Archive
Arkansas teacher arrested for sex assault of student www.privateofficer.com
Beebe police arrested Jessica James, 23, April 8 for first degree sexual assault.
Beebe Police Chief Wayne Ballew says James was a substitute teacher at Beebe High School when she allegedly had sexual relations with a 16-year-old male student In November 2009.
The investigation revealed that James had been contracted to the Beebe School District through “SubTeach USA” and that James began working as a substitute teacher at the school in September 2009 until her termination in December 2009.
After being held overnight in the White County Jail at Searcy, she was released the next day on $50,000 bond
TSA security agent, two others charged with robberies www.privateofficer.com
Three Detroit men, including a TSA agent, were charged Thursday in connection with a series of fast food restaurant robberies over the past month.
Elgin Earl Taylor, 23, Reginald Oliver Jones, 23, and Quantrez Rapheal Sawyer , 30, were arraigned on four counts of armed robbery in the 39th District Court in Roseville.
The charges stem from the robbery of a White Castle on April 9 and a McDonald’s on Wednesday.
Sawyer has been identified as the Transportation Security Administration employee, stating in court that he “works for homeland security, the TSA.”
Sawyer, employed as a passenger screener/security officer, told the judge he’s been with the TSA for nearly eight years.
Thursday, the TSA issued the following statement about Sawyer’s arrest:
“TSA is aware of the arrest and will take appropriate action as necessary. The individual has been removed from screening passengers and property. This incident in no way reflects on the dedication and professionalism shown by the TSA workforce as a whole, who work tirelessly every day to keep traveling public safe.”
The robbery suspects were seen in one piece of restaurant surveillance tape wearing the same blue gloves that TSA officers use. Police believe the gloves came from Sawyer.
“I was a little surprised,” said Donna Lamphere, a distribution superintendent for White Castle restaurants. “They (gloves) looked like surgical gloves, something from the hospital.”
Police said they are investigating whether the trio is responsible for up to 30 similar cases at fast food restaurants in Fraser, Clinton Township, St. Clair Shores, Warren and Southfield.
St. Clair Shores police said a McDonald’s near 13 Mile Road and Harper Avenue was targeted at about 3 a.m.Tuesday by two men who broke in and tied up three employees at gunpoint.
No money was taken and the whole incident was caught on surveillance cameras.
Southfield police said a Little Caesar’s pizza restaurant in the 19000 block of W. 12 Mile Road was robbed at gunpoint on April 10 by two men who were dressed in black with what appear to be surgical gloves and masks.
Clinton Township police said a Subway restaurant at Groesbeck Highway and Kelly Road was robbed on March 29 around 9:30 p.m. by two men wearing surgical gloves.
Hungry Howie’s manager Larry Robertson was working when the Warren restaurant was robbed recently.
“They came plowing through the doors and jumped the counter real quick,” he said.
None of the restaurant employees have been harmed during the robberies, but police said they are concerned because the robberies have involved guns.
The robbers were seen on surveillance wearing red or black hooded sweatshirts, surgical gloves and covered their faces with either masks or bandannas.
Lamphere said the charges make her wonder about security at the airport.
“Who is checking my bag? And are they maybe letting people go through who are not supposed to be going through?” said Lamphere.
TSA officials said they do background checks on employees but the agency would not comment further about Sawyer’s case.
Former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates dies www.privateofficer.com
Gates, who was chief of police in the United States’ second-largest city from 1978 to 1992, died of cancer at his home in Newport Beach, California, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a brief statement.
As chief during the 1980s, Gates earned a reputation for dealing with gangs, drugs and street crime with a mix of tough, paramilitary force and innovation, establishing the first Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT, unit and deploying helicopters to help patrol the sprawling city.
But he came under fierce criticism after the violent March 3, 1991, arrest of Rodney King, a black parolee whose beating by Los Angeles police was captured on videotape and broadcast around the world as evidence of LAPD racism and brutality.
Four of the officers were put on trial for King’s beating and their acquittal in April 1992 by an all-white jury touched off three days of the worst urban riots in modern U.S. history, leaving 53 people dead.
Gates, who was roundly criticized for attending a fund-raising dinner in the first hours of rioting, came under heavy pressure to resign and stepped down in June of that year.
Alabama creates “Blue Alert” for injured, killed officers www.privateofficer.com
Riley will sign an executive order at 3 p.m. today that would create the Blue Alert system in Alabama.
The alerts would be activated when a local, state or federal law enforcement officer has been killed or seriously injured in Alabama and the suspect is at large.
Riley will be joined by Jim Fezatte, whose son James was killed in the line of duty in 2008 while working for the Millbrook Police Department.
Riley will also sign a proclamation declaring May 9-15 as Blue Ribbon Week in Alabama.
Security officer killed in quadruple shooting www.privateofficer.com
Richard Epps was working security at Lid’s bar at 15th and Winohocking Streets when he was shot along with three others around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
Investigators say Epps, who was an armed guard, had his gun taken from and used against him. The shooter then fired on the other three victims.
Police described the scene inside the bar as a “bloodbath.” One person died after arriving at Temple University Hospital. Epps and the other two victims were taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center.
Epps died of his injuries Thursday morning, according to police.
The shooter is still on the loose, but investigators are hoping security cameras will yield some clues.
Drunk driver kills security officer www.privateofficer.com
Harley Greenfield, the CEO of Jennifer Convertibles, slammed into Mohammad Rohman – who was walking to Burger King on a quick meal break between a double shift, law enforcement sources said.
Rohman, a Bangladeshi immigrant and father of two, had just agreed to work an extra shift because he was determined to buy his family a house, his relatives said.
He was crossing the Whitestone Expressway about 10:45p.m. Wednesday when he was killed instantly.
At his arraignment Thursday night in Queens Criminal Court, Assistant District Attorney George Kanellopoulos said Greenfield, 65, only admitted to cops that he had two drinks – a vodka and a wine – at dinner in Westbury, L.I., but said the suspect’s blood was being tested for alcohol.
He quoted Greenfield as telling investigators,”I was in the left lane changing lanes, when I hit something, but I didn’t know what I hit.”
Greenfield, wearing a blue shirt with what appeared to be bloodstains on the back of the neck, sleeve and shoulder, stood silently as the judge released him on his own recognizance pending a hearing May 11.
He is currently charged with operating a vehicle while impaired by alcohol, an infraction punishable by a fine. An initial charge of refusing to take a Breathalyzer was dropped.
Leaving court, Greenfield was silent and tried to hide his face with a briefcase as his lawyer tussled with a television reporter firing questions at his client.
Earlier, Rohman’s anguished widow, Rawshan Ara Begam, cried “[Greenfield] could have hired a car with all his money – why did he have to drive drunk?”
“He should be punished. People should remember that there is a heaven and hell,” she said.
Greenfield stayed at the scene with his 2010 Chevy Cobalt whose windshield and front end were badly damaged.
He told cops he was driving from the company’s Long Island headquarters to his upper East Side high-rise at the time of the crash. Calls to Jennifer Convertibles were not returned.
Greenfield and two friends founded the sofa bed retailer in 1975 and it now has 154 stores nationwide, according to the company’s Web site.
Rohman, 45, worked for Summit Security, which had been hired to guard the MTA’s College Point depot. He was trying to save time by walking across the busy Whitestone to reach the fast-food joint, according to transit sources.
“He was a great father,” said the victim’s 12-year-old daughter, Marjana Rohman.
“He taught us so much and gave us everything he had,” she said. “All he wanted in life was for us to succeed.”
Rohman, who also had a 5-year-old daughter, will be memorialized today in a service at the Jamaica Muslim Center.
Casino security nab 4 with stolen credit cards www.privateofficer.com
The investigation began Friday after casino officials learned that two fraudulent transactions were made the previous Friday to obtain cash advances.
Arrested were:
• Tericka Grady, 33, of Castle Hayne, N.C.
• Dreama Brown, 35, of Willard, N.C.
• Carlos Gause, 35, of Staten Island, N.Y.
• Shariff Thompson, 30, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Grady, Brown and Thompson were each charged with theft greater than $1,500, unlawful use of a credit card over $1,500, conspiracy, theft under $1,500, unlawful use of a credit card under $1,500 and conspiracy.
Grady and Thompson were additionally charged with theft under $1,500 and attempted theft under $1,500.
Gause was charged with two counts of conspiracy and resisting arrest.
He is being held in Young Correctional Institution after failing to post $2,000 cash bail.
State police spokesman Sgt. Walter Newton said troopers assigned to the gaming unit were called by casino officials Saturday about a woman — later identified as Grady — trying to get a cash advance for $1,062.00 with a fraudulent credit card.
Based on the earlier suspicious transaction, the casino security was instructed to hold the woman until the trooper arrived.
A floor security officer walked up to Grady, a man with her abruptly left the casino, evading security, Newton said.
The man — later identified as Thompson — got into a gold minivan with a Florida registration and drove out of the parking lot.
A pursuit ensued and troopers chased the vehicle to the area of Bowers Beach Road, where Thompson and a second man, identified as Gause — bailed out of the van and ran off, Newton said.
Both were arrested.
Dreama Brown, the fourth suspect, was found sitting in the minivan and arrested.
Newton said the suspects had personal identification cards along with the fraudulent credit cards, which they got from an unidentified third party.
An investigation revealed that the suspects frequented Dover Downs and the Harrington Raceway Casino the weekend of April 2-4 and last weekend.
When searched, Gause had $6,708 in his possession and Brown had $617, all of which was seized by police.
Brown, who was also charged with resisting arrest, is being held in the Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution after failing to post $5,750 bail.
Grady is jailed there in lieu of $5,000 bail.
Thompson is being held in the Young Correctional Institution in lieu of $12,075 bail
Indiana University student commits suicide in dorm room www.privateofficer.com
Police identified the student as Indiana University student Gregory Willoughby 21. His family has been notified. Police believe he inhaled a lethal mixture of hydrogen sulfide.
IU Police are awaiting additional information from the investigation of the Monroe County Coroner regarding his death.
Shortly before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, campus police officers responded to a report of a possible suicide involving a hazardous material on the third floor of the Willkie Residence Center.
“When they entered the room to check on the welfare of the student, the door was barricaded from the inside,” said Chief Jerry Minger, IU Police.
Police pushed into the room, but did not see the student. However, a note was posted on the closet door reading “Warning H2S” – or hydrogen sulfide. Officers knew that the H2S warning sign fit a pattern of suicides of young people inhaling the fumes of certain chemicals which, when mixed together in a bucket, form the deadly H2S.
When fire and HazMat crews arrived, they discovered a body in the closet of the dorm room, along with a bucket of liquid they believed to have been used in a suicide, but at that point the identity of the liquid had not been determined.
Hydrogen sulfide chemical gives off toxic and deadly fumes. There have been news stories recently of people using the chemical to commit suicide and affect others who come to their aid. In Japan, they call H2S suicides “detergent death,” with more than 500 deaths in one year.
Police evacuated the second through fourth floors of the building and contacted the Bloomington Fire Department. More than 50 students spent three hours outside while crews checked for traces of the deadly chemical anywhere in the building. They said no other students were exposed or injured by the chemical.
“We’re not allowed to go in for awhile,” said one student.
“Every now and then, it just seemed to get a whiff of something. But being inside the building, you couldn’t smell it above or below,” said another.
“There’s been no indication from anyone on the floor that lived near him that he had any problems that would indicate he would do anything like this,” said Chief Minger.
Investigators also cordoned off a small area near the room in question, including adjacent dorm rooms. Police took precautions regarding the possible presence of hazardous chemicals, but did not believe there is any danger to others.
Police say there is no indication of foul play.
