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GA. 15 yr old girl accused of killing mother-U.S. Army soldier www.privateofficer.com
BARROW COUNTY, Ga.April 8 2011 — A 15-year-old girl is accused of killing her mother, a U.S. Army soldier.
The victim, 42-year-old Karen Moore, was shot at her Braselton home on Sahale Falls Drive on Thursday afternoon, Braselton police said.
Moore was on active duty with the U.S. Army and served under the recruitment command stationed in Georgia. Police said she was sitting on a sofa facing her television when she was shot in the back of the head.
“They give their lives to fight overseas in areas like Iraq and Afghanistan, and then, they are home, where they feel safe, and then, something happens that is not supposed to happen,” Braselton Asst. Police Chief Lou Solis told Channel 2’s Erica Byfield. Police said the teen invited a friend over after the shooting. Her 17-year-old friend, Christopher Nieves, was charged with statutory rape.
Solis said the 15-year-old went outside and tried to start her car, but it wouldn’t work. He said she asked a neighbor to jump start her vehicle and told the neighbor she could not get her mother to wake up.
Officers arrived after the neighbor called 911. Georgia Bureau of Investigation and ATF officials also assisted in the investigation. Solis said they interviewed the daughter and Nieves, but their stories didn’t match up. He said there were also other red flags.
“We found the shell casing, and that’s what threw us off a little bit. There was no weapon,” Solis said.
Authorities eventually found a gun and Moore’s purse in the 15-year-old’s car, Solis said. After hours of interviews, the daughter confessed to firing the gun, Solis said. Police wanted to make it clear that she did not admit to killing her mother.
He said the shooting may have stemmed from a dispute between the daughter and her mother over the 15-year-old’s relationship with an older teen.
The daughter faces murder and aggravated assault charges. The Jackson County District Attorney will determine if she will be charged as an adult. She was being held at the Gwinnett County Juvenile Detention Center.
Moore also leaves behind a husband and a son, who both serve in the military.
Source:WSBTV.com
Richmond city employees charged with fraud in overtime scheme www.privateofficer.com
Richmond VA April 9 2011 Nine employees in the city’s Public Works and Public Utilities departments face criminal charges over fraudulent claims for overtime, after a city audit led to an investigation.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael E. Hollomon said the investigation is continuing and could result in additional arrests. The city auditor’s report could be released as early as today.
“We were able to get evidence that certain acts occurred on certain days,” Hollomon said Thursday. “As the investigation progresses, who knows? We may find more.”
All nine are employees of either the Richmond Department of Public Works or the Richmond Department of Public Utilities, Hollomon said.
According to Hollomon, all of the warrants have been obtained in recent days.
Charged with felony counts of obtaining money by false pretenses are Clinny Joseph Crochet II, 45, of Gum Chapel Road in Roanoke Rapids, N.C.; Richard Keith Acors, 55, of the 4500 block of Eanes Lane in Richmond; and Robert Linwood Garrett Jr., 46, of Vontay Road in Rockville.
Six others are charged with misdemeanor counts of obtaining money by false pretenses: Jimmie Lee Hoke, 40, of Hopeful Church Lane in Bumpass; Earl Lester Sibley, 58, of the 3800 block of Carolee Court; ., 52, of the 5300 block of Patterson Avenue; Theodore Ronald Wynne, 61, of the 11000 block of Wooferton Court in Midlothian; Michael Stanley Maxey, 52, of the 4500 block of Wolf Hound Drive in Mechanicsville; and Christopher Allen Spain, 30, of Adams Lane in Aylett.
The decision on whether to charge an individual with a misdemeanor or a felony is based on whether the amount in question is less or more than $200.
“This involves employees essentially claiming overtime hours that they did not work,” Hollomon said.
Hollomon would not say whether authorities believe the nine city employees named so far were working with one another, but he said the dollar amounts in question would suggest the alleged crimes had not been going on for an extended period. He said the most money believed to be involved with any of the three facing felony charges was about $1,000.
Hollomon said he is waiting to hear from City Auditor Umesh V. Dalal before determining whether additional charges are warranted.
An audit conducted by Dalal’s office uncovered irregularities that led to an investigation and the warrants being obtained for the nine named so far, Hollomon said.
Dalal’s office confirmed the investigation by his office but said he could not release information or comment until after meeting with Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration.
A report from Dalal’s Office of the Inspector General may be released today, said Tammy D. Hawley, Jones’ press secretary.
“The administration has been working with the auditor’s office on bringing this matter to justice,” she said in an email. “We prefer to wait for the issuance of the inspector general’s report and the departmental responses before offering any additional comment.”
Source:RTD
John Adams Elementary School teacher arrested with child porn www.privateofficer.com
Justin Coleman, 35, a dual language teacher at John Adams Elementary School, was arrested Wednesday evening, authorities said. He had a pair of girls’ pink panties in his pocket, court papers say, and told agents he had gotten them from an 11-year-old Russian girl he met through an international program. Court papers did not specify how he may have known the girl.
Alexandria schools spokeswoman Kelly Alexander said school officials are “not aware of any sort of inappropriate behavior on his part at the school.”
Alexander said Coleman was hired by the district in 2005 and has placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the case.
According to papers filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Coleman, who was charged with receipt of child pornography, told agents he stole a backpack from school that contained panties and jeans and that he kept the panties. Court papers say he also said he had spied on a young girl changing her clothes, but the documents do not indicate where that occurred.
Coleman told agents that there is a “Justin at home and a Justin at work” and he said he was afraid they would ”mesh together,” the documents state.
In a letter prepared to send to parents, Alexandria school officials said a teacher had been arrested but did not specify the charge. They said a team of counselors, school psychologists and staff would be available to answer any questions.
According to court papers, authorities searched Coleman’s Falls Church home on Wednesday. They found “numerous” pornographic images and videos, the documents state.
1Night, 3 stabbed, 3 shot to death in DC www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC April 8 2011 An spate of gunfire and stabbings in scattered parts of the District that began late Wednesday included at least two incidents that might have been related in Southeast Washington, where two men were killed and two wounded in shootings that occurred a few blocks apart, police said.
In all, seven people were shot, three fatally, and three were stabbed in six incidents from 9:15 p.m. Wednesday to 12:45 a.m. Thursday, police said. The two incidents that were possibly related occurred about 10 and 11 p.m. in Washington Highlands, near the city’s southern tip, a police commander said.
There, in the 900 block of Wahler Place SE, two men were gunned down in the street about 10 p.m. “Both are still alive,” Cmdr. Joel Maupin said late Thursday. “One was shot in the head; he’s in critical condition. The other was shot in the torso.”
That double shooting, and another that soon followed nearby, occurred in the police department’s most dangerous precinct, the 7th District, or 7D.
“It’s getting warm,” said Maupin, the 7D commander. “When the weather gets like this, we have more people hanging out, and there’s more activity on the streets, and more chances for disputes and violence, unfortunately.”
About an hour after the Wahler Place attack, two men were killed in the 700 block of Yuma Street SE, just three blocks to the west. Police identified the victims as Joshua Ruffin, 20, who lived on nearby Condon Terrace, and Reginald Williams, 22, of Adams Street NE.
“We’re trying to determine whether it was retaliation for the earlier incident or a spillover from it, a continuation,” Maupin said. “We’re out there trying to get any information we can on what might have led to all of this.”
Two law enforcement sources said they thought the people involved in the shootings at Yuma Street and Wahler Place were acquaintances. The sources declined to be named because the investigation is ongoing.
Another person, a 16-year-old male, was fatally shot Thursday night in 7D. He had been shot multiple times on the steps of an apartment complex in the 1300 block of Congress Street SE and was pronounced dead at a hospital, Maupin said. It was not immediately known whether the shooting, about one mile from Wednesday’s violence, was an act of retaliation.
Wednesday evening’s violence began when two men were shot, possibly by two suspects, about 9:15 in the 1200 block of Brentwood Road NE, just north of Gallaudet University, police said. They said that neither victim suffered life-threatening wounds. The double shooting was under investigation Thursday.
About a half-hour later and four miles west, a 22-year-old man was fatally shot behind his residence in the 700 block of Quincy Street NW, near the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro station, police said. They identified him as Shonell Corriea. Homicide detectives were investigating his killing.
“We have no information to indicate this is gang/crew related,” Cmdr. Kimberly Chisley-Missouri of the 4th District said in a community e-mail. “We are working with Homicide Investigators and continue to gather information on this crime. Patrol Officers are aware and are focusing in the Petworth area.”
The three fatal shootings Wednesday night brought the city’s 2011 homicide toll to 26, matching the year-to-date total as of last April 7, police said.
About 10 p.m., around the time the shootings were beginning in Washington Highlands, officers found a man who had been stabbed in the 1700 block of H Street NE, just east of the Trinidad neighborhood. He was hospitalized in stable condition.
Then, not far from that stabbing scene, two men were stabbed in the 1300 block of Trinidad Avenue NW about 12:45 a.m. Thursday, police said. Neither victim suffered a life-threatening wound. Officers said they found no evidence that those stabbings were related to the stabbing on H Street.
As of late Thursday, the incidents had resulted in one arrest. Police said Edward Morgan, 31, of Silver Spring was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon in the Trinidad Avenue stabbings.
Source:Washington Post
Disbaled elderly man stabs nightclub security www.privateofficer.com
SAN DIEGO CA April 8 2011 — A 41-year-old bar patron and a 25-year-old bouncer were stabbed at The Boulevard Bar in Rolando early Thursday by a man in his 60s who became enraged over someone sitting in his motorized wheelchair, police said.
The stabbing at The Boulevard Bar at 6949 El Cajon Blvd. was reported shortly before 12:30 a.m., according to San Diego police Sgt. David Jennings.
A man in his 60s had left his motorized wheelchair to use the restroom and returned to find a 41-year-old man sitting in it, Jennings said.
The older man then stabbed the 41-year-old man in his abdomen, Jennings said, adding that a 25-year-old bouncer who attempted to disarm the older man was then stabbed in his femoral artery.
None of the stab wounds were considered life-threatening, according to the sergeant.
The man in his 60s was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. His name was not immediately released.
Two men enter guilty pleas in Ohio Brinks armored car burglary www.privateofficer.com
Robert Doucette and Joseph Morgan, both of Lynn, Mass., pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Columbus to conspiring to transport stolen goods and transporting stolen goods across state lines.
An indictment accused Doucette, Morgan and a third Lynn, Mass., man, Sean Murphy, of breaking into the Columbus office in January 2009.
Investigators said Murphy used fraudulent documents to rent a storage facility in Pennsylvania where the men took items from the Brink’s office. The FBI said a blowtorch was used to cut a hole in the building’s roof and gain entry.
Murphy faces a June trial.
Source:Boston Herald
Cleveland security officer shoots-kills man at bar www.privateofficer.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio April 8 2011 — A 32-year-old man was shot and killed early this morning by an off-duty Cleveland police officer.
Spokesman Sgt. Sammy Morris said the incident occurred at 1:43 a.m. outside the Libations Bar at East 91st Street and Aetna Road, where a police officer was working as a security guard.
The officer, whose name has not been released, told police that he saw a man shoot at another man outside the bar.
The officer identified himself as a police officer and ordered the shooter to stop.
“The suspect then turned towards the officer with weapon in hand,” Morris said in a news release. “At this time the officer discharged his weapon, hitting the suspect three times.”
Morris said EMS took the victim to MetroHealth Medical Center, where he later died. His name has not been released.
The first man being shot at by the victim left the scene before police arrived.
This investigation is being handled by the Cleveland Division of Police Use of Deadly Force Investigation Team.
The official cause of death will be determined by the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office.
Source:Cleveland.com
School children’s driver charged with sexual assault www.privateofficer.com
Garfield NJ April 8 2011 A driver of a 7-year-old girl is under arrest on sexual assault charges.
Froilan Mendez, 71, of Garfield, was arrested on charges of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, according to Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Mendez was arrested after police learned he engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a 7-year-old girl he was hired to drive to Public School 6 in Garfield by the girl’s mother in the mornings. Garfield police received a citizen’s complaint that during the morning on school days, Mendez was observed parking his van on Monroe Street, exiting the driver’s side of the car and entering into the back of the van where the girl was seated. The citizen reported that the van remained stationary for about 10 minutes, and then the driver would re-enter into the driver’s seat and leave the area.
“We are very fortunate that we had a concerned citizen come forward on this and we commend her for notifying the police,” Chief Kevin Amos said.
According to Amos, the citizen called police the day before the arrest was made and police units were sent out to investigate.
Mendez was arrested on March 29 when police observed him around 8:15 a.m. park his van on Monroe Street and enter the back of the van. Officers approached the van and observed him in the back seat with the 7-year-old girl. The victim told police that Mendez had touched her in a sexual manner and that he had done it several times in the past.
Mendez is not employed by the Garfield School System and acts as an independently hired driver for students.
The arrest was the result of an investigation by Garfield Police Department under the direction of Amos and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office of Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit under the direction of Chief Steven Cucciniello.
Mendez was charged with one count of second-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Bail was set at $250,000, with no 10-percent option. He can also have no contact with the victim or any child under the age of 18 and must surrender his passport. Mendez is currently in Bergen County Jail.
Source:North Jersey.com
Naked man shoots police robot with AK-47 rifle www.privateofficer.com
WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. April 8 2011 — A Brevard County man was naked when he opened fire on a SWAT team robot and it was all caught on video, according to deputies.
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said the robot was sent into the West Melbourne home last week because the homeowner had called his family and said he was going to take his own life and the life of anyone who tried to stop him.
Deputies decided that the safest way to enter was with a robot mounted with cameras. The $65,000 robot had four cameras that recorded the whole encounter. When the robot entered the house, the man came out, naked, and first tried to break the robot, then shot it at least four times with an AK-47, according to deputies.
The SWAT team evacuated the houses nearby, then set up a command post several houses away. Despite the man’s violent actions, no one was injured and the standoff ended peacefully. Deputies said the man walked out, fully clothed and with his hands up, ready to be taken into custody.
The Sheriff’s Office didn’t release the man’s name because he was taken for a mental evaluation.
Source:WFTV.com
Ct. hospital security criticize management for wanting to outsource www.privateofficer.com
“They are insisting they have the right to subcontract,” Guy Thomas, director at large of the International Union, Security, Police, Fire Professionals of America, said Wednesday.
Contract negotiations between the hospital and the union have been ongoing since shortly after the union was voted in by a majority of the three dozen eligible workers in September. It is the first union in the hospital’s 117-year history. A vote on whether the 480 registered nurses will join a different union is scheduled for May 11.
In its statement, the union said hospital President and Chief Executive Officer David Whitehead told security officers in previous meetings that the hospital “would never subcontract” their jobs.
Another unresolved contract issue is the hospital’s demand that it be able to deny “all requests for leaves of absence no matter the reason,” the union said.
Pending with the National Labor Relations Board are unfair labor practice charges filed by the union alleging that the hospital is bargaining in bad faith.
In response to the union statement, Backus spokesman Shawn Mawhiney said the hospital believes it is bargaining in good faith, and that “we’re not going to negotiate a contract in the newspaper.”
“We’ve now reached agreement on 44 articles in a relatively short period of time,” he said, adding that these represent “nearly all non-economic issues” to be included in the contract.
He declined to comment on the specific criticisms regarding subcontracting and leaves of absence.
Source:The Day
Loomis Armored Car inks 100 million dollar deal with competitor www.privateofficer.com
Houston TX April 8 2011 The U.S. subsidiary of Swedish armored car company Loomis AB acquired servicing contracts for 43,000 ATMs in a $100 million deal with a competitor.
Houston-based Loomis USA bought the cash replenishment and management contracts from Denver Colo.-based Pendum LLC.
The deal brings the total number of ATMs under service by Loomis to about 80,000 nationwide, said Jarl Dahlfors, president and CEO of Loomis USA. Loomis will expand its Downtown Houston operations branch to meet the increased service demand, he said.
Bizzare theft of Target shopping carts puzzles police www.privateofficer.com
Lee County Fla April 8 2011
Someone stole $21,000 worth of shopping carts from the Target store at the Coconut Point Mall. And we have security video of the crime that has a lot of people scratching their heads. Investigators hope the video sheds some light on a bizarre crime.
Deputies someone stole 60 bright red, plastic carts from Target.
Lee County deputies say the man in the video, seen in the green shirt, went into the store at Coconut Point carrying a binder.
He walked right on up to the customer service desk and told the manager he was there to pick up inoperable carts.
Then he headed out the front door and straight to the back to collect his carts.
In the video, you can watch as he and an accomplice load them up onto a trailer, one by one, and drive away.
Many people who have read the story just want to know what they would want with all those plastic carts.
It appears there is hardly any metal on them, except a few pieces near the wheels.
Even officials with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office are scratching their heads.
“We don’t know right now what he wants to do with those carts, but we would certainly like to ask him and find out,” said Tony Schall, with the sheriff’s office.
We called a scrap yard, and workers there said you don’t really get any money for recycling that quality of plastic.
Target does use a security feature that locks the carts when they leave the property, like other major stores.
So, what these thieves wanted them for is truly a mystery – and also a felony.
“Certainly, if you know who this person is, or anything about this, don’t hesitate to call the sheriff’s office or Crime Stoppers,” Schall said.
Schall says the sheriff’s office is hoping the video will help catch the cart crooks.
Source:WZVN
iPhone app acts as your personal security guard www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta GA April 8 2011 A new app launching today provides a single-tap, multi-target alert system for your iPhone or iPod touch. Guardly automatically alerts contacts of your choosing if you feel you’re in danger or have reason to quickly and easily alert a group of people to your location and current situation.
With the free version, you’ll be limited to just creating groups and assigning contacts to them. These could include friends in your immediate geographical area, for instance, or maybe a special selection of friends and relatives who know your medical history and allergies. You can send alerts (phone, email and SMS text) to these groups of contacts with one click from within the app, but in order to get the full Guardly experience you have to pay up for either a monthly ($9.99) or a yearly subscription ($99.99), which you can do through in-app purchase. Remember that Apple sees 30 percent of that revenue, but Guardly seems more than willing to pay in order to use iOS as a platform for distributing its subscription-based, software-as-a-service offering, something I anticipated as a possible trend following Apple’s introductions of in-app subscriptions.
Subscribing also adds the ability to call 911 with a single tap of the app’s icon from the homescreen (after a brief countdown in case of accidental presses). Auto-alerts can also be set to send to any other emergency contact of your choosing, too. Other premium features include in-app conference calling with your group of responders, the ability share map views and instant messages with your contacts in real time, real-time location tracking and the ability to share photos you take with your device with your emergency contacts.
Guardly is also smart about how and when it calls emergency numbers. It will detect any network failures and automatically call once a signal is reestablished, and it detects your current country using location services and automatically dials the correct emergency number based on that info. The app also offers a loud siren that can be activated in case of emergency.
This is an incredibly sophisticated app that makes amazing use of the iPhone’s built-in capabilities to provide as comprehensive a personal safety solution as you can find in an app. It even sets up your Guardly app’s outgoing caller ID to be that of your iPhone, making it much easier for emergency services and contacts to track you down should you fail to actually get through.
Guardly doesn’t offer much in the free version of its app, but it provides such a polished, thorough experience from beginning to end in terms of app functionality that I won’t be surprised to see people eager to sign up for paid Guardly subscriptions. A SaaS model will also help ensure that the app has a consistent, sustainable revenue stream, which should go a long way towards ensuring the lights don’t go out at a company that many may come to depend on as a personal security resource.
I’m reminded of the emergency call buttons posted at lamposts around campus at colleges and universities when I think of Guardly, only the app model works better because it’s available everywhere and seldom leaves your person. I’m actually surprised more smartphones don’t offer more of this sort of thing as a built-in option, but I expect to see more similar solutions pop up from all sources now that Guardly is making waves.
Huntsville teacher arrested for multiple sexual assaults of student www.privateofficer.com
Knotts was being held on a $140,000 bond.
Fort Bend teacher accused of unlawful relationship with student www.privateofficer.com
According to the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, Terrie Rhodes was taken into custody by deputies early this morning. The website for Fort Settlement Middle School lists Rhodes as an English teacher.
She is being held at the Fort Bend County Jail on charges of indecency with a child/sexual contact, with a $15,000 bond, and improper relationship between educator and student, with another $15,000 bond.
Off-duty LAPD officer on security assignment shoots man www.privateofficer.com
Los Angeles CA April 8 2011 An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer who was working security at a Hollywood Palladium concert shot a man who had injured him during a confrontation Wednesday night, police said.
People were walking to the parking lot after a concert around 10 p.m. when the shooting occurred on El Centro Avenue, north of Sunset Boulevard, said Officer Christopher No, a spokesman for the LAPD. The injured officer and suspect were taken to a hospital.
Preliminary reports indicated the suspect was armed with a knife, No said. The man stabbed the officer, who then withdrew his weapon and ordered the suspect to drop the knife, No said.
The suspect was shot once in the back and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, No said.
An administrative and criminal investigation are under way, with the officer considered a crime victim, No said. Charges have not been determined.
