Archive
Ohio speeders warned of “speed traps” www.privateofficer.com
Columbus OH July 19 2010 When you’re driving on Ohio interstates and highways and you just get out of the traffic congestion around a city, here’s a little advice: Slow down.
Some of the hottest spots to get speeding tickets are in rural areas, a Dayton Daily News analysis of more than 1 million speeding citations has found.
The top ticket spot in the state is on Interstate 71, just northwest of Wilmington at milepost 48. From 2007 through 2009, troopers wrote 5,524 tickets to speeders clocked at that location.
“People coming north out of Cincinnati, they’re in that congested traffic down there,” said Ohio Highway Patrol Lt. Jack Tibbs, commander of the Wilmington Post. “The first chance they really get away from the traffic is when they enter Clinton County, right at milepost 42. And their foot tends to take off on them.”
No. 2 in the state: U.S. 23, milepost 18, just north of Lucasville. Troopers wrote 4,575 tickets there in the three-year period.
No. 3 is on I-71, milepost 187, just east of Ashland, 4,291 tickets.
The top spot on I-75, No. 4 in the state, is an exception: milepost 20, just north of West Chester; 3,994 tickets.
Drivers heading to Columbus are most at risk of being ticketed at milepost 78 in Madison County halfway between Springfield and Columbus. Troopers wrote 3,180 tickets there.
Sgt. Rod Moser, in the West Jefferson Patrol Post, said he and his colleagues often catch speeders traveling in the 90s at that milepost.
“We do get them in triple digits sometimes,” said Moser, a 23-year patrol veteran. “It’s just an area where people speed a lot.”
Source:Dayton Daily News
TSA officers close to being unionized www.privateofficer.com
FORT LAUDERDALE Fla July 19 2010
Security officers for the Transportation Safety Administration announced Sunday that they have moved closer to officially becoming unionized.
At a news conference at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, TSA officer Glen Cook said overtime and evaluation issues were their pressing concerns.
“We want better treatment and a more honest evaluation system,” he said.
The American Federation of Government Employees has unofficially represented TSA workers nationwide for the past seven years. During that time, it has campaigned to be the official union for TSA officers, said spokesman Ryan Hampton, of the organization’s national office in Washington, D.C.
“Right now we can help them in providing legal assistance but we can’t have a seat at the table with TSA to negotiate contracts,” Hampton said.
The federation represents more than 600,000 government employees in various agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. Last month, President Barack Obama announced that John Pistole, the former deputy FBI director, would lead the TSA.
Pistole said TSA officers would be given full rights to collectively bargain. Officers would be able to vote on whom they want to represent them. The vote should take place in the next few months.
“We want better treatment overall for the workforce,” said Makeda McLune, national organizer for the federation’s local South Florida affiliate. “Now we are seeing that things are starting to move forward.”
Source:Sun Sentinel
Security Officer sues after sheriff accuses him of being a gang member www.privateofficer.com
Eddie Moore’s lawsuit seeks at least $25,000 in damages from former Sheriff Scott Fewins, current Deputy Jason Otting and an unidentified person for their roles in his 2008 job transfer from DK Security, a Kentwood company contracted to provide security services at the Grand Traverse County courthouse.
The suit was filed in 13th Circuit Court and states that in July 2008, Fewins, Otting and another individual approached county courthouse officials to inform them that Moore was the subject of a federal criminal investigation.
Fewins then told courthouse officials Moore should not be allowed to continue his job as a security guard, according to the lawsuit.
“Ed got run out of Traverse City because of a personal vendetta by these three officers,” said Grant W. Parsons, Moore’s attorney. “This guy has never had so much as a parking ticket in his life, and these three officers who are off on some frolic and detour got him run out of Traverse City. They were acting outside the scope of their job.”
Parsons said Moore had an unblemished work history, but the accusations prompted DK Security to remove him from his courthouse position and transfer him to a different region.
But Fewins and the other defendants deny their meeting with courthouse officials was “outside the scope of their official duties,” wrote their attorney, county Prosecutor Alan Schneider, in a response to the lawsuit.
Officials contend Moore leaked the identity of undercover officers to a local drug dealer.
“(His) disclosure of the identity of undercover police officers to a known drug dealer breached his contractual duty to Grand Traverse County to provide security services for the Grand Traverse County Courthouse and the Robert P. Griffin Hall of Justice,” Schneider wrote.
Fewins did not return calls for comment, while Sheriff Tom Bensley refused to discuss the lawsuit. Otting could not be reached for comment.
Parsons plans to file for discovery to gain more information on the alleged leak and to determine the drug dealer’s identity.
Thirteenth Circuit Court judges Thomas G. Power and Philip E. Rodgers recused themselves from the case, court records show.
Meanwhile, Moore continues to work for DK Security as a capital complex supervisor in Lansing and is considered an employee in “good standing,” said Sindia Narber, DK Security vice president of administration.
Security guard charged with apartment stabbing www.privateofficer.com
It happened at around 4:45 p.m.
Police and paramedics were called to Tropicana Manor-Moanalua.
A man had been stabbed.
The 48-year old victim, whom police say lives at the condominium complex, was taken to the hospital in critical condition, with multiple stab wounds.
Police arrested the security guard — 45-year old William Cureton of Waikiki — on suspicion of attempted murder.
“I’m surprised that they said he was the one because he’s very friendly he’s nice,” said resident, Thelma Salangsang. “I just can’t believe was him.”
This condominium complex, located across of the Salt Lake Shopping Center, has 24 three-story buildings, 144 units in all.
Investigators say the security guard had been on duty, and that he and the victim had gotten into a fight.
“I’m just a little concerned about this incident. I have to sleep with one eye open now,” said Salangsang.
The suspect is being held at the Kalihi police substation.
He has not been charge yet.
Source:KHON.com
Woman charged after courthouse disturbance www.privateofficer.com
Richmond VA July 19 2010 Lots of people get arrested, then show up in court.
But this morning, Toni Lafond Matthews, 35, managed to get arrested inside a Henrico County courtroom and was escorted from the courts building in handcuffs to jail.
Henrico General District Judge James Yoffy never missed a beat despite a back-of-the-room disturbance during which Matthews loudly berated deputies and two children with her started crying.
Matthews was being held without bond this afternoon and will be arraigned tomorrow morning. She faces misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and using vulgar or obscene language in a threatening manner.
Matthews, of the 1500 block of Shirleydale Avenue in Henrico, threatened clerks and her lawyer this morning, according to the Henrico sheriff’s office, in connection with pending felony charges of credit card fraud and grand larceny. At one point she threatened to go to her car to get a gun, authorities said.
Matthews was arrested May 19 on the felonies in connection with her use of checks and credit cards belonging to a man for whom she is a caregiver, according to authorities.
Custody of the two children with Matthews was turned over to a relative.
Source:Richmond Times Dispatch
Ct. teacher arrested for selling drugs www.privateofficer.com
Harold Epstein, 58, of Wolcott, is accused of selling prescription drugs. He was arrested on charges of illegal sale of narcotics on Friday.
Police said they do not believe Epstein ever sold drugs to Waterbury students.
Epstein was taken into custody after a search warrant was served at his Wolcott home. Police said various prescription narcotics were seized from the home.
Epstein was released on a $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on July 29.
Off-duty Chicago officer shot-killed weeks before retirement www.privateofficer.com
CHICAGO IL July 19 2010 — Chicago officials say an off-duty police officer killed outside his home was less than a month from retiring.
Officer Michael Bailey was shot about 6 a.m. Sunday on the city’s South Side. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Officials say Bailey had returned home from working an overnight shift and was cleaning his new car. They say several people approached him and may have tried to steal the vehicle. No arrests have been made.
Next month, Bailey would have turned 63, the mandatory retirement age for Chicago police.
Bailey is the third officer to be shot and killed in Chicago since May.
Mayor Richard Daley called the shooting “a tragic, stunning reminder of the senseless violence that stalks too many of our neighborhoods.”
Yale University police hit pedestrian www.privateofficer.com
NEW HAVEN CT July 19 2010 – A Yale University student was struck by a Yale police cruiser as he walked across Winchester Avenue early Sunday, police and university officials said.
State police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said state police are handling the investigation.
According to a state police report, a preliminary investigation shows the pedestrian, Yonglu Che, 18, of 63 Winchester Ave. had exited a Yale University transit bus when he walked around the rear of the bus and into the path of the Yale cruiser, operated by Willie Guilford, who was driving northbound on Winchester Avenue.
Yale University spokesman Thomas Conroy said Che, who just completed his freshman year, was transported to the Hospital of Saint Raphael and was listed in stable condition. Police described Che’s injuries Sunday as “severe.”
“The university has been in contact with the student’s family and will provide any and all support and assistance they may need,” Conroy said.
The accident happened on Winchester Avenue, between Webster and Sachem streets, at approximately 1:30 a.m., Conroy said.
Both New Haven and state police were summoned to investigate, Conroy said.
Teacher arrested for molesting 13 yr old student www.privateofficer.com
The girl, who is a resident of Santa Cruz, reported being sexually molested by Steven Sande, 60, a math teacher at Aptos Junior High School, sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Liberty said.
He said Sande was arrested at about 9:45 a.m. Friday at his home in Santa Cruz and booked into county jail on multiple charges of child molestation.
Detectives seized evidence, including computers and other items, from Sande’s home.
Liberty said that although he could not disclose details of the evidence recovered, “We do have good solid evidence linking him to the victim and the crime.”
The incidents allegedly occurred on multiple occasions during the last several months on the school campus and in nearby parks in the Aptos area, Liberty said.
Sande has taught at Aptos Junior High School for 10 years. He is married and has one adult daughter, Liberty said.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the accusations and believes there might be other victims, Liberty said.
“We’re just concerned based on the amount of contact he had with students,” he said.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call Detective Sgt. Todd Liberty at (831) 454-2311.
Durham elementary teacher charged with sex with 11 year old www.privateofficer.com
DURHAM NC July 19 2010 — A Durham elementary school teacher is out of jail on bond after being arrested on charges of indecent liberties with a student.
Ariel Allen, 28, was a fifth grade teacher at Oak Grove Elementary.
Durham Sheriff’s Department investigators say the victim was an 11-year-old student at the school.
The alleged incidents took place between March 1t and April 30.
They say the child told a parent and the parent called the sheriff.
A spokesperson for Durham Public Schools says Allen resigned from his teaching position in June.
Allen’s attorney says he “vehemently denies all the allegations against him. Allen is innocent of all charges.”
