions that he’s making,” Wethington said.
When the clerk pleaded with the gunman not to shoot her, police said he made a shocking gesture to put her at ease.
“He reaches down, hands her the bullet out of his gun,” Wethington said.
After 30 minutes of conversation with the clerk, the robber grabbed about $20 from the register and the clerk’s cell phone before he left, investigators said.
Police said Smith was identified in a police photo lineup on Tuesday. He is expected to be charged with robbery
A man who police said was involved in a bizarre robbery in which he hugged and prayed with a frightened store clerk turned himself in after his mother saw him on TV.
Indianapolis police Lt. Jeff Duhamell said Gregory Smith, 23, had a gun when he went to the Advance America Store in the 900 block of East Washington Street Monday.
Police said Smith jumped behind the counter and pointed a gun at the female clerk, but then became remorseful when she began crying and talking about God.
“He, at that time, starts to basically console her,” said Indianapolis police Detective Kevin Wethington.
Police said the robber told the clerk that he hated to do it, but times are hard and he has a 2-year-old child to support.
Surveillance video showed the clerk praying with the robber, who even went so far as to hug the frightened female clerk.
“They were actually praying at this point about the decisions that he’s making,” Wethington said.
When the clerk pleaded with the gunman not to shoot her, police said he made a shocking gesture to put her at ease.
“He reaches down, hands her the bullet out of his gun,” Wethington said.
After 30 minutes of conversation with the clerk, the robber grabbed about $20 from the register and the clerk’s cell phone before he left, investigators said.
Police said Smith was identified in a police photo lineup on Tuesday. He is expected to be charged with robbery
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Categories: police, wierd news
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Newark airport security guard charged with threats on Obama www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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NEWARK NJ Oct 22 2009– A casual chat at a coffee cart in Newark Liberty International Airport sparked a national security threat and a full-blown U.S. Secret Service investigation today on the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to the state.
John Brek, 55, of Linden, was charged today with a third-degree count of making terroristic threats after two airport employees alerted police to comments Brek made about Obama Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
The police found 43 guns, said Paul Kelly, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and Jersey.
While authorities have not finished processing the weapons, so far none of them appear to have been illegally acquired. Kelly said.
A private security guard at the airport, Brek denied making the threats and consented to the search of his home, said U.S. Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley, who declined to elaborate on the nature of the alleged threats made against the President.
“We get scores of these every day,” Wiley said. “This is not uncommon.”
Brek faces up to five years in prison if he is convicted.
He is currently being held in Essex County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned today at 1 p.m., said Essex County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Paul Loriquet.
Shocked relatives and friends described Brek as a deeply patriotic gun lover who collected the weapons over time and often went on weekend hunting trips.
An American flag was taped to Brek’s door, as well as signs that said “God Bless America” and “United We Stand.”
Brek’s father, also named John, said his son kept the guns, some single-shot and other automatic weapons, because he was an avid hunter of deer and rabbit.
Brek, 79, said his son was also not violent and rarely became agitated in political discussions, adding his son was a Republican and a member of the National Rifle Association.
Brek is employed by Floral Park, N.Y.-based FJC Security Services Inc., which has a contract with the Port Authority. Its employees screen airport workers to ensure they have proper credentials, Kelly said.
Patrick J. Conroy, executive vice president of FJC, said the company is working with authorities investigating the alleged threat.
Brek has been assigned to the Newark airport for the majority of his six years with the company, Conroy said.
John Brek, 55, of Linden, was charged today with a third-degree count of making terroristic threats after two airport employees alerted police to comments Brek made about Obama Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
The police found 43 guns, said Paul Kelly, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and Jersey.
While authorities have not finished processing the weapons, so far none of them appear to have been illegally acquired. Kelly said.
A private security guard at the airport, Brek denied making the threats and consented to the search of his home, said U.S. Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley, who declined to elaborate on the nature of the alleged threats made against the President.
“We get scores of these every day,” Wiley said. “This is not uncommon.”
Brek faces up to five years in prison if he is convicted.
He is currently being held in Essex County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned today at 1 p.m., said Essex County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Paul Loriquet.
Shocked relatives and friends described Brek as a deeply patriotic gun lover who collected the weapons over time and often went on weekend hunting trips.
An American flag was taped to Brek’s door, as well as signs that said “God Bless America” and “United We Stand.”
Brek’s father, also named John, said his son kept the guns, some single-shot and other automatic weapons, because he was an avid hunter of deer and rabbit.
Brek, 79, said his son was also not violent and rarely became agitated in political discussions, adding his son was a Republican and a member of the National Rifle Association.
Brek is employed by Floral Park, N.Y.-based FJC Security Services Inc., which has a contract with the Port Authority. Its employees screen airport workers to ensure they have proper credentials, Kelly said.
Patrick J. Conroy, executive vice president of FJC, said the company is working with authorities investigating the alleged threat.
Brek has been assigned to the Newark airport for the majority of his six years with the company, Conroy said.
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Cleveland Ohio teacher arrested for sexual battery of student www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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CLEVELAND OH Oct 22 2009 — The Cleveland police sex crimes unit arrested St. Joseph Academy drama and choir director Patrick Janson at his Westlake home this morning on a warrant for sexual battery involving a former student.
The sex crimes unit had been investigating a report of an illicit relationship between a teacher and one or more current or former students at the school, police Lt. Tom Stacho said.
Janson, 42, had been placed on administrative leave when the investigation got underway Sept. 26 and another teacher resigned at the same time for failing to report the information to officials, as required by school rules.
School officials said today that Janson’s emplyment there has been terminated.
“We are asking for the public’s help in identifying and contacting any young ladies who may have had an improper relationship with a teacher at St. Joseph Academy,” said Lt. Michael Baumiller, head of Cleveland’s sex crimes unit.
Below is a statement released today from St. Joseph Academy President Mary Ann Corrigan-Davis:
“Everyone at Saint Joseph Academy was saddened by the news today that Mr. Patrick Janson, a former teacher at Saint Joseph Academy , was arrested and charged with a crime because of a sexual relationship with a former student who graduated from Saint Joseph Academy some time ago.
As soon as we had information about these allegations, we contacted the police and placed him on leave.
He was instructed not to have contact with any members of the Saint Joseph Academy community. We terminated his employment today.
We are grateful to the Cleveland Police for their handling of this case. As soon as we notified them of the allegations, they made this case a top priority.
Their behavior and approach with members of this community have been very professional and caring, making it easier for everyone here to get through this very difficult time.
This is devastating to everyone at Saint Joseph Academy. Every adult connected with our school has a responsibility to nurture and protect our students so they can reach their greatest potential.
We are simply aghast that someone on our faculty apparently did harm to them.
We are proud of the young women who cooperated with this investigation and provided the information that led to his arrest. We know how traumatic that can be and, as a community, we are all praying for them and will offer them whatever support we can.
Saint Joseph Academy is a very special place and we cannot let the deeds of one individual — however contemptible — overshadow the good of so many.”
Corrigan-Davis is a 1971 St. Joseph Academy graduate.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit at (216) 623-5630
The sex crimes unit had been investigating a report of an illicit relationship between a teacher and one or more current or former students at the school, police Lt. Tom Stacho said.
Janson, 42, had been placed on administrative leave when the investigation got underway Sept. 26 and another teacher resigned at the same time for failing to report the information to officials, as required by school rules.
School officials said today that Janson’s emplyment there has been terminated.
“We are asking for the public’s help in identifying and contacting any young ladies who may have had an improper relationship with a teacher at St. Joseph Academy,” said Lt. Michael Baumiller, head of Cleveland’s sex crimes unit.
Below is a statement released today from St. Joseph Academy President Mary Ann Corrigan-Davis:
“Everyone at Saint Joseph Academy was saddened by the news today that Mr. Patrick Janson, a former teacher at Saint Joseph Academy , was arrested and charged with a crime because of a sexual relationship with a former student who graduated from Saint Joseph Academy some time ago.
As soon as we had information about these allegations, we contacted the police and placed him on leave.
He was instructed not to have contact with any members of the Saint Joseph Academy community. We terminated his employment today.
We are grateful to the Cleveland Police for their handling of this case. As soon as we notified them of the allegations, they made this case a top priority.
Their behavior and approach with members of this community have been very professional and caring, making it easier for everyone here to get through this very difficult time.
This is devastating to everyone at Saint Joseph Academy. Every adult connected with our school has a responsibility to nurture and protect our students so they can reach their greatest potential.
We are simply aghast that someone on our faculty apparently did harm to them.
We are proud of the young women who cooperated with this investigation and provided the information that led to his arrest. We know how traumatic that can be and, as a community, we are all praying for them and will offer them whatever support we can.
Saint Joseph Academy is a very special place and we cannot let the deeds of one individual — however contemptible — overshadow the good of so many.”
Corrigan-Davis is a 1971 St. Joseph Academy graduate.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit at (216) 623-5630
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Mall shoplifter head-butts security, tangles with police www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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Spartanburg SC Oct 22 2009
Jeffrey Lostraglio’s Gore-Tex jacket is supposed to be impenetrable to water, but Monday it unexpectedly needed to block the teeth of a Pennsylvania man.
Lostraglio was helping Spartanburg Public Safety Officer Roger Morton arrest a shoplifting suspect who authorities say had head-butted Morton three times and assaulted two WestGate Mall security guards Monday night when the man bit his arm and later spit blood on Lostraglio.
“He bit the pudding out of me,” said Lostraglio of Gaffney.
Although the jacket kept the teeth from puncturing his skin, Lostraglio said soreness remained.
“It’s pretty wicked,” he said. “It ain’t unbearable, but it ain’t comfortable.”
Additional officers arrived and arrested David Conway, 20, of Quakertown, Penn.
Conway was charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, resisting arrest with assault, two counts of simple assault and battery, public disorderly conduct and shoplifting. He remained in Spartanburg County jail Tuesday night.
Lostraglio and Morton were taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center for treatment. Spartanburg Public Safety Capt. Art Littlejohn said Morton suffered a “non-dislocated fracture to his nose” and needed two stitches on cuts caused when Conway head-butted Morton’s glasses. Morton also suffered a sprained left thumb, but none of the injuries required “special treatment.”
According to the incident report, an employee of Hot Stuff, a mall kiosk, contacted security accusing Conway of stealing a purse. Lostraglio said he was working at a nearby kiosk when security approached Conway, and said Conway became aggressive, taking off his shirt.
The officer arrived and placed one handcuff on Conway before the man turned and head-butted Morton, according to the report.
Lostraglio and mall security assisted Morton until other officers arrived. Lostraglio said he went to the hospital because Conway spit blood on him and in his mouth during the fracas.
He said he saw Morton there, and Morton thanked him for the help. Lostraglio was released after about two hours.
Lostraglio said he was trying to get Conway to calm down. When told of the charges against Conway on Tuesday night, Lostraglio said, “I guess he woke up this morning and had a bad day.
Jeffrey Lostraglio’s Gore-Tex jacket is supposed to be impenetrable to water, but Monday it unexpectedly needed to block the teeth of a Pennsylvania man.
Lostraglio was helping Spartanburg Public Safety Officer Roger Morton arrest a shoplifting suspect who authorities say had head-butted Morton three times and assaulted two WestGate Mall security guards Monday night when the man bit his arm and later spit blood on Lostraglio.
“He bit the pudding out of me,” said Lostraglio of Gaffney.
Although the jacket kept the teeth from puncturing his skin, Lostraglio said soreness remained.
“It’s pretty wicked,” he said. “It ain’t unbearable, but it ain’t comfortable.”
Additional officers arrived and arrested David Conway, 20, of Quakertown, Penn.
Conway was charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, resisting arrest with assault, two counts of simple assault and battery, public disorderly conduct and shoplifting. He remained in Spartanburg County jail Tuesday night.
Lostraglio and Morton were taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center for treatment. Spartanburg Public Safety Capt. Art Littlejohn said Morton suffered a “non-dislocated fracture to his nose” and needed two stitches on cuts caused when Conway head-butted Morton’s glasses. Morton also suffered a sprained left thumb, but none of the injuries required “special treatment.”
According to the incident report, an employee of Hot Stuff, a mall kiosk, contacted security accusing Conway of stealing a purse. Lostraglio said he was working at a nearby kiosk when security approached Conway, and said Conway became aggressive, taking off his shirt.
The officer arrived and placed one handcuff on Conway before the man turned and head-butted Morton, according to the report.
Lostraglio and mall security assisted Morton until other officers arrived. Lostraglio said he went to the hospital because Conway spit blood on him and in his mouth during the fracas.
He said he saw Morton there, and Morton thanked him for the help. Lostraglio was released after about two hours.
Lostraglio said he was trying to get Conway to calm down. When told of the charges against Conway on Tuesday night, Lostraglio said, “I guess he woke up this morning and had a bad day.
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Security firm in financial trouble may loose state contracts www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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Seattle WA Oct 22 2009/seattlepi.com
The Seattle firm handling security for 25 state liquor stores is in financial trouble and is in danger of losing its state contract.
The firm wants to reinvent itself and keep the contract under a different name.
The state is saying: Prove that your reinvented finances can handle the contract before we will let you do that.
So far, HWA Security Inc. — which has created a new firm called TRO Security — has not been able to provide that proof, said Brian Smith, spokesman for the state liquor control board. The newly-created TRO has until Oct. 31 to do so.
“We want to make sure they can carry out the terms of the contract,” Smith said.
HWA provides security for 23 liquor store in King and Pierce counties, plus two more in Vancouver.
HWA and TRO have several of the same officials, Smith said.
The state liquor control board has frozen payments to HWA Security at the request of the Washington Department of Employment Security, Smith said.
So far, HWA has received $56,000 out of a roughly $409,000 one-year contract to provide security for 25 state liquor stores, Smith said.
As a policy, the employment security department does not comment on or even confirm orders to freeze payments to contractors, said department spokeswoman Cheryl Hutchinson.
However, freezing payments is one of the last measures that the employment security department takes in dealing with a problematic contractor, Hutchinson said.
The employment security department collects unemployment-insurance taxes from businesses and helps people find jobs.
HWA has other financial problems.
In August, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fired HWA from guarding six Columbia River and Snake River dams because it was not paying the almost 200 guards performing that task, the Tri-City Herald reported. Another company has taken over that contract.
J. Thomas Wood of Lake Forest Park is president and Barbara Wood of Lake Forest Park is vice president of HWA, according to state incorporation papers and other documents.
Otis M. Williams was the principal manager of HWA, according to paperwork filed with the state. He is no longer with HWA, said a woman responding to a question through a locked glass door at the address that HWA listed with the state.
Williams is now the head of TRO Security, according to recent paperwork filed with the state.
Both TRO and HWA have listed their addresses as either 300 Fairview Ave., which does not exist, or at 306 Fairview Ave., which does exist.
The woman replying to seattlepi.com questions yelled through the door at 306 Fairview Ave. said neither firm was at that address anymore.
Williams and the two Woods could not be reached for comment.
TRO does not have a listed phone number. A woman answering HWA’s phone declined to give the company’s new address and passed a request for comment to the firm’s owners, which was not returned.
The Seattle firm handling security for 25 state liquor stores is in financial trouble and is in danger of losing its state contract.
The firm wants to reinvent itself and keep the contract under a different name.
The state is saying: Prove that your reinvented finances can handle the contract before we will let you do that.
So far, HWA Security Inc. — which has created a new firm called TRO Security — has not been able to provide that proof, said Brian Smith, spokesman for the state liquor control board. The newly-created TRO has until Oct. 31 to do so.
“We want to make sure they can carry out the terms of the contract,” Smith said.
HWA provides security for 23 liquor store in King and Pierce counties, plus two more in Vancouver.
HWA and TRO have several of the same officials, Smith said.
The state liquor control board has frozen payments to HWA Security at the request of the Washington Department of Employment Security, Smith said.
So far, HWA has received $56,000 out of a roughly $409,000 one-year contract to provide security for 25 state liquor stores, Smith said.
As a policy, the employment security department does not comment on or even confirm orders to freeze payments to contractors, said department spokeswoman Cheryl Hutchinson.
However, freezing payments is one of the last measures that the employment security department takes in dealing with a problematic contractor, Hutchinson said.
The employment security department collects unemployment-insurance taxes from businesses and helps people find jobs.
HWA has other financial problems.
In August, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fired HWA from guarding six Columbia River and Snake River dams because it was not paying the almost 200 guards performing that task, the Tri-City Herald reported. Another company has taken over that contract.
J. Thomas Wood of Lake Forest Park is president and Barbara Wood of Lake Forest Park is vice president of HWA, according to state incorporation papers and other documents.
Otis M. Williams was the principal manager of HWA, according to paperwork filed with the state. He is no longer with HWA, said a woman responding to a question through a locked glass door at the address that HWA listed with the state.
Williams is now the head of TRO Security, according to recent paperwork filed with the state.
Both TRO and HWA have listed their addresses as either 300 Fairview Ave., which does not exist, or at 306 Fairview Ave., which does exist.
The woman replying to seattlepi.com questions yelled through the door at 306 Fairview Ave. said neither firm was at that address anymore.
Williams and the two Woods could not be reached for comment.
TRO does not have a listed phone number. A woman answering HWA’s phone declined to give the company’s new address and passed a request for comment to the firm’s owners, which was not returned.
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Aiken S.C. teacher arrested for rape of 14 year old boy www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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AIKEN CTY, S.C.Oct 22 2009—An Aiken County woman has been arrested on four counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and four counts of lewd acts.
Tammy Joy Key, a former teacher at Leavelle McCampbell Middle School, was arrested by Aiken County deputies. The sheriff’s office says the alleged incidents occurred between August 2005 and March 2006 and involved a 14-year-old male victim.
Some incidents allegedly occurred at her Graniteville home and others at her place of work at the time, Leavelle McCampbell Middle School.
Key is being held at the Aiken County Detention Center.
Tammy Joy Key, a former teacher at Leavelle McCampbell Middle School, was arrested by Aiken County deputies. The sheriff’s office says the alleged incidents occurred between August 2005 and March 2006 and involved a 14-year-old male victim.
Some incidents allegedly occurred at her Graniteville home and others at her place of work at the time, Leavelle McCampbell Middle School.
Key is being held at the Aiken County Detention Center.
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Shoplifter bites security agent during struggle www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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HARRISBURG, Pa. Oct 22 2009 – A woman is charged with stealing perfume from a department store and biting a security guard who confronted her.
Police said Monday that 36-year-old Karla Brushell was spotted shoplifting a “substantial quantity” of women’s fragrance at the Sears store in Harrisburg.
Authorities say when store security confronted Brushell, she bit one of the officers in the forearm. The officer was treated by paramedics.
Police arrested Brushell after she locked herself inside her car in the mall parking lot after the incident Friday. Sears security workers had surrounded the car.
Brushell is being held in Dauphin County Prison on $100,000 bail.
Police said Monday that 36-year-old Karla Brushell was spotted shoplifting a “substantial quantity” of women’s fragrance at the Sears store in Harrisburg.
Authorities say when store security confronted Brushell, she bit one of the officers in the forearm. The officer was treated by paramedics.
Police arrested Brushell after she locked herself inside her car in the mall parking lot after the incident Friday. Sears security workers had surrounded the car.
Brushell is being held in Dauphin County Prison on $100,000 bail.
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DUI suspect arrested for assaulting security officer
October 22, 2009
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APPLETON WS Oct 22 2009 — A 27-year-old man was taken into custody Sunday night after he plowed the vehicle he was driving into a traffic pole and fled the scene.
Police said the incident happened a little after 7 p.m. The man was attempting to turn onto College Avenue from S. Oneida Street and lost control of the vehicle.
Police Lt. Jay Steinke said after passersby helped the man because of his injuries, he fled on foot behind Soldiers Square and onto Lawrence University.
There he hit a security guard who had stopped him because he was bleeding.
Police apprehended the man at the campus. Steinke said he was being treated for his injuries.
Steinke said officers think he was drinking, and he faces charges of first-offense drunken driving and battery, though he has not been charged.
Police said the incident happened a little after 7 p.m. The man was attempting to turn onto College Avenue from S. Oneida Street and lost control of the vehicle.
Police Lt. Jay Steinke said after passersby helped the man because of his injuries, he fled on foot behind Soldiers Square and onto Lawrence University.
There he hit a security guard who had stopped him because he was bleeding.
Police apprehended the man at the campus. Steinke said he was being treated for his injuries.
Steinke said officers think he was drinking, and he faces charges of first-offense drunken driving and battery, though he has not been charged.
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Winston-Salem teacher charged with sexual misconduct www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Oct 22 2009 – A Winston-Salem middle school drama teacher was arrested Saturday on charges of sexual misconduct with a student.
Investigators arrested 57-year-old Ralph Surridge after an administrator with the Forsyth County School District received a tip that the teacher was having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
Surridge is a drama teacher at Mineral Springs Middle School in Winston-Salem.
Investigators charged Surridge with a statutory sexual offense against a student who is either 13, 14 or 15-years-old. He also faces charges of taking indecent liberties with a child.
Investigators charged Surridge with five counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to police, Surridge served six months in jail for embezzlement and forgery in 1985.
The Winston-Salem Journal reported Monday that Superintendent Don Martin said Surridge may have lied on his application to work in the school system. According to the newspaper, Surridge never indicated he had been convicted of a felony on his application and a criminal record search by the school system only turned up that he was found not guilty on a charge of forgery and uttering.
Surridge is being held in the Forsyth County Jail under a $2 million bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 6.
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El Paso officer facing felony charges commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
October 22, 2009
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EL PASO TX Oct 22 2009 — A 16-year veteran police officer shot and killed himself days before he was scheduled to appear in court on two felony charges, the county medical examiner said today.
Javier Alonzo, 43, died Tuesday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, said Dr. Paul Shrode, the county medical examiner.
Alonzo was indicted June 16 on charges of sexual assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was arrested March 26 after being accused of throwing a woman to the floor, threatening her life, handcuffing her and then sexually assaulting her.
Court records show he was scheduled to a pretrial hearing Friday.
Alonzo also faced two misdemeanor charges of causing bodily injury or family violence
Javier Alonzo, 43, died Tuesday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, said Dr. Paul Shrode, the county medical examiner.
Alonzo was indicted June 16 on charges of sexual assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was arrested March 26 after being accused of throwing a woman to the floor, threatening her life, handcuffing her and then sexually assaulting her.
Court records show he was scheduled to a pretrial hearing Friday.
Alonzo also faced two misdemeanor charges of causing bodily injury or family violence
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