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Newark man found guilty og bouncer’s murder www.privateofficer.com
The victim, Jose Rivera, 39, was shot to death a short time after he and another bouncer had barred the gunman and another man from a Christmas party at a social club in the city’s Ironbound section.
An Essex County jury found David Fernandez guilty of murdering Rivera and of attempted murder for shooting Uriel Ocasio, 36, outside the Andros Diner on Dec. 26, 2007, according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino.
When sentenced Dec. 13, Fernandez faces life in prison for Rivera’s slaying and up to an additional 30 years for shooting Ocasio, said Laurino.
Authorities believe Fernandez and another man — 27-year-old Jimmy Zamuz of Newark — followed Rivera and Ocasio to the diner after the bouncers kept them from entering the Centro Orensano Social Club.
Zamuz was not charged in the shooting, but he was charged with weapons offenses in an unrelated incident earlier that night.
Rivera was shot several times in the chest and died shortly after the attack. Ocasio was also shot several times in the face and chest, said Laurino, but he managed to pin Zamuz to the ground while Fernandez fled the scene.
The 29-year-old disappeared for a week, jetting to Miami before returning and surrendering to authorities in January 2008.
“Sadly, on Christmas 2007, Jose Rivera was brutally taken from his beloved family,” said Assistant Prosecutor Linda Childs, who tried the case. “While this verdict will not bring him back, hopefully, it will bring a measure of justice to the family.”
Investigators believe Fernandez and Zamuz followed the bouncers to the Andros Diner, and started a fight with them before Fernandez drew a small-caliber pistol and started shooting.
Rivera, a taxi driver by day and bouncer by night, was a former solider who left behind five children. Ocasio was an aide to Newark councilman Donald Payne Jr. at the time of the shooting.
Ocasio and Rivera were longtime friends, something authorities highlighted yesterday.
“The surviving victim still, to this day, carries the bullets in his head and chest. He watched his best friend die in the street,” said Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Ruzich, who also tried the case. “No one should have to go through what he endured.’’
Source:NJ.com
Casino officers bust burglary suspects www.privateofficer.com
SACRAMENTO, Calif.Oct 26 2010 — Two men have been arrested on suspicion of burglarizing vehicles parked at Gold Country Casino after one of the men returned to the casino the day after the burglaries as a patron.
On Oct. 16, the Gold Country Casino security staff witnessed several cars in their parking lot being burglarized via a closed circuit security camera system. The staff called the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, but the burglars fled before deputies arrived, the Sheriff’s Office said in a release.
The next morning, casino security personnel noticed a casino patron and the car he had driven to the casino looked like one of the men and the car associated with the burglaries.
Deputies responded and questioned the man, Daniel Tuttle, 27, and searched both Tuttle and the car to find stolen items, marijuana, methamphetamine and Ecstasy, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies also found clues revealing the name of one accomplice, who the Sheriff’s Office identified as Alex Littleton, 29. A search of Littleton’s home turned up several stolen items, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Tuttle was arrested on charges of possession of stolen property, burglary and unauthorized possession of narcotics. Littleton was arrested as an accomplice, but specific charges were not immediately available Monday. Both men remained in custody Monday as sheriff’s deputies searched for a third accomplice.
Source:KCRA
Woman raped at Philly college www.privateofficer.com
Philadelphia PA Oct 26 2010 A 26-year-old-woman was sexually assaulted before dawn on Saturday, after she got off a train at SEPTA’s Chestnut Hill East station.
The woman was walking along Germantown Avenue when she was grabbed by an assailant and assaulted on the campus of Chestnut Hill College, police said.
The attacker, who escaped, is not believed to be affiliated with the college, and the woman is not a student there, officials said. The attacker was wearing blue jeans and a gray, hooded sweatshirt.
A college security guard patrolling the grounds came to the woman’s aid and she was taken to Episcopal Hospital for treatment.
Source:Philly.com
Man charged with impersonating a security officer www.privateofficer.com
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio Oct 26 2010 - A Middletown man is out on bond after being arrested for impersonating a security officer.
Middletown police said William Haeger went into the Kensington Place nursing home several times with a badge, knife and pepper spray.
They said he even searched someone’s car.
Detectives said Haeger identified himself as a security officer working for a private agency but he was never registered to do security work.
Haeger’s next court date has not been released.
Source:KYPOST.com
Woman sues after being hit by security officer’s two-way radio www.privateofficer.com
New York NY Oct 26 2010 One-time Mets coach Eddie Yost’s daughter is suing the team after she got plunked by a security guard’s radio that fell from from an upper deck.
Alexis Yost Fougere, 45, needed surgery last week to repair a muscle tear she suffered in her left shoulder blade, her lawyer says. Fougere was watching her father participate in ceremonies at Citi Field honoring the 1969 championship team on Aug. 22, 2009, when the radio fell into Section 329, where she sat with relatives.
Her lawyer Gary Slobin said the radio zipped in from Section 424 overhead with such force that Fougere “blacked out.”
Slobin said right after the incident that Fougere’s father’s former team promised to take care of her, but then started playing hardball and refused to hand over the incident report.
“They [the Mets] told her, ‘We’ll treat you like family,’ but they never responded to her,” Slobin said.
Fougere – whose father was the team’s third-base coach from 1968 to 1976 – is only suing because the team has left her no choice, Slobin said.
“She’s not a litigious person, but at some point she realized she had no choice,” he said.
The suit, filed in Queens Supreme Court, seeks to recover the money Fougere has shelled out for medical care as well as for the pain and suffering she’s endured.
A spokesman for the Mets did not return a call for comment.
The suit says the team was negligent for allowing its security guards to mishandle radios.
Fougere, of Massachusetts, had hoped the pain would go away with physical therapy, but after a year of living in discomfort, she had arthroscopic surgery. Her father lives nearby and was at her side after the surgery.
Yost, 84, was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, where he attended John Adams High School. After an 18-year career with the Senators, Tigers and Angels, he was handpicked in 1968 by then-Mets manager Gil Hodges’ to be third-base coach.
He held the job for eight years, winning a World Series ring with the Amazin’s in 1969. After the Mets, Yost coached for the Red Sox and was in the dugout when Bucky Dent hit the home run that gave the Yankees the American League East title in 1978.
nydailynews.com
Phoenix security officer finds homicide victim www.privateofficer.com
Phoenix AZ Oct 26 2010 Police are investigating two separate homicides, including the death of a man found shot early Sunday.
Little information was available on the Sunday shooting, but Sgt. Tommy Thompson said witnesses reported hearing gunshots about 3:12 a.m. in front of a hotel near 10400 N. Black Canyon Freeway.
A security guard responded to the area and found the man dead from gunshot wounds.
Thompson said he did not have a description of the victim and said investigators have little information to go on.
That fatal shooting followed a separate deadly shooting at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, according to police.
In that incident, police responded to the 3100 block of W. Buckeye Road, where officers said they found a 21-year-old-man had been shot by a 15-year-old boy after a fight.
Thompson said there was also little other information available for release in that case.
Anyone with information on the shootings is asked to call the Phoenix Police Violent Crimes Bureau at 602-262-6141. Information can also be left by calling Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (948-6377) or 480-TESTIGO (837-8446) for Spanish speakers.
Nevada nuclear site using robots for security patrols www.privateofficer.com
Las Vegas NV Oct 26 2010 Move Over RD D2 The federal government introduced its own robot this week that will patrol the boundaries of the Nevada National Security Site, formerly the Nevada Test Site.
http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/25508294/detail.html?taf=vegas
Already, one of the robots, called the mobile detection assessment response system is roaming the Nye County desert in search of intruders. The government expects to add three more soon.
“We had a herd of antelope come out here a week ago, during a weekend shift, and it saw them, saw them as a human type and then ran up there and challenged them,” said Stephen Scott, senior technical security engineer for the Nevada National Security Site. It spotted the antelope by using 16 lasers spinning on a rotating head.
The robot is equipped with an ICX1200 radar, high-powered spotlight, an infrared camera for thermal imaging and a microphone so that its operators can communicate with intruders.
The robot, though, has one prime directive: No harming humans.
“It will stop and interrogate rather than just run up onto you,” Scott said.
Although not yet equipped with weapons, the military has the option to install machine guns.
The military estimates that the robot patrols will save the Nevada National Security Site $1 million in labor and equipment maintenance costs.
The U.S. Army contracted General Dynamics Robotic Systems in Virginia to develop the robots.
Source:Fox News
Hotel security nabs man stealing TV www.privateofficer.com
Palm Springs CA Oct 26 2010 Police arrested a 27-year-old transient on suspicion of attempting to steal a television from a Palm Springs hotel, the Palm Springs Police reported.
Lincoln Huynh was caught in a room by the security at a hotel in the 500 block of North Indian Canyon at about 5:40 a.m. on Monday, police said.
Huynh was arrested on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools and probation violation, the police reported.
He was taken to the Banning jail and was being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Huynh pleaded guilty in July to a misdemeanor count of theft and was
sentenced to 180 days in jail, according to court records, which show he has a
history of drug and theft charges dating back to 2005.
Police asked anyone with more information to contact the Palm Springs Police Department at (760) 323-8115 or Crimestoppers at (760) 341-STOP (7867).
Source:mydesert.com
Police charge 2nd person with Atlanta armored car robbery www.privateofficer.com
Federal prosecutors filed court papers Monday saying Troy Stephens was involved in stealing $643,000 this month from an armored car during a scheduled stop at DeKalb Medical Center.
Authorities have also charged Okevlibus Thornton on charges of robbery and possession of a firearm during a crime. Police say he was caught after he tried to flee on foot, while two others got away.
In court papers, authorities say Thornton identified Stephens as one of his accomplices.
The documents do not say whether Stephens was in federal custody and he could not be reached for comment.
Source:AJC
