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Ct. mall security officers-bystanders save heart attack victim www.privateofficer.com
MILFORD CT Feb 28 2011 — A man who went into cardiac arrest while dining at a mall restaurant was saved by quick-thinking bystanders and security guards using a portable defibrillator, officials said Friday.
The 35 year-old man was eating lunch at the Red Robin restaurant in the Westfield Connecticut Post mall last Saturday when his heart stopped, said Capt. Chris Zak of the Milford Fire Department. When the customer collapsed, restaurant manager Curtis Kilburn called 911 and the mall security office.
Two bystanders began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the man, who had no pulse or heartbeat, Zak said. Jeanne DeMello, a nurse, and Mark Kipstein, an off-duty New York City firefighter, started the chest compressions within moments of the man’s collapse.
Security guards Brian Carlson and Michael Todd used the portable defibrillator to deliver one measured shock that returned the man’s heart to a normal rhythm, Zak said.
Mall spokesman Greg Udchitz said Friday that the mall owns at least two of the units, and the security guards and other Westfield personnel are trained in how to use them as well as in basic first aid and CPR. “It is very rare that we see a medical emergency like this, where we get to use our training,” he said.
Milford Fire Department paramedics arrived within four minutes, Zak said, and provided advanced life support services and oxygen. The man, who was not identified, was transported by ambulance to Milford Hospital.
All city buildings are also equipped with the Automatic External Defibrillators, which can assess the amount of electric current a patient needs to jolt his heart’s ventricular defibrillation. The life-threatening condition often keeps a person’s heart from effectively pumping blood, officials said.
The equipment and training is one of the reasons that Milford was recently designated a Heart Saver Community by the American Heart Association, Zak said. “This type of action and response shows that lives can be saved when all of the factors are in place and performed in a timely fashion,” he said. “It is only because of the actions of all of these individuals that this man is alive today.”
Source:www.ctpost.com
Arizona police shut down major shoplifting ring www.privateofficer.com
More than 30 individuals have been arrested and indicted for the alleged involvement in a major organized retail theft syndicate.
The investigation began in April 2010 and uncovered an elaborate gift card scams, identity theft and retail theft from the Angel Tree holiday toy program for kids.
The investigation has uncovered over $1.2 million in proceeds from these crimes.
Back in April the Scottsdale Police Computer Fraud detectives were contact by eBay security regarding suspicious activity on a user account. That account was later linked to Wayne Clifford Bahlman who was involved in auctions of gift cards through eBay.
Around the same time Bahlman was linked to a Home Depot shoplifting and suspicious returns investigation.
Months of further investigation revealed Bahlman had a network of associates that would recruit people to shoplift items from retail stores and then return the items for store credit cards.
Bahlman then sold the cards on eBay.
Three suspects, Mary Booker, Douglas Booker and Michael Brandenbery, were seen stealing gifts that were purchased for an Angel Tree inside Walmart. They were later observed returning those items at another Walmart location.
Investigators discovered the three suspects actually worked for the Angel Tree Foundation and were assigned to pick up gifts from the store, but instead of dropping the toys at the foundation they would return the toys for profit being funneled back to Bahlman.
A grand jury has indicated Bahlman and 35 others, alleging more than 50 felony counts including participation in a criminal syndicate, organized retail theft, fraudulent schemes and artifices, trafficking in stolen property and forgery.
The investigation was led by the newly created Arizona Electronic Crimes Task Force.
LaPorte hospital employee charged with theft of equipment www.privateofficer.com
According to our reporting partners at the Herald Argus, Cheryl Pender, 44, has been charged with theft.
Police say a supervisor at IU Health LaPorte Hospital caught Pender stealing a sleep apnea machine.
Investigators think she was selling them to VA clinics to pay for her gambling addiction.
Pender faces up to eight years in prison if convicted.
Best Buy employee charged in felony thefts www.privateofficer.com
VINELAND NJ Feb 28 2011 — Police arrested a 24-year-old Best Buy employee who allegedly stole at least $3,500 after months of making fraudulent returns and pocketing the cash, authorities said.
Tiffany S. Holmes, of the first block of South Ladow Avenue in Millville, told police she created duplicate receipts of mobile phones and entered them as customer returns starting in August 2010, according to police reports made available Friday.
She kept the cash refunds — some of which she used to help her mother with a surgery — from those returns, police said.
On Tuesday, police charged Holmes with theft by deception and two counts of forgery. Vineland Municipal Court issued her a warrant with bail set at $5,000. She was released on recognizance.
A store manager discovered the incidents Feb. 9 after a standard product count revealed several mobile phones were missing, police said.
That manager couldn’t tell police how much Holmes had pocketed since August because he could only provide documentation showing she took $3,509.26 since Dec. 12. He told police he would provide more documentation as he compiled it.
When the store manager noticed the phones were missing, he checked the store’s computer database, police said, and found the missing phones were listed as returned items, but couldn’t find them in the store.
The manager found Holmes’ employee number and the employee numbers of two other women accounted for several more phones labeled as returned, but not in stock.
Holmes later admitted she used the other employees when she was unable to make returns in her own department and told those employees it was for a customer.
“I only went to them when I couldn’t make the returns in my department and asked them to do it because I knew they wouldn’t question me if I told them it was for a customer,” she told police.
A store manager wouldn’t say Friday if Holmes was still an employee at the Vineland store.
Source:TheDailyJournal
Friends with benefits flocking to Facebook www.privateofficer.com
New York City NY Feb 28 2011 It’s a friend request with benefits – but it isn’t for free.
New York hookers are flocking to Facebook to advertise their services, a Columbia University sociologist says.
After studying the habits of 290 sex workers, Sudhir Venkatesh found that 83% rely on Facebook to lure johns.
“I estimate that by the end of 2011, Facebook will be the leading online recruitment space,” Venkatesh wrote in the February issue of Wired magazine.
Even a quick search of the uber-popular social networking site reveals a trove of sex-charged profiles.
“I’m a full Gfe [girlfriend experience] provider,” wrote “Molly Ravish” on her page, which features a picture of a young blond woman in lingerie.
“For a list of my services go to [my website].”
Ravish’s personal Web page offers titillating photos and a detailed description of her services: $200 for an hour of passion, including “deep french kissing” and oral sex – and $150 for 30 minutes.
“Succulent, sweet, and dripping with charm, I beleive [sic] you will find me to be seductive, sensuous, and enticing,” her website says.
Among Ravish’s favorite quotations listed on Facebook are several sexually suggestive phrases.
“Remember my name … you’ll be screaming it later,” reads one.
Other pages owned by local sex workers are less risque – but just as easy to find.
On her profile, “Beva Langoria” listed her employer as “independent escort” and provided an in-depth physical description.
“Hispanic, caramel soft skin, no tattoos or piercings, long dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, height 5’3″, 125-pound, beautiful smile,” reads the note on her page.
For those who are interested, Langoria included her educational background (Fordham University class of 2011) and her religious views (open).
Venkatesh says Facebook offers prostitutes a bevy of perks.
The site allows hookers to “control their image, set their prices, and sidestep some of the pimps, madams, and other intermediaries who once took a share of the revenue.”
In 2008, Facebook accounted for 25% of the regular clients served by the women Venkatesh followed.
Top NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the findings aren’t too surprising. “Everybody is using the Internet,” he said.
Still, not all sex workers are using Facebook – at least not yet.
A 32-year-old escort told the Daily News she would never advertise her services on Mark Zuckerberg’s site.
“It’s a place for teenagers to socialize, to play games, to meet friends – not a place for some dumb ass to find a piece of ass,” declared the escort, who asked to remain anonymous.
Facebook is not the only site grappling with the prostitute problem. Even after shutting down its “Adult Services” section last September, craigslist is rife with ads from women offering sex for cash.
Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said the site comes down hard on anyone who uses it for illegal ends.
source:NY Daily News
California man made more than 18,000 false calls to 911 www.privateofficer.com
EAST LOS ANGELES CA Feb 28 2011 — An East Los Angeles man is accused of making more than 18,000 crank calls to 911 over the course of six months.
California Highway Patrol officers arrested 43-year-old Maurice Cruz and booked him for misusing the 911 emergency line.
Authorities said Cruz used non-initialized cellular phones, making the calls difficult to trace. A non-initialized cellular phone is one that does not have a service plan.
The CHP, with the help from the U.S. Secret Service, eventually tracked Cruz to his home, where they found numerous cellular phones and chargers.
Cruz was booked and held on $5,000 bail.
Navy police shoot suspected DUI driver www.privateofficer.com
Police were attempting to apprehend the sailor on suspicion of drunk driving when the incident occurred, officials said. The sailor had already smashed his car into two other police vehicles, they said.
The incident began when two sailors attempted to drive onto the base through a gate near a housing complex on the base south of downtown San Diego. A security guard, suspecting that the driver had been drinking, ordered the car to pull over and wait for police, officials said.
Instead the car sped off, leading to a chase by police in which the two vehicles were struck. After that, officials said, one sailor got out of the vehicle and was arrested, but the driver sped off again and attempted to ram another police vehicle.
The sailor who was shot is listed in stable condition at the UC San Diego Medical Center. Both sailors are enlisted, officials said.
Source:LA NOW
2 Hospital security officers injured by board member www.privateofficer.com
OCEANSIDE, Calif.Feb 28 2011 — Witnesses said a controversial North County hospital board member stormed into the board’s monthly meeting on Thursday night and injured two security guards.
Tri-City Healthcare Board of Director member Charlene Anderson told 10News when fellow board member Kathleen Sterling came into the room where the meeting was held, security immediately surrounded her. Anderson said she saw Sterling pushing and shoving against five security guards while shouting that she just wanted to say hello to someone. Anderson described the scene as frightening.
“I saw a person with blood on his clothing,” said Anderson. “I’ve never even heard of such a thing and I’m absolutely embarrassed.”
Hospital administrators brought in three extra security guards specifically to control Sterling. Administrators said Sterling’s frequent outbursts and verbal assaults at them during meetings – which include a time when Sterling referred to them as “Nazis” – are escalating into physical intimidation.
After the incident, Oceanside police arrived and took a report. Sterling was not arrested. Charges will not be filed because one of the injured guards does not want to press charges.
Board members have censured Sterling six times in the last six months. Part of that political reprimand forbids her from being in the same room as other board members during meetings. Sterling must stay in another room and communicate with the board through a speakerphone. On Thursday night, Sterling walked into the meeting anyway and was quickly blocked by guards.
Anderson said she doesn’t feel safe around Sterling anymore because her behavior has become so erratic and unpredictable.
“Personally, I would feel better if I had a restraining order from her being anywhere near me,” said Anderson.
No one answered the door at Sterling’s Oceanside home when 10News tried to get her side of the story. When reached by phone, Sterling refused to comment.
Hospital administrators said they intend to file a restraining order against Sterling so if she tries to walk into another meeting, she can be arrested.
Tn. teen who killed grandparents commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
KNOXVILLE TN Feb 28 2011 — A Hawkins County teen accused of murdering his grandparents nearly a year ago apparently committed suicide in his jail cell in a Knox County juvenile detention facility around 11:40 p.m. Saturday.
Brandon Charles Fannin, 17, formerly of 3210 Stanley Valley Road, Surgoinsville, was indicted by the Hawkins County grand jury in December on two counts of first-degree murder in the April 15, 2010, deaths of his grandparents.
He had been housed in Knoxville since November after he reportedly told a Hawkins County jailer he wanted to harm himself.
According to a report filed by Knox County Sheriff’s Office Detective Walt Schmidt, jail officer Jimmy Randolph was doing a cell check around 11:40 p.m. Saturday when he found Fannin had hanged himself in his cell with a bed sheet.
Randolph told investigators he was assisted by Sgt. Samantha Worley in getting Fannin down and immediate attempts to revive Fannin conducted by both officers were unsuccessful.
Fannin was then taken to the Regional Forensic Center for an autopsy.
Jail officers reportedly told Schmidt that Fannin hadn’t made any statements to them or indicated to them in any way he intended to do harm to himself.
Schmidt added, however, that investigators found a note in Fannin’s cell “indicating the victim’s intention.”
There were no signs of foul play, Schmidt stated in his report. Schmidt added that the investigation revealed that Fannin died of an apparent suicide.
Fannin was accused in the deaths of his grandparents, Clyde Fannin, 64, and Linda Fannin, 54, at their home on Stanley Valley Road. According to juvenile court records, Clyde Fannin became Brandon Fannin’s legal guardian on Aug. 15, 2007.
Not much information about Brandon Fannin’s life before that time has been made public, although he was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and attention deficit disorder.
Police said Clyde Fannin, a retired police officer from Newport News, Va., was shot at least 20 times in the head. Brandon Fannin reportedly told police he shot his grandfather while he lay sleeping on the couch.
When Linda Fannin came home from work that day, Brandon Fannin allegedly slit her throat and stabbed her at least 17 times.
After the murders, Brandon Fannin admittedly watched porn and played video games and then left in the family van with $500 he took from the home. Members of the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office were waiting at the home when he returned two days later.
Hawkins County Sheriff Ronnie Lawson said his department received notice of Brandon Fannin’s death around 2:45 a.m. and he notified Attorney General Berkeley Bell on Sunday morning.
No definite trial date for Fannin had been set, and in fact, a Feb. 18 pretrial appearance in Hawkins County Criminal Court was postponed because a new defense attorney was going to be appointed by Judge John Dugger.
Fannin was ordered to be tried as an adult following a hearing in Hawkins County Juvenile Court on Aug. 10, 2010.
In November, he was transferred from the Hawkins County Jail — where he’d been held since being transferred to adult court — to the custody of the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center in Knox County after he made comments about harming himself.
“He had attempted a couple of times to scratch his wrists with plastic knives in our jail, but he wasn’t seriously injured,” Lawson said. “That’s why we had him moved to a juvenile facility in Knoxville. Their facility was better suited for watching juveniles. We had to segregate him from adult inmates, and we’re just not set up to house juveniles in our facility.
“If an adult threatens suicide, we put them on suicide watch and we can watch them on camera, but with Mr. Fannin, we had to house him in a whole cell block by himself, which put us at a real disadvantage trying to keep an eye on him 24 hours a day.”
On Jan. 1, Fannin tried to escape from the Bean juvenile center by choking a guard and threatening to kill him if others didn’t open the doors. The attempt was caught on facility surveillance video.
Richard Bean, who is superintendent of the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center, said Sunday he had Fannin transferred to a juvenile facility in the Knox County Jail shortly after his escape attempt.
Bean noted that Fannin hadn’t threatened to harm himself prior to his transfer to the Knox County Jail juvenile facility.
Arkansas nightclub security stabbed www.privateofficer.com
Police say Kyle Sosebee, a bouncer at the club, was trying to escort 32-year-old Jayson Campbell outside, when Campbell stabbed Sosebee in the back.
Campbell was arrested and is being held at the Sebastian County Jail for 2nd Degree Battery. Sosebee is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Houston security officer shoots bar patron www.privateofficer.com
HOUSTON TX Feb 28 2011 – A shooting inside a southeast Houston nightclub landed a woman in the hospital early Sunday.
Police said a female in the El Antro nightclub near the intersection of Ogden and Gulf Freeway was causing a disturbance around 2:00 a.m. when a security guard pulled out his gun and shot her one time.
She was transported to the hospital in serious condition.
No more details were immediately available.
Source:KHOU
