Archive
Wall Street Journal reporter arrested by court officers www.privateofficer.com
Reporter Doug Belkin, who was in handcuffs and in an elevator with several court security officers, said he had been “interviewing an attorney.’’
The security officers escorted the reporter up to lock-up.
“I told him three times to back up and he didn’t,’’ the security officer, a deputy U.S. Marshal, said. “He put his hands on me.”
The reporter was issued a misdemeanor citation and released. He’s expected to go before a Magistrate judge at a future date, according to the U.S. Marshals.
Alabama police officer, wife, child shot to death www.privateofficer.com
WEDOWEE, Ala.July 21 2010 (AP) – Randolph County officials say the Alabama Bureau of Investigation is looking into the deaths of an Oxford police officer, his wife and 8-month-old son.
Randolph County Chief Deputy William Dillard says 28-year-old officer William Hancock, his 28-year-old wife Tabatha and their son Logan were found shot to death Tuesday in their home in Wedowee.
Dillard says dispatchers received a call from a resident concerned about the Hancocks because they had not been seen recently.
Dillard says a deputy forced his way into the house after finding all the doors locked and found the family dead of gunshot wounds.
Man arrested after assault on security www.privateofficer.com
Henry Sousa, 58, of 8 Dana St., Cambridge, was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Police were called to the AJ Wright on Somerville Avenue after Sousa allegedly loitered there for hours and refused to leave. Sousa allegedly picked up a bicycle lock and struck a loss prevention officer in her hand, police said.
He immediately fought with responding officers while shouting profanities, police said. After a brief struggle, he was handcuffed.
Security guard robbed, pepper sprayed www.privateofficer.com
HIGH POINT, N.C.July 21 2010 – A 75-year-old trucking company security guard was sprayed with pepper spray and robbed by a man and woman after he didn’t lend them money Wednesday morning, police said.
Jeptha Brown Leach, a guard at Carolina Southern Inc. at 517 Townsend Ave., told police an acquaintance stopped by and asked to borrow money around 10:30 a.m. He told the acquaintance he didn’t have any, and as he turned his back, the man spun him around and sprayed him with pepper spray.
The suspect took his wallet and drove off in a silver PT Cruiser. Leach was uninjured.
The car was spotted shortly thereafter a few blocks away, and a State Highway Patrol trooper arrested Marvin Lee Nelson and Carolyn Dawn Hunt, both of High Point.
High Point police charged Nelson, 49, with robbery with a dangerous weapon and jailed him under a $10,000 bond. Hunt, 31, was charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery. She was jailed under a $2,500 bond.
Alabama man confesses to 30 year old murder www.privateofficer.com
Thomas A. Collard, 62, of Samson, Ala., has been charged with second-degree murder for the death of his spouse, June Marion Collard, who went missing three decades ago.
Two State Police investigators who have been involved in the decades-long investigation into June Collard’s disappearance – Karen DuFour and Scott Weightman – traveled to Florida and Alabama earlier this week.
Thomas Collard confessed when the investigators interviewed him on Tuesday, according to a press release on the State Police website.
June Collard was reported missing on Nov. 27, 1980, when she was 30 years old.
Olmstedville is in rural Essex County, in the town of Minerva, about 7 miles northwest of Pottersville.
The Geneva County Sheriff’s Department in Alabama took Collard into custody. He is being held without bail at the Geneva County Jail pending arrest as a fugitive.
The charge against Collard came from Essex County Supreme Court, where Judge Richard Myer issued an arrest warrant charging Collard with second-degree murder.
Casinos use face recognition software to catch cheaters www.privateofficer.com
PITTSBURGH PA July 21 2010 — A new, high-tech security system is helping keep cheaters away from the Rivers Casino.
When table games arrived earlier this month, chief of security at the casino, Tom Quigley, said so did people looking for ways to beat the system.
“These criminals and cheats do visit all the casinos, not only in Pennsylvania but the East Coast,” said Quigley. “They travel throughout the country. So we use it whenever we have a suspected report of someone here in the casino.”
Quigley said they use a facial recognition system that includes 900 cameras inside the building. The cameras have the ability to take high resolution snap shots of a person’s face. When the picture is taken the program instantly runs that photograph through FBI, CIA and other databases.
Quigley said the list of wanted people includes card counters who try to cheat blackjack dealers.
“If we have reports of a known card counting team coming through Western Pennsylvania we’ll utilize it check the data base,” he said. “We’ve had [the system] now for several weeks and our team is quite impressed with what it often does.”
In addition to the face recognition cameras, undercover state troopers will play among the crowd.
Gang raids in Dallas net 105 arrests www.privateofficer.com
Dallas TX July 21 2010 Federal immigration officials said Monday that 105 people were arrested during a five-day operation that ended Saturday and targeted alleged gang members.
The operation was in conjunction with local and state law enforcement, including police in Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving and Carrollton.
Among those apprehended was a Salvadoran illegal immigrant in Carrollton wanted for a home invasion, said John Chakwin, special agent in charge of the Dallas office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Charges against those arrested included drive-by shootings, burglary, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance, ICE officials said.
Four of those arrested in Fort Worth and Dallas were allegedly members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, one of the more violent gangs operating in the U.S. and Central America. But several belonged to smaller gangs in the Dallas area, such as How High Krew and Deuce Deuce Beckley, authorities said.
Chakwin said that about two-thirds of those arrested were gang members.
“I have never seen so many local gangs over the last four years that I have been here,” he said.
The arrests were made by a national gang unit coordinated by ICE, the largest agency within the Department of Homeland Security.
Though the operation was billed as targeting transnational gangs under “Operation Community Shield,” 42 people arrested are U.S. citizens, ICE officials said.
About a third of those arrested were in the U.S. illegally and charged with administrative violations of immigration law. The immigration status of others is still being investigated, ICE officials said.
Since ICE began its national gang unit, more than 17,500 gang members and associates have been arrested, ICE officials said Monday.
Source:Dallas News
Police charge man with assaulting security officer www.privateofficer.com
A 23-year-old Ypsilanti Township man was arrested this morning after Ann Arbor police say he punched a security guard who wouldn’t let him use the VIP entrance to a South Fifth Avenue bar.
The 20-year-old security guard had a cut above his eye after being punched at least twice in the face outside The Fifth Quarter at 1 a.m., a police report said.
He refused medical attention. The security guard and another employee escorted the man off the property and called 911, police said.
The suspect ran away from the bar, but officers caught up with him shortly after and took him to Washtenaw County Jail, the report said.
Security guard attacks co-worker, stabbing him www.privateofficer.com
New York City NY July 21 2010An enraged security guard whose job was on the line viciously slashed his boss in a lower Manhattan building early Monday, police sources said.
The 35-year-old worker flew into a rage after his supervisor threatened to cut him loose. “He told him that he might lose his job,” said a police source.
The guard wielded a sharp weapon and sliced his boss in the right eye, neck and legs, police said.
Paramedics took the 60-year-old victim to Bellevue Hospital, where he was in stable condition.
The guard, who has prior arrests, was captured on video fleeing shortly after the 4 a.m. attack, sources said. No one has been arrested, and neither the guard nor the victim was identified.
Source:nydailynews
Tulsa school cops get authority to write tickets www.privateofficer.com
Tulsa Okl July 21 2010 The odds of getting a ticket for speeding in a Tulsa school zone just went up.
Tulsa Public Schools campus police officers will now have the authority to issue traffic citations on the streets, roads, alleys and properties adjacent to schools.
The Tulsa school board approved an amendment to its memorandum of understanding with the city of Tulsa on Monday evening.
“It’s a great change, but it’s going to be a busy change for us,” Dwight Jackson, assistant chief of the TPS Campus Police Department, told the Tulsa World.
According to the school district, the intent is to “provide a higher level of safety for students when walking or driving to and from school.”
Tulsa Public Schools has 20 commissioned police officers and 14 marked and four unmarked police vehicles, said Tami Marler, a district spokeswoman.
Tulsa Police Officer Jason Willingham said agreeing to sharing jurisdiction for traffic enforcement was a no-brainer.
“The only argument against it was giving up territory, but we’re all about what makes the community safer — especially when you’re talking about protecting the little ones that can’t look out for themselves,” Willingham said.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett said any proceeds from tickets written by TPS campus police officers will go into city coffers.
“The Tulsa Police Department is suppling the actual, physical tickets. Any ticketing that goes on by the Tulsa Public Schools security force will be a municipal offense,” Bartlettsaid.
“Any item they ticket or charge will go to municipal court, so the city of Tulsa gets the money. It’s a very smart thing that we’ve done.
“This will provide us another source of revenue, which is also good.”
Superintendent Keith Ballard said he discussed allowing campus police to patrol school zones with city leaders when they were considering cutting city funds for school crossing guards.
The program ended up being reduced to 66 crossing guard positions from 96
Source: Tulsa World
Indiana teacher charged with child seduction www.privateofficer
1) Child Seduction (D) Felony 1 Count
Detective Sgt. Deckard’s Probable Cause Affidavit stated that Woodward engaged in Child Seduction with a student while in his former position as a teacher/coach during the 2008-2009 school year at Bedford North Lawrence High School
Woodward turned himself in to the Lawrence County Authorities just before 11:00 a.m. Monday. He was processed in and then released on bond, pending his court date.
The charge can carry a possible sentence of 6 months to 3 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
Shoplifters punch their way past security www.privateofficer.com
Ventura police were looking for two men who punched a shopping center security guard while stealing alcohol Monday night from a liquor store, officials said.
The robbery was reported at 8:36 p.m. at J N’s Liquor, 9358 Telephone Road in Ventura. The incident began after two men tried to hide alcohol in their clothing and the store owner called a shopping center security officer, Ventura police said.
When the security guard tried to detain the shoplifters, one punched her in the back of the head and the other punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground, police said. The robbers then left with the stolen alcohol.
Police arrived moments later and searched the area but did not find the robbers, officials said.
The guard, a 44-year-old Ojai resident, was treated at Ventura County Medical Center for minor injuries and released, police said.
The robbers were described as men in their mid-20s. Police said one was about 5 feet 6 inches, 160 pounds, with dark hair, a black shirt and blue jeans. The other — wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, dark pants and blue and red hat — was about 5 feet 8 inches and 180 pounds, police said.
Anyone with information should call Ventura police at 339-4416 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS. Tipsters who give information leading to an arrest could receive up to a $1,000 reward.
Source:VCStar.com
Detroit school security hold rally www.privateofficer.com
DPS has about 300 security officers. Some officers said today that they received notices that their jobs will end Sept. 1. DPS is facing a $363-million budget deficit. Officers complained that they were not given the opportunity to apply for jobs that will pay $10 to $11 an hour under the privatization, about $2 less than the current starting wage.
Current DPS officers had 6 to 8 weeks of training with police and questioned whether new officers will get comparable training. Union steward Denice Greer said the officers will have a union meeting Saturday.
Milwaukee teacher arrested for sexual assault www.privateofficer.com
The teacher works at the Alliance School, which is located on the 800 block of West Walnut Street in Milwaukee but they have not yet identified him.
According to police, the parents of the girl, who is 17, called officers after hearing of the alleged assaults.
The girl reportedly told police that she would stay after school and sit on the teacher’s lap.
SC Parole Agents stop motel robbery www.privateofficer.com
COLUMBIA, SC July 21 2010 – An alert parole agent stopped an armed robbery in progress in a Lexington Co. motel parking lot early Tuesday morning.
Lexington County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested a 23-year-old Columbia man in connection with an armed robbery in the parking lot of a motel on Burning Tree Drive in the St. Andrews community. Two South Carolina Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole agents working extra duty assignments assisted deputies in arresting the 23-year-old Columbia man.
Lexington County Sheriff James R. Metts said deputies arrested 23-year-old Thomas Clinton Jones, 23, of Columbia, at 4:41 a.m. Tuesday on a charge of armed robbery. At 1:33 a.m. on Tuesday, Deputy Richard Jacob arrived at a Motel 6, 1776 Burning Tree Drive, in order to investigate an armed robbery that had occurred in the motel’s parking lot at about 1:24 a.m. on Tuesday, Metts said.
State Probation, Pardon and Parole Agent Justin Daniel Price, who was working an extra duty assignment to provide security at the motel, said that a 49-year-old Greer man, who was staying as a guest at the motel, was confronted as he walked from the motel’s registration desk towards a black Kia sedan that was parked in the motel’s parking lot, Metts said. Deputies said Jones drove up in a Nissan Altima and stopped directly in front of the Kia, blocking the 49-year-old man’s path to the vehicle.
Jones, who was wearing black pants, a black shirt and white bandanna that covered his face, ran towards the 49-year-old man, Metts said.
Jones grabbed the 49-year-old man, placing his arm across the man’s chest, pointed a handgun at the man’s head and began forcing the man to walk towards the Kia, Metts said.
Price saw what was happening and got out of his vehicle, which was parked in the motel’s parking lot. He identified himself as a law enforcement officer while he was armed with his service handgun, Metts said.
As Price gave told the suspect to place his hands in the air, Jones pushed the 49-year-old man to the ground and ran towards Interstate 26, Metts said. The suspect climbed over a brick wall and chain-link fence and ran to St. Andrews Road.
Price contacted dispatch and provided the license plate number for the Nissan Altima sedan and asked a telecommunications operator to identify the person who owns the sedan. The telecommunications operator advised Price that Jones is the registered owner for the Nissan Altima sedan.
Price called a fellow state Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole agent who was working an extra duty assignment at a Red Roof Inn on Berryhill Road on the opposite side of I-26.
That agent told Price that he had detained Jones, who was injured while climbing over the chain-link fence. Jones went to the Red Roof Inn’s registration desk and asked a clerk to telephone a taxi cab driver to pick him up, Metts said. Deputies and sheriff’s detectives went to the Red Roof Inn and later arrested Jones.
Detectives are continuing to work to identify the man who was driving the Nissan Altima at the time of the robbery, Metts said.
Jones was being held on Tuesday at the Lexington County Detention Center while awaiting a bond hearing.
Metts asked anyone with information about Jones’ accomplice or additional criminal activity involving Jones to call the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department at (803) 785-8230 or CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. Citizens also can provide information anonymously by accessing the Crime Tip link on the Sheriff’s Department web site (www.lexingtonsheriff.com).
Source: WIS
Judge tosses weapon charges against J.C. Penney LP Agent www.privateofficer.com
Roanoke Circuit Court Judge Clifford Weckstein said Monday that Virginia law allows deadly force during a citizen’s arrest if the person making the arrest believes a felony has occurred.
Dler Anwar Anwar was indicted in May on a misdemeanor charge of recklessly handling a firearm. The 34-year-old Roanoke man was accused of firing a gun during a pursuit of a fleeing shoplifting suspect outside the Valley View Mall.
Man arrested exposing self to officer www.privateofficer.com
SAN DIEGO CA July 21 2010 — A man who police say has been exposing himself to people for more than a year around Lake Murray was arrested early Tuesday after he picked a police officer as a victim.
James Arendt, 46, who was naked except for a blanket slung over his shoulders, was taken into custody about 4:45 a.m. after he followed San Diego police Capt. Sarah Creighton and “presented himself, as it were,” said San Diego police Lt. Andra Brown said.
Creighton and other officers were at the lake posing as joggers after a woman who was flashed on Monday filed a formal report, Brown said. Officers started surveillance about 4:10 a.m., and Arendt was spotted just 30 minutes later, Brown said.
Creighton first saw him in some bushes in the San Carlos Bay area and pointed her flashlight at him, Brown said. He then followed her from a distance to a bathroom where she stopped and pretended to be on a phone until Arendt walked by slowly and exposed himself, Brown said.
Monday’s victim positively identified Arendt as the man she encountered in the park, Brown said.
Police had been getting calls about the flasher for some time, but they were usually after the fact and no one came forward and filed a formal report, Brown said. Police have looked for him on prior occasions, but he was never spotted.
Arendt, described by police as “passive,” would usually stand next to jogging trails or sit on benches while naked or partially nude as people went by, Brown said. Often he would have on just a blanket that was strategically draped to reveal himself, Brown said.
Arendt was booked and charged with two counts of indecent exposure and is being held on $50,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
