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Newspaper publisher says he was assulted by “Duane Chapman’s” security guard www.privateofficer.com
Publisher Tommy Russo filmed most of the incident. His footage shows a Maui police officer appearing to hit Russo’s camera after telling him: “I don’t want to be filmed, and if I don’t want to be filmed, I don’t have to be filmed.”
Russo reports that he came across “Dog the Bounty Hunter”‘s film crew in a parking lot and began filming with his camera out of curiosity. He said he was pushed away and told to stop filming, and was later hit in the mouth by the security guard before he called 911.
When an officer, whom Russo identifies as “Officer Johnson,” arrives, Russo continues filming. In the video, the officer is heard telling Russo, “You cannot film me without my consent, you cannot use my image without my consent.”
Russo identified himself as a member of the press and publisher of MauiTime and said, “Yes I can. You’re a public servant on public property … I can film anything that’s in public like this, it is a First Amendment right to do so.”
The video ends with the officer saying, “Wait till my sergeant gets here.”
Securitas security officer retires at age 95 www.privateofficer.com
NEWARK OH April 17 2011– For more than three decades, employees walking in and out of Holophane have been greeted by the smiling face of Ernest “Boonie” Ankrum.
A security guard at the lighting systems company, Ankrum guards the entrance of Holophane’s Newark plant and opens the gates for trucks going in and out of the facility.
But Thursday is expected to be Ankrum’s last day in the guardhouse.
After Holophane announced it was replacing its guards with an automated gate system, Ankrum decided it was time to retire –for the second time.
Ankrum, 95, started at Holophane in 1978, two years after he retired from a 28-year career as a truck driver.
“It was something to kill time,” he said with a smile. “I just never felt like going home and sitting in a rocking chair.”
A lifelong Licking County resident, Ankrum got his first job at age 12 at his brother-in-law’s dairy.
From there, he worked for several companies and spent nine years at Owens Corning before being hired as a truck driver at B&L Motor Freight.
When Ankrum retired from B&L in 1976, he knew he wasn’t ready to stop working. So he took a friend’s advice and applied for a job at Pinkerton Security, which became Securitas Security Services.
After working as a guard at a hospital and several businesses, Ankrum took a job at Holophane, where he said he found a home away from home.
“I probably wouldn’t have stayed with it so long if I didn’t come (to Holophane),” he said. “You are just part of a family here.”
In his early years at Holophane, Ankrum worked five days a week and made rounds several times during his shift. But in 2008, he cut back to two 12-hour shifts a week and now spends most of his time in the guardhouse.
Throughout the years, Ankrum has gotten to know a lot about the company and the people who work there, said Bob Pierce, receiving group leader.
“Pretty much everything goes through (the guard house) and he’s the guy who takes care of that,” he said. “Everyone knows him, and he’s always smiling and talking to people.”
Ankrum said he probably would have stayed at Holophane until his health kept him from working. But when he found out Holophane was changing its gate system, he decided it was a good time to retire.
“I hate to leave, but it’s a good time for me to go,” he said. “I think I’ll finally retire. I’ve worked a lot of jobs.”
Although he’ll be retired, Ankrum plans to keep busy. He wants to work in his garden at his St. Louisville home and spend time with his girlfriend, three children and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.
He said he rarely feels his age.
“I’ve always felt good,” he said. “I think keeping busy has a lot to do with it.”
Pierce said Holophane employees are amazed by Ankrum’s stamina and positive attitude.
“He’s still mowing the grass and playing golf,” he said. “I don’t know many guys who do that at 70.”
Ankrum’s co-workers organized a party on April 5 to celebrate his 95th birthday and his retirement. He was given a Holophane light to put in his yard and dozens of good will wishes.
“He’s like a permanent fixture here. Not having someone sitting in the guard house is going to be very unusual,” he said. “Everyone is going to miss him.”
Ankrum said he’ll leave Holophane with lots of memories and good friends.
“I’ve always liked it here, it was a good way to spend my time,” he said. “I would say it was just like one big family.”
Source:Newark Advocate
Trespasser pushes library security officer through plate glass window www.privateofficer.com
Madison WI April 17 2011 A man who had been banned from using the Madison Central Library was arrested Thursday after he allegedly pushed a security guard through a plate glass window.
Christopher Hubbard, 42, no permanent address, was tentatively charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct and unlawful trespass after notification, the Madison Police Department reported.
The 60-year-old male security guard suffered minor cuts and scrapes after going through the 80-inch by 36-inch plate glass window near the front doors of the library at 201 W. Mifflin St.
According to police, the incident was reported by library staff at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
“The suspect had been banned from the library and came back, despite the ban, saying he had to urinate,” said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.
Since he had returned to the library after being banned until the end of April, police said, staff decided to extend the ban for another month through May, and that news didn’t sit well with Hubbard.
“The news of the ban’s extension set the man off, so he struck the security guard, which led to the window being shattered,” DeSpain said.
Source:Cap Times
Undercover cops arrested for assaulting stripclub security www.privateofficer.com
The three officers – two from west suburban Bolingbrook and one from far southwest suburban Channahon, both in Will County – were in Peoria for a law enforcement conference. The group went to the strip club Big Al’s, 519 Main St., about 11:30 p.m. April 5, where two members of the group presented identification and were allowed entry to the club, but the third had no ID and was not allowed inside, Peoria police officials said.
The two who were in the club were bothering the security staff to the point they were asked to leave, Peoria police spokesman Doug Burgess said. One of the two would not leave, which eventually escalated into a physical confrontation that started in the bar but moved to the street in front of the club.
All three were arrested. Two were booked on battery charges and the third was booked on a charges of battery and criminal trespass.
Peoria police would not release their names because all three work in undercover operations.
Security guard charged in armed road rage incident www.privateofficer.com
Taunton MA April 17 2011 — The security guard says he pulled out his gun because he was being threatened, but never pointed it at anyone. The motorcyclist, meanwhile, swears that the gun was aimed in his direction.
A road rage incident early Thursday night on Dean Street, involving a pickup truck and motorcycle, has resulted in the driver of the truck being charged with armed assault.
Taunton police say 36-year-old Frantz Lormil, of 281 Wood Ave., Hyde Park, was arrested for assault with a dangerous weapon for allegedly brandishing his loaded .38-caliber revolver at 32-year-old Nelson Melo of Taunton
Lormil was arraigned in Taunton District Court Friday and released on personal recognizance by Judge Gregory Phillips, despite a request by the district attorney’s office that bail be set at $10,000.
Police said they first became aware of a problem just before 5:30 p.m. when they received a 911 call from Lormil reporting two men on motorcycles driving erratically, starting in the area of Church Green and heading east on Dean Street toward Route 44.
Lormil, who said that he works for a private security company, told police the two motorcycles had been weaving in and out of traffic and intentionally cut him off.
Melo, however, said it was Lormil’s 2009 Toyota Tacoma that cut him off and tailgated him. He also made no mention of a second motorcycle, according to the police report.
There is some question as to exactly where the encounter escalated to the point of Lormil removing his gun from his holster.
Taunton police initially responded to a 911 call of a road rage encounter in the area of the intersection of Dean Street and Longmeadow Road. But Melo said the face-to-face trouble erupted when he and Lormil pulled up to a red light further west at Arlington and Dean streets, closer to Church Green.
What is certain, police said, is that Lormil felt compelled to take out his gun and then drove off heading east on Route 44 until Raynham and Taunton police caught up with him in Raynham, just before the Route 24 South on-ramp.
Lormil told cops that after stopping at the red light Melo got off his bike, began to yell at him and, when Lormil told him to get back on his motorcycle, began walking up to him.
Fearing for his safety, Lormil said he pulled his revolver from his holster and held it straight up so that Melo would see that he was armed.
But according to both Melo and an eyewitness in a car stopped at the light, Lormil pointed, or aimed, his gun out the window as Melo approached.
Melo told cops he did in fact get off his motorcycle and was walking toward the pickup truck when Lormil pointed the gun out of the driver’s side window. He reportedly then ran behind his motorcycle, which was still in the street, police said.
Both Melo and the witness said they followed Lormil as he drove into Raynham. The witness also told police that there had been a second motorcycle driving next to Melo but that it had not stopped at the intersection.
A police source, while not excusing the fact that he had displayed a loaded gun, said he’d learned from Lormil’s employer that he was considered to have been a model employee during his five years with the company.
“I feel kind of bad for him in a way. They said they never had a problem with him at work,” the source said. “He must of done it because he was afraid.”
Source:www.tauntongazette.com
Alert security officer spots burglary in progress www.privateofficer.com
PASADENA CA April 17 2011 – Two men were arrested Friday in connection with a pair of unrelated burglaries that struck Pasadena businesses in the early morning.
Pasadena police Lt. Chris Russ said the first burglary occurred shortly after midnight at the Salvation Army store at 56 W. Del Mar Blvd.
He said a security guard spotted two men breaking into the store and called police, who responded and found the men leaving the area with a duffel bag.
Officers were able to catch one of the men, Miguel Contreras, 25, of Pasadena, but the other escaped on foot.
Inside the duffel bag, the officers found portable cassette players, three comforter sets, articles of clothing and several baby items, Russ said. They also found a bicycle that had been taken from the store.
Contreras is being held on suspicion of commercial burglary at the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles on $20,000 bail. The other man has not been identified.
The second burglary occurred shortly after 3 a.m. at the Vons grocery store at 2355 E. Colorado Blvd.
Russ said officers were driving by and spotted two men using a ladder against the side of the building, which is being remodeled, and stopped them.
Inside a backpack, the officers found handtools, gloves and a power drill. The man at the top of the ladder, Chris Gonzales, 18, of Pasadena was arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary. He is being held at the Pasadena jail on $20,000 bail.
Pa. Constables drive almost 500 miles to nab man on $47 fine www.privateofficer.com
McCANDLESS, Pa.April 17 2011 — A Lebanon County man said he was taken into custody before dawn by constables from Allegheny County who shackled and handcuffed him for a four-hour drive back to Pittsburgh because of a minor traffic fine.
Richard Engle Jr. told Team 4 investigative reporter Jim Parsons that the constables showed up at his house in Jonestown at 4 a.m. Thursday to arrest him on a warrant for failing to pay a fine that he received in February.
“They were there to pick my son Richard up because he failed to pay a $47 fee,” said Richard Engle Sr.
The fine stems from a traffic ticket that Engle Jr., 24, got in McCandless.
Engle Jr. said he has proof from a money order showing that he paid the $166 fine he got in the mail in February.
But District Judge William Wagner issued a warrant for Engle Jr. when he failed to pay an additional $47 fee for constable services.
“In the car, (the constable) said, ‘The judge is really p’d off at you.’ And I said, ‘Oh, yeah? I’m a little upset too. I’m in the back of this car right now over $47.’ I said, ‘So I don’t care how the judge feels,’” Engle Jr. told Parsons.
Engle Jr. and his father said the constables were verbally abusive toward Engle Jr., a Marine and a veteran of the current war in Iraq.
Municipal Court next to Allegheny County Jail
“(They) put me in handcuffs, chained my legs together, put my hands in front of my body and chained me to my body. (They) put me in the back of the car and were in the front of the car swearing and cursing and stuff, using very unprofessional language,” Engle Jr. said.
Pa. State Constable Scott Ober denied using any foul language toward Engle Jr.
When asked by Parsons if driving four hours to apprehend someone over $47 was worth it, Ober said, “Because I was in possession of a warrant. (I) went to pick him up over a warrant. He owed the judge money. He didn’t satisfy it.”
Engle Jr. said he was held for three hours at the Allegheny County Jail until his father arrived to pay the additional court costs of $563.20.
Parsons reported that constables are paid a number of fees for serving a warrant and delivering a prisoner, including mileage reimbursement “at the rate equal to the highest rate allowed by the Internal Revenue Service.”
The current IRS mileage reimbursement rate is 51 cents per mile.
According to Google Maps, a round-trip drive from McCandless to Jonestown is 470 miles.
Former security company manager accused of identity theft-fraud www.privateofficer.com
Philadelphia PA April 17 2011 The former president of one of the city’s largest Mummers groups was charged by federal officials Friday in a scheme to forge payroll checks that allegedly netted him nearly $450,000.
John R. Pignotti Jr., 50, who led the Philadelphia String Band Association from 1999 until February and was a high-profile advocate for the Mummers, was accused of mail fraud and identity theft in an information filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The charges do not involve the String Band Association or the Hegeman String Band, of which Pignotti has been a member since he was 8.
Pignotti, of South Philadelphia, worked for a security firm in Bala Cynwyd until 2008, then was hired as a branch manager at another security firm in Philadelphia.
He had the authority to generate employee payrolls, approve invoices, and distribute paychecks at both firms.
Federal prosecutors said Pignotti stole $111,000 from the Bala Cynwyd company, using the identification of former security guards to create fraudulent paychecks issued in their names. Pignotti, prosecutors said, then cashed the checks and kept the proceeds.
At the Philadelphia security firm, Pignotti repeated the process, prosecutors said. They said he created fictitious clients, including “H&B Towers” and “B&C Arcade,” and made up security guards who worked for those fake businesses.
To make the clients look real, prosecutors said, he created false invoices, which he mailed to post office boxes he had opened in the names of the fake companies.
Before he left the firm April 9, Pignotti made off with $326,000 from the Philadelphia company, prosecutors said.
If convicted, Pignotti faces up to 22 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. A criminal information often means a defendant plans to plead guilty.
Pignotti was president of the String Band Association until the group elected Marty Good in February, said a spokeswoman for the Mummers Museum.
He is a board member of SaveTheMummers.com, which raises funds to help the cash-strapped Mummers pay for part of their parade.
Pignotti has been an active member of the Mummers community for “as long as I can remember,” said Fred Fleming, 58, of the Saturnalian Fancy Brigade.
Pignotti helped the community any way he could and is liked by many in South Philadelphia, Fleming said. “It’s been pretty low-key so far,” he said of the criminal case. “No one is really talking about it.”
A woman at Pignotti’s residence on the 900 block of Daly Street said that she and Pignotti would not discuss the charges. Neighbors also declined to comment.
Pignotti’s father was the late John “Pop” Pignotti Sr., a member of the Philadelphia String Band Association “Old-Timers” Hall of Fame. He died in 1998.
Tennessee doctor faces charges in fraudulent prescriptions incidents www.privateofficer.com
FRANKLIN TN April 17 2011 — A doctor with a family practice in Franklin is facing felony charges after investigators tied him to allegedly fraudulent prescriptions for pain medication.
District Attorney Kim Helper would not clarify whether Dr. Benjamin Booker is accused of writing the prescriptions to obtain the pills for himself but said he abused his privileges as a doctor. Booker faces nine charges for the unlawful distribution of Percocet and one charge for unlawful distribution of Tussionex.
“What we have alleged in the indictment is he violated and failed to live up to” rules and regulations on prescription medication, Helper said.
Booker, the lone physician at Franklin Family Health Care, cited advice from his attorney in declining to comment Friday on the allegations.
His medical license remains in good standing, according to the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners.
There is no state law that would prompt the state board to act on charges filed against a doctor, said Shelley Walker, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health, though board members have “broad discretion” to impose disciplinary measures. Walker said the department anticipates hearing from investigators regarding the charges.
“At this point, Dr. Booker currently has a medical license and is authorized to practice in Tennessee,” Walker said.
Source:The Tennessean
Pittsburgh teacher charged with bank robbery www.privateofficer.com
PITTSBURGH PA April 17 2011 — Two people — one of them a teacher at the Pittsburgh School for the Creative and Performing Arts — were arrested after a bank robbery in the Shadyside/East Liberty area.
Channel 4 Action News’ Sheldon Ingram reported that Pittsburgh police identified the suspects as Alvin Carter, 28, and Philicia Barbieri, 24, both of Shadyside.
Police said a panic alarm called them to Fifth Third Bank in the 6000 block of Penn Circle South just after 10 a.m. Friday.
Witnesses told police that a man walked inside and gave a note to the teller that said, “Give me $2,000 or I will shoot you … No dye packs.”
The robber left through the front doors and fled on foot in the direction of the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway, police said.
Officers from Zones 4 and 5 canvassed the area, and they found a man matching the description of the robber in the parking lot of the Obama 6-12 school. Police said the man was Carter, and he was in the company of Barbieri.
“There is evidence that currently shows that the female may have been an accomplice to the bank robbery,” police said, without elaborating.
Carter and Barbieri were taken to the Allegheny County Jail on charges of robbery and criminal conspiracy, police said.
Barbieri’s Facebook page says she teaches at CAPA. Her page also says she teaches chemistry.
A Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman said Barbieri is a full-time substitute teacher and was suspended last month after an alleged computer theft, for which a disciplinary hearing is pending.
CAPA students had an early dismissal Friday, and the few teachers who were still at school on the afternoon of Barbieri’s arrest declined to comment.
Mobile County aims to keep repeat offenders from making bail www.privateofficer.com
MOBILE, Ala.April 17 2011 — Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich says her office is launching a new procedure aimed at keeping criminals from repeatedly making bail, leaving jail and causing more trouble.
Police officers are now being asked to notify the District Attorney’s Office when a suspect is out on bail and is being arrested again on a new charge, she said.
Prosecutors will then seek a temporary hold on the suspect at the jail, forcing the suspect to go before a judge before being released. At that point, prosecutors can ask a judge to set a high bail, or no bail at all.
“Our goal is to make sure that they’re not out there committing crimes while out on bond,” Rich said.
Mobile County Metro Jail handles roughly 27,000 bookings each year. For more-serious offenses, such as murder or first-degree robbery, a defendant must see a judge to get bail. But under a practice designed to ease overloaded court dockets, a system of preset bails allows some defendants to put up cash or property and be freed with no hearing in District Court.
The District Attorney’s Office already has prosecutors on call around the clock, a duty that’s rotated among the staff members on a weekly basis. That prosecutor can be contacted day or night, if someone is arrested again, Rich said.
Rich predicts that the new procedure will particularly aid in preventing property crimes, keeping veteran burglars and thieves off the streets.
Sheriff Sam Cochran, who was involved in developing the procedure, said that a typical arrest investigation ought to reveal to law-enforcement officers whether a suspect is already out on bail.
Jail can detain suspect for 72 hours
The jail has the legal authority to detain a suspect for up to 72 hours at the request of a prosecutor. Mobile’s jail, on any given day, holds 1,300 to 1,500 inmates, although it was designed for only 1,160. Some inmates must sleep on mattresses on the floor.
Regardless, Cochran said, “if someone needs to be held in jail, I intend to do everything in my power to hold them in jail.”
Still, one systemic problem lingers. Currently, investigators can’t do a single database search that would show all crime records from state court, city court and the jail. Ideally, Rich said, those databases would be integrated.
Judges have also pointed to a flawed bail system in Mobile County. Increased competition has led to bonding companies undercutting prices from the traditional 10 percent fee, making it easy for defendants to gain release, regardless of the dollar amount.
The Press-Register reported last year that a 20-year-old man accused in the high-profile robbery and slaying of Christopher Kyser Miree was arrested and released on bail multiple times in the weeks before and after the crime.
Michael Jerome Lee had posted bail on three felony drug charges and a menacing charge, and had skipped a bail hearing, before being arrested in July and charged with capital murder in Miree’s death.
Mobile police Deputy Chief James Barbour said the issue of repeat offenders is a top concern for the department: Sixty to 80 percent of crimes in the area are committed by 10 percent of the criminals, he said.
“Those are the ones we have special interest in keeping locked up,” Barbour said.
The Police Department has focused on repeat offenders since 2006, he said, with officers attending bail hearings and asking for a judge to revoke bail in some cases.
Source:AL.com
Security officer seriously injured by drunk driver www.privateofficer.com
Lakewood Colorado teacher arrested for unlawful sexual contact www.privateofficer.com
The sheriff’s office said 38-year-old Matthew James Taylor was arrested on suspicion of attempted unlawful sexual contact, a misdemeanor.
According to investigators, Taylor was accused of taking inappropriate photographs of clothed female students in his class.
Taylor teaches band at D’Evelyn High School, 10359 West Nassau Avenue, in Lakewood.
He’ll make his first court appearance Saturday morning.
Source:The Denver Channel
Colorado daycare teacher accused of sexually assaulting students www.privateofficer.com
32-year-old Paul James Kerr, of Glendale, was a lead teacher at the KinderCare at 5472 S. Federal Circle in Littleton, where he has worked since July 2010.
Police say a child who attends the KinderCare told their parent about the abuse, who then notified KinderCare, who in turn reported the incident immediately to the Arapahoe Department of Human Services. ACDHS notified Littleton Police about the possible sexual assault on a child, which allegedly occurred on March 21, 2011.
Littleton Police say their investigation revealed several victims.
“It’s a shock. You think your kids are going to be safe in these places,” says Luis Escandon, who has two children enrolled at the daycare.
“My wife when she met him, she did tell me she had a bad feeling about him,” says Escandon.
Escandon and the other parents were told of the arrest Friday.
“It’s definitely a shock and something you never want to hear happening at any place that takes care of kids,” says mother Jennifer Williams, who brings her son to KinderCare.
KinderCare says the safety of children is their highest priority.
“This teacher was subject to our screening process at the time of hire, which included reference checks, state-mandated backgroud checks, and our own national criminal background check,” says Leslie Constans, KinderCare spokesperson.
“I know he’s arrested. He’s going to pay for it. Is that enough? I don’t know,” says Escandon.
Kerr has a history of working with children. He has worked as a substitute teacher since 2005 in elementary education for the Jefferson County and Denver Public School Districts. Prior to that, Kerr worked as a summer church camp counselor in Branson, Mo., from 1997-2005.
Kerr was jailed on Sexual Assault on a Child and Sexual Assault by One in a Position of Trust, Class 3 felonies. He was booked into the Arapahoe County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
Littleton Police are requesting anyone with information regarding this investigation to please contact Detective Krista Bunten at 303-795-3891.
Source:FOX NEWS
Drake University employee charged with $470,000 theft www.privateofficer.com
Police identified the suspect as Robert Alex Harlan, 49, a former Drake employee. Harlan had worked at Drake for more than 20 years. For about the past 10 years he had been director of student accounts.
It’s unclear when Harlan stopped working for Drake. An email sent to Drake faculty and staff this week suggested Harlan had worked for the university until recently. Drake officials referred questions to Des Moines police.
Harlan was not in custody Friday when officials made an announcement about the charges. Police said they were talking to Harlan’s attorney about when the suspect will turn himself in.
The embezzlement apparently dates to 2004, but the official investigation went back five years, police said. The police case that started the probe is dated March 28.
Des Moines Police Sgt. Chris Scott said Harlan was being charged with five counts of first-degree theft, one for each year of five years he allegedly was embezzling money. The charges are Class C felonies, punishable by up to 10 years in prison on each count.
Police Detective Lt. Mark Morgan and Detective Tarry Pote said investigators were not looking for any other suspects in the case.
They said Drake officials determined there was a shortage and then asked for an audit.
The audit determined that much more money had been taken.
“He was signing off on money to pay people – bills,” Morgan said. “Money that was supposedly owed to other people. … It was a shell game with figures. He knew the accounting system well enough to move the shells around.”
Police said that they had interviewed Harlan and that he was cooperating.
Investigators still are looking into Harlan’s bank records. The amount of money that is recoverable isn’t known, police said.
Harlan lives on Des Moines’ west side. A woman who answered the door at the house Friday declined to comment.
Police said the case represents one of the largest embezzlement investigations they’d worked on in recent years.
A university official, in an email to staff this week, wrote that the university was working to strengthen internal controls to prevent the future misappropriation of funds.
