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Principal, teachers charged with abusing students www.privateofficer.com
LAS VEGAS NV Nov 25 2010 — The Nye County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a teacher, her aides and the school’s principal on four charges of child abuse.
Police said special education teacher Sarah Jane Hopkins, 52, at Floyd Elementary School in Pahrump had been physically punishing her mentally and physically disabled students for at least the past two years.
Police also said that Hopkins’ aides, Phyllis La Von DuShane, 73, and Kathryn Ann Cummings, 56, also participated in the physical punishment of the children.
An unnamed individual had alerted officers to the abuse, saying the teacher and her aides were using unreasonable physical punishment on the children, which spurred an investigation, police said.
During the investigation, police learned that Floyd Elementary Principal Holly Ann Lepisto, 53, was told of the allegations of Hopkins’ abuse during the last school year but did a poor investigation and then didn’t follow up, police said.
The investigation also revealed that Lepisto may have given the impression that the abuse was tolerated and failed to notify authorities.
Four children were identified in the abuse charges and have disabilities that include visual impairment, cerebral palsy, speech challenges and hearing impairment.
The Pahrump Disability Outreach Program released a letter admonishing the “betrayal of trust,” adding that the charges are “a devastation felt not only by you and your families but by all of us as a community.”
Police make arrests in nightclub security officer murder www.privateofficer.com
Police on Tuesday charged Gill with homicide and aggravated assault. He is accused of shooting Long, 33, early Sunday at Shooter Alley.
Long, one of two men who were shot, died after he was taken to a hospital, Parish said. The other man, who police have not named, was released from the hospital Monday morning.
“Apparently three guys started misbehaving and Chris and two other bouncers tossed them out,” Long’s friend, Frank Aldridge, told the AJC.
While Aldridge said the three men later might have returned to the club and specifically targeted Long, Parish said Monday that “indications from our detectives are the suspect randomly fired inside the club.”
Long was a wrestler with Lucha Libre USA, a Mexico-based company that produces live events and television shows on MTV2. He went by the nickname “Solid” and was the comedic sidekick to Marco Corleone, Aldridge said.
Aldridge, who previously owned the Good Ol’ Days restaurants in Atlanta, met Long about 15 years ago and hired him as a manager. When the restaurants closed, Long helped launch the WWA4 Wrestling School, which Aldridge has owned since 1995.
“We were working on a lot of wrestling shows, including a very creative Christian wrestling operation,” Aldridge said.
Source:AJC.com
LA teacher charged with student sex assault www.privateofficer.com
Los Angeles CA Nov 25 2010 A 51-year-old Southern California high school teacher has been arrested for investigation of having sex with an underage female student.
Los Angeles police detectives say Mark Stephen Hubbard, who has taught for eight years at Hillcrest Christian School in suburban Granada Hills, was arrested Sunday. He was booked for investigation of multiple sex crimes and released on $100,000 bail.
During a Tuesday news conference, investigators said they are looking for any additional victims.
Detectives say Hubbard, who is a health teacher, athletic director and assistant boys basketball and baseball coach, had an ongoing sexual relationship with at least one female student.
Hillcrest Christian spokesman Rick Donnelly says Hubbard was placed on leave until police and the school finish investigating.
Source:www.sfgate.com
Off- duty Texas officer dies in crash www.privateofficer.com
EUFAULA, Okla. Nov 25 2010 — Authorities say an off-duty law-enforcement officer from Texas has died in an accident on U.S. Highway 69.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says 50-year-old Patrick Sirois of Killeen, Texas, died in the accident about 7:50 p.m. Tuesday about one mile north of Eufaula in McIntosh County.
Troopers say a car driven by 17-year-old Beonce Hobson of Checotah was southbound at an unsafe speed when it hit a disabled pickup truck that was partially in the roadway. They say the impact moved the pickup, pinning Sirois between it and a guardrail. Troopers say Sirois was wearing a reflective traffic vest and had his badge and firearm visible at the time of the accident.
Sirois, a Nolanville, Texas, reserve police officer, was pronounced dead at a Eufaula hospital. There were no other injuries
Parker County teacher faces sex crime charges www.privateofficer.com
Parker County TX Nov 25 2010 The two teens approached the Perrin High School math teacher after hearing a rumor that she’d left another school district because she’d been “messing around” with students.
The boys, ages 16 and 18, told investigators that they repeatedly asked Kimme Annette Woolf if she wanted to fool around.
Initially, the teacher sent them on to their next class.
But eventually, according to an arrest warrant affidavit, she agreed.
On Friday, Woolf surrendered to the Parker County Sheriff’s Department on two warrants alleging improper relationship between a teacher and student and one warrant alleging sexual assault of a child under 17, all second-degree felonies.
“She’s 29 and she’s the teacher, and she needed to be the adult and decline the advances,” said prosecutor Jay Lapham of the Jack County district attorney’s office. “She needed to be the adult and say no.”
Woolf, who is married, was booked into jail and immediately released upon posting $30,000 bail, jail officials said. She could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Her attorney, Bob Glasgow, was in court Tuesday and did not return a call to his office.
According to the affidavit, suspicions about Woolf arose around Oct. 20 after the 18-year-old’s father noticed a strange vehicle parked outside the 16-year-old’s residence in Perrin, a small town about 15 miles south of Jacksboro.
Hours later, the father spotted the vehicle leaving — being driven by a woman he recognized as a Perrin High School teacher.
The father alerted the 16-year-old’s mother, who told him that she had found text messages on her son’s phone indicating that he and Woolf had been having sex, according to the affidavit. The mother told investigators that she questioned her son about the messages but that he had brushed her off.
The affidavit states that when the mother questioned the 16-year-old about having a visitor on a day he was supposed to be home sick, the teen acknowledged that Woolf had brought him lunch, that they had had sex and that they had previously been involved sexually.
When the 18-year-old’s father asked his son about Woolf, he acknowledged that Woolf had performed oral sex on him on two occasions, the affidavit states.
The affidavit states that, rather than reporting the matter to the school, the parents typed a letter asking Woolf to resign “because they didn’t want it to become public for fear of humiliating the boys or them being in danger from the husband.”
Woolf, according to the affidavit, begged the 18-year-old’s father not to turn her in and said she had resigned.
Upon learning days later that Woolf was still working at the school, the teens’ parents reported the relationships to the principal, the affidavit states.
Investigators interviewed Woolf’s husband, who said he had suspected that his wife was having an affair.
The husband told investigators that he had received a call from his wife, telling him that she had a letter that he needed to read. The affidavit states that when her husband jokingly asked Woolf whether she was having sex with a student, she admitted that she had been having sex — with students — the affidavit states.
John Kuhn, superintendent of the Perrin-Whitt school district, said Woolf worked at the school from 2006 until she resigned Oct. 26.
“We immediately followed our policies and we have policies in place to ensure that allegations against staff are taken seriously and investigated fairly,” Kuhn said. “We also have policies in place that require us to report these type of allegations to Child Protective Services and the State Board for Educator Certification. We followed our policies to the letter.”
Lapham said investigators are still trying to determine the validity of the rumor about Woolf “messing around” with students while a teacher for the Mineral Wells school district.
“At this point, I know that she resigned from Mineral Wells, but I don’t know all the particulars in regards to her departure,” Lapham said.
The Mineral Wells school district office was closed Tuesday for the Thanksgiving holiday. But Assistant Superintendent Linda Porter-Bradford has told the Mineral Wells Index, “When she was employed we had no documented information that would have kept her from being re-employed.”
Source:www.star-telegram.com
Security officer shot during robbery www.privateofficer.com
They fired as the victim ran, striking him in the upper chest. He made it inside his apartment, where he told his girlfriend what had happened before he collapsed and she called 911, police said.
The gunmen ran down Howley Street, where a man who had heard the shots spotted them from his window and called out to them. Police said they fired a shot at him before continuing to flee.
Police put out descriptions of the gunmen over the radio, and they were spotted within about 45 minutes by an off-duty officer who was working a detail at 40th and Butler Streets. They were arrested and held in the Allegheny County Jail.
The victim was intubated and has not been able to talk to police, Lt. Daniel Herrmann said.
“We’ll know once we talk to him exactly what happened,” he said.
The victim’s name was not released
Source:www.post-gazette.com
Guards hurt in armored truck crash www.privateofficer.com
MONMOUTH, Ore.Nov 25 2010 – A man in an armored car suffered critical injuries when the rig hit a tree along Highway 99 and overturned.
The 24-year-old passenger was in the back of the Loomis armored vehicle. He was taken by air ambulance to Corvallis Good Samaritan Regional Hospital, where he was in critical condition, state police said.
The 22-year-old driver was not injured. Both men were wearing saftey restraints.
Police did not release the identities of either man.
The crash happened shortly before 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning on Hwy 99W south of Monmouth.
State police and Polk County sheriff’s deputies secured the scene until Loomis officials arrived to coordinate removal and property and the vehicle
Source:KVAL
School janitor faces sex crimes with student www.privateofficer.com
Lebanon, Ind. Nov 25 2010
A school janitor is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student. Around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, police arrested 40-year-old Bryan Delaney, a custodian at Lebanon High School.
A school resource officer received information about Delaney.
According to Lt. Det. Dave Scott, the lead investigator on the case, the alleged sexual attack took place at Delaney’s home.
He has been preliminarily charged with sexual misconduct with a minor.
Off duty Chicago officer shot to death www.privateofficer.com
Chicago IL Nov 25 2010 A police this evening identified an off-duty Chicago police officer found dead in his black SUV after being shot several times as a decorated 15-year veteran of the department.
The shooting occurred around 6:30 p.m. Monday. About 24 hours later, police identified him as David A. Blake, 45, of the Southwest Side, a 15-year veteran of the department who had been assigned to the Chicago Police Department’s SWAT unit for the last five years.
An autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner’s office today found Blake had died from several gunshot wounds in a homicide.
Blake’s gun and wallet were found inside the SUV in the 2900 block of West Seipp Street, just north of 85th Street, leading investigators to believe robbery was not a motive, a source said. The SUV’s windows were closed and the shots were apparently fired from inside the car, another source said. Blake also was found with a cigarette in his mouth, a source said.
It was not known what Blake was doing in the neighborhood, which is made up of single-family homes. He did not live nearby.
Lorenzo Davis, a retired commander of the Chicago Police Public Housing Unit, lives just south of the address in the Wrightwood neighborhood. He said many active and retired police officers live there.
Police Superintendent Jody Weis said during a press conference early this morning that Blake was a 15-year department veteran assigned to a SWAT unit. He had originally been hired in August 1995, according to police and city records.
This evening, police said Blake had worked first in the Grand Crossing District on the South Side and later worked in the Central District, as well as in the Targeted Response and Public Housing units. He received 84 awards during his career, including 67 honorable mentions, one commendation, and numerous other achievements “highlighting courageous and distinguished service,” the department said in a news release.
In an unofficial capacity, Blake also played four seasons with the Chicago Police Enforcers football team, which raises money for charity by playing competitions against other teams from across the country, according to the release.
In his press conference early today, Weis decried the violence that led to Blake’s death.
“We’ve done this too many times this year, and it’s with a great deal of sadness that once again I stand before you announcing death of a Chicago police officer,” Weis said. “We’re very sad and this should not be happening.”
Colleagues described him as a hard-working and dedicated officer who often took upon himself the responsibility of taking the lead car in operations involving execution of search warrants.
Neighbors in the Southwest Side community where the officer and his family lived for some three decades said they were stunned by the news of his death.
“He’s one of our kids,” said Carole Lucien, who saw the officer grow from a good kid into a strong man. “All the kids are our kids around here.”
“We’re all hurt here,” she said.
Lucien said the officer was an only child and that his parents were both dead. He still lived in the tan brick, single-family home in which he grew up.
Weis asked anyone with information to call the Wentworth Area at (312) 747-8380, or 911.
Source:WGN
Stroger Hospital officer killed in beating www.privateofficer.com
Dwayne Parks, 45, of the 9500 block of South Euclid Avenue, was pronounced dead at 5:09 p.m. Tuesday at Advocate Trinity Hospital, according to a spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Parks had worked as an officer at the hospital for 16 years, according to public records.
Parks was found unresponsive Tuesday in a gangway on the 9400 block of South Langley Avenue, said Police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer.
Preliminary reports said he was involved in a physical altercation prior to his collapse, Greer said.
The medical examiner’s office spokeswoman said Parks was an apparent battery victim, but his cause of death was pending autopsy reports.
Greer said the incident is being classified as a death investigation.
