Archive
Lancaster teacher charged with sex with student www.privateofficer.com
Lancaster PA Oct 10 2010 A Lancaster school teacher was arrested late Thursday night for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old student.
The teacher was working in the school until the time of her arrest. Lancaster police said they received a tip in January 2009 that something could be going on between her and one of her students during the 2008-09 schoolyear.
A nine-month investigation led to Thursday night’s arrest of 32-year-old McCaskey English teacher Christy Smith. Police said Smith had been a teacher at the school for at least five years.
According to the victim, police said Smith had sex with her 15-year-old student at least three times between November 2008 and January 2009.
It is believed that these acts occurred inside the woman’s College Avenue home, which sits 2.5 miles from the high school.
Police said the investigation was complicated by the victim’s age.
The police chief addressed a question regarding concerns about having the teacher working in a classroom for several months during the pending investigation.
“Of course, taking a report of this type of offense would give anybody great concern, but we’re guided by the rules of our investigation and guidelines,” said Chief Keith Sadler, of the Lancaster City Police Department.
In response to the allegations, representatives from the school district of Lancaster said, “When an individual is hired by the District, there is an expectation they will conduct themselves in a professional manner. Should Ms. Smith be found guilty, the District will take every measure to ensure she will not return to our classrooms.”
District officials also said that Smith is suspended from her classroom duties.
She is in custody on $250,000 bail. Police said it is unclear if there could be more victims, and they ask anyone with any information to come forward.
Source:21NEWS
Ohio gang arrested for robbing casino patrons www.privateofficer.com
Hamilton County OH Oct 10 2010 Three arrests have been made in correlation to robberies of 26 different casino patrons, according to Ohio’s Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters.
Kenyatta Erkins, 35, Ugbe Ojile, 34, and Amy Hoover, 25, were all arrested on Thursday at four in the morning in conjunction with the crimes.
Erkins and Ojile were charged with two counts of aggravated robbery, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. Hoover is in slightly less trouble, facing only one count of aggravated robbery.
According to the investigation, every victim of the trio had been followed home from Indiana casinos. The victims would then be robbed at gunpoint for their winnings from the casinos.
Authorities planned a sting operation in which they sent an undercover officer out of the casino with a large quantity of cash. The suspects followed, as the officer used a walker to appear an easy target.
When the officer arrived at the sting site, the suspects were apprehended.
The arraignment is set for next week, and the three could face even more charges. Erkins and Ojile could spend up to 28 years in jail, while Hoover can be imprisoned for only 10 years.
High school security officer severely beat by student www.privateofficer.com
Gadsden County, Florida Oct 10 2010
School officials say an East Gadsden High School student severely beat a school’s security officer after the student refused to take off his hat in the cafeteria.
We spoke with the officials from the Gadsden County School Board who confirmed that a student assaulted a contracted staff member at the high school Tuesday (Oct. 7). The student is 17-years old. The student was immediately removed from campus after the incident and placed on suspension. He will face an expulsion hearing by the school board.
The contracted resource officer who was assaulted by the student, works for the Barkley Security Company. A spokesperson from the security company told Eyewitness News that he has not returned to work since the incident, but he is doing fine. The school board says the district has a zero tolerance policy regarding violence against students or staff.
Gadsden County Public Information Officer Shaia Beckwith-James says, “Any student that acts violently towards any other student or staff member will be quickly removed from our campus and they will face the penalties that are spelled out in our school board policies.”
School board officials say the school took the necessary precautions to handle this incident and to ensure safety for students in the school and the county. This was an isolated innocent and did not make it to the school district level.
We tried to speak with the school principal, but she had no comment.
We are still waiting to retrieve surveillance video from the school board and the official incident report from the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office.
Lesbian couple ejected from stadium may sue www.privateofficer.com
Mary Kate Morris and Nicole Marchetto left their seats at halftime to buy beer and fries, the Blade reports. They also grabbed a plastic cup from the counter to use for ketchup. While waiting for their orders, a security guard and a supervisor spotted them kissing.
They told the couple to stop, but they continued because “the kissing was heartfelt and decent in the real sense and was not any different from what numerous law-abiding straight couples were doing all around us,” Marchetto told the blade.
The security guard asked to see their driver’s licenses and then told the couple to leave the stadium. When asked why, the security guard accused the two of stealing the plastic cup and the beer they had just purchased.
A police officer told the guard that they didn’t steal anything and that they had their receipts. However, three police officers still forced the couple out of the stadium.
A Maryland Stadium Authority media spokesperson said the ejection was a result of the stolen plastic cup from the concession stand, which was witnessed by an employee. Morris and Marchetto are considering legal action, contending that the ejection was a result of the kissing.
Source:Washington Blade
Security officer aids dieing child in Houston www.privateofficer.com
HOUSTON TX Oct 10 2010 - Police are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine what led to the death of a baby boy in southwest Houston.
The nine-month-old child’s mother told investigators she found the baby unresponsive, hanging through the metal railing of her bed. The discovery was made several hours after the child and mother fell asleep on the bed Thursday evening.
According to police, the mother said she then put the child in her car and started to drive to the hospital. That’s when she spotted a security guard pumping gas at a fuel station on Hillcroft at Richmond and decided to stop.
The security guard performed CPR until paramedics arrived.
The child was taken to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The mother was handcuffed and questioned by police, but no charges were filed as of early Friday morning. An investigation is ongoing
Source:FOX NEWS
Atlantic City casino officers nab robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
Atlantic City NJ Oct 10 2010 A Brooklyn man was arrested in Atlantic City today after mugging and beating one casino patron, then stealing chips at a second casino. Hosameldin Ismail, from Brooklyn, is behind bars after being arrested by security guards at the Tropicana Casino Resort.
In the first attack, Ismail was caught on surveillance tape at the Trump Plaza Casino. He allegedly followed a 61-year-old disabled war veteran into the hotel elevator. According to a police spokesman, he attacked the victim, rendering him unconscious and “he then begins to rifle through his pockets…as the victim begins to regain consciousness, he gets up, and the suspect violently steps on his head several times, rendering him unconscious again, rifling through his pockets again.” In that attack, the victim was robbed of $2,000 in cash and $5,000 in casino chips.
Security at the Trump distributed a still photo, taken from their video, of the beating suspect. And a few hours later, it paid off, as security at the Tropicana recognized him as a man they had just taken into custody for allegedly trying to steal chips from other gamblers.
Ismail has been charged with robbery and aggravated assault. The beating victim, Steven McGuire, was originally released from the hospital. But he collapsed some hours later, and is now back in the hospital.
Officers sue Polk County over terminations www.privateofficer.com
Barry Henderson and Johnny Moats are filing the action against Polk County, Sheriff Kelly McLendon, Chief Deputy Sheriff Shayne Garrison, Deputy Sheriff James Little and County attorney Brad McFall.
“We are trying to get redress for two good deputies who were removed from their duties for illegal reasons, which is depriving Polk County of the honest service to which the citizens are entitled,” said attorney Cathy Alterman, of Alterman and Associates of Marietta, representing the two men in the lawsuit.
The men and their attorney arrived at the U.S. District Court in Rome mid-morning with family, friends, Alterman’s paralegal and security personnel.
The two men claim in their suit those involved in their firings not only terminated their employment without cause, but also falsified facts regarding the alleged reasons.
Neither was given proper hearings regarding their terminations and separation notices did not contain specific incidents, according to the suit.
The lawsuit alleges no evidence was ever brought forward to prove any allegations made against the two men and that guidelines in the Standard Operating Manual for sheriff’s department employees were ignored.
It also alleges that those in charge had a history of bad conduct, planted evidence, and invaded privacy not only of the deputies involved but the general public as well.
“We’re putting the sheriff’s department on notice that their job is to protect the citizens of Polk County, not to use threats and deception to protect the indiscretions of its employees,” Alterman said.
“We’re trying to shed some light on some things that are being swept under the rug.”
The lawsuit points to “significant and pervasive sexual indiscretions between personnel at the Sheriff’s office” as a root cause of problems there.
These indiscretions “has long been tolerated” by the sheriff and “has created an atmosphere where deception, cover up and false accusations against those personnel who will not partake in, or condone such actions is commonplace,” according to the lawsuit.
McLendon, contacted Friday afternoon, said he had no comment.
Alterman said there is probably more to this case than what they have uncovered so far.
“We don’t know how bad it is. We do believe it’s the tip of the iceberg out there,” she said.
Specifically, two allegations were made against Henderson. The first was that he worked a private event as security without clocking out from his job as a sheriff’s deputy.
Henderson, a 12-year law enforcement veteran hired by Polk County in 2006 and fired last December, said in the suit he had requested to use vacation time for that night in September, 2009, in order to privately work a two-hour wrestling match.
Garrison refused to give him vacation time, but told Henderson to remain on the clock, according to the suit. Garrison didn’t reveal that fact, even though the suit states he was there when Henderson was terminated.
The suit alleged that Garrison had other employees clock him in on weekends while he was at home during previous employment with the sheriff’s office. He had been asked to resign in 2007, but was rehired by McLendon in 2009.
The lawsuit said Henderson was initially disciplined and demoted for working the wrestling match and was read his Garrity Rights, which allows for a law enforcement officer to discuss details of an event without facing prosecution, regarding the incident.
However, the suit states that McLendon afterward brought in a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) agent in an attempt to arrest Henderson for theft of public funds in the incident, which violated his Garrity Rights.
The other allegation was that McLendon accused Henderson of sexually harassing another employee, Melissa Martin.
According to the lawsuit, Martin had been in an extramarital affair with Deputy Scott Chandler. Her husband wanted Henderson to help him stalk her, and Henderson refused, the suit states.
Henderson said in the suit the harassment allegations came shortly afterward, along with his termination.
Martin has never filed a sexual harassment complaint against Henderson with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), according to the suit.
There were two hearings on Henderson’s firing, but the lawsuit said no evidence was presented at either and Henderson was not allowed access to witnesses and accusers.
McFall refused to make any witnesses available and refused to participate in the second hearing, according to the lawsuit.
Moats, hired as a deputy in 2000, originally had been placed on leave and separation without cause Aug. 19 and was officially fired Sept. 2, according to legal papers.
His separation notice gave “numerous policy violations” as a reason for his termination, but the suit said it didn’t list details.
Legal papers said Moats was accused of stealing a GPS device from the sheriff’s office.
The suit states the device had been placed illegally on a sheriff’s car assigned to Moats and then on another patrol car of Moats.
According to legal documents, Moats believes Little, Garrison, and possibly other sheriff’s office employees illegally placed the device on Moats’ patrol vehicle without his knowledge.
Garrison then called the GBI and accused Moats of stealing the device.
The device was returned to Garrison after Moats downloaded its contents and photographed it, the suit said.
Moats said in the suit that Little also illegally obtained IP addresses for all of those who use a public chat board to discuss Polk County issues.
The suit states Little obtained an illegal and invalid subpoena around Sept. 7 and that Magistrate Judge Jean Crane signed it without cause.
The subpoena allowed the sheriff’s office to find out exactly who was commenting on the public chat board regarding the sheriff’s office by allowing identification of all IP addresses of anyone using the board.
The two men stated in the suit they want to recover money for their civil rights being violated, lost wages, punitive damages, reasonable attorney fees and that the case be tried before a jury.
Henderson said events leading up to his termination and those occurring since then have left him emotionally upset.
“Essentially it just tore me apart,” he said.
He remains unemployed, although Alterman said she was able to successfully appeal the decision to deny unemployment benefits.
Moats still hasn’t received unemployment benefits since his firing last month. His benefits were also denied and Alterman plans to appeal his case as well.
“It’s hard to find a job right now, especially when you have allegations against you that aren’t true,” Moats said.
“The thing for me is I had all this health insurance for me and my kids and now we don’t have that.”
Source:Rockmont Herald
School security officer fired for theft www.privateofficer.com
Timothy Scher, who was working for the Gary Community School Corp. as a security guard, was arrested at Roosevelt High School last month after he was charged with two counts of theft.
Investigators said Scher took computer equipment from the security office and sold it to a Gary businessman. When Scher didn’t return to install the system, intended for use as an alarm system, the man called police.
The vote to terminate Scher from the reserve force was unanimous. In the last three years, the commission has taken over testing, certifying and terminating the reserve officers that provide additional support for Gary police. Reserve officers have police powers only within city limits, and many hold security jobs.
Commission president Oliver Gilliam welcomed the board’s newest member, Lorenzo Davis Sr.
Mayor Rudy Clay named Davis to the board after longtime member Thomas Wagner retired last month. Davis is a former reserve officer, a Gary precinct committeeman and the father of Detective Lorenzo Davis, who currently is assigned to the mayor’s security detail.
Man pulls knife on Pearl Harbor security officer www.privateofficer.com
Pearl Harbor October 10 2010 A 41-year-old man, upset after he was told to leave a secured area of Pearl Harbor, allegedly threatened a security officer with a knife, police said.
The security officer told the man to leave an unauthorized area of Pearl Harbor about 2:45 p.m. yesterday, police said.
A short time later, the guard returned and told the man again to leave, but the man became upset, pulled out a knife and threatened the officer, police said.
Police were called and officers arrested the man on suspicion of first-degree terroristic threatening and for a warrant.
Tribal security officer convicted in robbery conspiracy www.privateofficer.com
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma Sanford C. Coats said 21-year-old William Jeffery Brady confessed to planning a fake armed robbery that would have taken money from the two tribes.
Brady worked as a security guard for The Cheyenne and Arapaho Smoke Shop on Indian land in Clinton, Okla. that is owned by the two tribes.
Brady pled guilty to conspiring with an unidentified man to stage a fake armed robbery of the smoke shop in December of 2009. Part of the plan included Brady intentionally leaving the smoke shop door open for the other man to enter, armed with a gun, where he stole about $42,000 in cash from the smoke shop safe.
The man who entered the smoke shop then gave some of the money to Brady.
Brady now faces up to five years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine.
Source:News9.com
Colton school security manager charged in thefts www.privateofficer.com
Surveillance video shows Joe C. Trujillo, a 45-year-old Grand Terrace resident, enter a classroom and search for a cash box containing fund-raiser money belonging to the girls tennis team, a Police Department news release said.
After finding the box, authorities said Trujillo then takes the money, wipes his fingerprints from the box and leaves the room.
Detectives arrested Trujillo at Colton High and he was booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. In an interview with detectives, he admitted to the theft.
School district spokeswoman Katie Orloff said Trujillo is, “no longer employed with the district and we’re cooperating with police.”
Orloff declined further comment. Board of Education member Marge Mendoza-Ware also declined comment because the matter is a confidential personnel issue.
Lt. Chuck deDianous said Trujillo was head of security at Colton High. There were previous thefts there and at other district school sites, but police haven’t determined if Trujillo is responsible, deDianous said.
“I can’t say that he was necessarily thought to be a suspect in any of those, but (theft) was something that we were looking at,” deDianous said.
Police are investigating all thefts and Trujillo could face further charges.
Source:The Sun
SC man arrested driving naked at TN Wal-Mart www.privateofficer.com
COOKEVILLE TN Oct 10 2010 — A South Carolina man was arrested here yesterday for allegedly driving around the Walmart parking lot naked, police said.
David A. Youngblood, 50, of Piedmont Highway, Greenville, South Carolina, is charged with indecent exposure in the case, according to a warrant taken by Cookeville Police Officer Joe Greenwood.
It happened around 1 p.m. Monday, says a report by Officer Mitch Harrington, who was flagged down by a store security officer about that time in the store parking lot. Harrington was off-duty and was riding his motorcycle at the time.
The store security clerk told Officer Harrington that she had received a complaint “about a white male driving around the parking lot with no clothes on,” Harrington’s report says.
After receiving that complaint, the security officer went to the parking lot and “soon observed the vehicle in question drive right by her,” the report says.
“She stated that it was obvious the male did not have a shirt on when she first saw him, but when he drove by she could see he also did not have any pants or underwear on.”
As Harrington talked to the security officer, the vehicle pulled into a parking space in front of the grocery side of the store.
Harrington drove by the vehicle and could see that the man was not wearing a shirt, “which was odd because of the cool temperature,” the report says.
Harrington then pulled his motorcycle in behind the vehicle and approached the driver, identifying himself as a police officer and displaying his police credentials.
“The driver did not have any clothes on except for his socks,” the report says. “He laid his shorts over his lap in an attempt to cover himself. I asked him why he was driving around with no clothes on, and he stated that he was just changing clothes. I told him it was odd that he was changing clothes while he was circling the parking lot and he agreed.”
Officer Joe Greenwood came to the scene and took Youngblood into custody.
Youngblood was booked into the Putnam jail at 2 p.m. and posted his $1,000 bond and was released a couple of hours later.
He is set to appear in General Sessions Court on Oct. 18
Source:Herald Citizen
