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Marie Wooren, Auburn Dean dead after traffic accident www.privateofficer.com
Marie Wooten, Dean of Auburn University’s College of Math and Science, is dead after a pedestrian and vehicle traffic accident early Friday morning in Auburn.
It happened at the intersection of South College Street and South Donahue Drive. The death was confirmed by Deedie Dowdle, a spokeswoman for the University.
According to the police report, Wooten, 53, of Auburn and Frankie A. Bell, 39, of Opelika were struck at approximately 5:45 a.m. as they crossed South College Street while jogging. Bell was flown to Columbus, Ga., Regional Medical Center; her condition was not immediately available. The accident is under investigation.
“This is a terrible tragedy for the Auburn family,” Auburn University President Jay Gogue said. “We express our condolences to Dean Wooten’s family, colleagues and students.”
Wooten began serving as dean Aug. 1 after working as associate dean for research from 2000 to 2010. She joined the Auburn faculty in 1987 and served as the Sharnagel Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.
“We are devastated,” said Provost Mary Ellen Mazey. “Dean Wooten brought such outstanding passion, energy and leadership to the College of Sciences and Mathematics and the entire university. She was beloved by her students, and widely respected for work and research that will continue to improve lives far into the future. Our hearts and our prayers go out to her family.”
Under Wooten’s direction, external funding secured by the College of Sciences and Mathematics doubled over a 10-year period. Her research interests included cellular and molecular developmental neurobiology and neurodegeneration. She recently discovered a genetic link between obesity and Alzheimer’s disease, which could be the first step in curing the memory-debilitating illness that affects millions of individuals, especially the elderly.
Widely recognized for her contributions as a mentor, scientist, scholar and academic administrator, Wooten was committed to student training and outreach. She was cofounder of the Institute for Women in Sciences and Engineering and provided leadership in developing numerous education initiatives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, disciplines. Wooten also was a member of the National Science Foundation ADVANCE program, which focuses on enhancing diversity in STEM fields.
Additionally, Wooten held grants from the National Science Foundation, the American Heart Association, NASA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She earned two patents and commercialized one technology.
Wooten earned her Bachelor of Science in microbiology from the University of Memphis and her doctorate in cell and molecular biosciences from Texas Women’s University. She did postdoctoral training at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She was a visiting scientist at institutions in both South Africa and Spain.
Source:WHNT
Security bouncer slashed in Md. www.privateofficer.com
ELLICOTT CITY, Md Nov 5 2010. – Howard County Police are investigating an overnight incident where a security bouncer at a bar and restaurant in Old Ellicott City was slashed in the neck.
According to police, at about 10 p.m. Wednesday night officers were called to the La Palapa Grill on the 8300 block of Main Street in Ellicott City for a report of a cutting.
The victim, a bouncer at the bar, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma.
Police say his wound was superficial and is not life threatening.
Detectives are still investigating the incident, but no suspects are in custody.
Girl commits suicide after social media bullying www.privateofficer.com
“My time has come, and so I’m gone. To a better place, far beyond. I love you all as you can see. But it’s better now, because I’m free.”
She then hung herself in her home, apparently unable to cope with the nasty things being said about her through text messaging and the very social media network used to announce her own suicide.
Sheriff Bob Hook, whose Griggs County Sheriff’s Office polices the 1,200-person community of Cooperstown, said the suicide is being investigated as a possible crime.
“It’s definitely being looked at as a bullying situation,” he said, lamenting in the next breath that North Dakota doesn’t recognize bullying itself as a crime.
“This bullying has become almost an epidemic nationwide,” Hook said, acutely recognizing that the issue had hit very close to home and may be responsible for a local girl’s death.
Several members of the Sheriff’s Department knew Cassidy’s family, and Hook said the entire community 110 miles northwest of Fargo-Moorhead is taking the news hard but addressing it openly and promptly.
Cassidy’s school held an all-school assembly about it Thursday. School officials, the Sheriff’s Department and others addressed students, and counselors were made available, he said.
Bradley Cruff, the Griggs County state’s attorney, who lives in Valley City, said news of Cassidy’s suicide had quickly spread 40 miles to the south, where she has cousins and friends.
“Kids down here were communicating with her on Facebook last night and they’re all devastated,” he said.
Hook said his department is gathering facts in the case and hopes to talk to students who might know more in the coming week.
The nature of the comments or information that was bothering Cassidy are sketchy. A perusal of her Facebook page didn’t reveal comments that were overtly harassing, but they could have been deleted.
The teen, who listed her favorite place as her bedroom and has 730 friends on the social networking site, often posted upbeat comments, even as recently as the day before she died.
But then there was this one posted Wednesday:
“If you don’t like the way I am, then don’t come around me. If you don’t like the way that I talk, then don’t listen. If you don’t like the way I dress, then don’t look. But don’t waste my time telling me about it. I don’t care.”
Sheriff Hook said it’s not uncommon for his department to field complaints about bullying or harassment using modern media. He urged parents to make greater efforts to keep an eye on what their children are doing on computers and phones.
“It’s a trend our kids are going through,” he said. “They communicate behind a screen. They text each other standing next to each other. They don’t always realize that who they are writing to or about is a person.”
Police seek suspect in security officer shooting www.privateofficer.com
LAKEWOOD, Colo. Nov 5 2010 — Police are seeking the public’s help in locating a man accused of shooting a security guard outside a Lakewood nightclub early Sunday morning.
The shooting suspect, Adam J. Ponce, 24, is considered “armed and very dangerous,” Lakewood police spokesman Steve Davis said in a Thursday news release.
Detectives have obtained a warrant for Ponce’s arrest on charges of attempted homicide, felony menacing and being a felon in possession of a weapon, Davis said.
Officers were called to the shooting at Club Arriba, 5255 W 6th Ave., just before 2 a.m. Sunday and found a security guard shot while trying to while trying to break up a fight in the parking lot, Davis said.
The shooter fled on foot, but two associates of the gunman, Jose Gutierrez, 42, and Yolanda Davila, 40, were arrested at the scene, Davis said.
The investigation identified the shooting suspect as Ponce, who also goes by the name “Oso,” Spanish for “bear,” Davis said.
Ponce is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 200 pounds with brown shaved hair and brown eyes. He has the name “Shantelle” tattooed on the right side of his neck and has “18″ tattooed on the back of his head.
Anyone with that would assist detectives in locating Ponce is asked to call police detectives Brian Feik or Karen Turnbull at 303-987-7111.
Source:Denverchannel.com
Teacher aid arrested for sex with student www.privateofficer.com
OLIVEHURST CA Nov 5 2010 — A Marysville Joint Unified School District employee has been arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with an underage student.
Yuba County Sheriff’s detectives arrested 34-year-old Elizabeth Colleen Wallis of Linda, after the woman’s relatives notified the department about an innappropriate relationship she was having with a 17-year-old former student.
Wallis is a teacher’s assistant at Yuba Gardens Intermediate School, where authorities say she met the victim several years ago.
Wallis was booked into the Yuba County Jail on charges of unlawful sex with a minor and oral copulation.
U.S. Navy Seal charged with illegal sale of machine guns www.privateofficer.com
Las Vegas NV. Nov 5 2010 Three men, including an active duty U.S. Navy SEAL, have been arrested for allegedly selling machine guns and other firearms to an undercover law enforcement officer in Nevada and Colorado, the U.S. Attorney General’s Office in Nevada told CNN.
The weapons part of the alleged firearms trafficking were machineguns smuggled into the United States by special forces military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nicholas Bickle, 33, of San Diego, Richard Paul, 34, of Durango, Colorado, and Andrew Kaufman, 36, of Las Vegas, were arrested Wednesday.
Court documents identify Bickle as a U.S. Navy SEAL assigned to a unit in the San Diego area. The machineguns were found to have a mark used by the Iraqi military to signify ownership, the the U.S. Attorney General’s Office said.
If convicted, the defendants face up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and a $250,000 fine.
Source: CNN
Former GA. officer given prison time for theft of drugs www.privateofficer.com
ELBERTON GA Nov 5 2010 – A former Madison County sheriff’s investigator pleaded guilty to taking prescription pills that were evidence in drug cases.
Chief Superior Court Judge John Bailey sentenced Donald Glenn Carr, 47, of Danielsville, to one year of prison and four years of probation for violating his oath of office as a public official and one year of probation for theft by taking.
Carr will serve the sentences concurrently and will report Jan. 7 to the Madison County Jail, Bailey said.
Carr worked for the Madison County Sheriff’s Office for about 17 years.
He was addicted to pain medicine and stole pills from evidence bags he was supposed to take to a pharmacist to have identified, Carr said.
He tried to replace the prescription pills with pills he had at his home, but that didn’t work, he said.
Carr left the Sheriff’s Office in September 2009 for personal reasons and was arrested in February.
He cooperated with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents and the Madison County deputies who investigated the case, said Carr’s attorney, J. Christopher NeSmith.
NeSmith cited that cooperation, Carr’s attendance at a drug rehabilitation center and his six years of service in the U.S. Army as reasons why Bailey should impose a light sentence.
“This is a good man who did something pretty bad,” NeSmith said.
Carr became addicted to prescription pain medication after his second surgery, he said.
“Unfortunately, whether it’s right or wrong, people in our position are held to a higher standard,” said District Attorney Bob Lavender.
He asked Bailey to sentence Carr to three years in prison.
Bailey didn’t know of Carr’s military record, but his actions caused the state to dismiss about 37 cases because his interference could call into question the validity of the evidence, Bailey said.
Bailey also sentenced Carr to 750 hours of community service instead of tacking on any fines
Source:Jacksonville.com
Security officer shoots-subdues robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
Independence LA Nov 5 2010 An armed man entered the Independence Piggly Wiggly at approximately 7:24 p.m.Wednesday, Nov 3, 2010 and walked to the customer service desk where he approached the cashier and an off-duty employee and demanded that the cashier ‘put all the money in the bag’ as he held a pillowcase in one hand while brandishing a large kitchen knife in the other.
The store’s armed security guard observed what was happening and directed the suspect to drop the knife. The suspect left the customer service desk and made his way to another cashier where he demanded money while continuing to brandish the knife.
The suspect then walked to the back of the store and approached a store employee from behind and held the employee in a modified chokehold with the knife at his throat and again demanded money.
As the suspect forced the employee toward the registers, the employee broke free and the suspect made his way into the semi-enclosed deli area where he displaying the knife and demanded money from two deli employees.
As the suspect chased the employees around a worktable, the security guard fired his weapon over the deli case.
The suspect continued pursuing one of the employees and the guard fired a second shot. At least one of the two shots struck the suspect in the upper left arm.
The suspect exited the deli and made his way to the rear of the store where he approached a customer from behind using the same chokehold technique and telling the customer he had a gun.
The suspect forced the employee through the store and, as the two were exiting the front door, the customer loosed himself from the suspect’s grasp and tackled the suspect.
As the customer, security guard and store employees were subduing the suspect, officers from the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office and Independence Police Department arrived in response to calls made to 911 by store employees.
The suspect was in police custody at 7:28 p.m., transported by Acadian Ambulance to Lalie Kemp Hospital, subsequently transported to the Tangipahoa Parish Jail and booked on outstanding warrants from TPSO.
The suspect is also wanted by Amite Police in connection with an armed robbery that occurred last week.
Independence charges are pending.
Fired worker storms hospital- commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
Palm Bay Fla Nov 5 2010 A former employee who had recently been fired from Palm Bay Hospital returned there Thursday afternoon carrying a gun, holed himself up in an office, then apparently killed himself, officials said.
The incident began about 2:20 p.m., when Palm Bay police got a call from people in the hospital cafeteria who said a man was pointing the gun at anyone who tried to talk to him, said police spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez.
“Initially, when he came into the hospital waving the gun, anybody that attempted to make contact with him or communicate with him he just dismissed and pointed the gun at them,” she said. “Clearly, he appeared to be on a mission.”
Earlier she had said that, during the police response, “we were told that shots had been fired,” but “nobody was injured.” But she later told reporters that those shots may have been the gunman taking his own life.
Source:CNN
Wanted robbery suspect surrenders to security officer www.privateofficer.com
Broken Arrow Okla Nov 5 2010 A man wanted in connection with a string of business robberies last month has been arrested.
Police in Broken Arrow arrested 48-year-old David Belton just hours after Tulsa police released his name and photo as a suspect in burglaries which took place from October 20th to 25th.
Authorities say after seeing himself on television, Belton turned himself in to a security guard at Indian Springs Apartments in Broken Arrow.
Investigators believe Belton is the man who robbed the MidFirst Bank near 21st and Birmingham on October 25th. But, they say it wasn’t his first crime.
Belton is also suspected in a series of armed robberies in the days leading up to the MidFirst hold-up. Those robberies include the Check N Go at 21st and Sheridan on October 20th, the Payless Shoe Source, also at 21st and Sheridan on October 23rd and the QuikTrip on Admiral just east of Lewis on October 24th.
Belton has been booked into the Tulsa County jail on two counts of robbery with a firearm and three counts of armed robbery in the first degree.
Bond has been set at $250,000.
Source:KTUL.com
