Archive
Woman lights security officer on fire, commits suicide
Andrea Ilena Sampson, 30, Del City, was found dead inside her cell during a jail check Saturday morning. She apparently hung herself with a blanket, according to a police department press release.
Sampson was arrested after an incident with a security guard at the Huntington Place Apartments, 1400 N. Midwest Blvd., around 3:20 a.m.
Sampson approached the guard and asked for a ride. According to the guard, Sampson was carrying a one gallon can of gasoline, and he agreed to take her to the nearest gas station but she would have to ride in the back.
Sampson told the guard, “I don’t ride in the back seat of stranger’s cars”, and then opened up the front passenger car door.
At that point, Sampson lit some money on fire and threw it on the guard, catching his uniform on fire.
Thinking Sampson was going to pour gasoline on him, the guard drew his weapon and he and Sampson started struggling over the gun. During the struggle, one round was fired into the driver’s door, according to the police press release.
The guard was able to get control of his gun, and Sampson then fled on foot across the street to another apartment complex.
A Midwest City police officer found Sampson at the other apartment complex and was arrested without any problems.
Sampson was booked in the Midwest City jail on a complaint assault with a dangerous weapon.
At 9:30 a.m., jailors conducted a standard hourly jail check. Sampson requested some aspirin. She was found dead in her cell an hour later in a portion of her cell that is out of view of surveillance cameras. Other female prisoners were in the same jail section but housed in different cells and could not see Sampson, police said.
The Midwest City Police Department has one of the largest municipal jail in the state with a capacity of 70 prisoners.
The jail processes an average of 4,200 prisoners per year and has not had a suicide related death since August of 1998.
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!
BE SAFE IN ALL THAT YOU DO
AND REMEMBER THAT FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!
Weis Supermarket employees arrested in $90,000 theft www.privateofficer.com
James S. Accatino, 24, and James R. Wolfertz, 23, both of Stroudsburg, and Richard L. Braun Jr., 23, of East Stroudsburg, turned themselves in Thursday and are charged with theft and criminal conspiracy. Accatino is charged also with having drugs and paraphernalia after a pipe and small amount of marijuana were found in the vehicle used to conceal the stolen merchandise.
On April 30, Weis loss prevention specialists reviewing night-time in-house surveillance tapes observed three night-shift employees, later identified as Accatino, Wolfertz and Braun, taking cartons of cigarettes from the customer service counter, placing them in plastic bags, leaving them near a back door and then loading them into a vehicle owned by one of the three.
The loss prevention specialists reviewed older tapes and found the trio had been doing this in the past.
On May 7, specialists set up a surveillance team and caught the defendants concealing three garbage bags full of cigarette cartons in a vehicle. The total retail value of the contents in the garbage bags was $5,920.84.
Stroud Area Regional Police were contacted, arrested the trio and took them before East Stroudsburg Magisterial District Judge Michael Muth for arraignments on charges. Braun and Wolfertz were released on $5,000 unsecured bail and Accatino on $6,000 unsecured bail.
All three will appear again before Muth in the future for preliminary hearings.
Shoplifter faces robbery charge www.privateofficer.com
Nelson Roldam, 42, was observed trying to swipe roughly $130 worth of clothing by an off-duty Randolph Police officer who tried stopping him in the 3:03 p.m. in the store’s parking lot, Morris Plains police said Thursday.
Roldam ran until stopped by the officer, who was then assaulted by the suspect, police said, adding the Randolph officer suffered minor injuries that didn’t require medical attention.
Roldan was then taken into custody by Morris Plains police and lodged in the Morris County jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Man charged in $24,000 shoplifting scheme www.privateofficer.com
On May 19, police investigated a possible shoplifting scheme at the BJ’s Wholesale Club on Route 35, where the bar code on an electronic robot pool cleaner had been altered to drastically reduce the price, police said. The difference in the price was $1,920, according to police.
Township resident Jeffrey L. Hirschmann, 60, was arrested May 21 and charged with shoplifting.
Hirschmann had been altering the UPC code at numerous locations of the chain store — Mays Landing, Jersey City, Voorhees, Vineland, Secaucus, East Rutherford, Edison, Linden, the Manahawkin section of Stafford, Toms River, Hamilton and Old Bridge — and had stolen from the Ocean Township location three times, defrauding the stores of a total of $23,520, police said.
Hirschmann was reselling the robotic cleaners on eBay, according to police.
He was released on a criminal summons pending a court hearing.
Teacher charged with endangering student
Fort Lee resident Ilya Krakinovskiy was charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a fourth degree crime, after an investigation lead by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit.
Krakinovskiy, a graduate from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s (FDU) Teaneck campus, was released on his own recognizance pending his first court appearance in Leonia Municipal Court.
In a letter to parents, Superintendent Bernard Josefsberg said, “Having served as the host site for Mr. Krakinovskiy’s pre-service teaching, we are dismayed and saddened by this report.”
The letter also stated that the alleged behavior occurred off campus during non-school hours.
Krakinovskiy, who worked at the high school from January through May, came to the school district upon the recommendation of FDU.
“The first question when you hear of something like this is did we do anything either by permission or omission, that assisted him in his conduct, and the answer is no. He was closely supervised,” explained Josefsberg.
Josefsberg said a background check would have taken place at FDU and that all student candidates are interviewed and their references are checked.
But when Josefsberg was asked if the school district performs their own background checks on student teachers, in addition to any a university might conduct, he said no.
“There’s an assumption that the university would not be making that request had they not scrutinized their candidate at some level, and that they will vouch for his character,” Josefsberg said. “That’s the assumption.”
Although the district performs background checks when they hire full- and part-time teachers, student teachers do not undergo the same review, despite the fact they work within an “arena” that allows them to interact with students.
“If we were required to investigate the criminal history of every student teacher, we would be more reluctant to do that work because we don’t have to,” Josefsberg said. “Why would the university expect us to do the work they should be doing. They’re [student teachers] in our care. That’s why they’re supervised.”
Josefsberg said he was told by officials from FDU that Krakinovskiy, who worked at the campus bookstore, had nothing in his background or behavior that would have predicted this outcome.
“Of course they were saying that because they were in a difficult situation,” Josefsberg explained. “But I believe them.”
Krakinovskiy, who is no longer a student teacher at LHS, is also ordered to have no contact with the student.
Police shoot-kill man who shot security officer www.privateofficer.com
When deputies arrived at Seeker’s Nightclub on Irby Street just after 3:00 Friday morning, they found the bouncer wounded in the parking lot. Deputies say he’d been shot by someone at the club.
Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone says when his deputy approached the club-goer, the suspect failed to follow the officer’s orders. “When they arrived they heard multiple gunshots being fired at different locations, and then obviously the bouncer was shot. The deputy confronted this individual who was armed and commanded him to drop his weapon and he did not and the officer did not have no other alternative,” Boone explained.
An autopsy is being performed on the suspect’s body to confirm a cause of death.
The name of the deputy involved in the shooting will be released at a later time.
This is the second time in two weeks that a Florence County sheriff’s deputy has used deadly force.
Guard talks about liquor store robbery after beating
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. May 29 2010(WSVN) — A security guard is speaking out after suffering a beating by bandits.
Surveillance video captured the robbery, which occurred at the Crown Liquor Store, near Northwest Ninth Street and Sunrise Boulevard, Wednesday. According to police, the bandits tormented employees at the liquor store, including Marco Russell, a security guard on-duty at the time of the crime.
The robbers told Russell to get on the ground as they repeatedly kicked and beat him. “I went on the ground. He took my revolver, my .38, from me right away, and then he started at me. I was shaking,” Russell said. “I thought it was, like, a joke or something, until the guy went around the back to the cashier, and she started screaming. I said, ‘Oh, it’s not a joke. It’s really real,’” said Russell.
Surveillance video showed customers as they attempted to flee the store; one of the crooks struck a customer in the face as she tried to escape. Some customers managed to get out of the liquor store as the robbery ensued. Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Kathy Collins said, “You can see how cold and callous these guys are. They don’t seem very organized. They look like a bunch of guys that got their hands on a couple of guns and decided to make some money by robbing and tormenting people.”
The armed thieves demanded a female employee open up a safe in the liquor store; however, she did not have a key to it. The robbers managed to steal money from the store’s cash register and robbed some customers still inside the liquor store. “They left with a couple thousand dollars,” said Collins.
Despite being attacked, Russell is thankful to be alive. “I just thank God more often for the extra days,” he said.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of the thieves, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.
Woman with loaded gun comes to bail boyfriend out of jail www.privateofficer.com
A Gary woman who came to bail out her male companion was arrested after she brought a loaded pistol into the Lake County Courts building in the government complex.
Whitney Sharde Brooks, 24, of 5708 Cypress Ave., faces a charge of carrying a handgun without a permit after court security officer Mike Dorsey found the loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol with a 12-round clip in her purse, Lt. Harry Warrens said.
Brooks had shown up at the center on Wednesday to post bail for Darrell Loving, who had been arrested earlier that day.
Loving was charged with disorderly conduct after he was told he couldn’t bring his cell phone into court and refused to pull up his sagging pants. Loving was yelling and refused to quiet down, Warrens said.
Brooks said she forgot the pistol was in her purse and told security officials she had applied for a permit to carry the weapon the day before. Warrens said the gun was confiscated, but Brooks can get it back if she provides proof that she has a permit.
Signs are posted outside the building informing visitors that weapons and chemical sprays are not allowed in the courts building. In addition, cell phones have been banned in the courtrooms for several months.
NC teacher assistant arrested for inappropriate touching www.privateofficer.com
The administration of Western Middle School reported the incident to the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office back in March.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of 41-year-old, Russell Witcher of Burlington after an intense investigation by Alamance County Sheriff’s Office and the Alamance-Burlington School System and the District Attorney’s office.
Witcher is in the Alamance County Jail under a bond of $75,000. His first court appearance is June 1, 2010.
Goodpasture school instructor charged with rape www.privateofficer.com
Police said he’s the drumline instructor for Goodpasture School.
Lawmen said Mann is charged with two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure and one count of sexual battery by an authority figure.
Police said the charges deal with a 14-year-old girl he met through his work at the school.
The girl’s parents went to police after meeting with officials at the school.
Metro Nashville police officer charged with murder www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN May 29 2010 Metro Police officer Deon Cartmell was arrested Friday after he was indicted in the death of his wife.
Cartmell, 23, had said that his wife, Shari, 24, shot herself while the two were sitting on the living room couch on March 16 in their home on Saunders Avenue in Madison.
An investigation by Metro detectives Charles Robinson and Norris Tarkington found that Cartmell’s account of his wife’s death did not match the evidence, according to a police news release.
The gun used in the shooting was owned by Deon Cartmell and was not his service weapon.
Cartmell had been a police officer in the East Precinct for less than a year at the time of his wife’s death. He graduated from the police academy in July 2009 and was decommissioned on March 17.
He has been placed on administrative assignment and was in jail Friday night.
