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Rudy Giuliani’s daughter arrested for theft www.privateofficer.com
NEW YORK City NY Aug 4 2010 – Rudy Giuliani’s daughter was arrested Wednesday on a misdemeanor shoplifting charge at a beauty supplies store, police said.
Caroline Giuliani, a 20-year-old Harvard University student, was seen on security cameras pocketing five items worth more than $100 at a Sephora store in Manhattan, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.
Store managers, after calling police, said they didn’t want to press charges against her, Browne said. However, prosecutors decided she would be charged with petty larceny.
She was to be released later Wednesday from a police station.
A message left with Rudy Giuliani’s office was not immediately returned. The arrest was first reported by the New York Post.
Caroline Giuliani is the younger of the former New York mayor’s two children with ex-wife Donna Hanover, a television reporter and actress. She is believed to be estranged from her prosecutor-turned-politican father.
In 2007, when Rudy Giuliani was seeking the Republican nomination for president, Caroline Giuliani listed herself as a member of Barack Obama’s Facebook group supporting his candidacy. But she left the group after an online magazine sent her an inquiry about it, and she didn’t comment on the presidential race.
Rudy Giuliani lost to U.S. Sen. John McCain, who lost to Obama.
He has asked for privacy to deal with strained relationships in his family. His son, Andrew Giuliani, 23, has said their relationship became distant after his father’s messy divorce from his mother and marriage to another woman.
John Hopkins University professor charged with assault on security www.privateofficer.com
A Johns Hopkins University engineering professor was arrested early Sunday morning in Cape Cod, Mass., and charged with assaulting a 61-year-old security guard who said she was attempting to break up a party.
Noah J. Cowan, 38, was charged with assault and battery on a person over 60, said Sgt. Douglas DeCosta, a spokesman for the Falmouth Police Department. DeCosta said police responded to a call at the Marine Biology Laboratory, where Cowan was a visiting researcher, about 2:40 a.m. Sunday.
The security guard told police she had attempted to break up the revelers, who were drinking alcohol in an area where it wasn’t permitted, when Cowan approached her and said, “Do you know who I am?” The guard said Cowan shoved her, and police found red scratches and scarring on her arm, DeCosta said.
Wal-Mart security goes green! www.privateofficer.com
Walmart challenged all of its departments in a 2005 company-wide initiative to reduce waste, minimize energy use and increase the use of sustainable products. And that included the security department, said Steve Lindsey, director of security integration services at Walmart.
The security integration department began evaluating the products it used most often to protect its facilities and the one that jumped out first was the use of cable. “We consider cabling in our business to be a commodity item and it was an item we thought could have more sustainable packaging,” he said. Heavy-duty cable, which traditionally comes on large wooden reels, proved to be difficult to break down and generated a significant amount of waste.
The security integration department reached out to its current cable vendor as well as competing cable providers. “We challenged our cable vendors to come up with more sustainable packaging for heavy-duty wire used for camera installations in our facilities,” he said. Paige Electric, a vendor that currently was not working with Walmart, came up with an alternative product that packaged wire in a cardboard box.
Changing the packaging also led to a reduction in employee labor, he said. “One of our technical people was in a store assisting with the installation of an alarm system and during the day observed an electrical contractor who was doing work in a new store who spent almost the entire day dismantling wooden reels,” he said.
In addition to packaging considerations, Lindsey said they are also evaluating the department’s energy consumption. “All of our equipment uses power and if we can reduce the amount of power we use in the stores, than we’re contributing” to the companies overall use of energy, he said. The department has also made it a priority during the purchasing process to select products that use less energy. “As we evaluate equipment, assuming quality and performance and price are equal, we will select the supplier that has more sustainability efforts,” he said.
Minimizing the amount of equipment required to protect a store is also a major consideration. “Our next challenge is to reduce the footprint in our facilities,” he said. “We want to find the right formula for using megapixel or IP cameras. Certainly if we can provide the same coverage with fewer pieces of equipment, that’s what we will do, which in turn uses less power and less packaging.”
And the department will continue to evaluate its practices to be as efficient and sustainable as possible. “Every meeting we have with a vendor, regardless of the nature of the discussion, we always talk about sustainability and what their company is doing,” he said. “We think this initiative with Paige Electric will generate broader thinking by other vendors in terms of packaging goods and how their plant operates and let them know it’s more than turning the lights off in the office at night and recycling,” he said.
Robbery suspect commits suicide on I-10 www.privateofficer.com
SLIDELL, LA Aug 4 2010 – Slidell police say a 24-year-old man apparently shot and killed himself on Interstate 10 in Mississippi after trying to hold up a fast-food restaurant in Slidell.
Capt. Kevin Foltz says the man’s name is being withheld until his family is notified.
Foltz says the man ordered a worker at knifepoint to let him in the restaurant’s back door, then ordered the manager – a 44-year-old woman – to open the safe. Instead, she grabbed the man’s face and pushed him against the wall.
Foltz says the man ran out and drove toward Mississippi in a gold Grand Marquis. He said Mississippi authorities soon notified Slidell police that the car had crashed into a bridge on I-10 in Bay St. Louis. Slidell detectives confirmed it was the would-be robber.
Bay St. Louis police could not be immediately reached.
Source:WLOX.com
Former Surfside Beach police chief sues town www.privateofficer.com
Surfside City SC Aug 4 2010 The former Surfside Beach police chief has sued the town, its mayor and a councilman alleging he was wrongfully fired, according to the lawsuit.
Andy Christenson filed the lawsuit Friday against the Town of Surfside Beach, Mayor Allen Deaton and Councilman Doug Samples in Horry County Common Pleas Court.
The men declined to comment on the action because they had not reviewed the lawsuit.
Surfside Beach public safety director calls in sick after position cut
Surfside Beach public safety director calls in sick after position cutSurfside Beach Public Safety Director Andy Christenson said Monday he has not resigned but is on sick leave until further notice.
Christenson’s statement comes almost a week after the Surfside Beach Town Council voted to eliminate his position, saying it was a cost-saving measure.
“I am on sick leave until my physician clears me,” he said.
Surfside Beach’s public safety director on medical leave
Surfside Beach’s public safety director on medical leaveSurfside Beach Public Director Andy Christenson said today he has not resigned but is on medical leave until further notice.
Christenson’s statement comes almost a week after the Surfside Beach Town Council decided to eliminate his position as a cost saving measure.
“I am on sick leave until my physician clears me,” he said.
Surfside Beach cuts safety director; Move follows police misconduct allegations
Surfside Beach cuts safety director; Move follows police misconduct allegationsSurfside Beach is eliminating its public safety director job as part of cost-cutting measures, Mayor Allen Deaton said Wednesday.
Current public safety director Andy Christenson’s post will be eliminated from the town’s payroll on July 1. The town is in the process of splitting its fire and police services, making the position unnecessary and a prime target for the budget-strapped town, Deaton said.
Town Council members voted 5 to 2 Tuesday night to cut the position, with Councilmen Bob Childs and Rod Smith voting against the move.
Surfside Beach cuts public safety director
Surfside Beach cuts public safety directorSurfside Beach Town Council voted Tuesday night to eliminate the position of public safety director as of July 1.
Current public safety director Andy Christenson will be eliminated from the city’s payroll at that point, Mayor Allen Deaton said today. Surfside Beach is in the process of splitting its fire and police services, making the position effectually unnecessary and a prime target for a the budget-strapped city.
The vote was 5 to 2, with Councilmen Bob Childs and Rod Smith voting no to eliminating the position, town officials said.
Surfside Beach seeks consultant on fire division
Surfside Beach seeks consultant on fire divisionAt the urging of Mayor Allen Deaton, the Surfside Beach Town Council voted Tuesday to find a consultant to look into splitting the town’s public safety department.
Since 2007 the town has not kept up with the training recommendations to have a true public safety department due to budget constraints and manpower issues.
Recently, there has been a push from the fire department, the council and the public to split public safety into a police department and fire department to help the fire department qualify for more federal grants.
In the suit, Christenson said he was wrongfully fired June 8 after working as the town’s police chief since May 2007. The suit also alleges that Deaton and Samples conspired to have Christenson fired, even though they were not authorized to terminate him.
Christenson said his termination occurred after he reported Samples had “require a member of the public to make a monetary contribution in exchange for obtaining zoning considerations from the Town’s Council,” according to the suit.
The suit alleges Christenson’s termination resulted after he reported unethical and unlawful conduct of Samples to the solicitor’s office.
The suit also cites reasons for Christenson’s termination to include his refusal to interfere with Deaton’s arrest for driving under the influence earlier this year and refusal to show preferential treatment to a friend of Deaton, who was arrested for defacing a political campaign sign.
Christenson is seeking lost wages, benefits, damages, attorney fees and the $48,000 he paid for retirement credits to receive his police officer retirement benefits after he was fired, according to the suit.
With the approval of the town’s $8.9 million budget in June, Town Council agreed to change from a public safety department to separate police and fire departments.
Town officials said Christenson’s position was eliminated with the separation of the department as part of cost-cutting measures, and town officials have said that the town will be hiring a chief of police at a lower salary than the public safety director position, which was the position Christenson held.
Source:thesunnews.com
Shoplifter leaves her baby behind www.privateofficer.com
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Aug 4 2010
Police said a woman who stole from a Palm Beach Mall department store was caught after she left her 10-month-old daughter behind.
Crystal Whitaker, 23, was arrested on shoplifting and child neglect charges.
West Palm Beach police said Whitaker and a 16-year-old girl went into a JC Penney dressing room Friday and came out with $256 worth of merchandise hidden in a shopping bag.
According to the arrest report, an employee tried to stop Whitaker and her accomplice as they were leaving the store, but they ran across the parking lot and got away.
While they were running, police said, Whitaker and the teen threw all the merchandise to the ground, including Whitaker’s purse and identification.
Police said Whitaker also left her baby standing on the sidewalk outside the store.
Source:WPBF.com
Former Henrico police officer gets prison in ponzi scheme www.privateofficer.com
RICHMOND, VA Aug 4 2010 – Donald Lacey was a Henrico County police officer for 10 years before switching to real estate. He promised investors big returns on a house flipping business, but instead ran a ponzi scheme that bilked more than 170 people out of millions.
Donald Lacey left the courthouse with ten years – one month hanging over his head. Federal Judge Henry Hudson said Lacey tarnished the badge he once wore. Hudson called Lacey’s ponzi scheme “appalling” because Lacey used his reputation as a former police officer to cheat people out of millions. People like Michael Frye.
“That was the whole point of this whole thing. People trusted him. We never looked at what he was doing as well as we should have because he was a former Henrico County police man,” said Frye.
In court Lacey apologized and said he never intended to hurt anyone.
“We’re working on trying to find ways to get as much of this restitution paid as possible,” said Lacey’s attorney Jeffrey Everhart.
Frye is fighting throat cancer, and considered Lacey a good friend. He says Lacey took him to his chemo sessions just before the scheme collapsed.
“Five of my very, very close friends took turns. Taking me to…taking me to radiation and Don was one of those. And then he actually took money from me. My company, two weeks later,” said Frye.
Prosecutors say Lacey put very little of the money back into the properties, often spending it on his lavish lifestyle which consisted of five homes, boats, and cars. Millions also went to pay interest to other investors.
“It’s the people that had retirement money that he took their money and to me, that’s the saddest part because they’re older and they can’t…they don’t have a chance to recover,” Frye said.
Lacey must report to prison on September 20. When he gets out he’ll be on supervised release and cannot get a credit card or mortgage without permission from his probation officers. A judge will decide how much Lacey must repay his victims in September.
Source:WWBT.com
Man arrested after squirting semen on shopper www.privateofficer.com
Gaithersburg MD Aug 4 2010
A Gaithersburg man accused of squirting semen from a bottle onto a grocery shopper last month was arrested this week in a similar case and may have done the same thing at least twice before, officials said Tuesday.
On July 15 at a Giant Food store in Gaithersburg, police said, a man discharged fluid from a small bottle similar to those used to hold hand sanitizer and then snapped a photo of the act with his cellphone. The victim saved her unwashed shirt and skirt, providing investigators with a possible DNA sample.
Michael Wayne Edwards Jr., 28, has been charged in that incident and in another at a Michaels craft store, also in Gaithersburg. Police said that after questioning Edwards, they are looking for at least two more victims.
Gaithersburg police ask anyone who may have noticed an unusual substance on their clothes but wrote it off as benign to call them at 301-258-6400. “No one would ever think that someone would do this,” said Officer Dan Lane.
Edwards, who is free on bond, is scheduled for two trials on assault charges in September. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Police say officers were called to the Giant on Muddy Branch Road on July 15 after a woman said she felt something in her hair as she was walking out of the store. She said that she asked the man behind her if he’d felt a drip from above but that the man “acted like he didn’t know what she was talking about,” according to an arrest affidavit filed in court.
In the parking lot, the woman asked a friend to look at her clothes. Her friend said it looked like semen. The victim told police that she then spotted the man in the parking lot and walked toward him, but he sped away.
Detective Patrick Word examined surveillance video and saw the suspect purchase groceries using his store bonus card. In the doorway, the man can be seen squirting fluid from a bottle and taking a picture, police said.
Police identified Edwards through his bonus card and the surveillance video. Forensic tests confirmed the substance as semen. DNA tests are pending.
Montgomery County Detective Scott Brooks had been investigating the Michaels case since November. A shopper said a man followed her into the store. After he walked by, she felt liquid on the back of her sweater. She looked and thought it was semen. Lab results confirmed it.
Brooks matched that assailant’s description to Edwards, who was charged in the case.
Source:Washington Post
Va. governor wants law enforcement to enforce immigration laws www.privateofficer.com
RICHMOND VA Aug 4 2010 — Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said Tuesday that he has spent months trying to reach an agreement with the federal government to train and deputize state troopers to act as immigration and customs agents to make legal status checks and refer individuals for deportation.
McDonnell (R), a former state attorney general who has helped several localities, including Prince William County, enter into similar agreements, said he expects to make an announcement soon.
“We’re working on that,” he told reporters at a news conference outside the state Capitol on Tuesday.
McDonnell’s comments came a day after Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II issued an opinion that authorizes police to ask anyone stopped for any reason about his or her immigration status.
The governor said that he agreed with Cuccinelli’s opinion, which is similar to an opinion he issued in 2007, but that he lacked the legal authority to force local police to act.
“I think local law enforcement officials have had the authority for a number of years,” McDonnell told reporters. “We believe our state and local officers have the ability to make those inquiries . . . and turn them over for the appropriate proceedings.”
Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), who requested Cuccinelli’s legal opinion and subsequently wrote to McDonnell to codify the language in the opinion, said he hopes the ruling will give local governments the assurance that they are on “firm constitutional ground” if they choose to request that their law enforcement departments inquire about immigration more frequently.
“They could make this a priority,” he said. “This is a determination that elected officials have to make.”
A 2008 Virginia law requires that jail officials check the immigration status of everyone who has been arrested and taken into custody. Cuccinelli’s opinion does not require police to act, but it allows officers to check the status of those who are arrested, whether or not they are jailed, and to inquire about the immigration status of everyone who is stopped, including those pulled over for a traffic violation or at a police checkpoint.
In a statement, Cuccinelli insisted that his opinion “simply declares what is existing law.” Groups that have called for stricter enforcement of immigration laws expressed hope that police departments throughout the state will start routine immigration checks of motorists they stop. But an immigrant advocacy group warned McDonnell in a letter late Tuesday that it would sue if he directed law enforcement to investigate the immigration status of those who have been stopped.
As public attention focused on Cuccinelli’s opinion Tuesday, it remained unclear whether the legal advisory would result in any practical change.
Dana G. Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, said Cuccinelli’s opinion offered advice, not a mandate. Local policies sometimes limit when police should ask about immigration. Some departments advise their officers to avoid asking about immigration during criminal investigations, which might discourage victims or witnesses from cooperating.
It was a clarification of where we are already,” said Loudoun County Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson. “It says we can ask questions under certain circumstances. That’s the way we’ve already been doing business.”
Fairfax County will not have officers check immigration status during routine traffic stops, said Mary Ann Jennings, a police spokeswoman, although it’s checked after an arrest.
“It doesn’t say we should. It says we may; it says we can,” she said. “Fairfax County is not a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. But in terms of law enforcement, it’s vital to our success in the community to keep an open dialogue. We feel asking about legal status at every traffic stop would drive potential witnesses and crime victims away and destroy any relationship of trust that we have now.”
Arlington County police officers do not ask about citizenship status unless it’s relevant to solving a crime. Police do not arrest illegal immigrants for federal immigration violations and report them to authorities only under certain circumstances, including involvement in terrorism or gangs, conviction on a felony, or an arrest on a violent-felony charge.
“Citizens living or traveling through Arlington should not be worried that our actions will be changing,” said Detective Crystal Nosal, a police spokeswoman.
In Prince William, police occasionally run the type of traffic-stop checks Cuccinelli’s opinion said they could. Typically, an officer would check when a motorist can’t provide identification, police spokeswoman Kim Chin said. More often, only people who are arrested have their status checked.
“We aren’t looking for it,” Chin said. “If they don’t provide ID, then we check.”
Twenty-six states, including Maryland and Arizona, and eight localities in Virginia, including Herndon and Prince William and Loudoun counties, have the so-called 287 (g) status that deputizes local law enforcement.
McDonnell’s staff declined to release any documents on the state application with the federal government. Richard Rocha, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he could not comment on pending applications.
“Since he was attorney general, the governor has supported securing 287 (g) authority for Virginia State Police and has assisted local officials in Virginia in their efforts to do the same,” McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said. “The administration has been in communication with federal immigration officials over the past few months on several important initiatives to address the effects of crime committed by those illegally present in the commonwealth. We will make any official announcements on these efforts at the appropriate time.”
The Virginia State Police has 1,800 sworn agents, but it’s unclear whether it would affect all agents.
On behalf of Prince William’s police department and sheriff’s department, Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), chairman of the Board of County Supervisors, sought and received 287g status in 2007 and 2008. Since July 2007, officers’ work has helped lead to the deportations of nearly 3,000 people.
“Virginia’s on a roll,” he said. “Clearly, everyone is joining in the fray and cracking down on illegal immigration. I really feel there is significant momentum.”
But Del. Scott A. Surovell (D-Mount Vernon) said the program will be a distraction for state law enforcement.
“This is federal problem,” said Surovell, who represents a district in which nearly one-third of the residents are foreign-born. “Our state has enough problems. We can’t even get the medians mowed. I think we should concentrate on core services.”
Source:Washington Post
Vehicle crashes loaded with money could be part of St Louis robbery
ST. LOUIS MO Aug 4 2010 
A trunkful of money found after an auto crash Tuesday morning appeared to be a major break for investigators one day after what was apparently the biggest cash heist ever in the St. Louis region.
Officials believe the recovered currency — estimated by a police source at $250,000 — was part of approximately $11 million reported taken in a daring holdup from the vault of an ATM service company in the Grand Center area.
But St. Louis police and the FBI appeared to be less fortunate after surrounding what they suspected to be a robbers’ lair in the 4000 block of Page Boulevard about 10 a.m. Agents, using an armored FBI vehicle for cover, fired tear gas into the house and rushed it shortly before 5 p.m. but filed out empty-handed.
“We didn’t find anybody inside the residence,” said FBI spokeswoman Rebecca Wu, who said little else about it.
Investigators were looking for the four men who entered ATM Solutions Inc., 3721 Grandel Square, before dawn Monday, tied up two guards and escaped with cash in a company armored van.
A police source said Tuesday the company put the loss at about $11 million, which far eclipses robberies of $847,000 from a Brinks driver in downtown St. Louis in 1992 and of about $1 million from U.S. Armored Car Services in Hazelwood in 1999. Neither of those cases was solved.
Police found the ATM Solutions van about 7:30 a.m. Monday, abandoned in the 4400 block of Evans Avenue, less than two miles west of the robbery scene.
Tuesday’s events commenced on that same block, where officers had returned for follow-up canvassing. At 8:45 a.m., they spotted a Dodge Charger they were looking for in the case. Police said the car sped away and was involved in a collision at Olive Street and Compton Avenue.
The driver tried to flee but was arrested quickly. A police source said officers found what they initially guessed was about $250,000 in cash in the trunk of the Charger. They also found a gun, a black duffel bag and a suitcase.
Police declined to release any details about the driver, or why they wanted the Charger.
For reasons not explained, the investigation quickly shifted to a two-story single-family home on Page, a few doors east of North Sarah Street. Police surrounded the house, closed off the block and shut off power to the area to help rout the occupants.
They handed the case to the FBI, which showed up about 1 p.m. with a military-style armored vehicle, a helmeted rifleman poking out of its top hatch.
As agents used bullhorns to urge anyone inside to surrender, many neighbors stayed inside their fast-warming homes. John Bailey, who lives about five doors east, said he lost his power and air conditioning about 10 a.m. He stayed inside, opening his windows to seek breezes and listen to the slow-moving drama outside.
“It was pretty scary for a while, and it was extremely hot,” said Bailey. “I could hear the loudspeakers and the tear gas, or whatever it was. It sounded like cannon went off.”
Agents approached the house in 102-degree heat, smashed windows and then withdrew. Shortly before 5 p.m., they fired more tear gas and sent a robot toward the house. About 20 agents entered the home. More booms — presumably from distraction grenades known as flash-bangs — could be heard inside. Windows shattered onto the side yards.
A few minutes later, agents came back out, and Wu made her brief announcement to reporters.
Agents combed the backyard and used a stepladder to pick through garbage in a trash bin in the alley behind the home.
Bailey’s power was restored shortly after 5 p.m. “It feels much better now,” he said.
ATM Solutions, based in Cincinnati, services ATM machines in six Midwestern and mid-South states. Calls to the company were not returned Monday and Tuesday.
The crime began at 5 a.m. Monday, when four masked men, dressed in black and armed with pistols and assault rifles, rushed in and overpowered a lone guard. The robbers awaited the arrival of a second guard a half-hour later then made both of them use security codes to open the vault. It takes two to do that.
The robbers then tied and bound the guards, took their pistols and loaded money into the company van in which they fled. A supervisor arrived at 6 a.m. and freed the two guards, who were not injured.
All of the known locations in the case are near the center of the city. The house on Page is four blocks east of where the van was abandoned on Evans, and less than a mile northwest of ATM Solutions.
