Archive
Texas police officer killed by husband www.privateofficer.com
LONGVIEW,TX Dec 12 2010- An East Texas police department is reeling tonight, after an off duty officer is found dead, her husband charged with murder. Police say the shooting happened around 8:30 A.M. at Towne Oaks apartments off the 2100 block of Tryon Road.
Officers arrived to find 38 year old Longview Police Officer Jamie Goodan, dead from an apparent gun shot wound.
Police questioned and arrested her husband, Harry Goodan inside the apartment. It would have been a routine domestic disturbance call, until police recognized the address at the Towne Oaks apartments belonged to one of their own.
“Upon arrival officers determined the call to be a domestic disturbance and found officer Jamie Ellyn Goodan…deceased from apparent gunshot wounds,” said Police Chief J.B. McCaleb.
“We’ll be releasing further information as we obtain it,” said officer Christie Bryan.
A 13 year veteran, Goodan was a model officer, with 29 commendations.
“Mr. Goodan was transported to the Gregg County Jail and charged with murder,” said McCaleb.
Goodan’s husband, Harry Goodan, has been arrested for murder. Reportedly, Harry Goodan worked as a communications administrator for Longview Public Safety Communications.
The shooting is being investigated by Longview Police and the Gregg County District Attorney’s Office.
Goodan began her law enforcement career in 1995 as a Gregg County jailer. We’re told she is survived by her 8 year old son and three sisters.
Source:KLTV.com
Security officer fatally shot Arizona man www.privateofficer.com
PHOENIX AZ Dec 12 2010 – A security guard fatally shot a suspect outside a Phoenix strip mall.
Police say a 41-year-old security guard heard shots fired in a parking lot behind a strip mall located near 51st Avenue and McDowell Road Saturday just before 7 p.m.
The security guard reportedly confronted two suspects before a foot chase took place. One of the suspects was able to jump over a wall and escape.
The second suspect , who was armed, was not able to jump over and reportedly turned to face the security officer.
The suspect refused to drop his weapon after repeated commands and was shot by the security officer. He died as a result of his injuries.
The security guard, whose identity has not been released, will not face charges in this shooting.
AZFamily.com
Security guard charged with lieing about assault www.privateofficer.com
Ross PA Dec 12 2010 Security guard Gregory Lattera intially told police he arrested customer John Kaminski in the parking lot of the Ross Toys R’ Us last month because Mr. Kaminski had run him down with his Jeep.
He has since admitted he was just “tired, cold and sore” when he decided to concoct the story and target Mr. Kaminski, who was roughed up by Mr. Laterra and then Tased by a Ross police officer in front of his wife and child before being taken into police custody.
Mr. Laterra, of Pittsburgh’s Strip District, turned himself in to police Friday after learning of the warrant out for his arrest for the Nov. 25 incident. He is charged with making false reports to law enforcement, impersonating a public servant, unlawful restraint, harassment, false impisonment and simple assault.
In a criminal complaint, police outlined the bizarre chain of events that left Mr. Kaminski, who had done nothing wrong, roughed up and on the asphalt in the parking lot of Ross Park Mall.
At around 2.45 p.m., Mr. Kaminski was driving his red Jeep SUV through the intersection of Old McKnight Road and Cheryl Drive, where Mr. Laterra was directing traffic, when Mr. Laterra smacked the back window of the car. At that point, Mr. Laterra reported to police that he had been run down by Mr. Kaminski and that he was going to locate him in the parking lot.
He stormed through the lot, found Mr. Kaminski and told him he was under arrest. When Mr. Kaminski’s wife Kellie asked what was going on, Mr. Lattera responded that her husband had just assaulted a police officer. He then put Mr. Kaminski in a headlock, slammed him against his car and demanded that he lie down on the ground. Mr. Kaminski yelled that he couldn’t because he was pinned against the car, witnesses told police. He then threw Mr. Kaminski to the ground, holding him down with his knee, while a Ross police officer who had arrived as back up Tased Mr. Kaminski. He was handcuffed and taken to the Ross police station.
Mr. Lattera’s version of events unraveled after he gave his statement to police, because the Kaminskis and multiple witnesses contradicted his story that he had been hit by their Jeep. He conceded, admitting he fabricated the story because he was exhausted and upset from directing traffic for nearly six hours.
He was arraigned Friday night and released on an unsecured bond of $20,000. He is scheduled to go before Magistrate Richard Opiela on December 15 at 8 a.m. for a preliminary hearing.
Source:www.post-gazette.com
Riot breaks out at NY school www.privateofficer.com
SOMERS NY Dec 12 2010 — A riot involving 30 students broke out at Lincoln Hall Friday, injuring two employees and leading to five arrests in the most recent of several violent confrontations at the residential center for troubled boys.
Rocks were thrown, shattering windows, and several employees were injured as they tried to quell fights that broke out between the teens in the cafeteria during lunch; one staff member was struck by a milk crate and required 13 stitches to his head.
State police responded with several officers, including a K-9 unit and air support from Westchester County Police aviation unit, which was called to ensure no students could escape from the low-security campus. It took an hour for staff and police to control the melee, authorities said.
“It was a very serious situation,” said State Police Investigator Jennifer Hall.
Two employees received medical treatment at Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel.
Four boys identified as the ring-leaders — David Excourse, 17, Cleveland Fowler, 16, Sergio Naranjo, 16, and Shakiem Way, 17 — were charged with first-degree felony riot. They are being held on $10,000 bail at Westchester County Jail, and due in town court Monday. A fifth boy, a juvenile delinquent not identified, was released and ordered to appear in Westchester County Family Court Tuesday.
The incident follows a violent month in which nearly a dozen Lincoln Hall students were arrested in a string of assaults.
Town officials are requesting a meeting with Lincoln Hall administrators to discuss the surge in violence, said Town Supervisor Mary Beth Murpy.
“In the last six to nine months, Lincoln Hall students have been in our court more than ever,” Murphy said Sunday. “We’re trying to get a meeting with their board of directors to discuss what has to be done. We want to find out what’s changed in the last year to create the situation where there are repeated incidents that seem to be escalating.”
Many of the center’s residents are juvenile delinquents who get referred to Lincoln Hall through the courts.
I can surmise that they’re accepting a different type of clientele or student than they have in the past,” Murphy said.
While she could not recall Lincoln Hall students committing crimes in the community, she said, “It’s an open campus and we are concerned that anything should drift off the campus to the public at large.”
Officials at Lincoln Hall, which is licensed by the state Office of Children and Family Services, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Nov. 18, a Brooklyn boy brutally beat a fellow student and injured a teacher. Troopers from Somers responded after 16-year-old Andrew Hamilton intentionally bumped into a 17-year-old student while walking in the Ives School on the Lovell Street campus, then pummeled the boy in the face with his fist, breaking his jaw in several places, police said.
While being hit, the victim fell backward into a teacher, who suffered a cracked tooth and a sore jaw. The victim was taken by ambulance to the Westchester Medical Center, while the teacher was treated at Putnam Hospital Center.
Hamilton was charged with second-degree assault, a felony, and third-degree assault, a misdemeanor.
On Nov. 4, three Lincoln Hall students were charged with misdemeanor assault after they allegedly beat up a fellow student.
On Nov. 1, police responded to three separate incidents, arresting five students, three on assault charges and two for vandalizing a room, causing $4,000 in damage.
John Supple, a retired state trooper who lives near Lincoln Hall, said the school has done a good job of containing violence to its grounds.
“The only time you here about something happening there is when it’s printed in the paper,” Supple said.
Source:LoHud.com
Mall security gets new wheels www.privateofficer.com
It helps them get a good look above the crowds, disperse loiterers and respond to customer needs more quickly.
It’s a Segway, the electrically-powered standing scooter that lets them zip around the mall.
At first, the idea got more laughs than votes of confidence, given the inevitable comparisons to comedy films like “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.”
But officers and patrons alike have responded well, says Ron Macomber, 42, director of security at the mall for Weiser Security and former veteran of the Lafourche Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s really just a tool,” he said. “Everyone wants to see what it is.”
The Segway came in July as a gift from Morguard, the mall’s parent company, to Weiser Security, the company that has handled the security there since February.
The guards’ duties include catching thefts — shoplifting at the mall leads to about 10 arrests per week, Macomber said — dealing with small narcotics cases and dispersing loiterers and managing crowds. They also help out customers who need a hand with packages or with finding their vehicles in the parking lot. The Segway, which gets the most use on weekends, helps the officers respond more quickly to those tasks.
“We decided it was where security was moving in the industry,” said Dawn Becker, general manager at the mall. “It gives them a lot more visibility. They’re common in malls and airports. It lets you cover the square footage in a timely matter.”
As Christmas shoppers streamed by at lunchtime last week, Macomber and Michele Riera, a security officer on the staff, showed where the Segway, which staff have named “Matilda,” gets stored. It gets charged up, like a cell phone, from a wall socket and can travel up to about 20 miles per hour. This particular model also has its own reflectors, as well as lights and sirens for emergencies.
Riera said at first she figured there was no way she’d get on the new vehicle. But she soon was navigating it expertly. The gadget gets lots of attention from patrons, particularly kids and teens, who want to know all about it or take it for a spin themselves.
“I knew I was going to get clowned about the ’Mall Cop’ thing,” she said. But at the end of the day, she said, “I get to ride it, and you don’t.”
Source:DailyComet
Northwest Merchant Patrol owner, employees arrested for burglaries www.privateofficer.com
Washington County OR Dec 12 2010 The owner of a Beaverton security company and two of his employees have been arrested and charged in a string of burglaries reported at a Washington County school where the company provided after-hours security patrols.
Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Stirling Anderson, 27, of Wilsonville, who owns Northwest Merchant Patrol, and two of his employees, Sheldon McMillan, 21, of Beaverton, and David Smith, 39, of Wilsonville at about 2 a.m., Saturday at Oregon Episcopal School, 6300 S.W. Nicol Road in Raleigh Hills.
Just before the arrests, deputies were called to the school after a person a different security company, Arcadia Security Department, witnessed Anderson and McMillan allegedly leaving the school with stolen property and called authorities, said Washington County Sgt. Bob Ray.Omaha teacher faces sexual assault charges www.privateofficer.com
Nicholas McKeone was arrested Friday on suspicion of sexual assault. The 28-year-old was still in the Douglas County jail on Saturday.
Assistance superintendent Janice Garnett told KETV that the parents alerted school officials in November, prompting an investigation of McKeone, a fifth-grade teacher at Ashland Park-Robbins Elementary. He’s has been on suspension since then.
The child’s parents reported he’d been abused for eight months.
No number was listed for McKeone. Online court records available Saturday didn’t reflect the charges against him or list an attorney.
