Archive
OFFICER DOWN—Police Officer Craig Birkholz
Wisconsin
End of Watch: Sunday, March 20, 2011
Biographical Info
Age: 28
Tour of Duty: 2 years
Badge Number: 67
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Sunday, March 20, 2011
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Committed suicide
Officer Craig Birkholz was shot after he and another officer responded to a home at approximately 6:00 am for an emergency call.
He was killed and a second officer was critically wounded during an ensuing shootout and standoff. The suspect committed suicide during the standoff.
Officer Birkholz had served with the Fond du Lac Police Department for two years.
Agency Contact Information
Fond du Lac Police Department
126 North Main Street
Fond du Lac, WI 54935
Phone: (920) 322-3700
Please contact the Fond du Lac Police Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
OFFICER DOWN–Police Officer Jermaine Gibson
Police Officer Jermaine Gibson
Cathedral City Police Department
California
End of Watch: Saturday, March 19, 2011
Biographical Info
Age: 29
Tour of Duty: 1 year, 6 months
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Vehicle pursuit
Date of Incident: Friday, March 18, 2011
Weapon Used: Automobile
Suspect Info: In custody
Officer Jermaine Gibson was killed in a high-speed chase after his patrol car left the road and collided with a tree.
Officer Gibson attempted to pull over a stolen vehicle at approximately 23:30 hours and gave chase after the suspect failed to pull over. His vehicle left the road and crashed in Palm Springs at approximately 23:55 hours. The suspect vehicle also crashed, and two suspects were taken into custody.
Officer Gibson was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after midnight.
Officer Gibson had been with Cathedral City for approximately 18 months, and had been in law enforcement for approximately three years. He is survived by his wife and infant son.
Agency Contact Information
Cathedral City Police Department
68-700 Ave Lalo Guerrero
Cathedral City, CA 92234
Phone: (760) 770-0300
Please contact the Cathedral City Police Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
OFFICER DOWN-Police Officer Andrew Dunn
Sandusky Police DepartmentMichigan mall adds dog patrols www.privateofficer.com
HARPER WOODS, Mich. March 21 2011– The company that owns Northland Center in Southfield and Eastland Center in Harper woods has decided to have security dogs patrol the malls in order to boost security.
Jones Lang LaSalle management company said shoppers will not be encouraged to interact with the trained German shepherds. The dogs will react only to their trainers’ command, the company said.
The efforts to beef up security at the malls comes after recent shootings at Eastland Center.
Security officer gagged- robbed at gunpoint at Penn Hills Hindu Temple www.privateofficer.com
PENN HILLS, Pa.March 21 2011 — Police in Penn Hills are searching for four men who attacked and robbed a security guard at gunpoint outside a Hindu temple on Thursday morning.
Police said four men wearing ski masks attacked the guard outside the Sri Venkateswara Temple in the 1200 block of South McCully Drive shortly after midnight.
“The guard was working in a shack or trailer-type structure and all of a sudden the door came open and an individual started opening the trailer. And the security guard tried to defend himself, went after the individual and pushed him. At that point, there were three other individuals outside waiting. They grabbed the guard, pulled him out of the trailer, blindfolded him and tied him up, laid him on the ground, pointed a gun at him and threatened him,” said Chief Howard Burton of the Penn Hills Police Department
After the robbery, the robbers left the scene in a black car.
Police said the robbers took money, a knife and a laptop from the guard. They also took the guard’s keys and used them to open the temple where they stole three small safes, police said.
“It may be anywhere from a maximum of $10,000 to $15,000 worth of cash, marked jewels and a couple of charge cards,” said chairman NB Krishnappa.
The guard was not injured in the attack.
Police said the guard was only able to describe the robbers as black men in black clothing, hooded sweatshirts and gloves.
“Things like this should have never happened. These are the places you worship and sanctity and spirituality. These things shouldn’t be disturbed,” said Krishnappa.
Those who worship at the temple said they’re grateful the gunmen never entered the area where they pray.
“That would be a more religious, sentimental disturbance because of the breach of our religious sanctity,” said secretary Raja Reddy Vangeti.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact Penn Hills police.
Source:WTAE
Police seek suspect in security guard stabbing www.privateofficer.com
Erie PA March 21 2011 City police issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday for a city man accused of cutting a store security guard with a knife earlier this month.
Police said Jose Arenas, 19, for whom no address was available, faces charges of aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and possessing instruments of crime for an incident that happened at the Shell station at 605 Parade St. on March 6.
Arenas is accused of cutting a store security guard three times in the left arm when the guard attempted to break up a fight between Arenas and another man shortly before 3 a.m. on March 6, according to police.
Arenas fled the store after the incident and was last seen walking east on East Sixth Street, police said.
Arenas is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Erie police Detective Sgts. Jon Peters and Jim Spagel at 870-1159, or the Erie police officer in charge at 870-1120.
Source:Erie Times
NJ cop arrested for shaking down illegal immigrants www.privateofficer.com
ELIZABETH, N.J. March 21 2011 (AP) — A police officer in northern New Jersey has been charged with shaking down illegal immigrants for money.
Prosecutors say Elizabeth officer Rocco Malgieri made unwarranted motor vehicle stops of Hispanic men, questioned them about their residency status and told them he’d report them to immigration officials unless they gave him money.
Malgieri, a 19-year veteran, was suspended without pay after turning himself in to Union County prosecutors Thursday. He’s charged with extortion, official misconduct and soliciting bribes.
The Brick Township resident was released on a $20,000 property bond pending a first court appearance on March 30.
His lawyer, Donald DiGioia, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
Off- duty security officer prevents robbery www.privateofficer.com
Fresno CA March 21 2011 Police said an off-duty security guard prevented a robbery from happening at a west Fresno check cashing business Thursday.
Shortly after 5:00 p.m., officers went to the Advance America store at Clinton and Brawley.
Detectives said two men walked in and pointed a gun at the clerk.
“I was inside at work and I heard two shots. I came running out and I saw the guy on the floor and another guy hovering over him and the guy hovering over him said he shot him because he tried to rob the store,” said Andrea, a worker from a neighboring business.
Authorities said that man was an off-duty security guard. Investigators said he happened to be at the Advance America with his wife and kids when the men walked in.
Police said the guard shot one of the men in the leg but that the other ran out the door.
That man is described as African American, in his early 20s and weighs approximately 200 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.
The man who was shot in the leg was arrested, accused of attempting to rob the business.
Earlier in the day, police went to the Ace Cash Express on Fresno and Bullard after at least two men tried to rob that business.
A worker was able to call 9-1-1 and press an alarm to alert police.
An officer shot and killed one of the would-be robbers. Another man, 26–year–old Leonard Jackson, was taken into custody.
Officers continue to search for another man who might have been involved in this attempted robbery.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fresno Police Department at (559) 621-7000.
El Paso student runs down security officer www.privateofficer.com
El Paso TX March 21 2011 A Parkland High School student is accused of trying to run over a security guard in the campus parking lot.
Dante Shaquille Jenkins, 18, was arrested by El Paso police Wednesday on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police said. Jenkins, who had a warrant for a theft charge, was released from jail Thursday on $6,000 bail.
Police said Jenkins was told by a security guard to leave campus because of an incident that morning, but he returned in a gray 1988 Ford Mustang.
When approached by the guard, Jenkins allegedly drove forward and hit the guard’s knee with his bumper, police said. Jenkins then revved the engine, forcing the guard to jump out of the way. Jenkins, of the 5600 block of Kensington Circle, drove away but was soon arrested.
Woman arrested for robbing casinos in Sioux Falls www.privateofficer.com
Nicole Marie Thode, 36, faces two counts of first-degree robbery for thefts in August and January at Blinky’s Casino at 1201 Teakwood St. in Brandon and one count for a January theft from the Easy Dough Casino at 2309 W. 12th St. in Sioux Falls.
The clerks gave similar physical descriptions of the suspect in each respective robbery, but the break in the case came when a security camera at the Easy Dough caught Thode’s white Ford Taurus on tape, Brandon Police Chief Dave Kull said.
Kull’s detectives found a toy handgun at Blinky’s after the first incident, but no one saw Thode’s car.
“No vehicle had ever been seen in Brandon,” Kull said.
A Brandon police officer saw the vehicle driving through town a few days after the Sioux Falls robbery. Officers from Brandon and Sioux Falls served a search warrant on Thode’s home and found enough evidence to persuade a grand jury to indict her on robbery charges.
The indictment and warrant for her arrest were signed Wednesday.
Thode will be in court Monday for an initial appearance on the charges, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
She remains in custody at the Minnehaha County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond.
Thode has several felony arrests for forgery in her South Dakota criminal history but no violent offenses. The forgery charges, all from 1999, were dismissed, as were two counts of grand theft and two counts of passing checks against a nonexistent account.
She has a pending forgery and identity theft case in Minnehaha County, however, and pleaded not guilty to theft by insufficient funds check Jan. 4 – just two days before the alleged robbery at Easy Dough.
Mississippi nightclub sued for lack of security www.privateofficer.com
Twenty-one-year- old Bobby Ray Moffett of Laurel was also shot in the club parking lot February 27th.
According to the lawsuit, nightclub security officers failed to provide a reasonably safe environment for customers.
Moffett is seeking $42 million in damages.
Earlier, former USM football player Martez Smith filed suit for $87 million after being paralyzed in a shooting at the club last fall.
Woman caught in gunfire intended for security guard www.privateofficer.com
Jackson MS March 21 2011 Authorities are investigating a shooting that took place early this morning where a teenage girl was hit by a bullet police think was not intended for her.
Jackson Police Department spokeswoman Colendula Green said an unidentified 16-tear-old girl was shot in the right side of her buttocks around 2 a.m. around the 3700 block of Medgar Evers Boulevard.
The girl was shot when a man at the Fuel Express gas station on Medgar Evers was shooting across the street toward a security guard at the Purple Passion night club, according to police.
“She was in between the club and the gas station,” Green said.
Further information on what the 16-year-old girl was doing when she was shot is unavailable.
Police are searching for the gunman. Anyone with information on this crime is urged to call JPD at (601) 960-1234, or Crimestoppers at (601) 355-TIPS (8477).
Pasadena school security officer faces sex charges involving student www.privateofficer.com
Johnson faces one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object, one count of contact with a minor for sexual purposes and one count of contact with a minor for lewd conduct.
The charges stem from a March 3 incident where Johnson sent text messages to a 16-year-old female student at Marshall and arranged a meeting outside of school, said Scott Phelps, a PUSD board member, and school board liaison to Marshall Fundamental.
After sending a series of text messages on March 3, Johnson picked up the girl in his car and took her to a forested area nearby, according to Phelps.
Johnson, who remains in custody at Los Angeles County’s Twin Towers Jail on $100,000 bail, has been placed on administrative leave.
“The school acted quickly to place the employee on leave and launch an investigation immediately upon hearing that there may have been improper behavior,” said Binti Harvey, PUSD spokeswoman in a statement released Friday. “The matter was subsequently referred to the Pasadena Police Department, and a criminal investigation is now under way.”
When confronted by PUSD officials, both Johnson and the victim denied that any sexual contact occurred during the March 3 incident, Phelps said.
Johnson’s arraignment, originally scheduled for March 11, was rescheduled to March 25 in Dept. N of the Pasadena Courthouse, according to Jane Robison, L.A. County District Attorney spokeswoman.
While the PUSD learned of Johnson’s actions on March 9, the district didn’t release any information to the public until Friday.
“When an allegation is made against an employee, particularly one involving a student, it is our responsibility to support and protect the student, cooperate with the police department, and ensure that we don’t violate the employee’s right to confidentiality or due process by inappropriately disclosing information,” Harvey said, in a statement Friday.
Pasadena Police Department officials declined to comment on Friday, but added that they planned to issue a statement on the incident on Monday.
The incident involving Johnson is not the first time a PUSD employee or district consultant has been embroiled in a sex-related scandal.
During the 2002-03 school year, John Laurence Whitaker, a convicted rapist, worked for Pasadena DADS – Dads are Doing Something – a mentoring program for fathers that operated on PUSD property.
In 1998, three sex-related scandals involving three different employees at Muir were discovered.
Former John Muir track coach Clyde Turner was arrested and later convicted of molesting a 15-year-old student at the coach’s home.
Prosecutors in the Turner case revealed Muir officials covered up complaints against Turner dating back to 1984 because of his reputation as a successful track coach. The district later agreed to pay the a $355,000 settlement to one of Turner’s victims.
Former Muir Math Department Head Cyrus Javaheri had a sexual relationship with a young woman that started in her senior year at Muir, according to court papers.
The relationship sparked an investigation that revealed Javaheri had sex with a second underage student, groped a third and even convinced a colleague to participate in a three-way sexual encounter with one of the girls. Javaheri would later enter a guilty plea to oral copulation and unlawful sexual intercourse with two former students when they were 17.
Source:www.pasadenastarnews.com
Frisco City Alabama police chief arrested for rape www.privateofficer.com
A judge set Marshall’s bail at $105,000 on Friday morning, according to Monroe County District Attorney Tommy Chapman.
Chapman said the woman, whose identity was withheld due to the nature of the alleged crime, went to the sheriff’s office Thursday and reported that Marshall, 39, assaulted her in his police vehicle while he was on duty the day before.
According to investigators, the woman said she went to the police station Wednesday to report the theft of her computer, and the chief told her to accompany him to another location as part of the investigation. He instead drove her to a secluded road south of town and forcibly raped her in his police cruiser, she told authorities.
Officers arrested Marshall on Thursday, charging him with an ethics violation and after further investigation added the rape charge early Friday. Chapman said the officer’s car had been impounded and transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for examination.
Attempts to contact Mayor Sue Starr were unsuccessful Friday.
Marshall has other legal challenges. Court records show a loan company sued Marshall on Monday over a $500 debt, and a paternity case filed against him in January by a 22-year-old woman is still pending.
His arrest comes a week after a former part-time officer in the neighboring town of Excel was indicted on a felony sex abuse charge for allegedly forcing a woman to engage in sexual activity while he was on duty, records show. Former officer Billy A. “T.J.” Hilton Jr. was released last week on $50,000 bail.
Security-police officers assaulted during disturbance www.privateofficer.com
Islamorada Fla March 21 2011 – Deputies responding to reports of a domestic dispute wound up in a struggle with the suspect, who bit and kicked at those trying to subdue him.
At 1 a.m. Sunday, Deputies Patricia Garcia, Frank Delgado and Yunier Galvez responded to the parking lot of Holiday Isle Resort. They met with the female victim, who had called Sheriff’s dispatchers to report a domestic dispute with her boyfriend. She pointed to a group of three men standing a distance away, identifying her boyfriend as the one wearing a blue shirt and black undershirt. She identified him as 25 year old Damien Marichal of Gainesville, Florida.
As deputies approached Marichal, he took off running. He ran past Deputy Garcia and she was able to grab him, stopping his flight. He continued to resist, fighting with the deputies trying to detain him and with a Holiday Isle security officer who was assisting them. During the struggle, he hit and kicked the officers, and bit the security officer, drawing blood with the bite.
He was handcuffed and placed into a patrol car. He managed to slip out of the handcuffs and continued struggling, kicking at the back windows of the vehicle. Deputies threatened to use their Tasers on him and he finally calmed down and stopped resisting.
He was arrested. He was charged with aggravated battery, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence. He was booked into jail.
Nashville security officers in gunbattle with possible gang members www.privateofficer.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. March 21 2011– A shootout inside a West Nashville bowling alley ended with one person hurt and four men in police custody Saturday night.
It happened just after midnight at the Strike and Spare bowling alley on Charlotte Pike.
Police said four men walked into the bowling alley and were confronted by security. Two of the men walked outside and began shooting into the building, police said.
Meanwhile, the two other men fired shots inside the bowling alley, hitting a person in the foot, police said.
Officers said the security guard began firing shots as the men ran out. Bullets hit several cars in the process.
All four men managed to drive off until police caught up with them near 39th and Clifton streets.
One of the suspects tried to run but was caught by an officer.
Gang detectives are investigating the case.
Woodburn basketball coach charged with student sex crimes www.privateofficer.com
Source:Woodburn Independent.
Napa High teacher sent to jail for sexting student www.privateofficer.com
A Napa County Superior Court judge said Friday that 41-year-old Linda Vass will not have to register as a sex offender, noting that she is undergoing therapy and has no prior criminal record.
Vass was arrested in November after police said she sent numerous sexually explicit texts and photos to a Napa Valley High School student. She pleaded no contest in January to distributing lewd material to a minor.
The Napa Valley Register reports that Vass sobbed during her sentencing and apologized for her actions, telling the court she was “now a shell of a person.”
Sandusky Ohio police officer gunned down www.privateofficer.com
Sandusky OH March 21 2011 A city police Officer Andrew “Andy” Dunn died early Saturday morning after being gunned down while patrolling the streets of Sandusky.
The grisly scene played out shortly after 3 a.m. as shouts of “Shots fired!” and “Officer down!” rang out from the police scanner and officers rushed to the scene.
Dunn had approached Kevin D. Randleman, 50, 900 block W. Adams St., as Randleman rode down Tyler Street on a bicycle.
The two exchanged gunfire, with Dunn sustaining multiple gunshot wounds and Randleman sustaining at least one gunshot wound.
Firefighters rushed Dunn to Firelands Regional Medical Center’s emergency room, where doctors pronounced him dead at 4:33 a.m.
Dunn, 30, is the first Sandusky police officer to die in the line of duty in more than a century and the first ever killed by gunfire.
Traffic stop
The Erie County Sheriff’s office is investigating the incident with the help of the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.
So far they’ve determined that Dunn, while patrolling the area of Tyler Street and Hayes Avenue, spotted Randleman on a bicycle. Dunn asked dispatchers to check for warrants on Randleman, but dispatchers didn’t find any.
Dunn then tried to stop Randleman. Radio traffic indicates Randleman refused to stop.
“This was self-initiated activity by Officer Dunn, doing what he did every day in his job as a police officer,” Erie County Sheriff’s Capt. Paul Sigsworth said about the stop.
Once Randleman did stop, Dunn got out of his patrol car. It’s not clear what happened after that, but another Sandusky officer arrived just after shots were fired, Sigsworth said. Investigators are trying to determine who fired first.
“Shots fired! Shots fired! Shots fired!” the second officer yelled into his radio. He then reported that an officer had been downed with gunshot wounds to the chest.
Dunn wore a bulletproof vest, a standard protocol for officers on patrol, noted interim Sandusky police Chief Jim Lang. Sigsworth declined to specify the locations of Dunn’s wounds or at what range shots were fired. The Lucas County coroner’s office will perform an autopsy as soon as Monday.
Investigation continues
Collection of evidence and analysis of the crime scene lasted several hours Saturday.
The shooting took place between the hospital’s Professional Center I and Professional Center II. Randleman’s bike still lay on the sidewalk late Saturday morning. Numbered tags marked the spots where bullet casings and a handgun fell to the ground nearby. Six bullet holes dented the windowpanes of Professional Center II.
Police barricaded the entire block between Hayes Avenue and Prospect Street as officers combed the area for clues.
One thing’s clear: Both Dunn’s firearm and the other handgun were fired, and no one else fired any shots, Sigsworth said.
Nearby residents said gunfire startled them awake. They looked outside as more than a dozen cars from several law enforcement agencies swarmed the scene.
Ron Lunsford, who has lived in his Prospect Street home for 40 years, said he heard at least five gunshots.
“I heard pop pop pop pop pop,” he said. “It sounded like a high-powered gun. It didn’t sound like a little .22.”
Polk Street resident Jason Scott said he and his neighbor heard more like 10 shots. Scott called his dogs, grabbed his gun and went out to his backyard, which overlooks the crime scene.
He didn’t realize at the time that a police officer had been shot, but he heard someone shouting that “Kevin” had done it. He overheard other officers, too.
“I heard them talking to the cop, telling him he was going to be OK and everything,” Scott said. “But evidently he wasn’t.”
Source:Sandusky Register
Security officer shoots-kills armed man at MO. 7-11 www.privateofficer.com
KANSAS CITY, Missouri March 21 2011 – Kansas City, Mo. police say that a security guard shot and killed a man at a 7-11 early Saturday morning.
The shooting occurred in the 3200 block of Independence Ave.
Police said that the shooting happened after the man tried to attack the guard with a knife while being escorted out of the business.
When police arrived they found the victim, a 24-year-old male, with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back.
The man was taken to Truman Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
The name of the victim has not been released.
Police are currently investigating the incident.
Knife wielding man at Staples Center shuts down basketball game www.privateofficer.com
Los Angeles CA March 21 2011 A steak knife-wielding man held police and security guards at bay for nearly an hour at the Staples Center before the Los Angeles Clippers’ game Saturday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, authorities said.
The center’s general manager, Lee Zeidman, said the man, who was not identified, walked into the venue through an employee entrance. He said security officers tried to block his entry, but the man was brandishing the blade.
The man ran to the arena floor, where he was met by 25 security staffers who surrounded him until police arrived.
He eventually made his way to the visiting bench, where he spoke to three police officers with their guns drawn from approximately 20 feet away.
Zeidman said the man made no demands or offer a motive for his actions.
“He was talking a lot of gibberish, making a lot of veiled threats, and nobody could really understand him,” Zeidman said. “There were no specific demands. He told us: ‘Just back away or else you’re going to get hurt. Leave me alone. I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to get whatever I want.’”
Police shot the man with a beanbag gun and detained him after he made a move toward a tunnel leading off the court. He was placed in handcuffs and escorted out by police.
Spectators with VIP access to the 12:30 p.m. game had begun filing into the arena, but were evacuated once the incident began. Players from both teams watched the drama unfold on a TV outside the Cavaliers’ dressing room before they were instructed to return to their locker rooms.
The court was reopened to players, media and arena employees 18 minutes after the man’s arrest.
Officer Norma Eisenman, a police spokeswoman, confirmed the man’s arrest and said an off-duty officer reported the incident, but did not release other details.
