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OFFICER DOWN Police Officer William H. Torbit Jr.
Police Officer William H. Torbit Jr.
Baltimore City Police Department
Maryland
End of Watch: Sunday, January 9, 2011
Biographical Info
Age: 33
Tour of Duty: 8 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire (Accidental)
Date of Incident: Sunday, January 9, 2011
Weapon Used: Officer’s handgun
Suspect Info: Not available
Officer William Torbit was accidentally shot and killed by uniformed police officers after responding to a fight at a nightclub on North Paca Street at approximately 1:15 am.
Officer Torbit, who was in plainclothes, was one of the first officers to arrive to a call of a large fight at a nightclub. When he arrived, he began breaking up a fight between several females. As he broke up the fight he was attacked by a group of men.
At some point during the struggle with the males, Officer Torbit drew his service weapon. Responding officers, not realizing Officer Torbit was a police officer, shot and killed him. A second officer was shot and wounded in the foot during the melee.
Officer Torbit had served with the Baltimore City Police Department for eight years.
Agency Contact Information
Baltimore City Police Department
242 W 29th Street
Baltimore, MD 21211
Phone: (410) 396-2020
Please contact the Baltimore City Police Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
Everett Wa. security officer subdues rapist www.privateofficer.com
Everett WA Jan 12 2011 She barely speaks above a whisper, but the bruises across her body speaks volumes.
The woman says she was attacked in the women’s bathroom at the Ay Chihuahua Restaurant. The first sign of trouble came in the form of men’s “working shoes” in the next stall. Moments later, that man was choking and trying to rape the victim.
“The only thing I told him was, ‘Please, you don’t kill me. I have my kids at home,”‘ said the woman whom KOMO News has chosen not to identify.
A security guard saw the suspected attacker trying to escape. The guard grabbed him, and, after a short scuffle, managed to hold the suspect outside the restaurant until officers arrived.
Police arrested Ignacio Fierro Sifuentes, 31, for investigation of second-degree assault with sexual motivation.
Restaurant owner Beto Garin says he’s never seen the suspect before, and insists his customers are safe.
“It’s very upsetting,” he said. “This has never happened before, but you never know what kind of people are going to walk into your place. We think it’s safe. We had a security guard that night.”
It may not have been at the same place, but the victim is convinced her attacker has struck before.
“I think this is not the first time he attack somebody,” the woman said in tears.
The victim said her attacker beat her as if she were a man, and if she hadn’t fought back like one, she fears she may not have survived.
Sifuentes is being held on $250,000 bail. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also placed a hold on him to investigate his questionable immigration status.
Source:KOMO
Oklahoma security officer confronts bank robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
At 5:47 p.m. Monday, an armed man walked into Central National Bank, 2219 W. Willow. The bank has an armed security guard and the guard confronted the would-be robber.
Based on information obtained from the bank, the suspect was possibly a white male, according to the FBI. He was wearing a dark blue hoodie, a multicolored bandana, tan cargo pants and white gloves. The robber was seen holding a dark-colored, semi-automatic pistol.
After being confronted by the security guard, the robber turned, ran from the bank and was seen riding away on a red BMX-style bicycle eastbound on Willow Road.
Enid police department officers responded at 5:52 p.m. to a panic alarm at the bank. While en route to the bank a 911 call was received from a teller inside who said an armed man entered the bank and was confronted by the armed security guard inside.
EPD spokesman Lt. Eric Holtzclaw said more than 10 officers, including a K-9 unit, responded to the bank, as well as deputies from the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office. A perimeter was set up in the area and a search was conducted but the man was not apprehended.
Police notified Autry Technology Center of the attempted robbery and the school was locked down.
“This is a joint investigation with the Enid Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Holtzclaw said. “The suspect is still at large and should be considered armed and dangerous.”
Anyone with information regarding this attempted robbery are asked to call the FBI at (405) 290-7770, Enid Police Department at 242-7000, option 1, or Garfield County Crime Stoppers at 233-6233. Callers to the FBI tip line and Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous.
The Oklahoma Banker’s Association offers a reward of up to $2,000 for any information that leads to the identification, arrest and/or conviction of the suspect.
Dallas school security officer receives award www.privateofficer.com
For more than a decade, the North Dallas High School security worker has taken in teenagers who otherwise wouldn’t have a home.
“They come from broken families, abandoned, homeless — just out there — the families give up completely,” he said.
In 2001, Johnson took in his first student, a homeless teenager who he found sleeping in the bushes at the high school.
He has rescued 37 other teenagers since, all of whom have lived in his South Oak Cliff home.
Johnson has his own house rules.
He encourages the students to get jobs, do chores, and requires them to do community service.
In return, he provides them with a caring home and love.
“I see him almost like my father, and I don’t know my father; I see him as my father,” said Angel Rivera.
Rivera moved in with Johnson last year after he said his mother kicked him out of the house.
All the kids Johnson takes in attend North Dallas High School. In most cases, he has become the legal guardian for the students.
On Tuesday, Alliance/AFT, a Dallas teachers union, honored Johnson for his work with the students.
The group gave him an award for his efforts with at-risk kids.
“If I can change a direction, I guess that’s what makes me happy,” Johnson said. “If I can change that direction, and ultimately a life.”
Source:KVUE.com
Selma police officer charged with rape www.privateofficer.com
The Alabama Bureau of Investigation arrested Officer Christopher Harris, who now faces charges of raping a child who is less than 16-years-old but older than 12.
District Attorney Michael Jackson said Harris was booked and taken to the Dallas County Jail where he remains under a $50,000 bond. He’ll be arraigned later in the week.
The case will be given to a Grand Jury at the end of January.
Additional details about the alleged crime were not immediately available.
Source:WSFA
San Antonio police seek suspect in officer attack www.privateofficer.com
SAN ANTONIO TX Jan 12 2011 — A Bexar County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said another person has been identified in a Dec. 30 assault on an off-duty sheriff’s deputy.
Lt. Martin Molina said Jose Jorge, 20, was driving a stolen car in the parking lot at the Cypress Cove apartments at 601 Northwest Loop 410. Jorge and a 16-year-old boy were in the car when Molina said they tried to run the off-duty officer down.
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. Officials said Longoria fired at the car, wounding the teen, who later showed up at a local hospital and admitted he had been involved in the burglary. The teen was treated for his injuries and then was charged with burglary and assault.
Molina said Jorge was identified by witnesses, and fingerprints were recovered from inside the stolen car.
Jorge is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing about 210 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. He has a tattoo of a crown above his left eye.
Molina said Jorge is wanted on a charge of aggravated assault of a police officer. Molina said Jorge also has outstanding warrants for possession of a controlled substance and unlawful carrying of a weapon.
Anyone with information as to Jorge’s whereabouts is asked to call the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Unit at 210-335-6043.
Snow plow operator rescues security officer www.privateofficer.com
MERIDEN CT. Jan 12 2011 - A plow truck driver is being credited with saving the life of a security guard who was over-come by carbon monoxide while sitting in his vehicle Wednesday morning.
Craig Whited, of Wallingford-based Pine Ridge Landscaping, was plowing in the area of the Westfield shopping mall off the Chamberlain Highway around 9 a.m. when he noticed the security guard was unconscious and struggling to breathe in his car in a gated area at the foot of South Mountain Road. The road leads to up Cathole Mountain to NRG’s partially constructed power plant, which the security guard was in charge of watching.
“He noticed him in the car, broke the window,” Lt. Tom Albanese of the Meriden’s Fire Department’s Engine 1 Co. said. “He held the guy in a position where he could breathe. He really saved his life.”
Paramedics were called in, stabilized the security guard’s breathing and took him to MidState Medical Center. Officials said they could not reveal his name due to privacy laws, but that his condition was improving as of around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Source:RecordJournel.com
Tacoma police charge man for pointing gun at security www.privateofficer.com
Tacoma WA Jan 12 2011 A man who allegedly threatened to shoot a security guard as he jumped a fence into a freeway construction site was arrested Sunday.
The security guard confronted the man as he was jumping a fence to enter the Atkinson Construction site at South Tacoma Way and Sprague Avenue where a new overpass is being built.
After the man produced what looked liked a handgun and threatened to shoot, police said the security guard fled and hid in a nearby bathroom.
Police used a K-9 unit to track the burglar and found him a half mile away in another fenced-in area. He was taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree burglary.
Source:thenewstribune.com
US Park Police Chief to get her job back www.privateofficer.com
“I always believed that through prayer and perseverance that standing up for what was right would pay off in the end,” Chambers told 9NEWS NOW’s Ken Molestina Tuesday night. The Interior Department fired Chambers in 2004, seven months after she was suspended for publicly saying her department is understaffed and underfunded.
The action came hours after Chambers asked an administrative judge to reinstate her while her appeal was heard by a civil service board. Chambers contended that her public statements, which the Washington Post published in an article on December 2, 2003, were appropriate and that others in the department said similar things.
According to the court document posted Tuesday, Chambers’ immediate supervisor sent her an email the same day the Washington Post article was published telling her not to do any more interviews without clearing them with him or another supervisor. Three days later, the same supervisor placed her on paid administrative leave pending a review of conduct.
On December 17, 2003, he proposed removing Chambers for reasons including making improper budget communications, making public remarks about security, improperly disclosing budget deliberations, improper lobbying, failing to follow supervisors’ instructions and failing to follow the chain of command.
Tuesday, a court document showed the United States of America Merit Systems Protection Board reversed the initial decision, granted Chambers a request for corrective action and ordered the Department of Interior to cancel Chambers’ placement on administrative leave and removal. Chambers said she still doesn’t know exactly what she did wrong but says that pointing out shortcomings may have angered some higher-ups in the government, ultimately leading to her firing.
In her opinion, there’s nothing wrong with the statements she made. “I think what’s more important though is what this is saying to other federal employees, civil servants who had to wonder is it okay to get fired for simply telling the truth?” stated Chambers. Chambers currently works for the Riverdale Park Police Department in Riverdale Park, Maryland, as a police chief. She was working there while waiting for petitions and appeals to go through.
She says she’s confident she’ll be able to get her old job back, especially since those she claims were responsible are no longer around. Chambers shared, “I would imagine they’re kind of rocking back on their heels tonight as they read the decision about the actions that they took against me and how everything was reversed. But it’s time for them to continue their lives and for me to go back.”
The U.S. Park Police had no comment for 9NEWS NOW Tuesday night.
Chambers says as part of the reversal, she is entitled to six years worth of backpay, which totals roughly $840,000.
Source:WUSA
