Archive
OFFICER DOWN OFFICER SERGIO ANTILLION
Police Officer Sergio Antillon
San Antonio Police Department
Texas
End of Watch: Friday, October 29, 2010
Biographical Info
Age: 25
Tour of Duty: 2 months
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Vehicular assault
Date of Incident: Thursday, October 14, 2010
Weapon Used: Automobile; Alcohol involved
Suspect Info: Arrested
Officer Sergio Antillon succumbed to injuries sustained one week earlier when he was struck by a drunk driver.
He was still in uniform and had just finished his shift when he stopped to assist another motorist on Loop 410 while heading home. Just as an on duty officer stopped at the scene, a drunk driver struck Officer Antillon and the motorist. Officer Antillon was transported to University Hospital where he remained unconscious until passing away. The driver was arrested and faces charges in connection with the officer’s death.
Officer Antillon had graduated from the police academy only seven weeks before the collision.
Agency Contact Information
San Antonio Police Department
214 W. Nueva
San Antonio, TX 78207
Phone: (210) 207-7579
Please contact the San Antonio Police Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
OFFICER DOWN DEPUTY SHERIFF DEAN MIERA
Deputy Sheriff Dean Miera
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department
New Mexico
End of Watch: Friday, October 29, 2010
Biographical Info
Age: 48
Tour of Duty: 9 years
Badge Number: 237
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Date of Incident: Friday, October 29, 2010
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Deputy Dean Miera was killed in an automobile accident at the intersection of Gibson Boulevard and Carlisle Boulevard SE in Albuquerque. His unmarked vehicle was involved in a crash with two other vehicles.
Deputy Miera had served with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department for nine years and was assigned to the Judicial Operations Division. He is survived by his wife, four children, and two grandchildren.
Agency Contact Information
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department
400 Roma NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Phone: (505) 468-7100
Please contact the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
OFFICER DOWN-PAUL DITTAMO
Police Officer Paul DittamoMetropolitan Police Department
District of Columbia
End of Watch: Saturday, October 30, 2010
Biographical Info
Age: 32
Tour of Duty: 1 year, 4 months
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Date of Incident: Saturday, October 30, 2010
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Officer Paul Dittamo was killed in an automobile accident while responding to a call.
At approximately 0100 hours, Officer Dittamo and his partner were responding to an incident on Morris Road, SE. Their vehicle was traveling northeast on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE when it collided with a utility pole in the 2200 block. Officer Dittamo was killed in the collision and his partner sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Officer Dittamo had served with the Metropolitan Police Department, Seventh District, for just over one year.
Stockton teacher sentenced to jail for student sex crimes www.privateofficer.com
Oliver pleaded guilty to four counts of having sex with a minor. Judge Franklin M. Stephenson ruled that she does not have to register as a sex offender.
Oliver, 26, was arrested for having sex with a boy in her sophomore English class in February 2009. She admitted to having several sexual encounters with him before his father informed authorities.
Defense attorney Ralph Cingcon argued successfully Monday that Oliver should not be sentenced to state prison or be required to register as a sex offender, citing reports from medical experts and probation officials that his client “does not have a predisposition to engage in these types of activities.”
Cingcon called Oliver’s relationship with her student an aberration of her character, citing her résumé of being a college graduate with a master’s degree, and that she has been in law school since losing her job as a teacher.
“She has taken responsibility for her actions, and she is openly remorseful,” Cingcon said. “She is somebody that can be helped.”
Deputy District Attorney Kristine Reed argued that Oliver should be given state prison time. As a teacher, she was in a position of power and trust from the community.
Reed said that while it may not seem to be in character for Oliver to have committed a sex crime, she made multiple impulsive decisions to do so two years ago – and she could do it again.
“If she had done it once and decided to put an end to it after having time to reflect upon that, she would have a better argument,” Reed said. “But she didn’t. She contacted the plaintiff multiple times, and was on her way to do it again when she was stopped by authorities.”
Stephenson said he encourages Oliver’s pursuit of a law degree, and ordered her to report to county jail May 16, after the spring semester.
Source:Recordnet.com
Alert security officer leads to robbery arrests www.privateofficer.com
Baltimore MD Nov 3 2010
Police have arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with a beating and robbery of four men outside an Inner Harbor hotel, after a security guard at the hotel inquired about a piece of evidence left at the scene.
Four men, who police said were highly intoxicated, said they were attacked as they stood outside of the Intercontinental Hotel in the 500 block of Light St. in the early morning hours of Oct. 24. As a group of six people walked by, one of them asked if the group standing outside the hotel was laughing at him, and punched one of the men in the face. That led to a fight, sending the four men to University of Maryland Medical Center with injuries.
According to court records, two days later a security guard at the hotel asked a co-worker if an iPhone had been left behind after the attack. He said that “his boys” had “laid a beating” on some men and that one of them had dropped their phone. The security guard said he worked with one of the suspects at the Tremont Hotel. The co-worker alerted his supervisors, and detectives were able to learn the identity of one of the suspects – Earl Cruz Jr.
In an interview with detectives, Cruz said he had been at a party on a boat at the Inner Harbor and that one of the victims made “some sort of comment” that one of his friends took offense to, sparking the fight.
One of the victims had told police that Cruz chased him through the hotel lobby, which was recorded on hotel security cameras, and pulled a knife. Cruz denied that he had a knife.
Cruz was arrested Oct. 28 and released the next day on $2,000 bond. Police had not arrested the other suspects named in the charging documents.
Source:Baltimore Sun
Four injured by white powder near Ga. State Capitol www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA Nov 3 2010 (AP) – Authorities are investigating a suspicious package containing white powder that was found in an office building near the Georgia Capitol, and police say four people were isolated after coming into contact with the substance.
Georgia State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright says the package was found Tuesday around 4 p.m. on the 12th floor of the west tower at the Floyd Office Complex near the statehouse.
Atlanta Police spokesman Kimberly Maggart said “four people were isolated and are being treated” but she said she could not elaborate.
Ken Davis of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said that the package contained white powder and he said officers were investigating. He said the four people were “exhibiting some sort of symptoms as a result of the contact.”
A stretch of the road near the complex was shut down as more than a dozen city and state agencies investigated. Authorities, however, did not evacuate the complex.
Police officer in uniform not allowed to vote www.privateofficer.com
BANGOR MA Nov 3 2010 — A Bangor police officer says he wasn’t allowed to cast his ballot when an election warden refused to let him vote while wearing his service revolver.
James Dearing said he was patrolling his beat Friday when he stopped to vote at the Bangor Civic Center. He said that’s where warden Wayne Mallar said he couldn’t vote unless he turned over his weapon.
Dearing refused, and then wrote a letter to Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap. Dunlap told the Bangor Daily News yesterday there is no state law prohibiting officers from carrying firearms while voting.
Two sentenced to life in prison for armored car guard murder www.privateofficer.com
Dwight Carter, 26, and Emmanuel Maxime, 25, convicted of firearm and robbery charges in the brazen daylight heist, must serve life behind bars, U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez ruled Tuesday. The judge imposed an additional 25-year sentence on Carter.
“This helps us, to be able to have my dad rest in peace,” said his namesake, Carlos Alvarado, 23.
The robbery happened Dec. 1, 2008, during the mall’s hectic holiday season. In separate trials over the summer, federal prosecutors said Maxime carried a semiautomatic pistol and Carter a semiautomatic TEC-9. The pair rushed Alvarado, a security guard for Dunbar, as he walked out of the Express clothing store carrying a bag with more than $60,000.
Carter fired 14 shots, striking Alvarado four times, said prosecutors, who worked with Miami-Dade police detectives to solve the case. Carter grabbed the money bag and ran with Maxime to a service entrance, where a car waited for them.
In February, two women who served as lookouts, Erskaneshia Ritchie, 22, and Nikkia Thomas, 22, pleaded guilty to robbery-related charges. Both were sentenced to about 20 years in prison.
Alvarado, 57, of Hialeah Gardens, worked two security jobs to support his family. The slain security guard missed seeing his two children graduate. The younger Carlos Alvarado and sister Karla Alvarado, 25, graduated together with bachelor’s degrees from Florida International University last year.
“I think he would have been very proud. That was his whole dream,” the younger Carlos Alvarado said.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com
Buffalo Bills security force fined for violating state laws www.privateofficer.com
Buffalo NY Nov 3 2010 A company that provides game-day security for Buffalo Bills games at Ralph Wilson Stadium has been fined $194,000 by the state for employing unregistered security guards and violating other sections of state business law.
A complicated 12-page decision from the state Department of State ordered that the fine be paid by the Apex Group and its local security manager, Patrick M. Howard.
Howard is a former Town of Eden police chief and the brother of Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard.
“I don’t know if my brother did anything wrong, but I know he wouldn’t deliberately do anything wrong,” Timothy Howard said.
The decision and hefty fine also call into question the possibility — even if it’s remote — that the Bills could be scrambling at the last minute to find part of a new security force for their next home game, Nov. 14 against the Detroit Lions.
“We have a contract with Apex to provide game-day security at Ralph Wilson Stadium, and we have received no indication from either Apex or New York State that would prevent Apex from fulfilling its obligation under the contract,” said Scott Berchtold, the Bills’ vice president for communications.
Apex employs about 250 security officers for the Bills games. Those officers are deputized, giving them the power to eject and arrest unruly fans.
The $194,000 fine had to be paid by Sunday. Otherwise, Apex would have had its license suspended the following day, according to the Sept. 28 decision by Administrative Law Judge Scott NeJame.
Apex applied for a stay on Friday, two days before the fine was due.
“We are in the process of making a decision as to whether to grant the stay,” Joel Barkin, a spokesman for the Department of State, said Tuesday. “They either will be granted a stay until the appeals process is completed, or they will be denied and still given an opportunity to pay the fine.”
Patrick Howard, the local security manager for Apex, declined to comment through his brother Timothy.
Timothy Howard said he didn’t know that the month-old decision had been issued. Without reading it, he assumed that there would be a lot of room for legal challenges.
But the sheriff said that if Apex had been found to violate state business law, it merely was following long-established standards for providing security at Bills games.
“It’s my opinion that what Apex did has been a long-standing practice done by every security company that has done business with the Buffalo Bills,” Timothy Howard said. “I don’t know if this is a new law or just a new interpretation of an old law.”
The crux of the decision deals with whether security guards hired by Apex were “police officers” and thus exempt from being registered under the Security Guard Act, part of the state’s business law.
The 12-page ruling found that Apex employed 140 security guards who were not properly registered and 75 whose connection to Apex was not documented with the proper state agency.
Following a long-established practice, all those security guards were deputized as sheriff’s deputies, so they could make arrests and issue appearance tickets.
“The security guards received no additional training to become deputized as ‘police officers,’ ” the administrative law judge wrote. “It was purely a ministerial act so that the guards could make arrests at the stadium.”
The attorney for Apex and Patrick Howard stated that all Apex employees providing security at the stadium are off-duty sworn members of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office. But the administrative law judge said the argument that those “police officers” were exempt from registration requirements was “not convincing.”
While working security at the games, the Apex guards wear lime-green jackets bearing the words “Sheriff,” “Deputy Sheriff” or “Police,” according to testimony in the case.
“The security guards working at the stadium are not hired or paid by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office,” the administrative law judge stated in his decision. “They are security guards employed and paid by . . . Apex. Therefore, they are not permitted to wear jackets containing the terms ‘Police’ or ‘Sheriff.’ ”
Both Howard brothers are referred to frequently in the decision.
The administrative judge said all the evidence points to the conclusion that the Apex security guards at the stadium were controlled and supervised by Apex and Patrick Howard, “not by the Erie County sheriff.
“As such, they cannot be considered as off-duty police officers,” NeJame wrote.
The decision also found that Patrick Howard made a “material misstatement” on a license application, saying that he was a “principal” of Apex, when instead he was a local security manager for the company.
Wayne County teacher arrested for enticing student www.privateofficer.com
WAYNE COUNTY MS Nov 3 2010 — A Wayne County teacher has been arrested by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department with enticing a student for sexual purposes.
Wayne County Sheriff John Stein Farrior announced that the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department arrested Wayne County High School teacher Lara Wells on Monday and charged her with enticement of a child under 18 years of age for sexual purposes.
According to the Sheriff’s Department, the investigation into this case began when Wayne County School Superintendent Robert Dean and Wayne County High School Principal B.R. Jones reported to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department that Wells had been participating in numerous text message conversations with a Wayne County High School student.
Farrior assigned Wayne County Sheriff’s Department Investigators Mike Mozingo and Kevin Stevens to investigate the case.
“Several witnesses were interviewed during the course of the investigation and the text messages were recovered as evidence,” according to an official sheriff’s department statement about the case. “The text messages were sexual in nature.”
Officials conducted a probable cause hearing in Meridian on Monday before Circuit Court Judge Lester Williamson Jr. County Attorney Curtis Bates represented the state at the hearing, according to officials.
Investigator Mike Mozingo with the sheriff’s department testified during the hearing.
As a result of the hearing, Judge Williamson found sufficient probable cause in the case and issued an arrest warrant for Wells.
Judge Williamson set Wells’ bond at $5,000.
Wayne County Jail officials reported on Tuesday evening that Wells has been released from jail on bond.
Sheriff officials said Investigator Mozingo is expected to present the case to the next Wayne County Grand Jury, which is scheduled to convene on January 10, 2011.
Source:Laural Leader Call
Yale University security officer dies of carbon monoxide poisoning www.privateofficer.com
Hamden CT Nov 3 2010
A husband and wife are dead, apparently the result of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning when a car was inadvertently left running in the garage of their home overnight, police said today.
The victims, in their 50s, were not identified pending notification of family.
Police and the Fire Department went to 161 Sleeping Giant Drive this morning after a co-worker of the man went to check on him when he did not show up for work, police said. The co-worker discovered that the car was running inside the garage.
Neighbors said the man worked as security guard at Yale.
The woman was found in her bed and the man was found in the bathroom.
One of the things police said they are looking at is that one of the residents went into the home last night and didn’t remember that the car was running.
As police were investigating this morning, they could not hear the car running from inside the house.
“All of the evidence so far leads us to believe this was a horrible and tragic sequence of events,” Police Chief Thomas J. Wydra said.
“With what we have we’re leaning toward this as a horrible accident,” he said.
A small dog also died in the home.
Fire Chief David Berardesca said the home didn’t have a carbon monoxide detector. The Fire Department had to put on air packs to enter the house.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Paramedics performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on the woman, but she died en route to the hospital.
Autopsies are expected tomorrow.
Source: Middletown Press
