Archive
Tucson teacher arrested for sex with student www.privateofficer.com
Christie Elliot, 25, an English teacher and cheerleading coach at Empire High School, was arrested Monday. She is facing charges of luring a minor for sexual exploitation and sexual conduct with a minor. She was booked into the Pima County jail.
Tucson police said that a parent found innappropriate messages on his child’s cell phone. The parent reported the messages to the school because it was believed the message were from the his child’s English teacher.
Police were called in April 19 and the investigation revealed Elliot and the student had a physical relationship, said Officer Chuck Rydzak, a Tucson police spokesman.
Elliot turned herself in to investigators at the downtown police headquarters on Monday
TSA officer charged with theft from wheelchair bound woman www.privateofficer.com
Leroy Ray, 44, of Newark has been suspended by the Transportation Security Administration, which employed him as a passenger screener since August 2002.
Ray’s search of the purse was caught on video cameras, according to a criminal complaint. When the woman returned to the security checkpoint to complain that $300 in a white envelope was missing from her purse, as well as $195 from an inside zippered pocket, Ray abruptly walked over to a supervisor’s office and placed a white object from his back pocket into the “lost and found” tray, the complaint said..
He then returned to the checkpoint and volunteered that he had found the missing envelope on the floor.
Ray was charged with theft and making false statements to investigators. He is expected to make an initial appearance before a federal judge in Newark this afternoon.
Security officer assaulted during ATM burglary www.privateofficer.com
source:delawareonline.com A 30-year-old security guard suffered minor injury when he was assaulted by a man trying to break into an ATM machine in Brandywine Hundred early today, state police said.
Senior Cpl. Jeff Whitmarsh said the incident happened about 1:15 a.m. at the 21st Century Insurance building at 3 Beaver Valley Road.
A man came to the front door and said his vehicle was disabled, and asked to use the phone to call for help. When the guard opened the door, he was sprayed in the face with pepper spray.
The guard was forced to an ATM machine in the building and the bandit tried to break into it, Whitmarsh said.
He ordered the guard down and assaulted him each time he tried to get up.
The bandit finally gave up trying to get into the machine and stole the guard’s cell phone. He then fled.
He was described as 30 to 40 years old, about 5-feet 9-inches tall and with average build. His face was covered and he wore a blue jacket, dark pants and carried a black bag.
Whitmarsh asked anyone with information on the robber to call (302) 834-2630 ext. 6 or Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333.
Hospital security’s tip leads to pursuit, burglary arrests www.privateofficer.com
Police say a car crashed into a home on East Main Street in Morgan Hill following a high-speed chase Saturday night. Two teens were arrested.
Two teenagers attempting to steal alcohol from a storage unit in Morgan Hill on Saturday night ended up in the hospital after leading police on a high-speed pursuit that ended in a crash into a house, police said Monday.
The chain of events began around 11:20 p.m. when officers were notified of a commercial burglary in progress at the DePaul Medical Center, located at 18550 DePaul Drive, according to police.
The on-site security officer reported witnessing several people breaking into the portable buildings on the northwest side of the complex, police said.
When officers arrived, they saw the suspects drive away in a 1999 Chrysler Sebring east on Cochrane Road. The officers went after the suspects in pursuit, but they refused to yield to police and continued speeding in an attempt to evade the officers, police said.
As the Chrysler approached the intersection of Main Street and Butterfield Boulevard, however, the driver lost control of the car and slammed into the concrete center divider. The impact sent the Chrysler airborne about 90 feet and into a city light pole, cutting the pole off at the base, police said.
The Chrysler continued west along the sidewalk before crashing into an occupied home located at 55 E. Main St.
The occupants inside the home were unharmed, police said. The extent of damage to the home has not yet been determined.
Leaking fluids from the engine compartment of the Chrysler ignited causing a small fire. The suspects were unable to self-extricate, so emergency crews assisted in removing them from the car and extinguishing the fire.
Both suspects were transported to San Jose Regional Medical Center. The driver, identified as 18-year-old Dylan Campos of Gilroy, suffered a fractured pelvis, a dislocated right hip, a fractured right leg and fractured jaw. Campos faces several charges, including burglary, felony evasion and felony DUI, police said.
The passenger is a 17-year-old boy, whose name police did not release. He suffered a fractured right leg as a result of the collision. After he was treated, he was released to his parents pending criminal charges, police said.
Officers determined the suspects had forced entry into the storage unit to take alcohol beverages. Police believe there were additional juvenile suspects involved in the burglary.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call police Detective Brandon Richards at (408) 779-2101 or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-STOP (7867).
PRIVATE OFFICER MEMORIAL WEEK
2010 PRIVATE OFFICER MEMORIAL WEEK
Immediate Release
ATLANTA GA
MAY 17 2010
The 2nd Annual INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE OFFICER MEMORIAL WEEK has been scheduled for SEPTEMBER 19-25 2010.
This week has been designated for security officers along with law enforcement and others in the security community, families, friends and the general public to pay their respects and gratitude to more than 450 Private Security Officers who have been killed in the line of duty during the past six years and the many others who died before that in service to those that they were hired to protect, serve, and guard, preventing harm that would otherwise come against their employer’s property, employees, visitors and the general public.
This year’s Memorial Week will include numerous events scheduled in Atlanta Georgia Nashville TN. and in Charlotte North Carolina.
On September 20th the event will begin with a live event and by reading the names of all security personnel killed on duty in the past five years.
In addition to this, a special remarks wall on the Private Officer website will be available for family members, friends and other visitors to leave notes, poems, songs, pictures and other mementos for these fallen hero’s.
A candlelight vigil and prayer by the association Chaplain will also take place on Wednesday evening in downtown Atlanta and in Nashville and Charlotte. Other events are also planned in numerous other states and in the U.K., Brazil, Canada, and Australia and a number of other countries.
Each year, more than eighty security officers are killed in the U.S. while in the performance of their duties. Internationally, more than one
thousand security officers are killed yearly while in the performance of their duties as they protect and serve.
PRIVATE OFFICER INTERNATIONAL
PRIVATE OFFICER MEMORIAL WEEK 2010
SEPTEMBER 19-25 2010
HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?
There are a number of ways for you to be involved in the 2nd Annual Private Officer Memorial week.
First, you can help to get the word out to your co-workers and other security personnel in your area. Make them aware of this very
important and special week.
Second, you can send a letter of announcement to your media, and local officials including your mayor and state governor and ask that
a Proclamation for Private Officer Memorial week be issued.
(We will provide you with the letter and all materials.)
Third, you can hold a small memorial at your office or place of business or a local park during that week. It does not have to be a large
production. A few minutes reading the names of security officers killed from your states, a minute of silence or a prayer is all that is
necessary.
(We will supply the names of deceased officers from your state)
Forth, if you are a uniformed officer, you may also wear a black band over your badge.
We also welcome any further suggestions that you might have for this event.
OFFICER DOWN FLORIDA
Patrick Ambroise
Florida Highway Patrol
Florida
End of Watch: Saturday, May 15, 2010
Biographical Info
Age: 35
Tour of Duty: 4 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Date of Incident: Saturday, May 15, 2010
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Trooper Patrick Ambroise was killed when his patrol car was struck from behind while he was stopped on the shoulder of the Florida Turnpike, near Okeechobee Road.
A vehicle being driven on the turnpike suddenly veered onto the shoulder and struck Trooper Ambroise’s 2006 Crown Victoria from behind, causing it to burst into flames, and trapping him inside.
The driver of the vehicle that caused the crash was seriously injured.
Trooper Ambroise had served with the Florida Highway Patrol for four years. He is survived by his wife, two young daughters, mother, and five siblings.
Agency Contact Information
Florida Highway Patrol
Neil Kirkman Building
2900 Apalachee Parkway
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Phone: (850) 617-2301
Please contact the Florida Highway Patrol for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
OFFICER DOWN
United States Department of Defense – Marine Corps Base Hawaii Police Department
U.S. Government
End of Watch: Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Biographical Info
Age: 42
Tour of Duty: 2 years
Badge Number: 5588
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Date of Incident: Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Incident Location: Hawaii
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Officer Tauveve Vivao suffered a fatal heart attack while participating in a department physical training exercise aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
He was transported to Castle Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Officer Tauveve was retired from the U.S. Army and had served with the Marine Corps Base Hawaii Police Department for two years. He is survived by his wife and eight children.
Agency Contact Information
United States Department of Defense – Marine Corps Base Hawaii Police Department
Box 63062
Kaneohe Bay, HI 96863
Phone: (808) 257-2123
Please contact the United States Department of Defense – Marine Corps Base Hawaii Police Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
Off-duty NYPD officers killed in crash www.privateofficer.com
The bodies were initially taken to Montefiore Medical Center’s North Division in the Bronx, where relatives and police officers gathered by the dozen.
The deadly crash came just hours after an on-duty officer was gravely injured when a motorcycle struck him during a foot chase in Brooklyn.
The fatal accident occurred about 6:30 a.m., as the two officers and the four women were heading north on the Bronx River Parkway in a 2009 Nissan Altima. The vehicle struck a guardrail near the 233rd Street exit in the Bronx and flipped over, the police said.
The two officers, identified by the police as Edwin Paulino, 25, and Kim Hoyoung, 32, were pinned inside the wreckage, the police said, and were pronounced dead at the scene.
The four women were thrown from the vehicle. They were listed in serious but stable condition at Jacobi Medical Center, the police said.
The mother of one of the women said that her daughter, Melina Ramirez, 26, told her in the hospital that she had never met the officers, but accepted an offer to be driven home from a party.
The mother, Ruth Briones, 66, said her daughter had described the officers as being inebriated. “She said, ‘Who drive the car is the police. They drink, they drive. They drunk,’ ” Ms. Briones said. She said her daughter had a broken leg and a broken back, and was undergoing surgery.
It was not immediately known whether the women and the officers, who were assigned to the 32nd Precinct in Harlem, were wearing seat belts. The police did not elaborate on the circumstances of the crash, saying only that the cause appeared to be driver inattentiveness, which would tend to exclude external factors like mechanical failure or another vehicle. Blood tests will be performed to determine whether there were other factors, including alcohol, involved.
The police said they were hopeful that once the four women — Ms. Ramirez; Iris Gomez-Ramirez, 27; Shirley Torres, 26; and Jasmine Ramirez, 20 — were able to be interviewed, more would be known.
“To come on a day where you saw a police officer get hit by a motorcycle while he was chasing somebody, our prayers really do go out to the immediate family and the officers,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said. “This just makes it so much worse. Somehow or other, it’s the same day, but it’s a tragedy, and from what we know so far, it was just an accident.”
At Montefiore Medical Center’s North Division in the Bronx, where the two officers’ bodies were initially taken, police officers by the dozen arrived in support of them and their families. Some shook hands or hugged, milling about as the officers’ relatives arrived in vans driven by fellow officers. The police did not release the addresses of any of the officers or the four women.
Meanwhile, across the street from the 47th Precinct station house in the Bronx, the Nissan Altima sat in evidence of the accident’s impact: its roof was gone and its body twisted. Strewn about the vehicle were the remnants of life before the violence it encountered just hours earlier: a basketball, several compact discs, a lid to a tin of tobacco and what remained of a wooden rosary.
Mr. Bloomberg made his comments at Lutheran Hospital in Brooklyn, where the officer struck in the line of duty, Carlos Olmedo, 31, was operated on to relieve pressure on his brain.
The police said that Officer Olmedo, a four-year veteran of the force, was struck by the motorcycle as he chased a group of suspects who had hopped from a stolen car and run. The accident occurred about 1 a.m., near 84th Street and 20th Avenue, the police said.
Officer Olmedo and his partner had been investigating a robbery that had been reported about six blocks from the scene, the police said. The two officers then saw a Toyota Corolla that had been reported stolen, the police said, and upon closer inspection, recognized some of the men inside the car: They had been questioned by the officers in connection with the robbery.
As the officers gave chase, Officer Olmedo was struck by the motorcycle, the police said. Mr. Bloomberg said he was in “very grave condition.”
“He’s being treated by the best doctors that are here, and at this point I think it’s in the hands of God,” the mayor said.
The police said on Sunday night that they had arrested three Brooklyn men who, they said, were in the stolen vehicle. They were identified as Mario Koruni, Sefer Mujo and Tiku Qoko, all 18. They were each charged with two counts of felony assault.
The motorcyclist, who was not identified and who was not involved in the chase, was being treated at Lutheran Hospital for injuries that were not life threatening, the mayor said.
Alabama Troopers nab truck driver loaded with cocaine www.privateofficer.com
Jose Antonio Herrera was charged with unlawful possession with the intent to distribute cocaine in a complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He is in custody and is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Birmingham before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul W. Greene.
“This is a huge seizure of cocaine made by Alabama State Troopers, working in conjunction with the DEA,” said Peggy Sanford, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Birmingham. “This seizure takes about $2.8 million worth of cocaine out of the drug pipeline that runs through Birmingham and other southeastern cities between Mexico and Atlanta.”
Details of Herrera’s arrest were outlined in an affidavit filed by a state trooper who is assigned as a drug investigator to the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and also works with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration task force.
According to the affidavit, here is what happened:
Alabama State Trooper Corporal Darrell Seymour, a certified commercial vehicle inspector, pulled over a tractor trailer for an inspection along Interstate 20/59 on May 13. The driver was nervous and Seymour noticed what he believed to be an aftermarket compartment below the bottom bunk in the sleeper berth.
During the inspection the trooper got Herrera’s consent to search both the tractor and trailer. .
Seymour, with the help of another trooper, found 99 kilogram-sized bundles under a bunk in the berth of the truck’s cab and then under a trap door. A field test confirmed that the substance was cocaine
“Mr. Herrera’s arrest and the seizure of nearly 100 kilograms of cocaine from a tractor-trailer after it was stopped on Interstate 20/59 shows what can be accomplished through good police work,” Sanford said.
Food Network chef charged with murder plot www.privateofficer.com
Santa Monica CA May 18 2010 A former Food Network chef will be arraigned in a California courtroom this morning. Police say he tried to hire homeless men to commit murder.
CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reported Monday on “The Early Show” Juan-Carlos Cruz found fame as the Food Network’s “Calorie Commando,” but today he sits behind bars, held on $5 million bail and accused of murder-for-hire.
Investigators say the celebrity chef allegedly scouted Santa Monica, hoping to find a hit man among the homeless. The plan backfired when the homeless men tipped off police.
Sgt. Jay Trisler, of the Santa Monica Police Department, told CBS News, “It was a serious allegation and there was somebody who was intended to be killed. For us, it was something that we felt needed to move swift.”
Gossip website TMZ.com is reporting the intended target was Cruz’s wife Jennifer Campbell. Police confirm there are three men who claim they were offered $1,000 cash to slit a woman’s throat. They told TMZ the plan later changed.
Police have not confirmed Cruz’s target was his wife.
In a TMZ interview, a reporter asks, “You were told to strangle her?”
A man replies, “Yeah, because stabbing leaves too much blood. He didn’t want a mess.”
The men agreed to record conversations with Cruz as detectives launched an undercover investigation.
One man said, “I had a recorder in my pocket and they were listening and watching.”
Cruz was arrested Thursday in a local dog park. Those who know him say this is a bizarre turn for the reality TV star. He began his career as a pastry chef at the posh Hotel Bel-Air. He became a Food Network star in 2004 and later published his own cookbook.
His wife, Jennifer Campbell, was his high school sweetheart.
Ron Mackovich, a Food Network producer, said of the couple, “They had always seemed so harmonious that I couldn’t imagine he would have anything like that going on.”
Mackovich produced Cruz five years ago in the weight-loss series, “Take It Off.”
He said, “It’s hard for me to believe that the guy who was there cooking and helping people lose weight could end up in a terrible situation like this.”
Police have not revealed a motive for the alleged crime. If convicted, Cruz faces up to nine years in prison.
Officers injured during Millburn shoplifting incident www.privateofficer.com
Shakeera S. Williams, 20, of East Orange, was arrested and charged with Robbery, Shoplifting, Receiving Stolen Property, Aggravated Assault, Resisting Arrest and Possession of Fraudulent Government Documents, after a Millburn Police Officer and a Mall at Short Hills Security Officer were approached by an employee of Abercrombie & Fitch, who said a “female had just left the store after concealing merchandise in a bag.”
“It is alleged that when the police officer attempted to place her under arrest she became verbally abusive, attempted to leave the area, struggled and bit the security officer on the arm.
Baltimore club security arrested for weapons, impersonation www.privateofficer.com
source:baltimore sun A Northeast Baltimore nightclub that had been padlocked by city police and labeled a gang hangout by federal prosecutors opened illegally over the weekend, according to police, who said they arrested two men pretending to be officers and armed with loaded handguns.
Officers passing by Club 410 in the 4500 block of Belair Road heard loud noise and stopped to investigate. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said about 350 people had jammed inside the establishment, which does not have a valid liquor license.
The spokesman said two security guards were arrested and charged with illegal possession of handguns and impersonating police officers.
Guglielmi said each was armed with a .40-caliber Glock, the same type carried by city police, and one was loaded with 13 rounds and the other with 16 rounds. He said each man was a wearing vest emblazoned with the word “police” and had other police-issued equipment.
Police identified the men as William Salliey Jr., 24, of the 7400 block of Tempest Court in Rosedale and Ryzele George, 25, of the 1500 block of E. Federal St. in Baltimore. Each posted $50,000 bail and was released pending trial.
The arrests early Saturday are the latest trouble for Club 410, whose managers fought at a public hearing in March 2009 to head off forced closure. Police said its patrons were responsible for a string of violent incidents, including a shooting and a gun found in a car parked near the bar, and that the club was a drain on police resources.
The manager, Tomeka Harris, a law student who represented the club at the 2009 hearing, argued that the violence outside had nothing to do with the way the club was run inside and that she held events that promoted safe sex and raised money for toy drives. But a hearing administrator sided with police, and the club was padlocked under the city’s nuisance laws.
A few weeks later, federal prosecutors filed indictments against suspected gang members who authorities alleged controlled drug turf from inside their prison cells and used “Death Angels” to execute rivals. Among those charged in the case was Harris, who was linked in court documents to the Black Guerrilla Family and called a close associate of a senior gang leader. Harris remains in prison pending her trial.
The padlock order expired last month, according to authorities, but the city’s liquor board ordered the owners — Andrea Huff, who works in the city’s 311 call center, and Scott Brooks, a city schools employee — to surrender the license to the landlord.
Until that landlord sells the license, liquor board Chairman Stephan Fogleman said on Monday, Club 410 cannot open and sell alcohol. Guglielmi said the bar “was operating illegally as a liquor establishment.”
The landlord and current holder of the liquor license is identified in liquor board records as John Zorzit. Reached by telephone Monday afternoon, he declined to comment. “I don’t know anything about it,” he said.
It is unclear how the club managed to reopen. Fogleman said it could become an issue when Zorzit sells the license, which must be approved by the board. Said police spokesman Guglielmi, “Somebody gave them keys to the door.”
He also said there is an internal investigation to determine how the two men obtained police gear. It’s possible they bought the items at a private police-supply shop.
Shotgun toting man robs armored car www.privateofficer.com
About 10:24 a.m., the suspect approached a Dunbar employee who was apparently in the vestibule area of the Bank of America branch at 13311 New Hampshire Avenue, about four miles north of Capital beltway, said Cpl. Dan Friz, a Montgomery police spokesman.
The gunman was able to get cash, Friz said.
It’s not clear if the armored truck employee was hurt. But if he was, it wasn’t serious, officials said.
Police had obtained only a vague description of the suspect as of noon. It was unknown if he was still on foot or had gotten into a car.
Former NYC police boss sent to prison www.privateofficer.com
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. May 18 2010— Former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerik was due to report to federal prison Monday, but he was still claiming he had been wronged.
Kerik, who pleaded guilty in November to tax fraud, lying to the White House and other counts, was to start a four-year prison term, but the Bureau of Prisons said it would not identify the prison until after he reports.
In a statement dated Sunday on his website, the former 9/11 hero said he could not remain silent “in the face of what I believe has been a grave injustice.” He said he pleaded guilty to eight felonies in November because he was “financially helpless” and could have spent a year behind bars just awaiting trial.
Kerik’s steely resolve as he stood with his mentor, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, won him worldwide fame after the 2001 terror attacks. His career peaked three years later when he was nominated by President George W. Bush to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
While he was being vetted, however, questions were raised about his finances and associations, and he bowed out of the nomination. He later admitted in court that he lied when he denied having any financial dealings with anyone doing business with New York City.
When he was sentenced in February, federal Judge Stephen Robinson said Kerik had used 9/11 “for personal gain and aggrandizement.” The judge went beyond federal sentencing guidelines, which suggested two to three years in prison, because of what he called “the almost operatic proportions of this case.”
Kerik’s new statement expressed disappointment with the judge, the prosecutors and the sentence and said he hoped it would be “remedied by an appellate court.”
He said he hoped God would return him to his wife and his 7- and 10-year-old daughters “much sooner rather than later.”
Kerik said he watched the movie “Rocky Balboa” with his daughters to illustrate “the principles of courage, strength and perseverance.”
He said he told the girls, “It is time to move forward.”
After his sentencing, Kerik apologized to the nation and said he hoped history would take into account the “30 years of service I’ve given to the country and the city of New York.”
In a television interview last month, Kerik said he stopped speaking with Giuliani in 2006, as the former mayor began running for president, to protect him. He added, however, “We will be friends for life.”
