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Stamford CT school guard charged with sex assault of student www.privateofficer.com
Pasquale Mecca, of Diaz Street, Stamford, was charged Monday afternoon with fourth-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a minor. He was released on $25,000 bond and is due in court April 12.
An investigation began when the girl’s guardian questioned her about having large amounts of cash, said police Lt. James Matheny; the girl said she was paid by Mecca for her underwear.
The exchanges took place on and off school grounds, during school hours and when school was not in session, police said. Mecca allegedly bought the girl’s underwear at least three times for varying amounts of money. Police did not disclose how much he paid.
“For a 15-year-old kid it seemed like a lot of money,” Matheny said.
Investigators took statements from the girl, her guardian and Mecca, who admitted he bought girl’s underwear and had improper physical contact with her on at least one occasion.
Police are urging anyone with information about the allegations or similar, unreported incidents to come forward.
“We have one victim and one case right now, but once these things develop, there’s a possibility that we find out more,” Matheny said.
Mecca’s home was searched by police, who found several items related to the case. Matheny would not disclose the items, but said it was too early to tell whether they would play a role in the investigation.
Mecca was charged with fourth-degree sexual contact because he had improper physical contact with a person under age 18 while he was in a position of authority, not because of the degree of physical contact or whether it was consensual.
The charge is a felony offense when the victim is under 15 years old.
Sarah Arnold, the school district spokeswoman, said Mecca has been suspended from his job and is not allowed on Board of Education property.
His suspension is subject to an investigation by the school district, she said
Mecca became a school district employee in 2001, and worked as a security guard at Stamford High for his entire career except for a year when he worked as a teacher’s aide at Scofield Magnet Middle School in 2003.
Mecca has no record of prior discipline at Stamford High, Arnold said.
The investigation is ongoing and police urge anyone with more information to call the Stamford Police Department at 977-4639 or 977-4417.
Apartment security officer shot still critical www.privateofficer.com
The other security guard shot, William St. Peter, 54, was still in Miami Valley Hospital. His condition was not listed.
Police said Tuesday that the security guard wearing a protective vest during the shooting was in stable condition and expected to go home soon, while the other guard, shot in the torso, was taken to the hospital in critical condition and had undergone emergency surgery.
Christopher Beatty-Jones, the suspect in the shooting, which occurred around 1 a.m. Tuesday, was taken into custody at his home at 3933 Prescott Ave. shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday. He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on a felonious assault charge.
The guards were shot when questioning a passenger, Jodi Grigsby, in the vehicle Beatty-Jones had fled upon their approach. Beatty-Jones returned and fired five times at the officers, hitting each one of them once.
Just last week, on March 22, Grigsby and Beatty-Jones were together near the Summit Square Apartments when Grigsby was shot in the arm, according to a police report, which stated Beatty-Jones said he was there to buy $50 worth of marijuana when someone shot at their vehicle.
Monticello teacher charged with child seduction www.privateofficer.com
Investigators say 58-year-old Mark Hay, a teacher at Twin Lakes High School, allegedly fondled a female high school student at school from March 2007 through May 2009. Police say the victim was between the ages of 16 and 18 during that time.
“The charge in this case is one count of child seduction, Class D Felony,” said ISP Det. Jim Cody. “The allegations are that he touched and fondled a student in a sexual manner on school property during school hours.
Hay, a former head football coach, was booked at the White County Jail, but is now out on bond.
“Twin Lakes Schools officials address all such allegations very seriously and will professionally perform all duties to educate and protect our students,” Superintendent Dr. Thomas Fletcher wrote in a statement.
The statement says Hay was suspended and when told he faced firing, “Mr. Hay presented his resignation with the intent to retire.” The school board will take up Hay’s resignation April 13.
It’s the second time in two months an ex-coach and teacher at the school has been arrested for inappropriate sexual conduct with a female student. In January, it was wrestling coach Scott Hardy. State police say the two cases are unrelated.
“Had quite a few in this small of a town in this short of time,” said resident Rick Kinkle. “Real surprised to see.”
Hay couldn’t be reached for comment and his wife had no comment on the charges facing her husband.
“I actually am appalled that could have gone on in the first place,” said parent Jim DeKoster.
“Very definitely hard to believe,” said a woman who knows Hay. “And he’s not been proven guilty yet.”
Residents are concerned for the children in the schools.
“I don’t understand what’s going on with these men,” said Monticello resident Robert Peck. “It shouldn’t be going on with these school kids, period. They should know better.”
“My main concern is, how we can stop this and keep it from happening in the future? We put our trust in these people. We have got to know we can have our kids going to school safely.
Best Dressed Security Officer Contest! www.privateofficer.com
Hello my Good Friends!
We have a great new contest for you to enter and win prizes and awards!
The 2010 First Annual BEST DRESSED OFFICER
and BEST PATROL VEHICLE CONTESTS!
Contest Rules:
1. Submit One Photo For Each Contest Entered
2. Photos Must Be Of Actual Contestant In Security Uniform and Patrol Car Must Be A Marked Security Vehicle
3. Submit By Emailing to adminassist@privateofficer.com
4. Entries Must Be Submitted By: June 15 2010
BEST IN BOTH CATEGORIES $100 GIFT PACK
FIRST PLACE EITHER CATEGORY $50 GIFT PACK
SECOND PLACE EITHER CATEGORY $25 GIFT PACK
Awards will also be issued to each winner and a press release sent to your local media!
OPEN TO MEMBERS AND NON MEMBERS!
Submissions are the property of Private Officer International and may be used without license.
Police charge Panama City guard with false imprisonment www.privateofficer.com
The incident happened on Saturday, and according to reports, 55-year-old Albert A. Alcalde, of Panama City Beach, was working as a security guard at Long Beach Resort.
Alcalde escorted three females, one victim was 18-years of age, and the other two, both 17-years of age, back to their hotel room. The police report said, once the elevator closed, Alcalde stood in front of the control panel so the victim’s could not have access to the buttons, and told the girls they could be evicted from the resort, if they did not reveal their breasts. He then asked if he could touch them.
After holding the victims’ inside the elevator for approximately four minutes, Alcalde took the victims’ to the third floor where he reportedly followed them out and instructed them not to tell their parents.
Alcalde is charged with three counts of false imprisonment and is being held at the Bay County Jail.
Police officer charged with immigrant smuggling www.privateofficer.com
Dizdul says Haley drove up to the checkpoint in a Chevy Tahoe with a female passenger. Dizdul says Haley presented a Mexican border crossing card for the woman that actually belonged to her sister. Authorities determined the woman had no legal documents to enter the U.S.
Haley is being held at the San Diego Metropolitan Correction Center as he awaits federal charges.
Bouncer charged with manslaughter in patrons death www.privateofficer.com
Officers say that they found Alan Cunningham injured in a rear parking lot at the “Vince’s Other Place” bar on Hamilton Avenue just after midnight Sunday morning. He later died.
Police say 51 year old Keith Carpenter who works as a back-up bouncer at the bar in Mount Healthy has been arrested in the death.
Officers say that they were called to the address on a report of a fight in progress and found found Cunningham unconscious when they arrived.
Police say that the disturbance began inside and that somehow the two men continued to fight into the parking lot.
Authorities have charged Carpenter with involuntary manslaughter and the judge has set his bond at $10,000.
Security officer shot waiting for bus www.privateofficer.com
- Several people called 911 seconds after a man fell to the ground with multiple gun shot wounds. Deputies rushed to Lee Road near Edgewater Drive just before nine o’clock Monday night.They met with the victim who told them a gunman in a white Dodge Charger had just sped away. Investigators said other witnesses also saw the vehicle and three men in the car.
Deputies had the descriptions and while patrolling in the area of John Young Parkway and North Orange Blossom Trail they spotted a white Charger. The car was at the drive-thru window of a fast food restaurant. Witnesses at the restaurant said deputies waited for the driver to pull away from the window before moving in. Kametric Peterson works at the restaurant and said he saw deputies handcuff all three men in the car.
Peterson said deputies were yelling all while they had their guns trained on the car. Investigators then spent much of the night trying to figure out which of the men pulled the trigger. One of them was later arrested but detectives haven’t released the name of the gunman or the victim. Deputies said he is a security guard who was walking to catch the bus. He was rushed to The Orlando Regional Medical Center where his condition is unknown. Investigators haven’t said why he was targeted only that the shooting doesn’t appear to be related to drugs.
UPDATE Deputies said they made an arrest overnight in a drive-by shooting that left a security guard with multiple gunshot wounds on an Orange County roadway.
Jeff Williamson of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said John Esteban Serna, 30, faces charges of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm. Orange County Jail records show Serna is considered a violent offender.
Deputies said Serna fired several rounds at the victim Monday night from a white Dodge Charger.
Sheriff’s deputies stopped Serna and his two passengers at the drive-thru window of a Wendy’s restaurant not far from the scene of the shooting, records show.
Williamson said he is not sure if the passengers were released without charges.
The victim, whose name was not released, is at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Williamson said he is in “stable, but guarded condition.”
Reports show the victim had been walking in the area of Lee Road and Edgewater Drive around 9 p.m. He was waiting to take a bus to his security job in downtown Orlando when the Dodge Charger pulled up alongside him.
Witnesses said Serna allegedly fired multiple shots at the victim before taking off.
When deputies arrived, they found the victim on the ground. Rescue crews took him to ORMC.
After some time, deputies spotted a vehicle at a Wendy’s drive-thru window off Orange Blossom TraIL and John Young Parkway that matched the description given by witnesses.
Deputies stopped the car and detained Serna and the other occupants before arrest him.
Officials will release more details of the shooting and arrest later today. //
Security nabs man stealing boxes of steaks www.privateofficer.com
Source:PI Some criminals go for cash, copper wire, electronics, fancy jewelry.
But Jimmie Lane Jr.? Police say his tastes ran more toward boneless beef tenderloin.
Court documents also suggest the 58-year-old is a meathead bandit.
About 8 p.m. March 23, police were called to the QFC in the 400 block of 15th Avenue East where employees said an unknown man was loading boxes of frozen meat into a blue Saturn.
As officers were en route, an employee called back saying store security was struggling with the suspect, later identified as Lane.
Police arrived and found his car backed to the loading dock on the northeast side of the store. The rear hatchback was open. A large box of beef was in the trunk, investigators said.
“Four more boxes of meat were seen sitting on the edge of the loading dock,” Officer Daniel Auderer wrote in his report. “A pair of red bolt cutters was lying on the ground near the vehicle. A few feet from the bolt cutters was a screwdriver with a wooden handle also lying on the ground.”
Court documents say the meat Lane allegedly tried to steal was worth $5,637,54.
A QFC employee first noticed Lane about 7:30 p.m. in the store’s stockroom. He said he was looking for the bathroom.
Police believe at some point, he tried to cut the chain that operated the roll-up door from the loading dock to the stockroom.
That is, security guards told police, until he realized the loading dock door wasn’t locked.
Lane allegedly asked the guard if he was an officer. The man said no, so Lane asked him to help carry boxes, saying he would “cut him in on the deal,” according to investigators.
The man helped in what appeared to be an attempt to gather evidence. After loading beef into the blue Saturn, the security guard told police he showed his badge and identified himself to Lane.
“When I tried to stop him,” the man told police, “he tried to stab me with a screwdriver.”
Lane tried to flee with a box of meat in his trunk, but another security guard opened the passenger side of his Saturn, struggled with Lane and handcuffed him, according to the report.
It was time to stick a fork in him. He was done.
Police said store security video shows Lane going into the back of QFC with bolt cutters after his car was parked by the loading dock. He’s also allegedly shown stealing tenderloin twice from the frozen meat locker.
Prosecutors said he’s a flight risk — Lane has had 104 warrants since 1985.
His history includes convictions for vehicle theft, three burglary cases, three theft cases, possession of stolen property, forgery, DUI and unlawful issuance of bank checks. Lane also has a pending first-degree theft case in King County Superior Court and a third-degree theft case.
While being transported to King County Jail, Lane admitted to stealing the beef, but denied trying to stab the security officer, police said.
In lieu of $101,00 bail, he remains in jail, where staff Capt. Troy Bacon said Lane will receive sack lunches and other meals.
“Inmates are served a variety of food,” he said. “But it won’t be steak, let me tell you that.”
2 Security officers shot at Dayton apartments www.privateofficer.com
The guards approached a parked pick-up truck shortly after 1 a.m. in the parking lot of the complex located on James H. McGee Blvd. and police said the male driver fled the scene as the guards advanced towards the vehicle. They questioned a female passenger after he ran off but the suspect returned with a gun and opened up fire on the guards striking both.
Both guards, employed by Moonlight Security, were taken to Miami Valley Hospital where one remains in critical condition. The other, who was wearing a protective vest, is in stable condition.
The suspect fled the scene after the shooting and police are looking for a 21-year-old suspect Christopher Brown described as black, 5-foot-8-inches tall, 145 pounds and last seen wearing a light-colored jacket and dark pants.
Police believe the man and woman might have been the same couple involved in another incident about a week ago at the Summit Square apartments in which the woman in that pickup was shot in the arm. That incident is believed to have centered around a drug deal.
March 30 20120
Husband kills wife, children, commits suicide in Charlotte www.privateofficer.com
The victims have been identified as 34-year-old Nateesha Ward Chapman, 1-year-old Nakyiah Jael Chapman, and 13-year-old Na’Jhae Parker.
The suspect was identified as 33-year-old Kenneth Jermaine Chapman.
Officers tell NewsChannel 36 that they received a call at about 11:15 p.m. Monday from Nateesha Chapman’s uncle, requesting that they check on her. When officers got to the apartment on Providence Square Drive that she shared with her husband and four children, they found the door open and Kenneth Chapman standing at the top of the stairs inside.
Shortly after they attempted to call him outside, they heard two gunshots. Two young children, who had not been harmed, ran out of the apartment.
According to police, when officers entered the apartment, they found Chapman suffering from a gunshot wound to the head and two girls, Nakyiah and Na’Jhae, who had likely been dead for several days. Chapman died at the scene.
A few hours later, officers found Nateesha Chapman dead in a nearby apartment that she was leasing on Via Romano Drive, police say. Investigators think that she had also been dead for some time.
Police say it appears that Kenneth Chapman killed the two children and his wife. The Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office will investigate to determine how the woman and two children died.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-TIPS.
College officers assaulted during domestic incident www.privateofficer.com
A former Huntington Beach man has been arrested on suspicion of attacking a friend and security officers at Golden West College.
Carlos Nunez, 48, was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and battery on a school employee. Nunez is a transient, but his last known address was in Huntington Beach, officials said.
Nunez and an adult female friend, who is also a transient, went to Golden West College to use the pool showers at around 9 p.m. March 19, said Lt. Russell Reinhart.
College security allegedly saw Nunez hit the female and tried to detain him until the police arrived. Nunez pepper-sprayed and struck the security officers to try and get away, Reinhart said.
Huntington Beach police officers arrived and took Nunez into custody. He has an immigration hold placed on him.
Police shoot-kill woman who stole ambulance www.privateofficer.com
A woman was killed in an officer-involved shooting following a police pursuit in Placerville on Sunday.
Placerville Police Department said officers received a call at about 10:12 a.m. of a stolen ambulance from Marshall Hospital on the 1000 block of Marshall Way in Placerville.
An El Dorado County Ambulance M26 was taken from the hospital by a patient, police said.
Three officers engaged the woman, in her 40s, in a short pursuit that ended at the top of a driveway on the 3000 block of Cedar Ravine Road.
There was an officer-involved shooting at the end of the pursuit when police said the woman rammed three police cars prompting officers to fire three to five shots.
The identity of the woman has not yet been released.
FBI arrests “Christian” militia members planning attack on cops www.privateofficer.com
The Michigan-based group, called Hutaree, planned to use the attack on police as a catalyst for a larger uprising against the government, according to newly unsealed court papers. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said agents moved quickly on the group because its members were planning a violent mission sometime in April.
Members of the group, including its leader, David Brian Stone, also known as “Captain Hutaree,” were charged following FBI raids over the weekend on locations in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Seven people were arraigned in Detroit on Monday, and another one of Stone’s sons, Joshua, is being sought.
Stone’s ex-wife, Donna Stone, told The Associated Press before the arraignments that her former husband was to blame for pulling her son into the movement. She said David Brian Stone legally adopted her son, David Brian Stone Jr., who is among those indicted.
“It started out as a Christian thing,” said Donna Stone, 44. “You go to church. You pray. You take care of your family. I think David started to take it a little too far.”
According to the indictment, the group had been meeting and conducting military-style training exercises in the Michigan woods since 2008 to prepare for an impending war with its enemies. Members practiced building and detonating explosives and shooting firearms and built storage bunkers, investigators said.
The group says on its Web site that Hutaree means “Christian warrior” and describes the word as part of a secret language that few are privileged to know. The group quotes several Bible passages and states: “We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ. … Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment.”
The site also features a picture on the site of 17 camouflaged men, all holding large guns, and includes videos of camouflaged men toting guns and running through wooded areas in apparent training exercises. Each wears a patch on his left shoulder that bears a cross and two red spears.
According to investigators, the Hutaree view local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel as a “brotherhood” and an enemy, and planned to attack them as part of an armed struggle against the U.S. government.
The idea of attacking a police funeral was one of numerous scenarios discussed as ways to go after law enforcement officers, the indictment said. Other scenarios included using a fake 911 call to lure an officer to his or her death, killing an officer after a traffic stop or an attacking the family of a police officer.
Once other officers gathered for a slain officer’s funeral, the group planned to detonate homemade bombs at the funeral, killing scores more, according to the indictment.
After the attacks, the group allegedly planned to retreat to “rally points” protected by trip-wired improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, for what they expected would become a violent standoff with law enforcement personnel.
The indictment says members of the group conspired “to levy war against the United States, (and) to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States.”
The charges against the eight include seditious conspiracy, possessing a firearm during a crime of violence, teaching the use of explosives, and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction — homemade bombs. All seven defendants in court on Monday requested to be represented by the federal defender’s office, and a bond hearing is set for Wednesday.
The arrests have dealt “a severe blow to a dangerous organization that today stands accused of conspiring to levy war against the United States,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday.
The raids on the group began over the weekend. FBI agents in Michigan swarmed a rural, wooded property Saturday evening in Adrian, about 70 miles southwest of Detroit. The same night in Hammond, Ind., law enforcement agents flooded a neighborhood, startling workers at a nearby pizzeria. In Ohio, authorities blocked off streets and raided two homes.
Outside Adrian, Heidi Wood, who lives near the property that was raided, said she hears gunshots “all the time” from near two ramshackle trailers that sit side-by-side. On Monday, a long gun leaned against a washing machine that sat in the yard, and on top of a nearby canister was another long gun.
Wood’s mother, Phyllis Brugger, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, said Stone and his family were known as having ties to militia. They would shoot guns and often wore camouflage, she said.
“Everybody knew they were militia,” Brugger said. “You don’t mess with them.”
In Ohio, one of the raids occurred at Bayshore Estates, a well-kept trailer park in Sandusky, a small city on Lake Erie between Toledo and Cleveland. Neighbors said the man taken into custody lived in a trailer on a cul-de-sac with his wife and two young children.
The man’s wife, Kelly Sickles, said her husband collected guns as a hobby. Agents searched their home for bomb-making materials, she said, but she couldn’t believe her husband, Kristopher Sickles, 27, could be connected to a group that was plotting anything violent.
“He doesn’t even know how to make a bomb,” she said. “We had no bomb material here.”
Security officer attacked over parking violation www.privateofficer.com
The report was made on Tuesday, March 23rd, the alleged attack took place on Monday the 22nd.
According to the police report the incident took place outside the Baker’s Supermarket at 90th and Military Road.
The victim says he was writing down the license plate number of a black S.U.V. that was parked in a handicapped stall, but did not seem to have the proper permit.
The guard goes on to say a young man, possibly 22 to 25-years of age became enraged and began hitting him in the chest.
The report does not indicate how the victim managed to get away from the suspect, or the make and model of the S.U.V.
Hancock TN teacher arrested for sex assault www.privateofficer.com
Jesse Martin, 31, is accused of inappropriately touching the teen. Investigators said the alleged incident didn’t happen on school property.
Martin was arrested on March 24 and charged with sexual battery by an authority figure.
Martin’s wife Kim, 47, was also arrested in the incident. She’s charged with failing to report child abuse or neglect.
The investigation began after the incident was reported on March 22, according to Hancock County Sheriff Ralph Seal.
Martin is listed on the school’s Web site as teaching algebra and pre-calculus.
He’s due to be arraigned on Tuesday.
JC Penney security officer shoots to stop shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
“You shoot at somebody because they’re shoplifting? Nobody’s life is in danger,” said Gene Goodman of Pearisburg.
Roanoke police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson said a J.C. Penney security guard followed a shoplifting suspect to the mall parking lot and fired a single shot in an effort to stop him. The man was detained until police arrived.
Jared Stephen Ware, 40, of Christiansburg was arrested and charged with grand larceny, Johnson said. She said that police confiscated the Penney guard’s weapon and his use of it is being investigated. No one was injured.
Penney managers declined to comment about the incident over the weekend. Johnson would not say whether the weapon taken was the guard’s personal weapon or job-issued. Uniformed mall security guards were not carrying guns Sunday.
Goodman said the security guard in Friday’s incident put bystanders in danger and should have given any findings to the police once Ware made it outside.
Stephanie Pruchniak of Pearisburg said she respects anyone’s right to carry a weapon, but said it was “crazy” for it to be used in this instance.
“Quite frankly, that would have scared me,” said Brooke Feazell of Roanoke.
Her friend Coreina Nester of Roanoke said the incident could have happened anywhere, but it gives her something to think about because she frequents the mall.
“That was a bit much,” Nester said.
Valley View Mall’s management office was closed for the weekend and officials could not be reached. Calls and e-mails to J.C. Penney’s media relations department throughout the weekend were not returned.
TN. police officer charged with rape www.privateofficer.com
- A LaFollette police officer was arrested Monday by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on statutory rape charges.
Daniel Terry, 25, was indicted by a Campbell County Grand Jury on March 26 on one count of official misconduct and three counts of statutory rape.
Terry was an officer at the time the offenses occurred against an underage female.
TBI opened the case on February 19.
Terry was booked into the Campbell County Jail Monday morning on a $15,000 bond.
Bouncer stabbed in fracas www.privateofficer.com
By: BRETT DAVIS/ Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
www.privateofficer.com – A stabbing at a downtown nightclub has sent two people to the hospital including a nightclub security officer.
Shreveport Police say it all stemmed from a fight that broke out inside Kokopelis around 2:30am this morning.
Police said that the club security bouncers tried to break it up, and that’s when one of the brawlers pulled out a knife and slashed a patron and a security officer.
The bouncer and the patron were taken to LSU Hospital, where both are listed in fair condition.
Somehow, the individual wielding the knife made it out of the club before police arrived and now police are looking for the suspect who will face numerous felont charges.
If you have any information on the identity of the attacker please contact the Shreveport Police.
CPO Michael Ciaverelli named Officer of the Year www.privateofficer.com
PALM BEACH GARDENS Fla March 29 2010 — Saving lives and putting out fires is all in a day’s work for Custom Protection Officer® Michael Ciaverelli. Assigned to the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) account, G4S Wackenhut’s Fort Lauderdale office honored CPO Ciaverelli’s courage and valor by naming him the 2009 Security Officer of the Year.
The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) and G4S Wackenhut management recognized CPO Ciaverelli during the SFRTA Governing Board meeting on Friday, March 26th. “The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority salutes CPO Ciaverelli for his bravery and commends him for his dedication to serving our passengers and the public. His background is typical of the type of officers who provide safety and security for our passengers on their daily travels,” said SFRTA Chair Jeff Koons.
CPO Ciaverelli is normally on duty at the Tri-Rail station in West Palm Beach. Recently, he heard an explosion and observed a fireball come from underneath a southbound Amtrak train that was stopped in the station. He quickly cleared the area of passengers and extinguished the fire. Because of his timely action and attention to duty, no one was injured. A few months prior to this, he saved a young man determined to end his life by walking into an oncoming train. CPO Ciaverelli observed him jump on the tracks, professing, “I am waiting to die.” He was able to talk the man off the tracks and took him to a safe location while waiting for the police to arrive. The man was transported to a mental health facility for assessment and treatment.
“We are proud of CPO Michael Ciaverelli and congratulate him on an exceptional job,” says G4S Wackenhut President Drew Levine. “Our ability to provide unrivalled security solutions to our valued clients like the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority is directly tied to exceptional employees like Michael Ciaverelli.”
CPO Ciaverelli joined G4S Wackenhut in 2008 after serving in the Navy for more than 20 years as a Law Enforcement Specialist and Anti-Terrorism Training Supervisor Instructor. G4S Wackenhut has been recognized for its military outreach efforts, including being named a Top 50 Military-Friendly Employer® by G.I. Jobs magazine and a Most Valuable Employer (MVE) for Military™ by CivilianJobs.com. These awards spotlight the company’s Custom Protection Officer® (CPO) division, which was created with veterans in mind. CPO Ciaverelli’s military and law enforcement background is characteristic of the security officers who provide safety and security for Tri-Rail passengers every day.
Man charged after bomb threat on Carnival Sensation www.privateofficer.com
Aboard the Carnival Sensation in the wee hours of Sunday morning, a 31-year-old Virginia man was heard shouting “We are jihad,” and “Come to the top deck and watch the bomb,” according to a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman. Other reports said he was very inebriated.
The words were later determined to be a hoax and the passenger, Ibrahim Khalil Zarou of Leesburg, Virginia, who had been cruising as part of a party of 12, was arrested by Brevard County Sheriff’s Office officials for making a false bomb threat.
But Zarou’s words, which were reported by another passenger to ship officials, started a chain of events that included the ship being held four miles off the Florida coast for several hours and being boarded by the Coast Guard, FBI and local sheriff’s office officials; a search by bomb-sniffing dogs, conducted at Port Canaveral (where the ship had been headed), and a Unified Command being established, involving several government agencies.
In other words, there was a plan and it was put into action.
The “threat” was first reported to ship personnel around 4 a.m., and an exhaustive search for a bomb was conducted by onboard security personnel, according to USCG spokesman Christopher Evanson, Petty Officer First Class.
The 87-foot coast guard cutter Shrike was called in to assist in bringing USCG, FBI and other law enforcement officials to the scene and in establishing a security zone around the vessel, which had 3,740 passengers and crew onboard.
They arrived around 9:30 a.m., and conducted an additional bomb search and also interviewed eyewitnesses and the suspect. The arrest was made.
Back in Port Canaveral, where the Sensation was headed on the last leg of a 3-day Bahamas cruise, dogs were brought in to search Terminal 5, and a Unified Command was established. Represented at the command post were the USCG, FBI, Transportation Safety Administration, Port Canaveral Police Department, Canaveral Fire and Rescue, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Federal Air Marshal’s Service, as well as Carnival Cruise Line.
After it was determined there was no credible bomb threat, the ship was allowed to return to port, arriving at about 10:45 a.m., some five hours later than scheduled. Some passengers had to rebook missed flights home.
Extra security personnel remained at Port Canaveral throughout the day, yesterday. The ship was cleared for its next cruise, embarking yesterday evening.
UPDATE (11:33 a.m.): Florida Today is reporting Ibrahim Khalil Zarou, a heating and air conditioning salesman, was released on $10,000 bond. No court date has been set for a hearing on the charge of false reporting of a bomb threat.
Former Charlotte teacher arrested for 2nd sex crime www.privateofficer.com
Charlotte NC March 29 2010
Source: 
Charlotte Observer A 39-year-old former Charlotte-Mecklenburg high school teacher already charged with sexual activity with a 17-year-old female student has been charged with sexual activity with a second, 16-year-old female student, police said Sunday.
Brett Haight taught in the Global Studies and Economics Academy at Olympic High School.
A parent alerted authorities Dec. 1 and Haight resigned Jan. 6. He was arrested in February and charged with sexual activity with the 17-year-old girl.
Investigators said the sexual activity happened at Haight’s home and at the school in late November, and that they were looking into the possibility other students were victimized.
Sunday, police re-arrested Haight, who’d been free on $25,000 bond. He now faces a charge of taking indecent liberties with a student in addition to his previous charge of sexual activity with a student.
Haight is in Mecklenburg County jail under $10,000 bond.
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Former RBC Bank employee gets prison for thefts www.privateofficer.com
MOBILE, Ala. March 29 2010 – A former RBC Bank employee will spend the next two years in prison for embezzling more than $86,000 in 2007 and 2008, a federal judge in Mobile decided last week.
Dana Aline Dyess Williams, 33, of Coden, worked for the bank for 15 years. She admitted that she transferred funds from customers’ accounts into hers and her parents’ accounts for her own personal use.
According to her written plea agreement, Williams made 32 fraudulent transactions totaling $92,648. After she learned the bank had started an investigation, she put $6,000 back into one of the accounts, reducing the total loss to $86,648.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Griffin urged U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose to impose an 18-year sentence for the fraud, on top of the mandatory two-year prison term for aggravated identity theft.
“She involved numerous other bank customers, including her own parents, putting them at risk,” Griffin said.
DuBose opted for punishment closer the defense position: two years and two months. The judge also ordered Williams to serve three years on supervised release after she gets out of prison and pay the bank back at a rate of $300 a month.
TORNADOE HITS CHARLOTTE NC www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE NC MARCH 28 2010
By: RICK MCCANN/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
www.privateofficer.com
A tornadoe touchdown has been been confirmed a short time ago on the western side of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County North Carolina.
Authorities are reporting numerous houses with structural damage, trees and wires down and at least two minor injuries.
Emergency personnel are on scene in the Wilkerson Blvd. and Wildwood areas and several neighborhoods off from Interstate 77.
The American Red Cross is also on scene and has established a shelter where at least 10 people has been directed to.
The National Weather Service has been reporting numerous storms in the South/North Carolina areas with winds in excess of 50 mph, heavy rains and hail in some areas the size of golf balls.
More severe weather is still expected to move into the Charlotte area in the next hour or so.
Waxhaw NC police officer dies after training injury www.privateofficer.com
Waxhaw NC March 28 2010
A silent procession of police cruisers from across Union County filed into the parking lot at Love Baptist Church Saturday.
Family and friends gathered to say their final goodbyes to 37-year-old Richard Belk.
“He was very strong, but still very gentle, still very concerned about everyone else,” said family friend, Blanche Wimberly. “He was just a wonderful person.”
Belk was an officer with the Waxhaw Police Department. He was injured last year during a training run and died Wednesday morning.
“No more suffering, no more trips to the doctor’s office, not another pill to take, another surgery to face,” said the Rev. Don Thompson. “Hallelujah, we are here to celebrate. This is how Richard would have wanted it.”
The church celebrated Belk’s life; sharing memories like how the officer always had a Bible with him in his police car. And how a day never went by when Belk’s shoes weren’t shined clean.
Fellow officers filled the church for the emotional goodbye, where a solo bagpiper escorted Belk to his final resting place. He also received a graveside gun salute.
In lieu of flowers, family asked that memorial contributions be made directly to the Richard Payne Belk family.
Deputy sheriff dies while working security www.privateofficer.com
Fifty-five-year-old Lamont Reid was pronounced dead at a St. Louis hospital on Friday. Cause of death has not been determined.
Reid was a 20-year veteran of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department. He was working at his second job as a security guard for MetroLink when he collapsed.
St. Clair County Sheriff Mearl Justus called Reid “a cop’s cop” and the kind of employee that every boss wants.
Al. man arrested for rape of three 11 yr old girls www.privateofficer.com
Danny Ray Haywood, 38, 35 Simpson St., Florence, is charged with three counts of first-degree rape, three counts of first-degree sodomy, three counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old, and one other sex-related offense.
Detectives said Haywood also was charged with second-degree possession of marijuana after drugs were found on him at the time of his arrest.
Police said the crimes took place during a course of five or six years.
Authorities said two of the girls are now teenagers. The crimes took place when they were between 4 and 10 years old.
Police said the third girl, who is younger than 10, was 3 years old when the crimes occurred. Authorities said the last crime was in 2009.
Florence detective Keith Johnson said he began an investigation March 2 after being contacted by the Lauderdale County Department of Human Resources.
“One of the older girls confided in someone, who then told her mother,” Johnson said. “The girl’s mother then contacted DHR and they conducted an investigation. Once that was concluded, they called us.”
Police said the investigation revealed the abuse took place during a time Haywood lived in the area.
Johnson said that in the past 10 years, Haywood has lived in 10 different locations in Florence and Lauderdale County and the attacks apparently occurred at the various places.
Johnson said Haywood has denied the allegations.
Reports indicate Haywood was charged in Nashville with sexual battery of a 13-year-old girl in 1993.
According to a report by the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network 15 percent of sexual assault and rape victims are under the age of 12 and that 7 percent of girls in grades 5-8 and 12 percent of girls in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.
The report also points out that nearly 30 percent of child victims were between ages of 4 and 7.
According to statistics, more than 90 percent of the attackers are family members or acquaintances.
The rape and sodomy charges are both Class A felonies and are punishable by 10 years to life in prison if convicted. Sexual abuse is a Class B felony and carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
Haywood is being held in the Lauderdale County Detention Center without bail.
SC man dies during fight with security www.privateofficer.com
Authorities said Joseph Collura of 540 Candlewick Court started having trouble breathing after the fight at Platinum Plus and died at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
Deputies said the investigation into the death could take weeks as authorities interview the more than 100 people in the club at the time.
Tom Selfridge, Greenville County deputy coroner, reported Friday that Collura died as a result of asphyxiation due to pressure on the neck, but he told News Channel 7 that an official cause of death would not be determined until toxicology results are returned.
Investigators said the fight appeared to start when guards tried to check Collura’s ID.
No charges have been filed in the case.
