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Teenager kills himself at coffee shop open mic night www.privateofficer.com
Bend Oregon April 18 2011 A teenager shocked a crowd at a coffee shop last week when he stabbed himself to death on stage after singing at an open mic night.
Kipp Rusty Walker, 19, took the stage at Strictly Organic Coffee in the town of Bend, Or. on Thursday to perform a song he called “Sorry for the Mess.”
When he finished playing, he pulled out a knife with a double-edged 6 inch blade and stabbed himself multiple times in the chest in front of a confused crowd of roughly 15 people.
“It was really unclear at first what was even happening. Because, you know, it is an open mic and it’s a performance,” the shop’s co-owner Rhonda Ealy told local television station KTVZ. “People at first thought it was some sort of theatre.”
Once the crowd saw blood and figured out what was happening, Walker was rushed to St. Charles Medical Center where he died of his wounds.
A friend of his, who did not want to be identified, told Oregon’s NewsChannel 21 Walker’s death did not come as much of a surprise because the teenager had contemplated suicide before and even planned to kill himself in a public place.
“I’ve been preparing for it for a while, I’m sad about it, but I think I’m in shock, it’s like a whirlwind of emotions,” the friend said. “It was almost like he wanted to prove a point, like there’s no point in being scared of death because it’s going to happen to us anyway.”
Walker first tried to take his own life on Mar. 20th, the friend said, who helped to have him hospitalized at the psychiatric unit of St. Charles Medical Center-Bend.
He said he warned Walker that killing himself would have lasting implications.
“I actually told him, I was like, ‘Dude, this is going to mess a lot of people up,” the friend told the TV station.
The traumatic incident is the first of its kind in the area, police Sgt. Chris Carney told Oregon radio station KBND.
“You know, 19 years with the Police Department, I can’t think of any event similar to this where somebody’s done something in such a public forum,” he said. “We still don’t know the reason why he chose to do this, why he chose this location or anything and we probably never will.”
Counseling has been made available to witnesses or anyone affected by Walker’s death.
“Most people never have to see anything like that in their entire lives, and never have before, so it is a life-changing experience,” Ealy told KTVZ.
Walker would have turned 20 this week.
Source:Daily News
Off-duty New York police officer shot stopping robbery www.privateofficer.com
New York City NY April 18 2011 A heroic off-duty cop was shot after he foiled the robbery of a Brooklyn car repair shop Saturday night when he got into a wild shootout with the bandits, cops said.
Anthony Pressly, a Bridge and Tunnel cop, was waiting for his car to be fixed inside ARJ Auto Repair on Albany Ave. when four thugs suddenly burst in the garage and announced a robbery, sources said.
Pressly, who was armed, grabbed his handgun to stop the pack of thieves – sparking a gun battle that sent bullets flying inside the Bedford-Stuyvesant shop, sources said.
“I heard about five, six shots,” said Kareem William, 25, who works next door at A-Plus Car, Stereo and Alarm about the 8:30 p.m. gunplay.
“When I opened the door, I seen three guys running from his shop and I seen one on the floor. He was not moving at all.”
Pressly, a 10-year veteran who’s assigned to the Battery Tunnel, was hit in the shoulder, sources said.
Two of the robbers were also hit. One was nabbed inside the shop and another managed to limp away from the scene and stumbled into Interfaith Medical Center across the street, sources said.
“When the guy on the ground was picked up, there was a lot of blood,” said Ennis Johnson, who works as a security guard on the block.
The other two crooks jumped into a gray Ford Windstar minivan and fled, sources said. Cops were still searching for the vehicle last night.
Emergency workers took Pressly by ambulance to Kings County Hospital. He was in surgery last night and expected to make a full recovery.
“He’s definitely going to be okay,” a source said. “He’s lucky – he was up against a lot of guys with weapons.”
The wounded man at Interfaith was revived twice and in critical condition, sources said.
The other injured man was taken to Kings County Hospital in critical condition, but expected to survive.
The ages and identities of the two men were unknown.
William said he believes the robbers had targeted his store but got spooked and walked out.
“They were going to do it to us first,” the electrical technician said.
“Two guys came into our store and started asking questions,” he said. “We already thought something was up.”
He said the men left when they saw too many customers inside the store.
Moments later, the gunfire erupted next door.
“It could have been me or any one of my co-workers,” William said. “It’s a scary situation.”
Police continued to search the scene for evidence hours later as detectives questioned witnesses inside the 79th Precinct stationhouse.
“It’s crazy,” said Abdo Aldhafari, who owns a deli on the corner. “I’m very sad because this happened in the neighborhood.
Source:Daily News
22 Year old Kansas man sworn in as mayor www.privateofficer.com
Winfield KS April 18 2011 As of Monday, Winfield will have a new mayor. He also happens to be the youngest mayor in city history.
“For our generation to take the next step, we’re going to have to step up and take initiative,” said Taggart Wall, Winfield’s next mayor.
That is exactly what Wall did his senior year of high school, when he first ran for city commission.
Two years later, Wall ran again, and won a four-year term serving the City of Winfield.
Monday, the 22-year-old will switch seats.
“Being mayor is just part of it. Here, we rotate in, so you have a chance to become mayor, as long as the other two agree, and I’m lucky to have two great people to work with,” said Wall.
What inspired Wall to get involved in politics at such a young age?
“Winfield’s a great place, and they’ve given me a lot of great things over the last years. I grew up here. I went to school here, and it’s just nice to give it back,” said Wall.
When it comes to plans for the next year, Wall said ensuring Winfield’s financial safety is a must.
“The economy we’re in is never going to go back to the way it was, so as we grow into this new economy, what’s that going to look like for Winfield, so, we’ve tried to put us in the best position,” said Wall.
Even though 22 looks young, Wall said age is only a number.
“It’s more than just unique, it’s a chance to do something different. A lot of times, we can do a lot of things the same way, and take things for granted, but you have to start somewhere,” said Wall.
Once Wall’s four-year-term for the City of Winfield is complete, could we see him in Topeka next? Wall said nothing is out of the question.
Indiana police pursuit ends in suicide www.privateofficer.com
NEW CASTLE IN April 18 2011 — State police say a Plainfield man fatally shot himself Friday morning while being pursued by a trooper in southeastern Henry County.
Vance E. Smith, 41, led the state trooper on a chase on Interstate 70 near the 131-marker starting about 11:10 a.m. according to a press release. The trooper initially was trying to alert Smith that items were falling out of his eastbound pickup truck.
The truck briefly left the interstate, with the trooper in pursuit, traveling from an exit onto Wilbur Wright Road, but soon returned to I-70, this time in the westbound lanes.
Two troopers then saw the driver “reaching for an unknown item”, then saw the truck leave the interstate and come to rest in the median. Smith as found to be suffering from “an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound,” the release said.
According to Indiana Department of Correction records, Smith had been released from custody in April after serving a sentence for robbery and driving-after-a-lifetime-suspension convictions, both in Clay County.
He had also served prison terms for at least four other convictions for driving after his license was suspended for life.
El Segundo firefighter caught shoplifting at Costco www.privateofficer.com
Torrance CA April 18 2011 An El Segundo firefighter has been arrested on suspicion of trying to shoplift more than $350 worth of electronics from a Costco in Torrance, police said Thursday.
Michael Joseph Archambault, 52, of Rolling Hills Estates was arrested at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when loss prevention officers stopped him as he left the store at 2751 Skypark Drive, authorities said.
Torrance police officers arrived to take him to jail. He was booked on suspicion of petty theft and released on $1,000 bail, Torrance police Sgt. Jeremiah Hart said.
Archambault allegedly placed a Belkin router, a Motorola modem, earbuds, ink cartridges and a Waterpik Waterflosser inside a trash can in a box and closed the box.
He then purchased the can for $47.99 and left the store without paying for the electronics, Hart said.
Loss prevention officers who had been watching Archambault stopped him. The electronics were worth $354.95, below the $950 threshold that would make the theft a felony.
El Segundo Fire Chief Kevin Smith said he could not discuss the matter.
California State University Sit-In dispersed by police www.privateofficer.com
Sacramento CA April 17 2011 A four-day student protest over budget cuts and tuition hikes at California State University, Sacramento, ended early Saturday morning after campus police moved in on demonstrators.
Students who had occupied the university’s administrative building since Wednesday dispersed at 3:30 a.m. after campus police entered the building and told them that they would be arrested.
None of the students was detained.
“It was pretty scary,” said junior Nora Walker, who was one of 27 students occupying the building when police came in. “It’s very sad that the school feels that this is the way they can treat their students.”
The demonstration was part of a systemwide protest by students and faculty at the 23-campus California State University network.
The protests were organized by the California Faculty Association, which represents professors in the CSU system.
University officials said they asked students to leave because it was not safe for them to stay over the weekend when the building’s heating and ventilation is turned off.
Campus spokeswoman Kim Nava said that campus and Sacramento police took part in Saturday’s exercise. Students said that officers from CSU San Francisco also took part.
Fourth-year student Yeimi Lopez, who served as the students’ liaison with police, said she saw about two dozen officers and most wore “full riot gear” that included protective helmets and batons.
Kevin Wehr, president of the faculty union’s Sacramento State unit, said the administration made “a horrible mistake” in using a show of force. Wehr said school officials had plenty of opportunity to increase dialogue with the students without having to resort to threats of arrest.
“I believe (the students) are fighting for their education, and that is a righteous cause,” he said.
Earlier in the week, protesters met with CSUS President Alexander Gonzalez and asked him to stop giving raises to managers and to publicly support Senate Bill 8 and Assembly Bill 1326.
SB 8 would subject auxiliary groups at public universities to the California Public Records Act, while AB 1326 would tax oil extraction in the state and send the money to higher public education. Both bills are sponsored by the faculty union.
Gonzalez, who posted students’ demands and his responses on the Sacramento State website, wrote that he will not provide management raises “unless specifically authorized by the Board of Trustees.” Gonzalez said the trustees would also make a decision on whether to endorse the legislation.
Source:www.sacbee.com
Denver mall security officer kidnapped by suspected murderer www.privateofficer.com
Gerald Schwartzman’s ex-wife, Maralyn Master, said Saturday he was well liked and that she, and others, are shocked that someone would do this to him.
“He was a wonderful man,” Master said. “He was very generous, he would give you his last dollar.”
On Friday Denver police announced that a man being held in connection with a carjacking in the parking lot of Cherry Creek Shopping Center Wednesday afternoon could also be charged with first-degree murder in Schwartzman’s death.
Schwartzman’s body was found about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in a trash bin in an alley between Grape and Hudson streets near East 13th Avenue. He died of a gunshot wound to the head.
William Lee Lornes, 24, was arrested early Thursday morning in Jefferson County after deputies found the car that had been stolen during the Denver carjacking.
Before moving to Denver in 2001 to be with family, Schwartzman lived in Woodstock and Kingston, N.Y.
Master, who said she was planning to visit Schwartzman in the spring, said he wrote poetry and enjoyed photography, hiking and being outdoors.
While police say they think the Denver carjacking and Schwartzman’s murder are connected, they have released no further details.
No information has been released about when Schwartzman was killed, whether Lornes knew the victims, how the two cases were linked and whether the victims were targeted.
Schwartzman was last seen at the King Soopers at East 13th Avenue and Krameria Street. His vehicle was found abandoned in the 5600 block of Leetsdale Drive.
On Wednesday afternoon in Denver a woman reported that she had been approached by a man at the Cherry Creek mall who held her at gunpoint and told her to get into the trunk of her car. She later escaped from the trunk while the car was stopped at an intersection and called police.
On Saturday, Nick LeMasters, the mall’s general manager, confirmed that the woman was a security guard at the mall. Mall officials will not say whether the woman was in uniform or on duty.
The mall has increased security since the incident, LeMasters said, but he could not release any details.
As of Saturday evening, Lornes had not been transferred to Denver. Investigators will forward the case to the Denver district attorney’s office for formal charging.
In 2005, Lornes was sentenced to two years in prison for charges related to drugs, assault and auto theft, according to public records. In 2008, Lornes was charged with escape in connection with his previous sentence and ordered to serve an additional year.
Source:www.denverpost.com
Mall employee charged in money thefts from employer www.privateofficer.com
Felecia F. Henderson, 34, was charged with two counts of theft through Lake Superior Court.
Hobart police earlier this year were contacted by a manager at Motherhood Maternity in the mall. The manager said Henderson had made and signed off on at least three bank deposits that bank officials said never were received.
During questioning, Henderson admitted to police she had taken between $750 to $1,000 in cash from the store register during fraudulent refunds.
Source:Hobart Community News
Lowe’s security nabs NJ man stealing copper wire www.privateofficer.com
Maple Shade NJ April 18 2011 A Philadelphia man was charged with shoplifting after attempting to make off with four rolls of copper wire from the Lowes on Route 73, according to Maple Shade Police.
Police said Kenneth Lewandowski, 49, took the wire rolls into the garden department and pushed them through a fence.
Lewandowski then exited the store in an attempt to make his way around the building to retrieve the wire, valued at $415.
But police said the store’s loss prevention was watching Lewandowski the whole time and apprehended him before he could make his getaway.
