Archive
PHARMACY ROBBERY ADVISORY
A national Pharmacy Robbery Advisory has been issued in conjunction with an alert issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Robberies of local and national chain pharmacies have been steadily increasing for the past four years and robbers have been both burglarizing and committing armed robberies of the stores in search of narcotics.
During the month of January, 33 armed robberies were tracked as well as burglaries or attempts.
In four of the robberies during the past 16 days, security officers were on duty at the pharmacy during the robbery but were not able to prevent the incident.
In two of the incidents, the security officer’s gun was taken from them during “take-over” style robberies.
On January 27th 2011, three men entered a Phoenix CVS pharmacy and tied up employees as they stole more than $100,000 of OxyContin from a safe.
An investigation has found that the men had been watching the store for several days.
In Satellite Beach Florida a lone gunman made off with unknown amount of narcotics after pointing a gun at the manager.
Another more violent robbery took place on the same day in Newport News Virginia where an employee was injured during a demand for OxyContin.
On January 30th, an armed brazen robber struck a Save-Rex Pharmacy for the second time in a week in Vancleave Mississippi getting the drop on an armed guard while taking the guard’s gun.
The man fled with a large quantity of drugs.
State and federal authorities believe that most of the robberies are being committed randomly by local suspects, however in several of the larger scale robberies, authorities do suspect possible gang involvement.
At this time there are no patterns, descriptors or vehicle information available.
END of ADVISORY
OFFICER DOWN Correctional Officer Colonel Greg Malloy
OFFICER DOWN Correctional Officer Colonel Greg Malloy
Florida
End of Watch: Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Biographical Info
Age: 44
Tour of Duty: 22 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Shot and killed
Colonel Greg Malloy was shot and killed in Holmes County while assisting local law enforcement agencies track a man wanted for murdering his parents.
A homeowner in the area had called 911 after encountering the suspect in a wooded area and being shot at. Colonel Greg Malloy, who was a canine handler at the Holmes Correctional Facility, was requested to track the suspect.
Upon nearing the suspect’s location shots were exchanged and Colonel Malloy and the suspect were both killed.
Colonel Malloy had served with the Florida Department of Corrections for 22 years.
Agency Contact Information
Florida Department of Corrections
2601 Blair Stone Road
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Phone: (850) 488-5021
Please contact the Florida Department of Corrections for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
Trio robs Phoenix CVS of $100,000 prescription drugs www.privateofficer.com
Phoenix AZ Feb 4 2011 Area police are searching for three men who robbed a drugstore at gunpoint last week and making off with more than $100,000 worth of prescription drugs, authorities said.
The three entered the CVS at 3440 W. Glendale Ave. at around 3 a.m. on Jan. 27 armed with handguns, said Sgt. Trent Crump, a Phoenix police spokesman.
Two of the men tied up employees on the main floor while the third jumped over the pharmacy counter and instructed the pharmacist to open the safe, Crump said.
The robbers left the store after they obtained about 5,200 pills, most of them OxyContin, a painkiller, Crump said.
Reports say that at least one of the men was seen scouting the CVS on the night before the robbery.
Security footage shows the men entering and leaving the scene.
The first suspect is a Black male, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, between 20 and 30 -years old and weighing 175 pounds. He was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, and a maroon and yellow ASU baseball cap.
The other suspects are White males about 6 feet tall, 20 to 30 years old and weighing between 160 and 180 pounds. One is shown wearing a blue plaid, long-sleeve shirt, a green undershirt, a maroon beanie cap and the other is shown wearing a red plaid, long-sleeve shirt, a camouflage hat and blue jeans.
Anyone with information about the robbery is encouraged to contact the Phoenix Police Department.
Source:www.azcentral.com
Alabama growing illegal immigrant population www.privateofficer.com
Birmingham AL Feb 4 2011 How many unauthorized immigrants — also known as illegal immigrants — live in Alabama?
The Pew Hispanic Center on Tuesday estimated that Alabama may have 120,000 unauthorized immigrants as of March 2010, double the estimate for 2005 and nearly five times greater than the estimated 25,000 in 2000.
But “may have” is the important qualifier — unauthorized immigrants are one of the hardest ethnic groups to count.
Numbers are more solid at the national level, Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer for the Pew Hispanic Center, said in a Tuesday national press conference.
As of March 2010, there were 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, down from a peak of 12 million in 2007, just before the start of the Great Recession. Eight million of those immigrants were in the labor force, making up 5.2 percent of the country’s workers.
Passel said that 2010 number of unauthorized immigrants was virtually identical to the 2009 number.
“With these new estimates it seems that the decline (from 2007) has halted,” he said.
About 58 percent of unauthorized immigrants in the United States are Mexican.
Between March 2009 and March 2010, Passel said, 350,000 babies were born to families in which at least one parent was an unauthorized immigrant, and these children constituted 8 percent of all U.S. births in that period. Children younger than 18 of unauthorized immigrants number about 5.5 million, and about 4.5 million of them were born in the United States.
The Alabama numbers of unauthorized immigrants have large margins of error, because the numbers are developed from a nationwide Census Bureau survey for the Bureau of Labor statistics that contacts just 80,000 households, Passel said.
Alabama’s estimate of 120,000 unauthorized immigrants in 2010 — which would be 2.5 percent of the population — may actually fall anywhere from 75,000 to 160,000.
“We’d like to identify changes in the population more than we did, but we’re limited by the sample size,” Passel said. “We’d also like to analyze why these changes have occurred, but can’t.”
If the 120,000 Alabama estimate is in the ballpark, it was an increase from estimated unauthorized immigrant populations of 60,000 in 2005, 25,000 in 2000, and 5,000 in 1990.
Pew demographers also estimated that 95,000 of the unauthorized immigrants work in Alabama, making up 4.2 percent of the labor force.
While the new estimates suggest that the number of unauthorized immigrants in Alabama continued to grow from 2005 to 2010, it appeared that unauthorized immigrant populations may have leveled off in neighboring Georgia and Tennessee.
Georgia had about 425,000 unauthorized immigrants in 2005, according to Pew estimates, and the same approximate number in 2010. Tennessee had about 130,000 unauthorized immigrants in 2005 and about 140,000 in 2010.
The total number of foreign-born residents in the United States is much greater than the number of unauthorized immigrants.
“There are about 40 million immigrants living in the United States,” Passel said, “and unauthorized immigrants represent about 28 percent of the total.”
The 29 million legal immigrants include 14.9 million naturalized citizens, 12.4 million permanent residents and 1.7 million temporary migrants.
The vast majority of unauthorized immigrants in the United States are people who either entered the country without valid documents, or stayed later than the expiration date of a once-valid visa.
Source:AL.com
Man arrested for aiding suicide www.privateofficer.com
Police believe 40-year-old Melvin Alephus Gillespie tied up 38-year-old William P. Pickard in an attempt to make his death last June appear to be a homicide. His body was found under the Sunset Bridge.
The Spokesman-Review reports Pickard had a life insurance policy that would not pay for a suicide.
Security associations support Training and Selection guideline www.privateofficer.com
Unfortunately, contract security agencies—forced to compete in bidding wars over contracts—must keep costs down while bringing effectiveness up.
The National Association of Security Companies yesterday announced its support for the 2010 Private Security Officer Training and Selection Guideline created by the American Society for Industrial Security International.
The Guideline provides minimum recommendations that can be used to assist in the selection and training of private security officers as well as elements that should be considered by any governmental entity proposing to exercise controls over the providers of private security.
ASIS International is the largest organization worldwide promoting the interests of security professionals and the Guideline, now in its second edition, was developed through the work of a Guideline Committee made up of representatives from the private security industry including NASCO members.
One of ASIS International’s programs is its certification program for security professionals. Those police commanders and security managers who complete the program for the Certified Protection Professional designation including its six-hour written examination—including this writer—are certified as CPPs.
NASCO has long worked to increase standards and professionalism in the private security industry. At all levels of government, NASCO has advocated for legislation and government action to provide for better licensing, regulation, screening and training for officers, and for effective regulatory oversight of the industry.
“Private security officers play a critical and ever-increasing role in protecting public safety, critical infrastructure, and property in the United States,” said NASCO Executive Director Jeff Flint.
“NASCO and its members are the nation’s leading advocates for increased standards, professionalism and sufficient regulation of private security and the ASIS Private Security Officer Guideline represents a clear and comprehensive step in this direction,” said Flint.
While, as the Guideline states, it is “not intended to cover all aspects of selection and training for private security officers,” NASCO supports the Guideline’s purpose to “provide minimum qualifications in order to improve performance of private security officers and the quality of security services.”
“NASCO members do more than just talk about private security professionalism,” Flint continued. “Our member companies exceed the minimum recommendations in the Guideline for security officer selection and training and we’ve been the leading voice nationwide in advocating for states to adopt higher standards. More so, in those states with little or no private security regulation, we’ve worked to get regulations enacted.”
“At the federal level we have fought for greater access to FBI records to screen officers and for higher standards in federal security contracts. NASCO will continue to be at the forefront of a variety of efforts to ensure that when the public sees private security officers on duty, they can be confident those officers have undergone thorough background checks and received the best possible training. The ASIS PSO Guideline is one such important effort,” said Flint.
Robbery suspects hit Florida Walgreens for drugs www.privateofficer.com
Investigators with the Satellite Beach Police Departments said Michael Hendrickson walked into the Walgreens on state Road A1A on Tuesday.
Authorities said he handed a pharmacist a note stating he had a gun and demanded prescription drugs.
Hendrickson fled in a friend’s car, but within minutes, police said they found him, and both men were taken into custody.
Hendrickson faces charges of grand theft and aggravated assault.
Law enforcement scurry to outlaw new dangerous drug www.privateofficer.com
BOISE ID Feb 4 2011– A new drug is now on the radar of Idaho law enforcement.
The drug is sold under many names, like Tranquility, White China and Euphoria, and is being marketed as “bath salts,” but law enforcement says this isn’t what you’d throw into a tub to relax — rather a dangerous way to get high.
Law enforcement says now that Spice, the synthetic marijuana, has been banned — this is the newest legal way people are choosing to get high. The Boise Police Department says there were two reports this last weekend of people with adverse reactions to “bath salts.”
“I have heard of ‘spice’, but I have never heard of bath salts, no,” said one Boise State University student.
“It seems to be a little outrageous,” said another student.
“Not a whole lot of people know a lot about it. It’s a synthetic drug, it’s a designer drug and it’s just dangerous,” said Boise Police Department officer Jermaine Galloway.
Idaho Law enforcement says this drug is starting to grow in popularity.
It is marketed and sold under the guise of being bath salts at smoke shops and specialty stores around the state. Galloway says these are not bath salts — but rather a dangerous new drug.
“These ‘bath salts’ mimic the highs like methamphetamine and like cocaine — it’s very person specific, there are some pretty scary reports about what people are doing to themselves after or while being high on these,” said Galloway.
“Bath salts” are sold on the internet, and as we found out, are also easily purchased over the counter in Boise. With a voice recorder in pocket, our videographer found out how easy it is to purchase this new drug.
“There’s some right there. $35 dollars for 500 milligrams,” said the store clerk.
The clerk at the specialty store on Vista remained tight-lipped on exactly how the product is used to get high.
“What can you tell me about them,” questioned the KTVB videographer.
“Honestly, I can’t tell you a whole bunch about them. You put them in your bath when you take it, and it gives you a soothing aroma bath, I guess,” said the clerk.
“Some people are using these for consumption, right,” asked the KTVB videographer.
“Well, you know after we sell them what people use them for, you know we can’t control — it’s like when you buy paint — it’s for painting a house, some people huff it or sniff it,” said the clerk.
Experts say people are snorting, smoking, injecting and even eating the powder to get high.
“It’s a synthetic cocaine is what it boils down to,” said Idaho State Police Captain Clark Rollins.
That is why members of the Idaho State Police, the Office of Drug Policy and other Idaho agencies are rallying together to ban “bath salts.”
“It’s no different than a highly addictive narcotic; we don’t even know what addictive properties are in it yet. We have some issues with it, obviously it needs to be looked at and probably controlled,” said Capt. Rollins.
On Thursday, February 3, a bill is expected to be introduced to make the chemicals and compounds in “bath salts” illegal.
Orange County teacher-Boy Scout leader arrested for child porn www.privateofficer.com
Lake Nona High School teacher Stephen Wise, 43, was charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography.
The Lake Nona High School website shows Wise was the assistant Scout Master of Boy Scout Troop 25.
“We immediately removed him from scouting,” said Bill Gosselin, chief operating officer of the Boy Scouts. “We are cooperating with law enforcement. Protecting our youth is paramount to scouting.”
Gosselin said his office was made aware of the charges earlier this morning.
Gosselin declined to release information about how many children Wise had been in contact. He said deputies were better suited to answer questions because the case is under active investigation.
The school’s website shows Wise has lengthy experience with helping students through civic activities and school programs.
Wise won an award in 1998 for his volunteering efforts with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Florida.
He taught sixth-grade language art for three years at Odyssey Middle School prior to working at Lake Nona High, the website shows. Wise serves as television production teacher at the high school and Lake Nona Middle School.
The website shows he is an award-winning writer and director of six short films that have appeared in various film festivals around the country and on television.
He also received awards for two screenplays he co-wrote, according to the school.
In addition to his work with the scouts and television production, he also sponsors the school’s Cinematography Club, Theater Tech Club, ands is technical director for the school’s plays.
Man with video camera arrested inside school bathroom www.privateofficer.com
WHAS-TV in Louisville quotes principal Joey Riddle, who said the intruder entered through a side door that was ajar on Tuesday because of a broken lock. He was challenged by a teacher, but kept on walking. Security officers found 32-year-old Donald Desranges a few minutes later in a stall of a bathroom.
A video camera was found in a bag he was carrying. It was checked and there were no images of students or staff at the school.
Desranges was charged with trespassing. He told police he went into the school to use a bathroom.
Indiana House Bill Could Extend Powers of Campus Police www.privateofficer.com
Indianapolis IN Feb 4 2011 When Montgomery County law enforcement recently asked to borrow Purdue University Police Department’s narcotics-sniffing dog, Chief John Cox wanted to help. But legally he could not.
It’s because of an Indiana statute that restricts enforcement power for university and college police to properties that belong to their respective schools.
“I’m a sworn officer, I graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. … What it comes down to is common sense,” Cox said Wednesday. “If I’m working and going down I-65 and get behind a driver who I suspect is impaired, I need to be able to pull that person over.”
That could become a reality under House Bill 1406, which would give police officers at both public and private colleges and universities statewide the same authority as city and county officers throughout Indiana.
The decision to expand jurisdiction would ultimately be left up to each school’s board of trustees, said state Rep. Randy Truitt, R-West Lafayette, the bill’s author.
Cox and West Lafayette Police Chief Jason Dombkowski are among those expected to testify at a committee hearing next week on House Bill 1406. The hearing was rescheduled from this past Tuesday because of the winter storm.
“I know there have been a large number of requests made from nearby municipalities to Purdue University for use of its resources,” Truitt said Wednesday. “It’s crazy to have this jurisdictional obstacle.”
Cox said Purdue did not lend its drug-detection K9 unit to Montgomery County because if an arrest were made based on what the dog found, it could potentially harm the prosecutor’s case.
Purdue, however, did assist the Benton County Sheriff’s Department last year after bomb threats were called into the junior-senior high school. Cox said that’s because the dog was searching only for explosives, and that action would not necessarily lead to an arrest.
No explosives were found at the school.
Cox noted that Purdue officers also often travel throughout the state while on duty, such as to accompany university President France Córdova.
The legislation has the support of Dombkowski and West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis, who can attest that cooperation efforts between departments pays off.
Purdue currently has an inter-local agreement with other Tippecanoe County law enforcement agencies that gives his officers arrest and other police powers beyond campus.
At next week’s committee hearing, Dombkowski also will be speaking as a representative of the Indiana Chiefs of Police Association.
“We often partner with the university police on calls for service — certainly in an emergency situation, you will see West Lafayette and Purdue respond cooperatively,” Dombkowski said. “We need that cooperation because we do not have the number of police officers that the FBI recommends.
“We’re fortunate to have another 40 officers in the middle of our city.”
Added Cox: “We’re all working with less resources, depending on each other more and more.”
A similar bill, authored by state Rep. Don Lehe, R-Brookston, went before the Indiana General Assembly in 2009 but failed to pass. Both Cox and Truitt said they’re confident legislators will be more open to the proposal this time around.
For instance, state Sen. Randy Head, R-Logansport, introduced parallel legislation that will go before the Senate this year, Truitt said.
“I think this is a really positive thing because it’s going to enhance public safety,” Truitt said. “It’ll get rid of any boundary disputes, jurisdictional disputes — any ambiguity.”
A similar effort by the Purdue University Fire Department to expand its jurisdiction also will be considered during the General Assembly’s current session. That bill’s authors are Sens. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, and Brandt Hershman, R-Wheatfield.
However, that bill is specific to Purdue and not university fire departments statewide.
Memphis police officer arrested for robbery www.privateofficer.com
Memphis, Tn Feb 4 2011- Memphis police officer, 26 year old Lorenzo Couch resigned from the Memphis Police Department after being accused of robbing 2 Hispanic men during a traffic stop at a gas station on Macon Rd. on January 27th.
“It’s just a shame when any law enforcement officer is caught doing the wrong thing whether, they’re targeting Hispanics or anybody else,” said Mauricio Calvo of Latino Memphis.
Court documents allege Couch robbed the men of nearly $500.
The men said Couch turned off his police lights after he stopped them. They said he was in full uniform with his duty weapon as his side.
Both men said they feared for their lives.
Calvo thinks Hispanics are often targets, “I think they wrongly think people will not report it. They might be surprised. People are speaking up.”
Police say Couch gave a detailed written statement regarding his involvement in both robberies. According to court records, Calvo admitted that the complied with him because he was a Police Officer.
Calvo believes the arrest will strengthen the relationship between the Hispanic and law enforcement community, “It’s sad to say, sometimes you need these things to happen to prove to the community it’s ok to speak and come forward.”
Source:Fox News
Ohio woman arrested for assaulting security officer www.privateofficer.com
According to police, a security guard at the Save-A-Lot grocery store on McCartney Road noticed two children playing in a car in the store’s parking lot just before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. The guard told police he was worried the children would dislodge the car’s brake and the vehicle would roll forward into the store.
Reports say the guard used the store’s intercom and asked for the car owner to come to the front of the store, but he went outside to question the children after getting no response.
The guard said Lundy came out of the store as he was near the car, grabbed him by the uniform and punched him in the mouth. The guard sprayed Lundy in the face with canned tear gas. Another guard came and helped handcuff the woman.
Security guard accidentally shoots employee www.privateofficer.com
CHESTERFIELD, MO Feb 4 2011
Chesterfield Police were called to an accidental shooting at an office building near Woodsmill Road.
According to police, a security guard was in a hallway when he accidentally dropped his weapon and it discharged.
Another employee standing nearby was struck in the leg.
Police say earlier they received a call about a disgruntle employee on the property but the incidents were not related.
The security guard was questioned but at this time will not face any charges.
The injured person was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Maricopa County sheriff’s raid on local business nets 7 arrests www.privateofficer.com
Nearly 30 deputies and investigators raided Great Western Erectors just after 4 p.m. Investigators searched for employment documentation and seized records relating to 28 suspected undocumented employees.
MCSO personnel were questioning about 13 employees. Officials said they expected more employees on site, but severe weather in Dallas delayed paycheck shipments, so many workers did not show up to collect their paychecks.
“We will follow up on this and see if we can track down those that were told not to come because of the paychecks,” Sheriff Joe Arpaio said.
Tim McKnight, a supervisor for the company, has worked in the Phoenix area for the past three years.
“This is all kind of a surprise to me,” he said. “I know they check, they are real thorough about that,” adding that Great Western Erectors used E-Verify and made employees file new I-9 forms at the beginning of the year.
Ongoing investigations could lead to the arrest of nearly a third of the manufacturing company’s employees.
“It will hurt, but we have 200 applications right now,” McKnight said.
Investigators received a tip that the business employed undocumented immigrants from a former employee, officials said.
Deputies have also arrested two other employees on outstanding warrants unrelated to identity theft.
Source:www.azcentral.com
Wa. state eye surgeon guilty in plot to kill partner www.privateofficer.com
SEATTLE WA Feb 4 2011 — A local laser eye surgeon now faces up to 41 years in prison for plotting to kill his business partner.
On Thursday, jurors reached a guilty verdict in the murder-for-hire case involving the two doctors who founded Renton-based Clearly Lasik.
Dr. Michael Mockovak was convicted of solicitation to commit first degree murder, for trying to recruit a fellow employee to help him hire a Russian hit man to kill his partner, Dr. Joseph King.
He also was accused of doing the same with a former company president, Brad Klock, but the jury acquitted Mockovak of that charge.
Jurors said they spent two days debating over what they called “the swing point.”
“In the tapes, Dr. [Mockovak] at one point says, ‘It doesn’t matter about Brad anymore, let’s talk about Joe. Brad’s just a fly on the wall,’ said juror Stephanie Delaney. “And we came back to that over and over and over again.”
Mockovak also was found guilty of attempted murder in the first degree, conspiracy to commit theft in the first degree and attempted theft in the first degree. The latter are related to accusations that, as a beneficiary of King’s life insurance policy, Mockovak stood to collect millions of dollars in King’s death.
King is also Mockovak’s neighbor and the brother-in-law of his ex-wife.
According to prosecutors, the doctors were trying to split the business. They say Mockovak was not happy with a potential settlement and offered to pay another employee, whom he believed had ties to the Russian mafia, to hire a hit man.
That employee, Daniel Kultin, went to the FBI. Together, they crafted a plan to convince Mockovak to pay a would-be assassin $25,000 for the killing, according to the charging documents.
In November 2009, Mockovak and Kultin met in Tukwila. A hidden video camera caught the doctor paying Kultin $10,000 in cash and giving him a photo of King, said prosecutors.
Mockovak was arrested five days later.
Delaney said the defense tried to convince the jury that Mockovak was never serious about the hit until authorities pushed him into it, “that there had been so much persuasion, and there had been too much persuasion and that Dr. [Mockovak] would not have done this otherwise. And we just were not persuaded.”
According to the probable cause statement, Clearly Lasik has a $5 million life insurance policy on Dr. King, of which Dr. Mockovak believed he would get half.
After the jury announced the verdict, Mockovak gave no response or comment as he was led out of the courtroom.
King was not present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced, but colleagues texted him the moment they heard the verdict.
King released the following statement through Clearly Lasik:
“My colleagues, my family and I are relieved to put this sad episode behind us. I would like to thank the law enforcement officials and prosecutors for all their work on this case. Additionally, I want to express my appreciation to the community for the tremendous support we’ve received over the past 15 months.”
Sentencing for Mockovak is scheduled for March 17 at 1:30 p.m.
Source:King 5
Security guard, bar customer charged with rape www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN Feb 4 2011 A former security guard and a regular customer at a downtown nightclub were indicted in the aggravated rape of a 19-year-old woman inside the club on May 22.
Former Graham Central Station security guard Antonio Hamm, 28, and Marris Wynne, 40 were charged with raping the woman early that morning at the Second Avenue nightclub.
Hamm and Wynne are accused of raping the woman in the basement, according to the investigation.
According to police, after the woman was separated from friends, Hamm approached her while she was at the second floor bar. Hamm told her she was too intoxicated to stay and said he would escort her out, got into the elevator and they went to the basement.
Wynne arrived and is accused of raping her shortly after Hamm went back to the bar. Wynne took the victim back to the elevator to the main floor, where the woman went back to her friends. She reported the rape the next day.
Wynne was arrested on Jan. 17 when he reported to his parole officer on a grand jury indictment charging him with four counts of aggravated rape. Hamm was indicted and arrested on Jan. 28. He was charged with two counts of aggravated rape.
Graham Central Station owners cooperated with investigators and has hired new security and management. Detectives are investigating whether other women were victimized.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Sex Crimes Unit at 862-7540.
Source:Tennessean
Alabama deputy shoots unruly man in courtroom www.privateofficer.com
Goodwater AL Feb 4 2011 An Alabama police officer shot and wounded a defendant in a small town courtroom after he tried to grab a gun and attack a judge, authorities said on Thursday.
But three witnesses gave a different version of events at the municipal court in Goodwater, a town of around 1,500 in central Alabama, northeast of state capital Montgomery.
They said the officer used unnecessary force in twice shooting a defendant they said became unruly but did not attempt to get a gun and was anyway on crutches with a broken hip sustained in a car accident.
The second shot fired by the officer was unnecessary because the defendant lay prone, they said.
After the first shot the defendant “slid down real slow. The officer took two or three more steps and shot him again,” William Allen, 20, who was in the courtroom’s third row, said in an interview.
The Alabama Bureau of Investigation said the defendant: “attacked the Municipal Court judge and attempted to forcibly obtain a firearm when he was shot by a Goodwater police officer who was providing courtroom security.”
The bureau, which did not name the defendant, based its statement on a preliminary investigation of an incident it said took place at around 9.39 a.m. local time. Witnesses said the defendant was local resident Brian Ford.
The wounded man was taken by ambulance to Sylacauga and transferred by helicopter to University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital, the bureau said.
Ford was in surgery at the hospital on Thursday afternoon, said hospital spokeswoman Nicole Wyatt.
Sara Williams, 69, a retired ambulance driver and fire fighter from Goodwater, witnessed the scene from the courtroom’s front row.
The defendant shouted at the judge after he was sentenced, swung his crutches and “got real disorderly”, provoking a melee but posed little threat because he was on crutches, she said.
People screamed when the first shot was fired and shouted at the officer not to shoot again but he told them to clear the court, “stood over him on the ground and shot him again,” she said in a version similar to that of other witnesses.
“It was senseless to shoot him twice. I could have knocked him down,” she said.
Police in Goodwater and the Coosa County sheriff’s office declined to comment.
