Archive
OFFICER DOWN-Sergeant Joseph (Joe) Schuengel
Sergeant Joseph (Joe) SchuengelMissouri State Highway Patrol
Missouri
End of Watch: Friday, October 15, 2010
Biographical Info
Age: 47
Tour of Duty: 17 years
Badge Number: 970
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Aircraft accident
Date of Incident: Friday, October 15, 2010
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Sergeant Joe Schuengel was killed in a helicopter crash while returning to Spirit of St. Louis Airport in one of the department’s traffic enforcement helicopters.
He had dropped off several other troopers and was returning to the airport when the Bell 206B helicopter experienced a probable mechanical failure. It is believed he was able to maneuver the aircraft to avoid nearby houses before crashing into a residential street on Horseshoe Ridge Road.
Residents and responding officers immediately responded to the scene, but Sergeant Schuengel had been killed on impact.
Sergeant Schuengel had served with the Missouri State Highway Patrol for 17 years and is survived by his mother and three sisters.
Agency Contact Information
Missouri State Highway Patrol
Public Affairs Office
1510 E. Elm Street
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-3313
Please contact the Missouri State Highway Patrol for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
BREAKING NEWS- 2 POSTAL EMPLOYEES KILLED IN TN ROBBERY www.privateofficer.com
Henning’s City Hall confirmed the two were found dead around 8:00am Monday morning. The FBI is now involved in the investigation.
Businesses in the area say an employee from Dennis Dew Termite Company found the two women’s bodies after entering the post office Monday morning and then made the call to police.
Henning is located about 50 miles north of Memphis between Covington and Ripley, Tennessee. The post office is located in Lauderdale County.
The shooting is still under investigation
Source:FOX NEWS
Md. troopers arrest man shooting at security officers www.privateofficer.com
Mount Airy MD Oct 18 2010 A southern Carroll County man has been arrested and charged with six counts each of first- and second-degree assault plus reckless endangerment after firing a gun in the direction of a group of private security guards outside a home in Mount Airy Md. early Thursday morning.
The suspect, identified by Maryland State Police as David A. Ellison, 57, of the 600 block of East Ridgeville Boulevard in Mount Airy, had no apparent motive for the shooting.
The events unfolded around 12:30 a.m., shortly after the Westminster state police barracks was called to respond to a report of a possible prowler in the 600 block of East Ridgeville Boulevard in Mount Airy.
As a trooper was en route, police dispatch received a second call, regarding a shooting complaint on Ridge Court, which is near East Ridgeville Boulevard.
Upon arrival, state police learned that six individuals had been working private security outside a home in the 1400 block of Ridge Court. However it remains unclear why the individuals were “working private security” outside the home.
The subsequent investigation revealed that a man, later identified as Ellison, had earlier begun “yelling and screaming,” just as one of the victims said he “saw a muzzle flash” and heard what he believed to be a gunshot. Shortly after the first shot, the same victim said a second shot was fired and he heard what he believed was a bullet passing through the treetops over his head.
“The other five security personnel who were in the same area had similar accounts of what occurred,” according to a report filed by Maryland State Police spokesperson Greg Shipley and the Westminster barracks commander, Lt. Andy Winner.
Subsequently, a state trooper contacted the accused and after an initial investigation, the trooper arrested Ellison without incident.
Troopers then obtained a search warrant for Ellison’s home, where they recovered a .32-caliber pistol, two .22-caliber rifles, and one .20-gauge shotgun.
No one was injured in the shooting and no motive is clear at this time.
Ellison has since been taken to the Carroll County central booking center to await an appearance before a court commissioner as the investigation continues.
Pen explodes in Charlotte school www.privateofficer.com
Charlotte NC October 18 2010 A Charlotte-Mecklenburg student suffered minor injuries Monday morning when a pen exploded in his hands, a school spokeswoman said.
The incident led to authorities evacuating Turning Point Academy in north Charlotte while a bomb squad went through the building. There were no reports of other explosive devices being found.
LaTarzja Henry, a CMS spokeswoman, said a student at the school, in the 2300 block of West Sugar Creek Road, reached into his desk to get a pen. “When he took the top off the ink pen, it exploded,” Henry said. “The explosion sent shards of plastic into his hand.”
Henry said authorities found some sort of residue on the victim, but it is not clear if the material was an explosive.
“The bomb squad is trying to get an idea of exactly what caused the pen to explode,” she added.
The student was taken by Medic to Presbyterian Hospital-Huntersville with injuries that are described as “not life-threatening.”
Turning Point Academy houses middle and high school students who have experienced discipline problems in regular CMS settings. Turning Point offers a variety of counseling programs designed to help students return to their original schools.
Source:www.charlotteobserver.com
Ga teacher charged with sex crimes www.privateofficer.com
Carroll County Sheriff’s Capt. Shane Taylor said Richard Lee DeLong, 47, of Whitesburg was arrested around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.
DeLong, a teacher at Crossroads Academy, remained in the county jail with no bond Thursday afternoon.
Taylor said the sheriff’s office received a complaint Tuesday from the student’s mother that her son had been approached by DeLong and asked if he would do some yard work for the teacher one day last week. When the student agreed, DeLong provided him with directions to his house and his phone number.
“The student went down, cut the grass [with] no problems, was paid [and] left afterwards,” Taylor said.
The student then began getting calls from the teacher.
“At first [the student] didn’t think anything about it afterwards,” said Taylor, who added the calls eventually began to get uncomfortable and suggested coming back to DeLong’s house, getting drunk and hanging out.
“Then the calls began to become sexual in nature,” Taylor said. “At that point, the student got with his mother and they met with Investigator Telisha Gibson here at the sheriff’s office. We began an investigation into it that afternoon.”
The sheriff’s office was provided the student’s phone as part of the investigation.
“The investigator began receiving texts and eventually pictures of nude men,” said Taylor, who clarified that DeLong did not send any nude photos of himself.
DeLong then arranged for the student to meet at a place that night.
“After the teacher took those steps, we obtained a warrant and he was arrested,” Taylor said.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for DeLong’s home and collected potential evidence.
“At this time, we continue to investigate and go through those items,” Taylor said.
According to officials with Carroll County Schools, DeLong — who has taught for 21 years — was first employed by the system in August 1988. His most recent position was as “Instructional Facilitator of Online Learning Lab” at the academy, which serves grades 9-12.
DeLong is also a major figure in contemporary Sacred Harp singing, a style of choral music that became popular in the South in the 1800s. He was part of recording sessions for the Civil War movie “Cold Mountain” and performed at the Academy Awards.
He is currently on administrative leave, pending the investigation
Source:Times-Georgian
Casino worker charged in gambling fraud www.privateofficer.com
Shakopee Mn Oct 18 2010
A blackjack dealer at Mystic Lake Casino was charged with gambling fraud last month after he allegedly paid more than $18,500 to a high school friend, his landlord’s daughter and a woman he thought was “good-looking” even though they lost their blackjack hands.
Jacob Edwin Christensen, 24, of Nisswa was charged by the Scott County Attorney’s Office Sept. 16 with two felonies, gambling fraud and theft by swindle.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police were called to Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake on Aug. 2 for a report that Christensen, a blackjack dealer at the casino, was paying a player on card hands that he lost.
Police reviewed video surveillance that showed Christensen pay the blackjack player and not take his lost wagers to a tune of $3,875.
When casino security noticed the scam on video, both Christensen and the card player were removed from the gaming floor, at which time the card player paid $1,825 in chips back to the casino, the complaint states.
Police then spoke with the casino’s video surveillance director, who was reviewing video of the previous two weeks of Christensen dealing blackjack.
Police reviewed the video surveillance and received a detailed report of each blackjack hand that Christensen dealt and had either paid out or did not take the losses from card players. The video surveillance director told police that he believed there were three people, in addition to Christensen, who were involved in the scam and constantly benefited at the dealer’s blackjack table. There were also people at the blackjack table who did not benefit from the scam.
Christensen’s landlord’s daughter, one of the people police believe benefited from the scam, received a total of $9,500, with varying amounts received on five different days in July. Christensen also paid a total of $5,075 to a woman he thought was “good-looking” that same month.
Christensen’s high school friend was allegedly paid a total of $3,875 on Aug. 1, but paid $1,825 in chips back to the casino.
During the investigation, police called Christensen’s high school friend and recorded a telephone conversation in which the man stated that he “knew what was happening was wrong,” and that’s why he paid the chips back to the casino.
The man told police that he knew Christensen from high school and didn’t say anything to him when he was being paid on losing hands at the blackjack table. The man also identified the other two women who were also benefiting from the scam, the complaint states.
Also during the investigation, the woman told detectives that she had been paid by a dealer named “Jake” for hands that she did not win. The woman said she had been “mispaid” by other dealers at the casino, as well.
Source:Shakopee Valley News
Detroit teacher charged in student sexual relationship www.privateofficer.com
Detroit Mi Oct 18 2010 Sources confirmed to FOX 2 that the Garden City High School Teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with his underage student was arrested at the school earlier in the day and brought to the police station for questioning.
While the nearly 1,500 students at Garden City High School are excitedly preparing for this weekends big homecoming game, the female student involved in the relationship is facing the nightmare of having to confront her family with the truth.
FOX 2′s Bonnie Dail talked with the victim’s brother, and agreed not to show his face to help protect his sister’s identity. He was furious that this happened to his little sister, and doesn’t want it to happen to anyone else.
The name of the teacher is not being released until he is arraigned, but he may have known trouble was lurking Tuesday morning when he posted this on Facebook:
“I think it might be fun to act paranoid at work – but I always feel like I am being watched, and I don’t like it.”
And just two days later, the married male teacher who has been working at the school since 2000, was busted by cops.
This isn’t the first time a Garden City High School Teacher has been accused of getting it on with a student.
Virginia Homberg was arrested last March, on criminal sexual conduct charges after a male student said he had a sexual relationship with the former teacher.
Source:FoxDetroit
CVS Pharmacy pays heavy fines for selling meth making product to criminals www.privateofficer.com
Los Angeles Ca Oct 18 2010 Retailer CVS Pharmacy Inc. has agreed to pay a $77.6-million settlement, after admitting to unlawfully selling pseudo-ephedrine to criminals who used it to make methampetamine. It’s the largest civil penalty under the federal Controlled Substance Act, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
As part of the agreement with federal prosecutors, CVS has agreed to pay $75 million in civil penalties and to forfeit $2.6 million in profits the company earned as a result of the illegal conduct.
“CVS’s flagrant violation of the law resulted in the company becoming a direct link in the methamphetamine supply chain,” said Michele M. Leonhart, the DEA’s acting administrator.
CVS Pharmacy, a subsidiary of CVS Caremark Corp., failed to comply with laws limiting sales of pseudo-ephedrine, which allowed criminals to obtain a key ingredient to manufacture meth from CVS stores located primarily in Los Angeles County, Orange County, Calif., and Clark County, Nev.
Between September 2007 and November 2008, CVS supplied large amounts of pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine traffickers in Southern California, and the company’s illegal sales led directly to an increase in methamphetamine production in California. CVS eventually changed its sales practices to prevent these illegal sales, but it did so only after it became aware of the government’s investigation, according to the DEA.
The $75 million portion of the settlement represents the largest civil penalty ever paid under the Controlled Substances Act.
Pontiac police to cease operations www.privateofficer.com
Pontiac Mi Oct 18 2010 — City officials signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday to disband the Police Department and turn patrols in Pontiac over to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office as soon as December.
Faced with mounting red ink, the cash-strapped city of 66,000 residents has chipped away at its Police Department in recent years with layoffs and cutbacks that required help at times from Michigan State Police and the Sheriff’s Office just to keep road patrols operating.
“This is going to be very, very controversial,” said Pontiac Mayor Leon Jukowski. “We’ve known this could happen. It’s been discussed for some time, but the signing of the memorandum of understanding today makes it almost certain.
“By December, no later than January, we will no longer have a Pontiac Police Department, and our city’s public safety will be handed over to the Oakland County sheriff.”
Jukowski noted the contract still must be signed.
“Having been the department’s attorney for 10 years, I have mixed feelings about it,” he said. “The good thing is we will still have police services, including current officers. They will just be changing uniforms. I hope it’s going to work.”
An official with the union that represents Pontiac police officers objected Tuesday night to the city’s plans.
Fred Timpner, executive director of the Michigan Association of Police, said the union signed a contract with the city’s former emergency financial manager, Fred Leeb, that runs through 2012.
“I believe the city has to honor that contract and we will be asking that they do that,” he said. “I don’t think there is any way they can ignore itso they can nowcontract with the sheriff. A deal is a deal.”
Emergency Financial Manager Michael Stampfler, appointed July 1, could not be reached for comment. Jukowski said the changeover is expected to save the city, which has a $12 million deficit, about $2 million a year. The Sheriff’s Office will supply 24-hour patrols and all police services, including dispatch. The sheriff is expected to operate a city substation out of the current police headquarters.
The sheriff contracts police services for 15 communities, including Rochester Hills, Royal Oak Township and Oxford Township.
The proposed contract from the Sheriff Office will cost about $10.2 million and provide 74 officers, the city’s current police staffing.
Source:www.detnews.com
Ga. mom sues Tyra Banks after daughter appears without permission www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA Oct 18 2010 (AP) — A Georgia woman is suing Tyra Banks for $3 million after she said her 15-year-old daughter appeared without her permission on an episode of Banks’ talk show about teen sex addicts.
In a lawsuit filed Oct. 8 in federal court in Atlanta, Beverly McClendon claims the show contacted the teen on her cell phone after she responded to a request on the show’s website seeking “sex addicts.” The girl was then picked up from her home in Georgia in a limo and flown to New York, where she was put up in a hotel, all without her mother’s knowledge, the lawsuit says.
McClendon filed a missing person report with local police when she realized her daughter was gone. The teen has never been diagnosed as a sex addict, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also names Warner Bros. Entertainment and the executive producers of the show as defendants.
McClendon says her daughter suffered damages because the 2009 show “was undoubtedly watched by sexual deviants, perverts and pedophiles.”
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and asks for $1 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages. It also asks the court to bar the episode from ever being aired again on television or online.
Warner Bros. Television Group spokesman Scott Rowe said Sunday that the company had no comment. Banks’ publicist, agent and lawyer did not immediately return calls Sunday seeking comment.
The show violated McClendon’s right to privacy by putting her daughter, who was a minor, on television without McClendon’s permission, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit also claims negligence, saying the teen was paid for her appearance but that the show didn’t get permission from the labor commissioner to employ her and didn’t get McClendon’s permission before paying the girl to fly to New York, stay in a hotel alone and appear on the show.
Armed men shoot at Memphis nightclub security www.privateofficer.com
Officers responded to a call at Celebrity Pizza off of Highland after security guards struggled with three suspects who were trying to enter the club through the rear door.
The first suspect approached a security guard to enter the club. The guard felt a large hand gun after patting the suspect down. The guard went to confiscate the gun but the suspect resisted and fight broke out between the two.
Other guards came to help and in the struggle the handgun was given to another suspect who ran from the security guards and got away, leaving behind a 45 auto magazine with 10 live rounds on the ground outside of the club.
A third suspect, who is a friend of the first suspect pushed the victim in an attempt to help his friend get away.
The two security guards who witnessed the suspect with the handgun detained him
until police arrived.
Both suspects were taken into custody and transported to jail.
The investigation is ongoing.
Mother and son murder suspects nabbed in Jersey casino www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTIC CITY NJ Oct 18 2010 — After nearly a month on the lam from Las Vegas Police, a woman wanted in connection to the murder of her husband last month and her 19-year-old son are in the Atlantic County Jail awaiting extradition.
Michelle Costello, 43, and her son Peter Costello, both of Las Vegas, Nev. were arrested by State Police in an Atlantic City casino after a patron recognized the pair from news reports, police said.
The Costellos disappeared from Las Vegas shortly after the death of Michelle Costello’s husband, Bert English, 65, on September 20, said State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones. English was Peter Costello’s stepfather.
Jama Rhodes, 34, who works at an Atlantic City doctor’s office, first encountered the pair on Thursday afternoon, when they inquired about renting an apartment above the office. Later that evening, a coworker saw a newspaper article about the search for tow fugitives believed to be in the Philadelphia area and recognized the Costellos. The coworker called Rhodes and Atlantic City Police but did not get a call back, Rhodes said.
Late Friday evening, Rhodes went to the Resorts Atlantic City casino with a friend and spotted the Costellos on the floor. Michelle Costello was seated at one of the tables, her son at the slots.
“I said, ‘That’s really them!’” Rhodes recalled this afternoon. “It was the craziest thing ever,”
When Rhodes called police, they said she had to deal with casino security. She approached a security officer and said quietly, “There’s a murderer in here,” Rhodes said.
All she could remember was that the pair were wanted for a murder in Las Vegas. While casino security kept an eye on the pair, State Police detectives searched the internet and quickly fell on a post on the website of “America’s Most Wanted” that had background on the couple and pictures.
The post had only been put up a few hours before, Jones said.
“They did an excellent job,” Jones said of the detectives who were able to identify the fugitives with so little information so quickly. “They were thinking outside the box. That’s when the AMW site came into play.”
The FBI have been notified of the arrest and the Costellos are being held at the Atlantic County Jail on a no-bail fugitive warrant, awaiting extradition to Nevada.
Source:NJ.com
Pace University student killed by police www.privateofficer.com
The student, Danroy Henry, 20, of Easton, Mass., was allegedly trying to speed away from the scene as police arrived and was shot at by two police officers — one was standing in the way of his car and the other was clinging to the hood.
During the incident, two police officers sustained minor injuries and Henry’s front-seat passenger suffered a minor gunshot wound. All three were treated and released from Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y.
“It’s horrendous, it’s something that I would hope would never have happened here, but unfortunately it did and we’ll proceed with a very, very thorough investigation,” Mount Pleasant Police Chief Louis Alagno said at a morning press conference.
Alagno would not release several details of the incident, including the names of the officers involved, the names of Henry’s two passengers and how many shots were fired. He described the two officers who shot at Henry as veterans with at least five years’ experience.
According to a Mount Pleasant police news release, several Mount Pleasant town and Pleasantville, N.Y., village police officers responded at around 1:20 a.m. to a disturbance at a bar at a corner of a strip mall that is a short drive from Pace’s campus.
More than 150 people were at the front of the bar and in the parking lot, where sporadic fights broke out even after police arrived, Alagno said. Police approached Henry’s vehicle, which was parked in a fire lane. When an officer knocked on the car window, Henry sped off, police said.
A Pleasantville officer tried stopping the vehicle, but Henry accelerated into him and the cop ended up on the hood of the car, police said.
While still clinging onto the hood as the car continued to accelerate, the Pleasantville officer shot at Henry, the release stated. The vehicle continued down the fire lane, moving directly toward another Mount Pleasant officer, who also fired at the vehicle, which finally hit a Mount Pleasant police cruiser and came to a stop.
Alagno said investigators believe the Pleasantville officer fired the fatal shot.
Henry and his front-seat passenger were transported to Westchester Medical Center, where Henry was pronounced dead and the male passenger was treated for a “minor gunshot wound,” the release stated. The passenger was not a Pace student, a Pace spokesman said.
Alagno said he spoke with Henry’s parents after the incident.
“They’re extremely distraught. I expressed my deepest sympathies for their loss,” he said.
The Mount Pleasant officer who fired at Henry will be put on administrative duty, Alagno said, but he added that none of the other officers were yet facing modified duty or suspension.
Pace released a statement Sunday, saying, “We extend the deepest sympathies of our community to Mr. Henry’s family and friends. We are working with the police investigation and as appropriate will share more information when it becomes available.”
A campus-only vigil was planned for 9 p.m. Sunday night.
Pace freshman Kelly Van Wort said she was leaving the bar with friends when she heard what she said sounded like four gunshots.
At first, she said, “I didn’t think it was gunshots, I just thought I was hearing things. … But the minute we left, people started calling and texting like, ‘Oh my God, they just shot Danroy,’ freaking out.”
She said Henry had been a designated driver.
“I don’t know why they shot him at all,” she said. “I figure when cops shoot at somebody, there’s a reason for it, like to get somebody to back off. But to shoot him four times, that’s a little unnecessary. … Someone told me he hit one of the cops. I don’t think someone deserves to die for that.”
Source:USATODAY
Brinks guards injured in rollover accident www.privateofficer.com
Jacksonville Fla Oct 18 2010 The Main Street bridge reopened just after 1:30 p.m. after being closed for a few hours due to an accident, police said.
A one-vehicle accident at about 9:45 a.m. today caused a Brinks armored car to overturn, and two people were transported by rescue to a hospital, according to Jacksonville Sheriff’s officer C.E. Moody, who was at the scene. Injuries were not serious, he said.
Dick Lundy, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department district chief, said the person in the back of the car was banged up and had a gash on his head. He was transported with the driver, who was shaken up, to Shands.
Another Brinks armored car arrived to retrieve the accident vehicle’s cargo. A large amount of oil was spilled.
Russell Hicks, who was on his morning walk over the bridge at the time of the accident, said “we heard screaming tires and turned around and saw it airborne. It went over and landed on its roof and slid. People were trying to kick the windows in and I told them, ‘it’s an armored car, you’re not going to get in there until they open the doors.’ “
Source:Jacksonville.com
Pittsburgh security officer shoots suspicious person www.privateofficer.com
PITTSBURGH PA Oct 18 2010– A security guard shot a man in the chest near a Southside Parking Garage Sunday morning, police said.
Police said the shooting happened at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday near Sidney and 26th Street after the guard said he spotted a man looking into cars parked in the garage.
Investigators said that the guard chased the man, who ran between homes in the 2000 block of Carey Way, where he became trapped.
Police said the guard shot the man in the right side of the chest when the man allegedly charged the guard while reaching into a backpack.
The man, whose name was not released, was taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital where he was treated for a superficial wound and released.
No other injuries were reported.
Police are investigating the incident.
Source:WTAE.com
Facebook APPS transmitting personal data www.privateofficer.com
The newspaper said Monday that the breach also includes users who set all their information to be completely private. And in some cases, it says, the apps provided access to friends’ names.
A Facebook spokesman told the Journal on Sunday that the company would introduce new technology to contain the breach. It’s not clear how long the breach went on.
The paper says Facebook also has taken immediate action to disable all applications that violated their terms.
Most apps are made by independent software companies, not by Facebook.
Alaska Dispatch editor Tony Hopfinger handcuffed during public meeting www.privateofficer.com
ANCHORAGE, Alaska Oct 18 2010Alaska Dispatch editor Tony Hopfinger was handcuffed by security guards at a Joe Miller town hall event Sunday afternoon. Hopfinger says he approached Miller to ask questions, but was arrested for half an hour until police arrived.
According to Hopfinger, Miller’s security team pushed him and he pushed back because he felt his personal space was being invaded. He says guards detained him and accused him of trespassing, although the town hall was a public event held at Central Middle School, a public building.
“At some point I was suddenly surrounded by more guys, more security guards I guess,” Hopfinger said. “They were kind of putting their chest into me, and at one point I put my chest in too — it got to be too much.”
Hopfinger says the incident escalated so fast he barely remembers what happened, and that next thing he knew he was in handcuffs.
The Alaska Dispatch is one of several news organizations suing for access to Miller’s employment records at the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Miller worked at the FNSB as a part-time attorney from 2002 to 2009.
The Anchorage Daily News filed papers in Fairbanks Superior Court Friday to join a lawsuit filed by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner last week. The Alaska Dispatch has filed a separate suit asking for Miller’s employment records.
The news organizations are interested in documents that contain the details of Miller’s departure or allegations of misuse of borough property.
Miller called the request a violation of his privacy. But the Alaska Dispatch’s attorney says that the requests relate to Miller’s performance as a government employee, not his private life.
“I mean, I asked him some hard questions; we need to get some answers,” Hopfinger said. “He’s being sued by two newspapers and an online newspaper now over his employment at the North Star Borough. He hasn’t denied the accusations, so I started out — that’s where this all came from.”
The owner of the firm hired to protect Miller, William Fulton with Dropzone Security, said in a statement Sunday that he was responding to Hopfinger’s actions.
“The Dispatch reporter repeatedly pushed a camera into the face of Mr. Miller,” Fulton said. “He continued to aggressively pursue him. I told the reporter several times that he needed to stop and that he was trespassing, he ignored me. He then proceeded to stalk Mr. Miller and even shoved an individual into a locker. Based upon this trespass and his assault, we detained him and escorted him from the premises.”
In a subsequent interview, Fulton said he didn’t know at the scene that Hopfinger was a journalist.
“I didn’t even know he was a reporter until he told me,” Fulton said. “Normally we would assume that he’s just some crazy guy from the audience.”
Fulton says he was trying to do his job when he arrested Hopfinger.
“After I told him he was trespassing, he said he was a reporter,” Fulton said. “I said, ‘Sir, that doesn’t matter: you’ve been asked to leave, this is a private event.’ At that time, I told him again he was trespassing, then he hit the guy — he pushed the guy, well, pushed the guy, into the locker. And at that point we decided he had become violent and would effect the arrest.”
In a statement on the incident Sunday evening, Miller said Hopfinger appeared irrational, angry and potentially violent.
“While I’ve gotten used to the blog Alaska Dispatch’s assault on me and my family, I never thought that it would lead to a physical assault,” Miller said. “It’s too bad that this blogger would take advantage of a ‘Town Hall’ meeting to create a publicity stunt just two weeks before the election.”
The Anchorage Police Department interviewed several witnesses and the parties involved, and decided against honoring the arrest. The incident will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office, which will ultimately decide if it warrants trespassing charges.
The Alaska Dispatch is hosting a live U.S. Senate debate Monday. Both Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Scott McAdams have confirmed they will attend. Miller has not.
Code enforcement officer kills wife-self at NC police station www.privateofficer.com
GASTONIA, N.C. Oct 18 2010– The bodies of a husband and wife were discovered inside of an SUV in the parking lot of the Gastonia Police Department early Sunday morning in what police called a murder-suicide.
Investigators have identified the couple as 45-year-old Randy Newman and his wife, Laura, who was 47.
A police officer found the bodies around 2:50 a.m. after noticing the SUV’s brake lights were on. When the officer went to see if they needed any assistance, he discovered the couple inside fatally wounded.
Investigators said there was no history of domestic violence between the couple, but Randy Newman was battling mental illness.
Gastonia Police Sgt. Jimmy Arndt said, “We’ve determined Mr. Newman had been suffering from depression and trying to work through some of the issues from some time and that depression had been worsening over time.”
Newman’s neighbor, Yates Smith, worked with Randy Newman at Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement for 12 years. Smith said he didn’t know his friend was suffering from depression and the affect it was having on his family. “They were really close, Randy, he adored his kids and wife. He lived for them,” he said.
Many in Gastonia are feeling the impact of this tragedy. For five years Laura Newman worked at Ashbrook High School as a teacher’s assistant and cheerleading coach.
Principal Page Carver issued a statement saying, “Laura Newman was an integral part of the Ashbrook family and she was loved by everyone.” Carver added the school is “grief-stricken over this heartbreaking news.”
Counselors will be at the school Monday for students and staff.
Rick Christenbury, a spokesperson for Mecklenburg County also issued a statement. “This is a very tragic circumstance.” The spokesperson said the county will look into the possibility of providing grief counselors to help employees deal with the situation.
Gastonia Police are not sure exactly what time the couple arrived at the police station or whether Laura Newman was shot in the parking lot or somewhere else. Investigators said Randy Newman was getting treatment for his depression.
Source:WSOCTV.com
