Archive
Medical helicopter collides with airplane leaves 2 dead www.privateofficer.com
WEYERS CAVE VA Dec 31 2010 A midair collision between a small airplane and a medical helicopter killed two people Friday near the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport in Weyers Cave, authorities said.
Both occupants of a single-engine Cessna 172L were killed when it plummeted into a farm field after clipping AirCare 5, a medical transport helicopter, at about 2:30 p.m., authorities said.
The collision occurred over the 800 block of Route 256, about a half-mile north of the airport, said federal aviation authorities and Virginia State Police.
A witness described a glancing blow that knocked off the airplane’s left wing
Impact with the ground destroyed the Cessna, authorities said, and left debris on both sides of Route 256. Authorities did not identify those who were killed.
The damaged Eurocopter EC135, returning from the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, landed safely with two crewmembers aboard, authorities said.
Helicopter instructor Mark Huntley said he was working on his aircraft in an airport hanger when he heard the collision.
“I saw the helicopter come in and … it wasn’t pretty,” he said.
Huntley said the pilot of the helicopter did an “amazing job” of landing.
“It was a combination of how well all the safety features they have on that aircraft worked and [the pilot’s] ability to recover,” he said. “It’s a testament to the training those boys get.”
Huntley said the helicopter sustained damage to its skids, which are used for landing.
Doug Ward, a resident of nearby Airport Road, heard about the crash from a relative and raced to the scene with his stepdaughter, Samantha Hostetter, who is trained as a first responder.
When Ward arrived, he saw crumpled wreckage, a hole in the ground and the airplane’s propeller up. He saw a body on the co-pilot side of the plane.
There was nothing they could do.
The airplane was registered to Michael W. Price, an Elkton man, said Jim Peters, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.
The helicopter is registered to PHI Inc. in Lafeyette, La.
Calls to Price’s home and PHI were not answered.
State police First Sgt. Scott VanLear said a local investigator will work with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to determine the cause of the crash.
VanLear, an airport spokesman and the FAA did not immediately know where the airplane was coming from or its destination.
Airport Director Greg Campbell said flights in and out of the airport continued on schedule after the crash.
According to the Cessna website, the Cessna 172L, also know as a Skyhawk, is one the most flown aircrafts and is ideal for training.
Since 1980, NTSB records show four aircraft crashes in Weyers Cave. Two resulted in deaths.
Statewide since 2005, 11 helicopters have crashed, including a June 2009 non-fatal crash in Greenville, where a helicopter was performing aerial tree trimming. The NTSB has not released a final report in that crash.
Huntley, the helicopter instructor, described a midair collision as a pilot’s nightmare.
“It’s one of the worst things that we go through,” he said. “The pilot, he was very professional shutting it all down. It wasn’t until he was on the ground for a little bit ‘til he showed signs of what he’d been through.”
Former security guard sues after loss of job www.privateofficer.com
Kenneth Callender of Clarksville, Tenn., is seeking class-action status for the lawsuit. It accuses Coastal International Security — a Lorton, Va.-based company that provides guards to the departments of State, Homeland Security and Defense — of breach of contract for refusing to pay a promised $1,500 retention bonus.
Callender’s attorney, Rowdy Meeks of Kansas City, Mo., said the lawsuit would cover about 200 private guards at Fort Campbell if it is certified as class-action. In addition to the guards at the Army post that straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee state line, it may cover an undetermined number of guards from Fort Knox and posts in the company’s “Army Midwest” region in Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Michigan.
“We’re still trying to figure out how people that is,” Meeks said Tuesday.
A message left for a Coastal International Security spokesman was not immediately returned Tuesday. Callender sued Thursday in U.S. District Court in Paducah.
Coastal’s contract to provide security at Fort Campbell, Fort Knox and other posts ended in September, when the U.S. Army’s Installation Management Command switched the job to government employees.
Bill Costlow, public affairs director for the Installation Management Command in San Antonio, Texas, which oversees the security contracts, said private contractors needed to be phased out by law by 2011, which is why Coastal International Security’s contract was allowed to expire.
Normally, private contractors are barred from providing security at military posts, but Congress granted an exemption after Sept. 11. However, Congress mandated that the number used be decreased by 10 percent each year, Costlow said.
The jobs will be filled by federal government employees, Costlow said.
“We have our own standards and our own training,” Costlow said. “It will be the same from garrison to garrison.”
Coastal International Security, a subsidiary of New Mexico-based Akal Security, in June sent an e-mail to employees in the Army Midwest region promising a $1,500 retention bonus for guards who stayed on between the end of their contract and the switch to government employees.
“This should help offset some financial difficulties faced by employees whom ultimately will be laid off as a result of the contract ending,” wrote Larry T. Stacy, Coastal’s Army program manager.
Two months later, Stacy sent another e-mail informing employees that the retention bonus would not be paid. But he expressed hope that employees would continue until the company’s contract with the Army ended a month later.
“This action is being taken due to the government’s unwillingness to pay for the retention bonuses,” Stacy wrote.
Meeks said Callender, who was laid off Sept. 30 after seven years at Fort Campbell, is still unemployed and looking for work
Source:mcourierpress.com
Huntsville school security nabs burglary suspect www.privateofficer.com
HUNTSVILLE, AL Dec 31 2010 – Huntsville police say that they have arrested a man for a burglary at a city school.
Police responded to the Huntsville Center for Information Technology on Drake Avenue about 11:30 Wednesday night after school security observed a man on school cameras inside the building.
Security officers also responded to the school and were able to detain the man identified as Robert Hill as he tried to leave the building.
Police said Hill broke through a window to get inside the school and was attempting to take school property.
Hill has been transported to the Madison County detention center.
Hospital security officer assaulted www.privateofficer.com
Police said a 26-year-old man was involved in a minor car accident in Groton Town. The man became unruly and assaulted the security officer.
Police did not identify the man but said charges are pending.
The security guard was not injured.
Teen reports being raped in Shreveport Government Plaza www.privateofficer.com
Police would not confirm any specifics about the alleged victim, nor are they releasing the name of the suspect. KTBS-TV quotes a police source who said the teen was visiting Shreveport with her parents to watch Georgia Tech play Air Force and was raped after the game by Rick Seaton, assistant chief administrative officer to Mayor Cedric Glover.
Seaton was fired Tuesday “as the result of an ongoing criminal investigation by the Shreveport Police Department,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
Shreveport Police Sgt. Bill Goodin told the AJC the alleged victim’s mother reported the rape around 9:20 p.m. Monday. Officers then interviewed the daughter who told them the attack occurred inside a government office.
KTBS reports the high school senior said she met Seaton after the game, played at Independence Stadium. She was apparently trying to get to the city jail to bail out her boyfriend, who was arrested for disorderly conduct. Seaton offered to drive her there, she said.
According to the station, Seaton took his alleged victim to the mayor’s office, where he forced her onto a sofa and raped her. KTBS also reports the girl acknowledged she had been drinking.
Seaton’s attorney, Marty Stroud, confirmed the investigation but insisted his client had engaged in consensual sex with the teen.
Source:ajc
Mall security chases funny money suspect www.privateofficer.com
VERO BEACH, Fla.Dec 31 2010 — A Miami man was arrested Tuesday after he used counterfeit cash to buy merchandise and gift cards from the Indian River Mall, the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office said.
Wayne Wisdom was arrested on multiple counts of uttering forged bills.
According to the arrest report, Wisdom used four counterfeit $100 bills to make purchases at Yankee Candle, Spencer’s, Dillard’s and Sports Haven.
An employee at Sports Haven noticed the ink smearing on one of the bills and pointed out Wisdom to security officers, who chased him through the mall, the report stated.
Wisdom was eventually apprehended and found to have a counterfeit $100 bill, bundles of change from his purchases, gifts cards and a Spencer’s receipt in his pockets, the report said.
When asked how he had obtained the counterfeit bills, Wisdom said he didn’t make them and that he needed money because he had to eat, according to the report.
The U.S. Secret Service field office in West Palm Beach investigated and confirmed that the bills were counterfeit.
Authorities in Brevard County said Wisdom has been identified as passing counterfeit bills at a mall there on the same day. Wisdom faces additional charges.
Man attempts child abduction at Wal-Mart www.privateofficer.com
BOSTON MA DEC 31 2010 — A man tried to abduct a young child from a Walmart in Brockton on Thursday morning, according to police.
The incident happened at about 11:20 a.m. at the store on Oak Street, near the Westgate Mall.
Brockton Police Department Capt. Emmanual Gomes said Vadym Golina, 40, picked up the 6-year-old boy inside the store and tried to run off with him. The boy’s family members chased the man, and rescued the child, who was not injured.
A store security guard detained Golina, of Stoughton, until police arrived. He was charged with kidnapping and assault and battery.
Golina, who is a Ukrainian national, has been in the country for about 10 years.
Police said the abduction was “bizarre” because it happened in a crowded store.
Dillard’s loss prevention agent arrested for shooting at shoplifters www.privateofficer.com
Oklahoma City OK Dec 31 2010 A store security guard who police said shot at a car carrying shoplifting suspects in the Penn Square Mall parking lot in October was charged Thursday with engaging in reckless conduct while possessing a firearm and carrying a weapon unlawfully.
Timothy Kiddoo, 32, of Oklahoma City, was an officer for the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center who was working as a loss prevention officer for Dillard’s when the incident happened, according to court records.
He followed two women he suspected of stealing a watch into the parking lot.
Kiddoo did not show his badge and he was wearing jeans, a black shirt and a ball cap, according to an affidavit.
The women drove off when Kiddoo confronted them, records show.
Kiddoo told police that the driver made eye contact with him, then drove at him.
Her car struck Kiddoo’s left hand and continued moving in a reckless manner, Kiddoo told police.
Kiddoo told police he fired two shots at the vehicle as it drove away because he was concerned for other people’s safety.
No bystanders were injured.
Kiddoo told police he thought the rounds hit the back window and trunk of the car.
Police investigated the case and found that Kiddoo did not have an armed security guard license, according to an affidavit.
Police also determined that Kiddoo fired at the vehicle after it was no longer a threat, records show.
Veterans Affairs spokeswoman Stacy Rine confirmed Thursday that Kiddoo is an employee. She said the matter is under review internally.
“As with any employee, we intend to treat this situation privately — respecting all parties involved,” Rine said in a statement.
Source:newsok.com
Off-duty deputy working security shoots teen www.privateofficer.com
SAN ANTONIO TX Dec 31 2010 — An off-duty Bexar County Sheriff’s deputy shot and wounded a 16-year-old boy in a stolen car early Thursday morning.
The wounded teen, a passenger, and the driver, were speeding from the parking lot at the Cypress Cove apartments at 601 Northwest Loop 410, where several cars had been burglarized, sheriff’s officials said.
The deputy, identified as C. Longoria, who lives in the complex and works as a security guard there, fired several shots as the compact car sped toward him, sheriff’s officials said.
“He used his flashlight and identified himself. The car hesitated … then sped up … the officer jumped out of the way and discharged his weapon,” said Sgt. Aaron Vonmuldau of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Several hours after the 4 a.m. incident, the wounded teenager showed up at a local hospital with a gunshot wound to his arm. The teen admitted he had been involved in the burglaries. The teen was treated for his injuries and then was charged with burglary and assault.
Investigators said the teen is refusing to identity the driver.
The car was later found abandoned at 6112 Zangs Dr., a little over half a mile from the shooting scene. The car had been reported stolen on Oct. 26, sheriff’s officials said.
Source: KSAT 12
Teenager arrested for murder of Chicago police officer www.privateofficer.com
Chicago ILL DEC 31 2010- Two days after arresting 18 year old Bernard Williams for the murder of a Chicago police officer, investigators were going to new depths to find the murder weapon. As Williams appeared in bond court, for the murder and robbery of SWAT officer David Blake, investigators were searching a sewer on the southwest side.
The activity Thursday morning was going on in the alley behind the home where Williams was arrested, on West 83rd Place near Saint Louis Avenue. Police brought in sanitation workers with a truck for reaching into the sewer. They were acting on information, presumably from Williams, that the gun had been disassembled and disposed of in the sewer. It’s not clear if they found anything.
Williams could face the death penalty, prosecutors said in court, as they detailed the evidence against him, much of which came from his videotaped confession. They said Williams’ sister was dating Blake, and that in late October Williams went to Blake’s home to watch a football game. While there Williams learned that Blake kept guns in a bedroom safe, and even got Blake to show him the weapons, prosecutors said.
“It was then that he began to formulate a plan to steal those guns,” said Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Jaimie Santini.
On November 22nd, Williams used a ruse to get Blake to pick him up. He convinced Blake to drive to a secluded area on the southwest side known as “Dead Man’s Alley.” There Williams said he had to get something from a friend’s house.
“When the defendant returned to the victim’s car, the defendant produced a gun and shot the victim six times killing him.”
Blake was shot from inside his SUV, and was found with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, even though he did not smoke.
Police say the motivation for the murder was simple.
“Williams’ motive was to shoot and kill Officer Blake for the purpose of stealing weapons inside of his residence,” said Superintendent Jody Weis.
Prosecutors say after his arrest Williams confessed to the murder, and to stealing Blake’s key ring, which held his car keys, his house key and the key to his safe.
Weis said the investigation took so long because there were no obvious leads at the scene. It was only after scouring through thousands of computer and phone records that they turned up Williams as a person of interest.
A judge ordered that Williams be held without bail. He returns to court January 18th.
SOURCE; FOX NEWS
Masturbating airline passenger blames Tabasco Sauce www.privateofficer.com
Salt Lake City Utah Dec 31 2010 A 50-year-old Florida man has been arrested after an Idaho girl reported the man exposed himself during a flight from Salt Lake City to Lewiston, reports the Associated Press.
The 17-year-old girl says she switched seats when the man sitting next to her began masturbating aboard the Skywest flight.
The Lewiston Tribune reports the girl told her father what happened and he reported it to the Transportation Security Administration. TSA officials notified Lewiston police, who arrested the Gulf Breeze, Fla., man while they investigate him on suspicion of misdemeanor indecent exposure, reports AP.
Police say the man told them he spilled Tabasco sauce on himself, which caused his crotch to burn and itch.
Lewiston Police Capt. Tom Greene told The Seattle Weekly, “The Tabasco defense was that it caused him to have an uncontrollable itch. Officers said he wasn’t having any itch issues when they interviewed him, and there was no evidence of a spill on his pants.”
The Seattle Weekly also reports that the accused man, Rafael Escamilla, has a Facebook page, which has since been taken down, where he says he’s married and the Director of Research at Andrew-Paulos Research and Education Institute.
WV police charge teacher in internet sex sting www.privateofficer.com
Charleston WV Dec 31 2010
Charleston Police and Berkeley County deputies arrested John Kyle King, 44, of Lamar Thursday in an internet predator sting.
They charged King with 3 counts of Criminal Solicitation of a Minor, and one count of Attempted Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor.
Arrest warrants show King chatted with an undercover officer on the internet on December 17th. They say he then sent the officer text messages and talked with her on the phone. The warrants say he then tried to make contact with another undercover officer in the operation.
Darlington County deputies seized two computers from King’s home. They were taken to the Charleston Police Department DEU for forensic examination. A third computer was in the King’s possession at the time of his arrest.
Darlington County deputies and Hartsville police conducted surveillance in support of the operation.
Correctional officers at the Charleston County Detention Center say booking reports show King is employed at the Byrnes School in Florence.
Dallas security officer finds dead body www.privateofficer.com
DALLAS TX Dec 31 2010 – The bloody body of a man is discovered in an industrial area of Dallas on Wednesday.
A security guard found the deceased at about 5 a.m. in the 1600 block of Levee Street, just north of downtown.
The guard said he found the man on the ground next to a building and that he was covered in blood. He said the victim had apparently been stabbed and his throat slit.
The area is popular with homeless people but many people also live in studios that house their businesses.
Police said the dead man does not appear to be homeless.
Detectives shut down the immediate area to investigate.
No further details were immediately available.
Man sent to prison in attack on security officer www.privateofficer.com
Marquise Deangelo Loftis, 20, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges.
Prosecutors said Loftis stole a gun from a security guard on July 15, 2009, at the Encanto Station and used it to shoot another guard, David Reynoso, three nights later at the Grossmont Center Station.
The defendant also stole the gun belonging to Reynoso, authorities said.
Two nights after the shooting, Loftis punched another security guard who questioned him about loitering at the Encanto Station.
Several witnesses identified Loftis as the assailant in the various incidents.
Police watching an Oak Park house saw him get into a car and drive away, but he was pulled over and surrendered peacefully a week after the shooting.
Source:10news.com
Shoplifters use 5 yr old to steal www.privateofficer.com
Police have arrested 27-year-old Monique Clark.
According to Omaha television station KETV, security video from the upscale Von Maur store at Westroads Mall shows two women with the kids as they take the bags.
Police spokesman Michael Pecha (PEK’-uh) says the children may have been 4 or 5 years old. It’s unclear whether they are related to the two women. The other woman is still being sought.
Clark had pleaded not guilty in another shoplifting case.
There is no phone listing for Clark. Her lawyer in the other case did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press on Wednesday.
OFFICER DOWN-Trooper First Class Chadwick T. LeCroy
OFFICER DOWN-Trooper First Class Chadwick T. LeCroy
Georgia
End of Watch: Monday, December 27, 2010
Biographical Info
Age: 38
Tour of Duty: 2 years
Badge Number: 744
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Monday, December 27, 2010
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Apprehended
Trooper Chadwick LeCroy was shot and killed in Atlanta after a short vehicle pursuit.
He had attempted to stop a vehicle with a broken headlight on Bolton Road near James Jackson Parkway. The vehicle fled until it crashed at the intersection of St. Paul Avenue and Hightower Road.
As Trooper LeCroy approached the vehicle the suspect opened fire on him, striking him twice. The subject then stole Trooper LeCroy’s patrol car and fled the scene. He was arrested a short distance away by members of the Atlanta Police Department and Cobb County Police Department.
Trooper LeCroy had served with the Georgia State Patrol for two years. He is survived by his wife and two sons.
Agency Contact Information
Georgia State Patrol
Public Information Office
PO Box 1456
Atlanta, GA 30371
Phone: (404) 624-7597
Please contact the Georgia State Patrol for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
Racial profiling is allowed-court rules www.privateofficer.com
BOSTON MA DEC 30 2010 Racial profiling meets war on terror: The highest federal court in New England has said it’s okay for government officials single out dark-skinned people for searches, as long as they can concoct some cover rationale, ginned up with vague allusions to terrorism.
Leaping through one legal hoop after another, the First Circuit Court of Appeals found that an MBTA security officer had “probable cause” to search, and eventually arrest, occupants of a van parked near the Sullivan Square MBTA Station back in 2004. Officer Patricia Pitts was fresh from a one-day MBTA training seminar on “identifying potential terrorist threats,” according to the court’s decision, and her suspicion was piqued by the fact that the van’s drivers and passengers “looked Middle Eastern.”
Pitts, who is black, explained to the court: “Like myself, they [were] darker in the skin. Their skin was darker.”
She called MBTA cops, who opened the van’s doors, ordered the occupants out, and subsequently arrested them. But they were not Middle Eastern terrorists, or Middle Eastern anything. The driver was of Mexican descent, and the van was full of illegal Brazilian immigrants.
Federal courts have long held that racial and ethnic “profiling” are not adequate grounds, in and of themselves, on which to conduct a search. You can’t blithely order someone out of a car just for looking Middle Eastern. But the First Circuit, while conceding racial profiling to be constitutionally “impermissible,” ripped the heart out of that protection.
“This is not a case in which the only basis for suspicion was . . . appearance,” the court wrote. Yet the list of rather ordinary things the court views as “corroborating grounds” for suspicion is so absurd as to add up to intellectual dishonesty:
• The van was large enough to “hold a significant amount of explosives.”
• The van had “tinted rear and rear side windows” and a “temporary paper [license] plate.”
• The van “was parked in the farthest corner of the parking lot.”
• Occupants had “remained in the van for at least twenty minutes.”
• One passenger got out and took notes, which signaled to the MBTA officer that he “could be planning where to plant explosives.”
The collection of these details, said the three-judge panel in an opinion authored by the court’s chief judge, Sandra Lynch, made the search reasonable. But this list of “suspicious” activity appears to describe quite normal occurrences that have been amplified to the level of probable cause, at least to the First Circuit’s satisfaction.
In other words, race and ethnicity need not be just one factor among several in assessing reasonable suspicion, but it may be the sole factor if padded with quite ordinary activities.
The court also took pains to note the context of the incident: only a few months after the train bombings in Madrid. That recent attack, the court wrote, “meant it was material for the officers to consider, among other facts . . . that the persons they were investigating had a Middle Eastern appearance.”
Through this tortured logic, racial profiling is essentially okay in the war against terrorism — even if the suspect is not doing anything a reasonable person would deem suspicious.
In the never-ending “war on terror,” our government — taking a page from its ceaseless “war on drugs” and “war on organized crime” — is stripping privacy and dignity in the name of illusory safety. We’d do well to pay attention.
SOURCE:thephoenix.com
Witchita approves settlement in death of man killed in police crash www.privateofficer.com
The Wichita city council has approved a $300,000 settlement with the family of a man who died last year in a collision with a police car.
The council approved the settlement Tuesday to end a lawsuit filed by the family of 30-year-old Christopher Perkins. He died on Dec. 13, 2009, after his car collided with a police car responding to a disturbance call at a Wichita nightclub.
The officer involved in the crash, 25-year-old Garrett Shaddix of Wellington, is charged with misdemeanor vehicular homicide, and is scheduled for trial in January.
The payment will have to be approved in court.
Utah police chief in trouble over Wal-Mart disturbance www.privateofficer.com
HARRISVILLE UTAH Dec 30 2010- A shopping trip turned into a belligerent shouting match between a Northern Utah Chief of Police and Walmart employees. The chief involved is now on paid administrative leave after the incident.
Investigating officers say they don’t know exactly what made the chief so angry, but they say he shouted profanity at both Walmart employees, and their officers.
Surveillance photo of Perry’s encounter with WalMart employee. On December 12th, Perry City’s Chief of Police, Mike Jones, was doing some shopping at the Harrisville Walmart.
Surveillance video shows him checking out, loading several items into his cart– some that were bags, but many that were not. He paid the clerk and then pushed his cart toward the exit, but that’s when Harrisville Police say the Chief’s trip to the store took a turn for the worse.
“One of the door greeters approached him, and just asked for the receipt because of some of the unbagged items,” said Lt. Keith Wheelright of the Harrisville Police department.
The 70-year-old Walmart door greeter approached Jones because she was following a new store procedure. Employees are now supposed to ask to see a receipt for items not in store bags, but apparently Jones didn’t want to give it to her.
“He allegedly swore at the door greeter, walked past her without showing her the receipt,” said Wheelright.
Jones allegedly shouted extreme profanity at both the elderly woman and the male employee standing in the entrance. Police say he also threatened to injure one of the loss prevention employees, and once Harrisville officers arrived, he became even more aggravated– and continued to yell and swear at them. He also refused to tell the officers who he was.
“Just a lot of stuff about if you’ve got a reason, go ahead and arrest me,” Wheelright said about Jones’ comments. “A lot of things like that. I don’t have to show you an ID, I’ve got rights and I know what they are. I don’t have to tell you who I am.”
Several security employees followed Jones into the parking lot and again attempted to talk to him. At that point, no one knew who Jones was and he did not identify himself as a law enforcer, Wheelwright said.
“The male then told us to (expletive) off and that he just spent over $400 and now he was being accused of stealing,” according to the police report.
Witness Kelly East said Jones was “very confrontational, hostile, and I felt threatened because of his actions.” Jones then threatened East not to point at anything in his shopping cart.
“Point at anything again and I will whoop your (expletive) (expletive),” East claimed Jones said.
Only after the Harrisville Chief of Police arrived on the scene did Jones calm down. Jones is now on paid administrative leave while Harrisville Police and the Weber County Sheriff’s Office investigate the incident.
Harrisville Police are currently filing charges against Jones of Disorderly Conduct and Failing to Identify to a Police Officer.
The Perry Police Department currently has another officer on paid administrative leave for an internal investigation, so this takes their normally 7 officer squad down to 5. They are working with surrounding cities to help them out during both investigations.
source:ksl.com
Security patrol car collides with Nashville pedestrian
Nashville TN Dec 30 2010 A south Nashville man crossing the street early Wednesday morning was hit by a patrol car driven by a security guard.
The incident happened around 1:30 a.m. on Linbar Drive. Police said the victim lives in the area and was on the street when he was hit.
Police had to close down the street for hours while they investigated the accident.
The guard stopped to help the victim and called 911.
Police don’t expect the driver to face any charges who was employed by Hayes Security.
Armed shoplifter attacks store security www.privateofficer.com
“When confronted by loss prevention, [Michael J. McGowan, 30] allegedly pushed the loss prevention officer twice and a struggle ensued,” Deputy Police Chief Russell Jenkins said in a press release. “During the struggle, a glass door was smashed. Responding police officers took McGowan into custody and discovered he was in possession of a knife, two Leatherman tools and a pair of brass knuckles.”
McGowan was charged with larceny over $250, assault and battery, possession of a dangerous weapon, malicious destruction to property and possession of burglarious tools.
Source:Patch.com
Police – security nab two at GA. Wal-Mart with bogus money www.privateofficer.com
BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. Dec 30 2010– Bartow County Sheriff’s Office investigators said they arrested two metro Atlanta men accused of passing counterfeit money at a Walmart store.
According to Sheriff Clark Millsap, the two were arrested in Walmart on Monday just after 1 p.m. after passing counterfeit bills. Further investigation revealed that the two had also passed false money on Friday, Millsap said. The total counterfeit money recovered was $5,800, police said.
Millsap said that his office contacted the U.S. Secret Service in Atlanta and that it is assisting in the local investigation and recovery of counterfeit funds.
Derrick Lakeith Lee, 27, of Stone Mountain, and Vincent Sulay Boyd, 29, of Atlanta, were arrested. Both were charged with two counts each of forgery upon arrest.
Both were later released after posting $5,000 bond for the charges and are awaiting a court date in Bartow County Superior Court.
Eight homeless persons perish in warehouse fire www.privateofficer.com
NEW ORLEANS LA Dec 30 2010
A blaze in a small, abandoned warehouse in New Orleans killed eight homeless people who were burning wood in a barrel to stay warm, the fire department said Tuesday.
A man who lives nearby said the homeless often seek refuge from the cold in the neighborhood’s many boarded-up buildings. Temperatures were unusually low – just below freezing – when the fire was reported around 2 a.m.
The building was fully ablaze when the first fire truck arrived, said New Orleans Fire Department spokesman Greg Davis. Firefighters could not tell the ages or genders of the bodies pulled from the rubble. The fire also killed two dogs.
Two survivors told firefighters that at least some of the people inside were unconscious when the building went up in flames. Davis said they might have been knocked out by carbon monoxide.
“When you burn something in a closed area, you’re going to build up carbon monoxide,” he said.
The average low for New Orleans in late December is around 44 degrees, but freezing temperatures aren’t unheard of, said National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Destri.
The survivors were a man who escaped during the fire and a woman who had left the building before it was engulfed, Red Cross worker Tom Butler said. He said both were put up at a hotel.
The man told Butler that he heard someone screaming and trying to get out. The survivor said he tried to run back into the building, but there was too much smoke. Butler said the man didn’t want to be identified.
The wood and corrugated metal building burned to the foundation. It was among several ramshackle metal, brick and wooden buildings along railroad tracks where graffiti-scrawled freight cars stood.
Many of the houses nearby appeared abandoned, but at least a few were occupied.
Ricky Gordon, who lives in the working-class neighborhood in the Upper 9th Ward, said he does volunteer work with the homeless, and they often take refuge in the buildings when it gets cold.
“I took one guy in last night myself,” he said.
Man fires gun at Florida security officer www.privateofficer.com
Lakeland Fla Dec 30 2010 A 25-year-old man was arrested after he fired a gun during a confrontation Sunday night with a security guard at a restaurant, Lakeland police said.
Angel Miguel Molina, of 616 N. Grady Ave., brought the gun to the Agave Restaurant and Bar at 229 N. Wabash Ave. about 9:30 p.m., according to police.
A security guard confronted Molina about the gun and the gun was fired during the altercation that ensued, police said.
Molina fired more shots as the guard chased him and another man through the parking lot, police said.
A Polk County deputy arrested Molina in a traffic stop after matching him to a description sent over police radio.
He was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and discharging a firearm in public.
He remained at Polk County Jail on Tuesday night in lieu of $40,000 bail.
Barricaded hotel guest commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
OKLAHOMA CITY OKL Dec 30 2010 — OKC police confirmed early Thursday that a man who barricaded himself inside a hotel room at the Clarion Hotel at NW 63rd Street and Robinson Avenue died and the standoff has ended.
The standoff ended just after 12 a.m., when Oklahoma City police said a third hostage was released. That hostage was being questioned by investigators.
The man’s identity has not yet been released.
Police said the man was making violent threats toward police and others inside the hotel. Officers said the man inside the room told them that he had a weapon and that at least two other people were in the room with him, who were eventually released.
Police called in a tactical team to negotiate. They were being tight-lipped about the ongoing negotiations, as the suspect mentioned several times that he was watching the live news coverage, police said.
Officers assured the public that the guests at the hotel are safe and are not anywhere near where the standoff is taking place.
Officers said they went to the hotel originally to serve a warrant to a man they believed was staying at the hotel. Police said they later learned that man, identified as Justin Tyner, had already been arrested.
Meanwhile, the two people that were with the suspect inside the hotel room were allowed to leave but were taken into police custody for further investigation, authorities said.
The third person from inside the room was released between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m., police said.
Montgomery County police officer guilty of time card fraud www.privateofficer.com
Rockville MD Dec 29 2010 A former Montgomery County police sergeant was found guilty of felony theft Monday for falsifying her timecard and getting paid for days she didn’t work.
Jacqueline Davey, 39, of Bowie joined the department in July 1993 and most recently worked as a patrol supervisor, officials said. Authorities identified 22 days for which Davey logged hours on her timecard but for which there was no sign that she was on the job, prosecutors said.
Under an agreement with Montgomery prosecutors that was approved by Judge Thomas L. Craven, Davey was sentenced to probation before judgment. The terms of her probation called for her to pay the county $5,000 in restitution, and she delivered a certified check Monday. As part of the agreement, she will not have a theft conviction on her record.
During a hearing in Montgomery Circuit Court, Assistant State’s Attorney Bryan Roslund said that a supervisor had noticed problems with Davey’s timecard in 2009 and that an investigation was launched.
In one instance, Roslund said, Davey did not report for a scheduled shift Oct. 25, 2009, yet her timecard showed she had logged 10 hours. Another time, he said, Davey was given permission to take leave on a Tuesday morning for another job, but her timecard showed a 10-hour workday.
Roslund said police checked Davey’s computer account, department cellphone records and door access card, among other documents, to determine whether she was working. They found at least 22 occasions between April 1, 2008, and Nov. 30, 2009, when she said she had worked but didn’t.
Roslund said the pay Davey received for hours not worked wasn’t the only benefit; she also accumulated annual leave and sick-leave hours.
“This unused sick leave would have been added to the defendant’s years of service, allowing her to retire earlier than if she had used sick leave on the days she did not work,” Roslund said in court. “By not using annual leave on the days in question, the defendant stood to get a larger payout check when she retired.”
Davey, who pleaded not guilty, said she did not agree with the account presented by prosecutors. But she agreed that if a jury heard the state’s evidence, it could find her guilty.
“She agrees that’s what the state would have produced,” her attorney, Paul Stein, said in court. “She does not agree to those facts.”
Craven found that there was sufficient evidence to prove guilt.
Source:Washington Post
Police fatalities up 37% in 2010 www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA Dec 29 2010 (AP) – Two officers in a remote Alaska town were ambushed as they chatted on a street. A California officer and deputy were killed by an arson suspect with a high-powered rifle as they tried to serve a warrant. Two other officers doing anti-drug work were gunned down by men along a busy Arkansas highway.
These so-called cluster killings of more than one officer helped make 2010 a particularly deadly year for law enforcement. Deaths in the line of duty jumped 37 percent to about 160 from 117 the year before, according to numbers as of Tuesday compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a nonprofit that tracks police deaths.
There also was a spike in shooting deaths. Fifty-nine federal, state and local officers were killed by gunfire in 2010, a 20 percent jump from last year’s figures, when 49 were killed. The total does not include the death of a Georgia State Patrol trooper shot in the neck Monday night in Atlanta as he tried to make a traffic stop.
And 73 officers died in traffic incidents, a rise from the 51 killed in 2009, according to the data.
Craig Floyd, director of the Washington-based fund, said the rise in fatalities could be an aftershock of the nation’s economic troubles as officers in some communities cope with slashed budgets.
“We’re asking our officers to do more with less. We’re asking them to fight conventional crime, and we’re asking them to serve on the front lines in the war against terror,” he said.
Last year’s toll of 117 officers killed was a 50-year low that encouraged police groups. But this year’s total is more the norm than an anomaly: The number of police deaths has topped 160 five times since 2000, including 240 in 2001. The annual toll routinely topped 200 in the 1970s and before that in the 1920s.
The deaths were spread across more than 30 states and Puerto Rico _ with the most killings reported in Texas, California, Illinois, Florida and Georgia. The two law enforcement agencies with the most deaths were the California Highway Patrol and the Chicago Police Department, each with five.
Ten of the shooting deaths came from five tragedies in which several officers were shot and killed in groups.
The cluster shootings started in February, when authorities say a Fresno County, Calif. deputy was shot by an arson suspect who had vowed to kill investigators and himself rather than go to prison. The killing led to a daylong gunbattle during which a police officer was also shot and killed. The gunman later killed himself.
In March, San Juan authorities say two park rangers serving as guards at Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural Resources were gunned down by invaders who jumped a fence during an attempted robbery.
Two West Memphis police officers doing anti-drug work in May were shot to death by two men wielding AK-47s along an Arkansas interstate. The suspects were later killed in a shootout that injured the local sheriff and a deputy at a crowded Walmart parking lot.
In June, authorities say a man wanted for writing a bad check shot and killed two Tampa, Fla., police officers after he was pulled over at 2:15 a.m. And in August, a man was charged with killing two officers chatting in front of his home in the tiny Alaska village of Hoonah.
Maria Haberfeld, a professor of police science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the rise of community-oriented policing over the last few decades has also had the unintended consequence of lessening the public’s respect for officers.
“It’s a cascading effect of the people thinking police are here to serve and protect them on an individual basis” instead of acting as an arm of the government, she said. “We spend hours teaching children about Shakespeare and history, but we don’t devote even an hour a week to the role of police in creating the world in which we live.”
The uptick in traffic deaths also troubled analysts.
The research didn’t reveal what led to many of the traffic deaths, partly because local departments often don’t keep complete records of those fatalities, said Floyd. But he said it suggests that more research is needed to investigate possible driver fatigue and distracted driving.
“We’re asking citizens not to talk and text on their cell phones, but we’re providing officers with laptop computers and cell phones and radios,” he said. “That means taking their attention from the road. Are we putting too many distractions in police vehicles?”
Club security nabs man with drugs www.privateofficer.com
BENTON, Mo.Dec 29 2010 — A Haywood City, Mo., man is in the custody of the Scott County Sheriff’s Department after a brief struggle Saturday when authorities reportedly found him in possession of marijuana at Mr. C’s Night Club in Sikeston, Mo.
Sheriff Rick Walter said in a news release that his deputies Sgt. Branden Caid and Cpt. Gregg Ourth came into contact with Aaron Peet, 21, at the nightclub where he allegedly was in possession of several bags of marijuana.
Caid was working security at the club and was asked to assist staff in checking patrons for weapons and contraband before entering the establishment, according to a probable-cause affidavit. Peet was also allegedly holding alcohol in a pants pocket, which is not allowed in the nightclub. Peet was being held on a $15,000 bond and is set to appear today before a Scott County Circuit Court Judge Scott Horman.
Source:Southeast Missourian
Arlington police officer killed during domestic incident www.privateofficer.com
Dallas TX Dec 29 2010 A police officer and two other people were found dead Tuesday night at a south Arlington apartment complex.
The officer, who was working alone, had been dispatched about 7:30 p.m. to take a domestic-violence report at the Arbrook Park Apartments in the 3800 block of Mahonia Way, near Interstate 20 and Collins Street.
Police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard said the suspect in that offense was not expected to be at the apartments.
After a second call reported shots at the complex about 8 p.m., police found the officer and two other people dead inside an apartment, Richard said.
Police did not identify any of the victims, pending notification of their families.
They also did not say whether the assailant was among the dead.
Officers had closed access to the sprawling apartment complex and told motorists trying to enter the property to come back hours later.
“Any time you lose an officer … it’s hard on the department, it’s hard on the city as a whole,” Richard said. “These are people who day in and day out, they go out and do their job and they’re doing it to protect citizens here. It’s a hard loss for anyone, especially during this time of year.”
This is the second line-of-duty death of an Arlington officer this year. Officer Craig Story, 34, a motorcycle officer and a seven-year veteran, died in January in a crash with a school bus on South Cooper Street near West Inwood Drive.
Source:Dallas News
OFFICER DOWN-Deputy Sheriff Michael Schaefer
Uvalde County Sheriff’s Department
Texas
End of Watch: Saturday, December 25, 2010
Biographical Info
Age: Not available
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Date of Incident: Saturday, December 25, 2010
Weapon Used: Person
Suspect Info: Apprehended
Deputy Michael Schaefer suffered a fatal heart attack while struggling with a 16-year-old female who was possibly under the influence of narcotics and alcohol.
He and another deputy had responded to a domestic disturbance involving a fight between the girl and another family member. When they arrived at the scene they attempted to place the girl into custody but became involved in a struggle. Deputy Schaefer collapsed moments later.
Agency Contact Information
Uvalde County Sheriff’s Department
121 E Nopal Street
Uvalde, TX 78801
Phone: (830) 278-4111
Please contact the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
