Archive
SC TROOPER KILLED
South Carolina Highway Patrol
South Carolina
End of Watch: Saturday, March 27, 2010
Biographical Info
Age: 45
Tour of Duty: 21 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Date of Incident: Saturday, March 27, 2010
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Corporal Kevin Cusack was killed when his patrol car was involved in a single-vehicle accident.
HE was on on patrol when his patrol car left the road as he drove on State Highway 200 about six miles south of Lancaster. Corporal Cusack was killed as a result.
Corporal Cusack had served with the South Carolina Highway Patrol for 21 years. He is survived by his three children.
Agency Contact Information
South Carolina Highway Patrol
10311 Wilson Boulevard
Blythewood, SC 29016
Phone: (803) 896-7920
Trenton school security stage sick out www.privateofficer.com
Source: NJ.com — Trenton Central High School scrambled to provide security at its front doors and other posts yesterday after the school’s guards called in sick and attended a school board meeting to protest the possible outsourcing of their jobs.
The Chamber Street campus normally has 18 security officers on duty over two shifts, but yesterday only six reported in, a police department source said.
Police reassigned an officer normally tasked with picking up truant students to join the resource officer stationed at the high school, and other school staff helped stand in for the absent guards.
About half of the district’s 85 security guards went to a morning meeting the board had scheduled to approve the district’s 2010-2011 budget, board vice president Alexander Brown said.
The district is putting out a request for bids from private security companies to see if it can save money by replacing its current guard staff, Superintendent Rodney Lofton said.
The guards belong to the Trenton Business and Technical Association. Tanisha Powell, president of the association, said she doesn’t see how the $2 million the district wants to spend on guards could possibly provide sufficient services for a district that has frequently struggled with violence on and around school campuses.
“We’re concerned about what kind of quality of personnel we’re going to get,” Powell said. “We’re concerned about the safety of the students and the staff. The guards have been here for years. The kids know them, and they know about (the) community.
“It’s not even about the money. It’s about security.”
While the board privatized its cafeterias last year and discussed outsourcing building and trades work, Lofton told the guards that putting out a bid request will not necessarily lead to the hiring of a private security company.
“We’ve done this before, and we did not privatize. It’s a request for proposals,” he said. “We expressed to them that if we can generate revenue from other places, we won’t follow through on this proposal.”
The board is looking for $1 million in savings, either through the guard outsourcing or other means, Brown said. Two other proposals are to find a less expensive insurance carrier or to lower special education costs by moving more students into a program run by St. Francis hospital, he said.
“If both of those things can happen, we won’t be laying off any security guards, and we can reduce the total number of layoffs in the district,” he said. “It’s not just about security guards.”
The $278.5 million budget for 2010-2011 that the board approved Friday calls for the elimination of 215 positions. Most of those would come from layoffs, though attrition, retirements and callbacks in the fall could reduce the number of people who lose their jobs
Mall security shoots at fleeing vehicle www.privateofficer.com
By: RICK MCCANN/Staff
Police were called to the Valley View Mall around 5:30PM after a mall security officer fired his weapon at a fleeing vehicle.
Officers said that it was too early in their investigation to say exactly what happened but believe it may have been a theft suspect who was trying to get away.
Roanoke City Police say that no one was injured during the shooting.
And, Police say it is unclear why the officer discharged his weapon and do not know if he will face any charges.
Kristina Murch TSA Officer of the Year www.privateofficer.com
The 24-year-old from Pine Island is finding success in her job, screening passengers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
She recently received the Minnesota Transportation Security Officer of the Year award from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA.
The federal government created the TSA after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, hiring tens of thousands of transportation security officers to screen airline passengers at U.S. airports. Today, there are 48,000 officers working nationwide; 37,000 are full-time employees, said TSA spokeswoman Carrie Harmon. At the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, she said, there are between 600 and 650 full-time security officers.
Murch joined the TSA three years ago, shortly after finishing a law enforcement degree at Vermilion Community College in Ely, Minn.
She works at Checkpoint 10, which primarily screens airline crew members and business travelers who know their way around. Every so often, Murch helps regular passengers figure out the confusing aspects of the airport and TSA policies, such as removing shoes and what to do about liquids. That’s the part of her job she likes the best, she said.
“Because you’re not just screening to make sure nothing prohibitive goes on the plane. You’re really helping people get through the airport and get through fast. And even when you’re on your break, you’re still helping people, giving them directions or giving them advice,” she said.
Murch was nominated by her supervisors for her eagerness to help people and for her take-charge attitude at the checkpoint. Federal security officials presented her with the award during a ceremony on Jan. 27.
Undercover Nashville officers shoot 3 hotel robbery suspects www.privateofficer.com
Undercover Officer Justin Fox was at the right place at the right time.
“You know these guys came to a gun battle and little did they know they were going to meet someone who was also ready to do what it took to make people safe,” said Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas.
Fox and a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer were working a separate investigation at the Hyatt Place Hotel, which is just off Old Hickory Boulevard near Brentwood, when three robbers walked into the lobby around 2:30 a.m. with guns drawn.
The robbers held the clerk and gunpoint and were forcing her to give them cash when Fox and the other officer entered the lobby.
According to a Metro police report, the suspects ordered the officers to the floor at gunpoint, striking, kicking and threatening to kill them. Before Fox was completely on the ground, he pulled out his gun, turned around and shot all three suspects.
The suspects did not return fire, and the THP officer did not fire a weapon.
Despite being shot, the three suspects, identified as 23-year-old Deaunte Carter, 22-year-old Rory Gilmer and 20-year-old Antonio Leggs, got away in a maroon mini-van.
Fox followed the mini-van in his unmarked police vehicle and radioed directions to dispatch. The mini-van was then pulled over without incident on Interstate 65 North around the Wedgewood Avenue exit.
“He did a tremendous job in protecting himself, protecting the other officer and protecting most importantly the citizens who were being held in fear of their life by these three fellows,” said Serpas. “He made decisions he had to make to save people’s lives, and that’s exactly what he did and that’s what he should have done.”
Medics were called to the scene, and emergency officials rushed the three suspects to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Carter and Gilmer were listed in critical condition, and Leggs has been updated to stable condition.
Mumford said that 40 minutes before robbing the Hyatt Place, the gunmen robbed three victims in the parking lot of the Homewood Suites on Church Street. Two purses and a wallet were stolen from the out-of-town business guests, but have since been recovered.
Multiple attempted aggravated robbery arrest warrants have been issued against all three suspects. Additional aggravated robbery charges are anticipated. Federal charges are pending.
According to the police report, Leggs has two previous theft convictions. Gilmer has been arrested eleven times.
“Everyone deserves to know that this is the kind of case that continues to point us to repeat offenders,” said Serpas. “These guys have been in and out of trouble. They’re not new to the system.”
Fox was put on administrative assignment for the time being.
Armed man at Mall of America falls to his death www.privateofficer.com
Dakota Ray Kohler-Lander was free on $5,000 bail and had been scheduled to appear Wednesday morning before Albany County Judge Thomas Breslin for arraignment on an indictment charging one count of third-degree rape.
It was not immediately known why Kohler-Lander was in Minnesota.
Guilderland Police Chief Carol Lawlor said her department notified the man’s family Wednesday night of his death. Lawlor had no details of the incident.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Web site said Kohler-Lander fell four floors to his death. Security officers were called around 6:50 p.m. about a man with a knife, the newspaper reported, quoting police. Within seconds of the officers approaching Kohler-Lander, he climbed over the railing and fell to the first floor of the mall in Bloomington.
The Hennepin County, Minn., medical examiner’s office ruled as the cause of death multiple blunt-force injuries. It had yet to determine whether the fall was an accident.
Kohler-Lander, who lived on Evelyn Drive, was arrested last Oct. 1 for allegedly having sex in Guilderland with a girl who was 16 at the time and too young to consent, authorities said.
“This is a family that has had a lot of tragedy, and, although there is an accusation of a crime, all individuals are presumed innocent,” said Heather Orth, spokeswoman for Albany County District Attorney David Soares. “This is definitely not the way we would have liked to have seen this case come to an end.”
Orth’s reference was to the death last June of Kohler-Lander’s twin brothers, Alexander and Zachary Rohloff, 17, who were killed while riding separate ATVs in Schaghticoke and hit head-on near the apex of a small hill. Neither teen was wearing a helmet at the time, and officials said they may not have known they were each headed toward the same hilltop.
Florida escapee on the lam 27 years captured in NC www.privateofficer.com
An escaped Florida State Prison inmate who has been on the lam since 1983 is headed back to a Sunshine State jail cell after he was arrested in North Carolina Wednesday night. Now almost 70, Charles Lee Sparks was nabbed when he tried to do what many elderly people do; apply for social security benefits. He now has a new retirement plan, courtesy of the state of Florida.
Sparks, who was serving a 20 year sentence for trafficking in Quaaludes, was arrested by police in Wilmington, North Carolina, after they were tipped off by the Social Security Administration.
Police arrested him Wednesday when he arrived to keep an appointment at the Wilmington social security office.
Investigators say Sparks was using the identity of William Bolyn Garrett, a Virginia man who died in 1983, the same year Sparks drove away from a north Florida prison facility in a Pontiac Lemans he was washing as part of a prison work detail.
Originally, Sparks was charged with identity fraud when federal officials determined the man he was impersonating had been dead for 27 years, but a fingerprint check tagged Sparks as a fugitive. Despite the decades of freedom, Florida officials never officially stopped looking for Sparks, whose name was in a federal database of escaped fugitives.
Sparks, who was originally held on $200 thousand bond, saw his bond canceled and is now being held for return to Florida on a fugitive from justice charge.
Sparks had about 18 years left on his sentence when he escaped.
“Our message to fugitives like Mr. Sparks remains the same — we will never stop looking for you. I’d like to thank the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office for bringing Mr. Sparks to justice,” said Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil.
Almost 400 Florida fugitives have been captured since 2007, when the Corrections department formed it’s Fugitive unit. While Sparks had eluded the long arm of Florida law for almost 3 decades, his case is by no means the oldest cold case. The Corrections department said some of their cases are older than 60 years.
Atlanta security officer shot www.privateofficer.com
Thirty-one-year-old Patrick Denis and 26-year-old Glenmore Clarke are both charged with two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and obstruction.
The shooting happened at Magic City around 3:45 a.m. Friday morning at Forsyth and Brotherton streets.
“All of a sudden, bam, bam, bam!” said Bobby Tookes, describing the shooting.
“These dogs just riding around and shooting and shooting everything,” said Taiwon Davis, another witness.
Atlanta Police Sergeant Ed Baker said about 8-12 shots were fired in the parking lot. The gunfire followed a fight inside the club. It was unclear what the fight was about.
A security guard was treated and released from the hospital with a wound to the buttocks. A woman, believed to be a patron, was wounded in the leg. She is in fair condition at Grady.
The two suspects were caught at Central and Rawson streets. They tried to run from their car, but police chased them down. A police officer twisted her ankle in the chase but is expected to be fine.
The suspects are scheduled to make their first court appearance Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
Cal State professor charged with infant rape www.privateofficer.com
St Louis County Police spokesman Rich Eckhard says they believe that Kenneth Kyle, 47, of San Francisco contacted Tessa Vervlerah of Ballwin, Missouri via the internet. Investigators say he then travelled to Missouri to engage in sex acts with the woman’s 13-month-old child.
Kyle and Venvierah both are facing a variety of charges, including statutory rape, promoting child pornography, and other charges.
Eckhard says they believe this was going on for several months, so it’s hard to tell just how old the child was when the crimes actually began.
Kyle was arrested March 15 at San Francisco International airport as he returned from a trip to Europe. The FBI had reportedly learned that Kyle had shared child pornography from his home computer, which lead to his initial arrest. Authorities say a search of his San Francisco home and his laptop turned up child pornography, and that lead to these new charges.
He says prosecutors have slapped each suspect with a $2 million cash-only bond, basically keeping both behind bars until they can have their day in court.
Shoplifter arrested after asking police for directions www.privateofficer.com
Police say the officer noticed that John White matched the description a store clerk gave of the thief, and the address White wanted turned out to be the same one the officer was checking.
The address had been left on a slip of paper the thief left at a gas station.
White was arrested Tuesday after the officer found he had both phones, along with a small amount of marijuana.
Police say charges are pending.
11 Dead in I-65 crash www.privateofficer.com
The death toll has risen by four since the fiery crash was first reported, but KSP Trooper Charles Swiney said two children survived the crash.
Dispatcher Kathy Tyree said the collision occurred at 5:16 a.m. CDT in Hart County near mile marker 63, which is near Munfordville, Kentucky.
Emergency Management Director Kerry McDaniel said the tractor-trailer was going south on I-65 when it crossed the median, striking the van head-on. The van was carrying men, women and children. A pastor at a southern Kentucky church said many of the victims were from a Kentucky-based Mennonite family.
After crashing into the van, the semi hit a rock wall and burst into flames. McDaniel said the truck driver was killed.
Kentucky State Police, Hart County Sheriff’s Office, Kentucky Safe Patrol, Hart County Emergency Management Services, Munfordville Fire Department and the Hart County Coroners Office were all on the scene.
Northbound lanes of I-65 have been shut down, and a detour has been established.
According to a KSP press release, traffic is being diverted off of I-65 at exit 58 onto KY218. Traffic will then be diverted onto US31 east and then head north. Traffic will remain on KY61 until the intersection with I-65 at exit 91.
KSP said the interstate will be close for at least eight hours. The Tennessee Department of Transportation has been advising motorists to seek an alternate route north of Kentucky and plan for delays until the crash has been cleared.
I-65 southbound lanes have been affected by rubbernecking.
Greenville TN police officer gunned down by son www.privateofficer.com
Sgt. Roger Self was found dead in his home with a gunshot wound Wednesday night.
Thursday night Ethan Self, 18, was charged with first degree murder. The Greeneville High School senior is being held on $500,000 bond.
Greene County Sheriff Steve Burns says co-workers became concerned Wednesday night when Sgt. Self didn’t show up for his 7:00 p.m. shift.
Officers stopped by his Love Street home and found his body. Authorities say Sgt. Self was shot at least once.
“Roger was a quiet, gentle officer who loved to do his job, didn’t come to the forefront in a lot of things. He didn’t want the publicity,” said Sheriff Burns. “He was just a good man.”
Sgt. Self’s body was sent to Johnson City Medical Center for an autopsy.
His wife passed away three years ago.
NYPD detective solves 29 year old serial killings www.privateofficer.com
Source: NY Times A very good detective did a very good job, and Wednesday a suspected serial killer was brought into a Bronx courtroom charged with a killing that went unsolved for almost three decades.
“Jesus Aguilera, aka Jesus Aguilero,” the court officer called out.
Aguilera was led in from the holding area, bald and bearded and burly, the cold eyes behind his state-issue spectacles going colder still at the sight of Detective Malcolm Reiman.
Aguilera was already doing double life for two other killings, and a third would not mean a minute more behind bars, but his reaction proved how much he still resented being caught.
Maybe Aguilera had always taken delight in thinking of poor 35-year-old Tolila Moore lying strangled in a shack on Minford Place and telling himself at least he got away with that one.
Maybe all Aguilera’s killings were about power and control, and now here he was, bested by this detective who is so diligent and dedicated as to represent justice.
Evil met good and good won, with considerable help beginning with a crime scene investigator back in the wild days of 1981.
The murder of a woman with a record for prostitution had drawn not even a shrug from the public and the press, but the investigator had taken the time and trouble to lift a fingerprint.
Additional help came from investigators in the latent print unit who periodically sought to identify the fingerprint as technology advanced.
In June of last year, the latent print unit called Lt. Sean O’Toole of the Bronx homicide squad and said it finally had a match, with one Jose Aguilera.
O’Toole assigned Reiman, who retrieved the case folder from the microfiche file. Reiman contacted the original detective, now retired, who had taken the case as far as the forensics of the time allowed.
“Good guy,” Reiman later noted. “He did some good work.”
Reiman got critical help from the medical examiner’s office, which had retained scrapings taken from under Moore’s fingernails. A DNA profile from the scrapings was fed into the database.
“Sure enough, a hit for our Mr. Aguilera,” Reiman recalled.
Aguilera was already behind bars for strangling two others in 1981, Guillermo Graniela on Aug. 29 in what may have been a robbery and Josepfina Cepeda on Sept. 17, just before and just after Moore’s Sept. 2 killing. Cepeda had been lured to her death with the promise of designer jeans.
Reiman learned that this man he believes to be a serial killer came to America in the infamous Marielito boatlift. He had been escorted by a Cuban prison officer to a boat bound for Key West, Fla. Aguilera was held in the refugee detention center at Fort Chafee in Arkansas, then released to his brother.
In May of 1981, Aguilera arrived in New York. He is believed to have strangled at least four people during the nine months before he was arrested. He was in Great Meadow prison when Reiman came to speak to him.
“He really wasn’t shocked,” Reiman recalled.
But he was not very happy if his reaction in Bronx court yesterday was any indication. He was asked to enter a plea.
“Innocent,” he said through an interpreter.
That means he will go to trial. He will no doubt have more than a few icy stares for Assistant District Attorney Rachel Singer, who is as diligent and dedicated as everybody else involved.
Aguilera will also learn just how strong a case Reiman has built, gathering evidence from the property clerk’s office as well as the medical examiner, tracking down cops who responded to the scene and anybody who might have been a witness.
“Try to get everything I can,” Reiman said.
The stepfather who identified Moore’s body has died, as has her mother, and there were no other known family members to be in court when Aguilera was arraigned.
But there was Reiman, sitting quietly with a brown case folder marked “Tolila Moore, F/B/35, 1-1/02/1981, Method: Ligature Strangulation Homicide.” The papers inside documented the work done by all those who joined to meet evil with good.
“It’s very satisfying, actually,” Reiman said.
Consumer Alert: Evenflo gates being recalled www.privateofficer.com
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the slats on Evenflo Top-of-Stair Plus gates can break or detach, allowing children to access the stairs.
The company has received 142 reports of broken or detached slats, including three reports of children who breached the gate and gained access to the stairs.
The Mexican-made gates were sold online and by stores nationwide, including Toys “R” Us, Burlington Baby Depot and Kmart.
An additional 33,000 of these gates are being recalled in Canada.
To obtain a free replacement gate, contact Evenflo at 800-233-5921.
Rookie St. Louis police officer killed www.privateofficer.com
Officer David Haynes, 27, spotted the suspect’s car and pursued with his lights and sirens on before his cruiser was struck from both sides at the intersection of Kingshighway and Oleatha Avenue.
The suspect is still at large, described as a medium-build black male with a “chin beard” and two gold teeth.
Haynes, a newlywed, had just one year on the force.
“It’s certainly a tragic day for the police department. We are all sorry for the loss, for his wife and mother,” Police Chief Dan Isom told the newspaper. “We ask that everyone in St. Louis pray for his family and all of the officers in the St. Louis police department.”
Haynes had served in the U.S. Marine Corps and graduated from the St. Louis Police Academy on Jan. 8, 2009, according to the report.
BackStoppers — a St. Louis area non-profit organization that supports the families of the fallen police officers — will meet with Haynes’ widow to present her with a $5,000 check for funeral expenses.
Riverside CA. teacher drunk in class arrested www.privateofficer.com
Administrators at Toro Canyon Middle School reported around 1 p.m. Tuesday that Tonya Neff, 47, was showing signs of intoxication, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
“Our students were safe,” Coachella Valley Unified School District Superintendent Ricardo Medina said. “There was never any threat to the students.”
She was taken from the classroom to the administration and was treated by the school nurse, officials said.
Responding officers transported her to John F. Kennedy Hospital for treatment, the sheriff’s department reported.
Investigation showed that she had taken prescription drugs and alcohol and a container with an alcoholic beverage inside was found, according to the sheriff’s department.
“Our administration handled it in an appropriate manner,” Medina said, calling it an unfortunate situation. “They exercised due diligence and they involved the police when they felt they needed to involve the police.”
Neff is a new teacher and this type of incident has not been reported before, he said.
“Neff is regularly responsible for the safety of over 100 students during her regular school day duties,” Sgt. Mike Tapp wrote in a press release.
Neff was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and was transported to the Riverside County Jail in Indio.
The school district will place her on leave during the investigation, but it has not been determined whether it will be paid leave or not, Medina said.
“It all depends on the circumstances,” he said.
Security officer contains fire at Capitol Theatre www.privateofficer.com
When the officer spotted the flames climbing one of the curtains backstage, he quickly sprang to action, using two fire extinguishers to contain the fire until firefighters arrived.
Sgt. Mark Burgess of the Unified Police Department said, “By his quick thinking, we averted a huge disaster.”
The question for many theatre lovers is, will the show go on?
Right now, the musical “Legally Blonde” is running at the Capitol Theatre, and Wednesday night there’s a showing at 7:30. That show will go on as planned; however, theatre representatives say between now and then, they have a lot of cleaning up to do.
Firefighters were called to the historic Capitol Theatre located on 200 S. near West Temple shortly after 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The building is under 24-hour security, and the officer on duty had smelled something suspicious coming from the stage area. As he headed to check on it, he reported hearing popping sounds. When he got closer, he saw one of the curtains going up in flames.
“It’s a very large curtain that sits toward the back of the building, and it was climbing all the way to the ceiling,” Burgess said.
Burgess says the officer quickly grabbed two fire extinguishers and knocked down the fire, then when firefighters arrived they finished it off.
Firefighters say there was a little smoke damage in the theatre and a little bit of water damage behind the stage, but other than that everything looks to be OK.
“We got very lucky,” said Battalion Chief Clair Baldwin of the Salt Lake City Fire Department. “We have access issues, we have all kinds of remodeling that has been done over a 80-90 year period, so this buildings does present some problems. If it was to catch fire and actually involve the structural members, it would be a difficult fire to put out.”
Investigators say this fire was caused by curtain draped over a ladder that was leaning up against a light powered by a generator.
That generator runs a test every Wednesday morning at 7:30. When it turned on it powered that light, which caught the curtain on fire.
Memphis school security officer charged with rape www.privateofficer.com
Source: Fox News Memphis – A Memphis City School security guard has been charged with the rape of a 16-year-old Mitchell High School student. It’s the second such investigation involving a school officer in two weeks. One State Representative said it does not help the district’s case as it lobbies for legislative approval for its own police force.
The security guard was charged Wednesday evening with statutory rape by an authority figure. The superintendent has said he wants the district to have it’s own police officers trained to solve problems rather than just arrest and transport.
But the recent arrest has at least one lawmaker questioning if the district can handle it.
One week after Memphis City School officials were in Nashville lobbying for their own police force, school security guard 31-year old Antonio Matthews was charged with the alleged rape of a 16-year old Mitchell High School student.
Representative John DeBerry (D-Memphis) said he listened to the district’s plea with an open mind but this incident raises flags.
“I’ll say this does not help the case as far as us trying to make a decision, a positive decision, toward creating a totally separate force.”
This is the second year the district is seeking legislative approval for its own police force, even though the idea is opposed by Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin and Memphis Mayor A C Wharton.
Representative DeBerry said during his tenure, he personally worked to strengthen rape laws. “The one thing we should be able to have confidence is safety of our children, at least those who watching them, and ensure their safety.”
A check of court records showed the guard has no criminal history. Memphis City School Board President Martavius Jones questioned how to prevent incidents if there is no prior history. He said the incident could have happened whether the guard was employed by the school or Memphis Police.
In fact, last month, a Memphis Police Officer working as a School Resource Officer was accused of raping a female student from Fairley High School. The officer has been relieved of duty without pay, and police say the case is still under investigation.
Representative DeBerry said, “I think what this will do is make all of us step back and just for a minute and realize when we put a group of people in proximity of our children we have to be very careful to make sure these are people who are going to protect our children not victimize our children.”
Wednesday, the MCS police force House bill was placed on the Judiciary Committee calendar to be heard Tuesday.
Medical helicopter crashes in Memphis, 3 dead www.privateofficer.com
The chopper went down near Brownsville during a severe storm this morning.
A witness told the Haywood County Sheriff’s Department that he saw what he thought was a lightning strike and then a ball of fire at the time of the crash.
Hospital Wing lost contact with the pilot shortly before 6:00 a.m. The Eurocopter Astar (AS350B3) chopper was located using GPS tracking.
Pilot Doug Phillips and nurses Misty Brogdon and Cindy Parker were killed. Today is Parker’s birthday.
“Hospital Wing” is used to transport patients and has several bases including Oxford, Memphis and Brownsville.
Statement from Hospital Wing: “A Hospital Wing helicopter crashed at approximately 6 a.m. this morning just east of Brownsville, Tenn. Three crew members were on board. No patients were on board. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are on the scene and the crash is under investigation.
Hospital Wing was founded in 1985 and is a non-profit air medical transport service with direct alliances with the Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Baptist Memorial Hospital, The MED, St. Francis Hospital in Memphis and Crittenden Memorial Hospital in West Memphis, Arkansas.
“Nothing like this has ever happened in our history,” said Allen Burnette, program director and Chief Operating Officer.”
Hollywood Christian Academy coaches arrested for sexual battery www.privateofficer.com
David Tillman, 19, a volunteer assistant coach, was charged with lewd and lascivious battery, according to a police report. Another coach, Raymond Holmes, 29, was charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor. They were arrested Tuesday.
According to Fort Lauderdale police, a 16-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl skipped school on March 19. One of the girls called Holmes and asked him to pick them up. Holmes and Tillman picked up the teens and took them to Tillman’s Fort Lauderdale home, police said.
The report states that Tillman and the 15-year-old girl had sex in his apartment. The 16-year-old girl and Holmes walked to his apartment and had sex, according to the report.
The 16-year-old’s mother found sexually explicit text messages between Holmes and her daughter, according to the report. Authorities could not immediately say if those messages were what led police to arrest the men.
Holmes and Tillman were being held at the Broward County Jail.
Hollywood Christian Athletic Director Monte Gonzalez declined to comment and referred calls to Headmaster Carter Edwards, who could not be reached despite telephone messages left at his office.
Police ask anyone with information to call 954-828-5964 .
Police nab suspect in ATM guard robbery www.privateofficer.com
Brandon M. Parrott, 26, was charged with armed robbery, robbery, first- and second-degree assault, theft under $100,000, theft under $1,000 and transporting a a handgun in a motor vehicle, the release said.
The robbery was reported to Maryland State Police at about 8 a.m., the release said.
The caller told police that a man wearing a mask approached an armed guard who was retrieving money from an ATM at the PNC Bank kiosk at 4310 Old National Pike. The man indicated he had a gun and demanded money, the release said.
The masked man stole the guard’s handgun and an undetermined amount of money, then fled in a black Ford Explorer on Md. 17 toward Myersville, Md.
State police troopers, Frederick County sheriff’s deputies and FCBI members responded to the scene. According to the release, an FCBI investigator spotted the Explorer backing out of a driveway between Middletown and Myersville. The investigator and a deputy stopped the vehicle near Dawn Court, south of Myersville.
The driver, identified as Parrott, was taken into custody without incident and was taken to the Frederick County Law Enforcement Center, the release said.
Law enforcement personnel and the State Police Trooper 3 helicopter searched the surrounding area for other possible suspects, but investigators concluded that the man acted alone, the release said.
The guard was not injured, the release said.
The Explorer was seized and towed to the Frederick County Law Enforcement Center. Investigators have requested a warrant to search the vehicle.
NC teacher arrested for sexual misconduct www.privateofficer.com
Apex NC March 25 2010 Another local teacher faces charges of sexual misconduct with a student. This comes only a day after an area basketball coach was arrested and charged with a similar offense.
Mitchell Lance Britt, 38, the former band director at West Johnston High School was arrested March 23 and charged four counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and three more counts of sexual offense with a student.
According to Johnston County School officials, Britt resigned on November 20, 2009.
“The school system is not a liberty to disclose publicly any confidential personnel information regarding Mr. Britt”, school officials said in a written statement concerning Britt.
“The school system is aware of the pending criminal charges against Mr. Britt. The school system and Board of Education will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities. At this time, the situation is a matter for the criminal justice system to address and take any action that is warranted.”
This was not the first arrest of an area teacher which involved sex acts with a student. The day prior, Fuquay-Varina High School Basketball Coach Mardy Lee Cutchin,37, was charged with three counts of sexual activity with a student.
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.
OFFICER DOWN FEDERAL WAY WASHINGTON
Federal Way Police Department
Washington
End of Watch: Sunday, March 21, 2010
Biographical Info
Age: 34
Tour of Duty: 8 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Date of Incident: Sunday, March 21, 2010
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Officer Brian Walsh suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after responding to a an officer-involved shooting on 26th Avenue, SW.
After the initial response and search for suspects, Officer Walsh was posted on the perimeter to secure the shooting scene. At approximately 6:45 am he was found collapsed in his patrol car.
Officer Walsh was a service member of the Air National Guard and had served in law enforcement for eight years. He is survived by his expectant wife and two children.
Agency Contact Information
Federal Way Police Department
33530 1st Way South
PO Box 9718
Federal Way, WA 98063
Phone: (253) 661-4000
Please contact the Federal Way Police Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
Mall security officer shoots at shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
Tulsa Police say that a man was leaving Woodland Hills Mall after taking clothes from a store around 6:30 p.m. A security guard followed him to the parking lot as the man tried to get into an SUV and leave.
Cpt. Rick Helberg said the security guard was hanging out of the car as the suspect began to drive away. The guard reached for his gun and fired a shot that hit the truck. He eventually freed himself from the SUV. 8
The suspect hit cars in the mall lot as he left the property. But, his run would soon end.
An officer spotted the man’s vehicle near 51st and Memorial. He was taken into custody without incident.
The 42-year-old suspect was sprayed with a marking dye when he left the store he allegedly stole from. The bright orange ink was all over the man’s front, Helberg said.
He could face shoplifting and endangerment charges. Police found several garments in the back of his SUV.
The security guard suffered bumps and bruises but no serious injuries.
Substitute teacher arrested for urinating in classroom www.privateofficer.com
Delano police were called to Cesar Chavez High School around 10:30 a.m. after there was a reported incident of indecent exposure.
The Delano Police Department has arrested 59-year-old Matthew Davis, who is a substitute teacher.
Some students reported seeing Davis urinate in the classroom, though the DPD has not confirmed these allegations.
Sgt. Jerry Nicholson with the DPD said there was probable cause to arrest Davis, whose bail was set at $650,000 according to the sheriff’s booking information.
Davis has been charged with 15 felonies: 5 felony counts of indecent exposure, 5 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts and 5 felony counts of child endangerment.
District officials said they’re praising students and teachers for how they handled the situation.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Davis is scheduled to appear in court in Delano Wednesday morning.
