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Dallas security officer wrongly accused of robberies lives a continuing nightmare www.privateofficer.com
DALLAS TX March 27 2011- It’s one of the most stunning local crimes ever captured on videotape.
A band of robbers were seen smashing jewelry cases in the middle of Stonebriar Centre Mall in the middle of the day.
One man arrested told police that Quinn Anthony Johnson helped them in a similar heist at the Shops of Willow Bend. They sent an FBI SWAT team to arrest him.
“I was puzzled,” he said. “What are you talking about? You have the wrong person.”
Unable to raise bond money, Johnson sat in the Collin County Jail almost three months until police realized he was right. The charge of engaging in organized crime was dropped in the interest of justice.
But, after they cleared Johnson, they did not set him free because while he was in jail, Plano police shared his name with other departments investigating similar crimes, including a robbery at Zales Jewelers in Irving Mall.
In the arrest warrant, Irving police claimed a witness picked Johnson out of a photo lineup. The witness said Johnson was armed with a handgun and placed 35 diamond rings valued at $93,000 in a sack.
“I got transferred to Dallas County and had to play another waiting game,” he said.
His bond went up to $1 million and he sat in the jail while his life fell apart.
“I lost my car, my apartment, everything in the process while I was in jail,” he said. “It’s been real rough on me.”
It took the Dallas District Attorney three more months to drop the charges, again, in the interest of justice.
To police and prosecutors, it’s all routine. They did their job; they set him free. But, to Johnson, it’s not that simple.
“No harm no foul on them,” he said. “It says on my dismissal papers, it says ‘in the interest of justice.’ I’m asking, ‘Where’s the justice at?’”
These days, Johnson has to wait for a bus since he doesn’t have a car because he doesn’t have a job. Whenever an employer checks his record, they see the felonies and refuse to hire him.
“He’s not been able to work, barely been able to eat, take care of ourselves,” said Sparkles Taylor, his fiancée. “I’m the only one who’s working.”
Johnson used to be a licensed security guard, but no one wants an armed guard who has been indicted for armed robbery. Clearing his name became more important six months ago when Quinn Anthony Jr. was born.
“My whole thing is my family right now, try to provide for my family, to give my son something I ever had in life,” he said.
It’s possible to get his record expunged. All Johnson knows is that he needs a lawyer that he can’t afford.
“With that felony, even if it’s dismissed, as long as it’s showing on my record, they can’t hire me,” he said.
News 8 has been calling police and prosecutors about the case for a month. Thursday, Dallas prosecutors said they found a way to clear his name. His court appointed lawyer will file a motion to expunge his record and the District Attorney’s Office will not oppose the motion. If the judge agrees, the record of his felony indictment will be erased.
It’s great news for Johnson, who is already starting over, riding the bus every day to a trade school where he has been studying air conditioning and making straight “A”s. He can only hope that now an employer will trust him because these days he spells justice with three letters – j.o.b.
Security officer assaulted during vandalism-arson www.privateofficer.com
El Centro CA March 27 2011
A security guard suffered minor injuries Thursday night after he was assaulted by two men sometime before a haystack was set ablaze at the Eight Star Commodities yard, a sheriff’s official said today.
It was not immediately known whether the guard was unconscious but once he regained his footing a haystack was on fire in the northwest area of the Silsbee Road property, said Imperial County Sheriff’s Sgt. Manuel De Leon. While the guard did not provide authorities with a reliable description, De Leon said the assailants were both male Caucasians.
No one has been arrested for setting the haystack ablaze at a time when high winds were fueling the flames, De Leon said. The arson fire is the second to occur at the facility since Feb. 18, when three Imperial men were arrested on suspicion of setting haystacks on fire.
Texas teacher arrested for sex crimes with student www.privateofficer.com
Starr County TX March 27 2011 A female teacher is behind bars after she allegedly used alcohol to get sexual contact with a teenage boy at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show & Rodeo.
Michelle Falcon Garza surrendered to Mercedes police after being accused of furnishing alcohol to a minor and indecency with a child.
The 32-year-old Starr County woman was lead in handcuffs into the Mercedes Municipal Court where she was joined by her attorney.
The 16-year-old boy’s mother told Action 4 News that Garza was a family friend until she learned what happened.
The mother said Garza is a teacher at Rio Grande City’s Veterans Middle School and was competing in the rodeo earlier this month.
School district officials could not be reached for comment on Friday evening.
According to the teen’s mother, Garza was camping at the rodeo in a trailer.
The 16-year-old’s mother said Garza allegedly lured the boy into her trailer and plied him with alcohol.
The mother later discovered what had happened and contacted police.
Garza was booked into the Hidalgo County Jail on Friday evening where she remains in custody under $55,000 dollars in bonds
Source:ValleyCentral.com
Montgomery teacher-pastor arrested for sexual torture www.privateofficer.com
MONTGOMERY, AL March 27 2011 – A former Montgomery church employee and author has been arrested on accusations of child abuse and sexual torture.
Dr. Barry Cook, 47 of Montgomery, was arrested Thursday on charges of Sexual Torture and Aggravated Child Abuse. He also has an outstanding warrant for Domestic Violence in the Third Degree.
Cook is listed as a leadership teacher and member of the Pastoral Staff at the Christian Life Church on Monticello Drive in Montgomery. On the church’s website, Cook is listed as teaching the “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Power: God Still Speaks” class on Sunday mornings. According to Montgomery Child Protect spokesperson, Jannah Bailey, Cook was fired from the church earlier this week.
Investigators said that the the victim is a 12-year-old boy who recently moved to this area with his family and few other details are being released.
Cook was placed in the Montgomery County Detention Facility. The warrant for Domestic Violence will be served upon his release from the facility.
Source: WFSA
NYPD commander brutually beaten by ex-husband www.privateofficer.com
New York NY March 27 2011 A top NYPD commander was brutally beaten by her jealous ex-cop husband who suspected she was cheating on him with a detective, sources told the Daily News on Thursday.
Deputy Inspector Juanita Holmes wound up in the hospital with broken ribs and her estranged husband, retired Hempstead, L.I., Detective William Fowlkes, was arrested, sources said.
Fowlkes, 47, followed Holmes, 46, to the other man’s Suffolk County home on Monday and began pummeling her on the front lawn, sources said.
Her piercing screams brought Holmes’ friend charging out of his house – and he chased Fowlkes away, the sources said.
Suffolk County cops busted Fowlkes on Tuesday and charged him with misdemeanor assault, trespassing and criminal mischief.
A judge gave Holmes, the commander of the 81st Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, an order of protection against Fowlkes, who bills himself as a “success coach.”
The domestic-violence incident sent shock waves through the NYPD.
“Inspector Holmes is a highly regarded police executive who is the victim of a terrible crime,” said Roy Richter, president of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association.
“She has the care and support of her friends and co-workers as she recovers from this traumatic act of violence.”
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly recently named Holmes to run the 81st Precinct, which had been rocked by a crime-stat fudging scandal under previous leadership.
NYPD brass had no immediate comment on the assault.
“She’s a good lady, and a good cop and this is a horrible thing to have happened to her,” a police source said.
Holmes and Fowlkes, who once shared a home in Baldwin, L.I., recently separated and were living in different apartments, sources said.
It was unclear if Holmes was romantically involved with the man she was visiting – who is a member of the NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force – or if they are just friends.
Fowlkes believed his wife was having an affair and had been privately surveilling her to prove it, sources said.
A source who knows both Holmes and Fowlkes described them as “both good people.”
“Sometimes things happen and emotions take over,” that source said.
Fowlkes could not be reached for comment yesterday. A message left on his answering machine was not returned.
He was released Tuesday after being arraigned in Suffolk County First District Court in Central Islip and told to return April 8.
Holmes had yet to return to duty yesterday.
Twice-married, she is a 24-year NYPD veteran from a family of cops. Four sisters and a brother are on the force; another brother is a corrections officer; and another is a bounty hunter.
“I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights on this job, but I love what I do,” she told the Brooklyn Eagle community newspaper in October.
Source:New York Daily
Savannah security officer shot www.privateofficer.com
According to our print partner, The Savannah Morning News, officers were called to the bar just after 1 a.m. and found 32-year-old Nathan Sanchell shot.
Police say Sanchell’s injuries are not life threatening.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at 912-234-2020 or text CRIMES (274637). In the body type, include “CStop2020” plus the tip. Tipsters remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward.
Security officer shot at chasing hit-run suspect www.privateofficer.com
FLINT, Michigan March 27 2011— A security guard was uninjured after a man shot at his vehicle early Saturday morning when he chased down a green 2006 Jeep Wrangler that struck several cars in a parking lot off Dort Highway.
Two men in the Jeep entered the parking lot of a business on Dort Highway shortly before 1 a.m., and the driver ran into several cars after the guard confronted them and they flashed guns at him.
The guard then got into his own vehicle — which was struck twice by the suspect’s vehicle — and followed them to Fox Lane where the Jeep’s driver fire a shot in his direction before driving off.
Police later learned the vehicle was stolen, and it was later found abandoned in Atherton Terrace. No description of the suspects was given.
