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Man arrested for threats against security officer www.privateofficer.com
Steven Luna, of Temecula, was booked on suspicion of making criminal threats, carrying a concealable firearm in a vehicle and driving under the influence of alcohol, a Murrieta Police Department news release said.
Officers were called to the restaurant on Murrieta Hot Springs Road about 11 p.m. after staff asked the man to leave and he showed a handgun tucked in his waistband, the release said. The man told the guard they had messed with the wrong person, then left in a black Scion coupe, the release said.
Police spotted Luna driving near Old Town Front and 6th streets in Temecula and pulled him over. Police found an unloaded 9-mm semi-automatic handgun on the floor of the car and the gun magazine in the glove compartment, the release said.
Private security guard kills pirate www.privateofficer.com
Source: Fox News
It’s being called by one insider “a dangerous ratcheting up of the arms race” between pirates and good guys
It’s being reported a Panama-flagged cargo ship off coast Somalia on its way to Mogadishu was attacked by pirates using guns and RPG’s. On their second try against the ship, one of pirates was hit and killed allegedly by an armed private security guard board.
The pirates are tough guys, tough. When a nearby Spanish navy ship responded and also fired (warning) shots, the pirates didn’t stop. The Spanish finally caught up with them and nabbed 6 pirates and took possession of the corpse. The pirates’s boats were full of holes
It’s not known if anyone was hurt on the targetted ship
Piracy expert Andrew Linnington told Fox News the incident is “deeply worrying.” As international navy’s pile on the pressure pirates taking more extreme measures. In the last six months there has been an increase in violence on the high seas.
Add into that mix, private security guards which are increasingly being used by ships who are not always well-trained. Fox News has learned,in fact, the guards on board the targetted ship included a Somali and Kenyan who might not have been up to western standards.
Still, with international forces themselves saying they can’t guard all ships use of private guards would seem inevitable. The fight goes on.
H& R Block employees charged with identity theft www.privateofficer.com
She said she was looking for a bottle for her small child also in the car, but the officer spotted a gold Visa card at her feet.
Authorities said quick thinking by the officers led to the arrest of a former H&R Block employee on charges that she stole the identities of dozens of clients and then collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in refunds after fraudulently filing income tax returns in the customers’ names without their knowledge.
A search of the car uncovered a treasure-trove of evidence: a file box full of H&R Block client information, numerous blank W-2 forms, more than 100 debit cards and yellow legal pads with columns of Social Security numbers, PIN numbers, dates of tax filings and whether the returns had been accepted or rejected, authorities said.
Coming at the height of tax season, the arrests of Francesca Foster, who worked at an H&R Block office in East Chicago, and a second woman illustrate the dangers citizens face when filing tax returns full of sensitive information and the ease in which scammers can use electronic filing to steal identities.
Internal Revenue Service officials said citizens need to have the same level of trust with their tax preparer as they do with their own doctor before giving out personal information.
William Kresse, director of Saint Xavier University’s Center for the Study of Fraud and Corruption, said taxpayers who use a preparer should demand that any paperwork with personal information be returned to the taxpayer so that a co-worker couldn’t improperly access the records later.
A spokeswoman for H&R Block said identity theft and fraud remain rare. Kate O’Neill Rauber emphasized that Foster worked for the company for less than a year and that she “abused her position.”
“We’re closely reviewing the situation for potential improvements to reduce the risk of future occurrences,” she said in an e-mail response to questions.
H&R officials said the company follows several measures to protect customers’ information, including data encryption and shredding of confidential data. The business also said it provides victims with a year’s subscription of identity-theft protection and helps them file the necessary forms with the IRS.
According to charges filed last week in federal court in Hammond, Foster, 32, of Milwaukee, and Rosetta Buchanan, 35, of Chicago, stole the identities of more than 60 H&R Block customers from the East Chicago branch.
Fraudulent tax returns were then filed in their names since January, and refunds went to bank accounts set up by the two, the complaint alleged.
IRS agents have found 17 bank accounts with deposits totaling almost $290,000. The two are scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for a detention hearing.
Buchanan, who police said also faces DUI charges, has a history of fraud, weapons and drug-related charges dating to the early 1990s in Cook County, court records show. She was also charged with aggravated identity theft and misuse of a credit card in 2007.
One victim contacted by the Tribune on Tuesday said H&R Block called police on him after he quarreled with employees when he went to one of their offices to complain about the identity theft. The incident came after he had learned someone else had received a tax refund using his Social Security number.
Byron Florence, 58, of Chicago, said he filed his tax return in January at the East Chicago office and was told he would get his money within a couple of days. But after nearly two weeks, he called the branch and was given an 800-number, but no one answered, he said.
Florence said he then contacted police and federal officials and was told by an IRS representative that he was being audited and might not get the refund he was expecting.
While Florence is pleased by the arrests, he is upset at how the tax-preparation giant has treated him.
“They kind of insulted me,” Florence said of an offer by H&R Block to give him a year’s subscription to an identity-theft protection service.
The H&R Block spokeswoman said the IRS must determine that the previous return was fraudulently filed before it can process a customer’s real return, making matters more complicated for customers.
Police officer murders wife, commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Rosini on Tuesday said Sunbury police Cpl. Michael Miller killed his wife, Robin, before shooting himself in the head early Saturday morning.
Investigators say Michael Miller shot his wife three times before shooting himself at their home in Sunbury, about 45 miles north of Harrisburg.
Robin Miller died at the scene. Michael Miller was airlifted to a hospital where he died.
Rosini says the Millers had a tumultuous relationship and had separated several times. He says text messages sent by Robin Miller before the shooting indicate her husband had been drinking.
Investigators say the couple’s two daughters were home at the time but were not injured.
Security officer killed in Washington crash www.privateofficer.com
Trooper Dan McDonald said said the truck was on the shoulder of the highway just north of 15th Street NW when it was hit by the car about 4:30 a.m.
The driver of the car died at the scene. He was identified by the State Patrol as 29-year-old Kin Beliakoff.
We have learned that Beliakoff was an on duty security officer working for Washington Merchant Patrol LLC at the time of the wreck.
Police say that he truck driver was not hurt.
McDonald said troopers are also trying to determine why the truck was parked on the side of the highway.
