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Houston kindergartner brings gun to school-3 kids injured www.privateofficer.com
HOUSTON TX April 21 2011
A kindergartner who brought a loaded gun to his Houston elementary school Tuesday was among three students injured when the gun fired after falling from his pocket as he sat down for lunch, officials said.
One bullet was fired about 10:35 a.m. in the Ross Elementary School cafeteria, spraying fragments at the students, said Houston Independent School District Assistant Police Chief Robert Mock.
“It dropped on the floor, under the table. It was loud, it was so loud,” 6-year-old Kennedi Glapion said as she was being picked up from the school by her grandmother.
Kennedi, one of 42 kindergartners having lunch in the cafeteria when the gun went off, said she was scared and started crying after it fired. She pointed to her right foot to indicate where she said she saw one child injured.
Two 6-year-old boys were wounded, including the one who had the gun. The boy who brought the gun was injured in his foot and the other boy was grazed in his leg, said Sam Sarabia, the elementary chief school officer for the Houston school district. A 5-year-old girl was injured in her knee, he said.
The boy who brought the gun might have been injured by the bullet while the other boy and the girl might have been injured by shrapnel, Sarabia said.
All three children were in stable condition and seemed to be in good spirits, said Dr. David deLemos at Texas Children’s Hospital, where the students were treated.
The hospital identified the girl as Za’Keyah Thomas, and one of the injured boys as Khoran Brown, who was released from the hospital later Tuesday. The name of the boy who brought the gun was not released.
“It is a sad situation that this took place but we are thankful our son is in good spirits,” Brown’s parents said in a statement through the hospital. “He is already asking to get back to school.”
Houston police spokesman Victor Senties said it is too early in the investigation to tell if any charges will be filed.
Upset parents rushed to the school in northeast Houston where yellow crime scene tape was strung and more than a dozen police and district patrol cars were parked. Parents were allowed to take their children home for the day if they preferred, and counselors were on hand as classes resumed for the afternoon, said district spokesman Norm Uhl.
“Although the danger is over, that doesn’t make it any less frightening,” Uhl said.
Most parents who picked up their children after the shooting said Ross is a good school overall and that there hadn’t been similar problems previously. Still, the incident made some wonder if additional security measures are needed.
“Being that this is an elementary school you would think that it would be safe, but now this makes you think nothing is safe,” said Shawn Dixon, 33, whose 10-year-old daughter Tyra is third-grader at the school.
Dixon said he would support additional security measures such as metal detectors at the school, which has about 471 students.
Vonetta Moffett, 35, who has 10- and 12-year-old sons at the school, said even though parents need to be held responsible, she believes some kind of extra security is needed.
“The parents need to be more concerned about checking backpacks before their kids leave home. It’s the parents’ fault because the kids don’t know better,” said Moffett, a security officer at a medical building.
Sarabia said extra security officers will be at the school on Wednesday and district officials will be working with parents and the community to address any concerns they might have.
Uhl said the kindergartner who brought the gun could face disciplinary action including being sent to an alternative school for up to 180 days. He said that no punishment has been decided yet.
Teacher charged with indecent behavior with teen www.privateofficer.com
Rory J. Hollier, 50, of Port Sulphur was arrested on April 14 and charged with two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile. The arrest came after an investigation by Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives into complaints received about Hollier’s behavior.
Hollier was processed into the Beauregard Parish Jail, where he remains under an $80,000 bond.
Corning High Scool teacher arrested for student sex assault www.privateofficer.com
Corning, NY April 21 2011 A Corning High School teacher is under arrest, charged with having sexual contact with a student.
The City of Corning Police Department arrested Teri K. Decker, 40 of Elmira after an investigation into claims that a teacher at East High School had acted inappropriately with a student.
Decker was arraigned in City of Corning Court at 9:30 Wednesday morning, where she pleaded guilty to Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
She is scheduled for sentencing on July 26 in city court.
Investigators say Decker was inappropriately involved with a 16 year old male student at East High School.
They say on February 14, Decker pulled the student into a classroom, where they kissed and groped each other.
Decker also admitted to engaging in sexual conversations with the boy by text message over a month-long period and encouraging him to keep the relationship a secret from his mother after the relationship became public knowledge.
The text messages were numbered in the thousands, many of them sexually explicit.
The investigation was conducted by the Corning Police Department, with the assistance of the New York State Police, the FBI, and the Steuben County DA’s Office.
Source:WBNG
Gang rushes Marta train, attacks riders in Atlanta www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA April 21 2011 A group of 20 to 25 youths boarded a commuter train bound for Atlanta’s airport, and viciously attacked the passengers, police said.
One of the teenagers bashed a rider in the face with a soda-pop can, pushed him down and stole his wallet, according to a police report. Another passenger was punched in the face, the report stated.
Both of the riders who were attacked work for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, police said. They have been staying at a hotel near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The Delta workers — one from Gig Harbor, Wash., and the other from New York City — suffered cuts to their faces in the attack late Saturday night south of downtown Atlanta.
They told police the group of teens boarded the MARTA red line train at the Garnett Station, on the south edge of downtown. The passengers said they were attacked as the southbound train approached the Oakland City station.
At one point in the attacks, two male riders came to the Delta workers’ aid and helped separate the teens from them, police said. The identities of the Good Samaritans are unknown, the police report indicates.
It wasn’t known how many passengers were riding the train at the time, around 11:58 p.m. Saturday. The red line is one of two north-south routes that carry air passengers, airline employees and tourists to and from the world’s busiest airport.
Police are still investigating, said Lyle Harris, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, or MARTA.
Euclid Ohio police officer commits suicide at police station www.privateofficer.com
EUCLID, Ohio April 21 2011 – A Euclid police officer committed suicide at the police station Wednesday morning, according to the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office.
Authorities have identified the officer as 28-year veteran of the force Sgt. Kevin Blakeley. He spent most of his career in narcotics and vice. Euclid Mayor Bill Cervenik released the following statement:
“The city of Euclid and the Euclid Police Department are saddened by the tragic passing of this officer. Our hearts go out to the officers that work with this individual. The entire city is mourning the loss of this public servant. On the behalf of the entire city of Euclid, I extend our deepest sympathy, thoughts and prayers to the officer’s family.”
The city is flying all flags at half staff.
The Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office is handling the death investigation.
No other information is available at this time and the story is developing. Keep checking newsnet5.com for more information.
Source:WEWS
Pa. Wal-Mart employee charged with grand theft www.privateofficer.com
MOUNT HOLLY PA April 21 2011- An employee of the Walmart in Cinnaminson has been accused of stealing nearly $5,000 from the store.
Debra A. Dudley, 40, of Westampton, made a first appearance in Superior Court on Tuesday before Judge Jeanne Covert, who set her bail at $10,000.
Dudley is charged with theft and shoplifting.
She was taken into custody Monday after store security accused her of concealing $130 worth of clothing before she left the store on Route 130, Cinnaminson police said.
Store security also accused her of suspicious transactions at her cash register over the six weeks she’d been working there resulting in $4,400 going missing, according to Cinnaminson police.
According to court records, she had previously been convicted in 2008 of attempted fraud.
Dudley is being held in the Burlington County Minimum Security Facility in Pemberton Township.
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake charged with shoplifting www.privateofficer.com
CINCINNATI OH April 21 2011 — Reds pitcher Mike Leake was arrested on a shoplifting charge at downtown Macy’s department store Monday, accused of trying to steal six shirts with a total value of $59.88.
The 23-year-old starter was booked at the Hamilton County Justice Center on a first-degree misdemeanor charge of shoplifting. It carries a maximum of 180 days in jail.
He was arrested about two hours before Cincinnati pitchers were expected at Great American Ball Park to take batting practice before the final game of a series against Pittsburgh. Leake started and got the victory in an 11-2 win over the Pirates on Saturday.
Leake said in a statement released by the Reds that his attorney told him not to discuss the arrest. Leake apologized to his family, to the club and to fans “for this distraction.”
The Reds issued a statement saying, “We do not condone behavior of the type alleged, which is wholly inconsistent with the principles of this organization and our community and is detrimental to the positive direction we seek to follow. When the legal process has been completed, we will handle this matter internally.”
Police arrest reports said Leake removed the price tags from six American Rag T-shirts at a Macy’s store and tried to leave without paying for them. Leake makes $425,000 in his second season in the majors.
A Macy’s spokesman said the company had no comment beyond what was reported by police.
Shoplifter with 40 prior convictions gets prison term www.privateofficer.com
WEST NYACK NY April 21 2011— A man described by prosecutors as a career criminal with nearly 40 convictions will be sentenced in July after he was found guilty of trying to steal more than $1,000 in video games from a store in the Palisades Center mall.
Joe Smith, 56, of 416 Liberty St., Newburgh, was convicted after a jury trial of a felony count of grand larceny and misdemeanor charges of attempted criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of an anti-security item.
The convictions stemmed from an incident at the Best Buy at the mall two years ago in which Smith entered the store carrying a disguised foil-lined “booster bag,” designed to conceal stolen merchandise.
A store security guard followed Smith and saw him take a handful of video games and put them in the booster bag.
Clarkstown police officers, responding to a call from Best Buy security personnel, arrested the Smith in the parking lot near J.C. Penney following a foot chase through the mall.
Store security officers determined the total value of the stolen games was $1,159.
Jurors deciding the case in the courtroom of Rockland County Court Judge William K. Nelson reached a verdict on April 11, following a week-long trial and eight hours of deliberations.
Smith was remanded to the Rockland County Jail and will be sentenced July 12. He faces a maximum of four years in state prison.
Smith has a total of 39 convictions, including two felony convictions for which he served time in state prison. The defendant has several additional charges pending, including petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
Source:lohud.com
Shoplifting gangs force retailers to ask for tougher laws www.privateofficer.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. April 21 2011— Stores have always had shoplifters. But not always like this.
Gangs of professional shoplifters, organized into theft rings, have become a growing menace for U.S. retailers. Roaming from store to store, they steal large quantities of easy-to-sell items — such as baby formula, razor blades, video games or batteries. “They grab a cartload and push it out the door,” said Lee Vague, Woodbury police chief. “That raises the red flag: Why this item? Why so many? Where’s the market?”
The marketplace is often online, where stolen items are sold to consumers. Just as legitimate buying and selling online keeps growing, so do the organized rings that traffic in stolen goods.
Now, traditional retailers, including Minnesota-based giants Target and Supervalu, are seeking tougher laws that match the scale of the crime.
“There is a whole underground economy, and there are groups of people — some loosely organized, some organized like a business enterprise — that steal from stores,” said Brad Brekke, Target Corp.’s vice president of asset protection. “They steal very specific items that tend to have a high resale value.”
This is a different crime than shoplifting as most people understand it, Brekke says.
“You’re talking about sweeping an entire shelf,” he said. “It could be anything from iPods to ink cartridges to over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol, because these are things that are wanted by consumers. They can be sold to fencing operations and sold back to the public. It’s almost like our business, in reverse.” For Minneapolis-based Target Corp., ordinary shoplifting is still the most common crime. But its biggest losses come from organized theft rings, due to their scale and sophistication.
When police broke up a Chicago theft ring in November, they seized $4.5 million in cash and a warehouse full of goods. When Woodbury police cracked a separate case, “we sent moving vans back over to other cities to get things back,” said Vague, Woodbury’s police chief.
Cub Foods estimates its Twin Cities-area stores lose $2 million to $5 million a year to organized theft rings. Its parent company Supervalu puts annual losses at $25 million, at least. And rising.
“Our average shoplifting apprehension has increased 46 percent in the last three years — which means they are stealing them in quantity, and we’re stopping them in quantity,” said Carol Martinson, Supervalu’s vice president of asset protection.
Both the National Retail Federation and the FBI cite industry wide losses of $15 billion to $30 billion a year from organized retail crime. And it’s not just the big retailers, either.
“Big, small, medium — they’re all affected by it,” said Brian Steinhoff, president of the Minnesota Retailers Association. “If you talk to a women’s clothing store, they do get hit by it.”
HOW THEFT RINGS OPERATE
Many theft rings seem to combine sophistication with amateur hour. Pulling items off a store shelf, then racing to a waiting car hardly seems the work of a criminal mastermind. But Brekke and others see how deftly those criminal gangs can operate.
“Most of the good ones have a very set MO,” Brekke said, referring to their method of operation. They use diversion, teamwork, advanced scouting, mapping tools and knowledge of the law.
Organizations operate in layers, which shields the ringleaders from prosecution. A typical theft ring will have “a minimum of six” layers between the low-level “boosters” and the ringleader, says Supervalu’s Martinson.
That’s a lot of layers for investigators to peel away, so cracking these cases is often time-consuming.
Target’s Brekke gives an example of how a theft ring might work:
A fencing operator sends word to low-level shoplifters, known as boosters, that he’d like iPods.
“Literally, there’s an order put out,” Brekke said, specifying how many iPods the fence wants and what he’ll pay. The thieves “tend to map out the stores that carry them, so it’s the Best Buys, the Targets, the Wal-Marts … Many have already done some level of intelligence, they know our level of staffing, how we protect the product, which jurisdictions to avoid.
“They would try to hit anywhere from a half-dozen to a dozen stores (a day),” Brekke added. “They’ll make the rounds in the morning and tend by midafternoon to go back (home) … It’s a business to them. They may do this two, three, four days a week.”
The mobile gangs tend to hit retailers along major interstates like I-94 and I-35. Yet, smaller communities often are preyed upon. Smaller police departments and a lack of sophisticated security equipment can draw thieves, too.
Martinson recalls Supervalu’s Hornbacher’s stores in Fargo-Moorhead. “They were just getting killed,” she said.
There’s one other constant: Shoplifters keep the thefts below $5,000 per store, so if they’re arrested, the chance of serious charges is low.
“They know exactly how much they can steal without triggering felony law,” Martinson said.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has proposed a federal law to make life tougher on theft rings. Minnesota’s retailers strongly support it.
“As retail thieves have become more sophisticated, our laws need to be more sophisticated as well,” Klobuchar said.
To start, the bill would aggregate theft totals — so shoplifters couldn’t duck serious charges by stealing less than $5,000 from each of 10 stores. Criminal charges would be based on the total amount.
The bill would also require more of online auction sites like eBay and Craigslist. They’d have to file suspicious activity reports on suspected criminal sellers and suspend them if confronted with clear evidence.
In a statement, eBay said it supports tougher penalties to fight retail theft, but that it and other Internet leaders opposed Klobuchar’s bill, “due to concerns that it harmed Internet user privacy and would be ineffective at addressing the core problem of retail theft.” It also says it’s “bad policy” to require websites “to turn personal information over to business competitors without the involvement of law enforcement or any proof of wrongdoing.”
Klobuchar’s bill also tries to promote a better reporting system among police, retailers and federal officials. That would be welcomed by local police, including Woodbury’s Chief Vague.
“These are tough cases for a municipal police department to work,” Vague said, citing the far-flung nature of organized rings and the complications of teaming with distant police agencies. “Quite frankly, the framework just is not in place for us to deal with it very effectively.”
At the state level, retailers support bills that would aggregate thefts at a $1,000 level. Some 24 states have passed retail-theft laws, but Minnesota is not yet among them.
Retailers are taking other steps, too. Although stores compete fiercely for sales, they cooperate to fight this problem.
“There isn’t a day that goes by that the Cub Foods team doesn’t work with Target or Wal-Mart or CVS,” Martinson said.
Using security tapes and inventory records, retailers try to piece together how a theft ring is operating.
“We may actually allow the theft to occur once or twice or three times to understand who is operating and how they’re operating,” Brekke said. “We try to shift it from just arresting someone (at a low level) to finding out who is running the operation.”
Investigators, police and retailers have had some successes. A sample:
In the Twin Cities, officials broke up a multi-million-dollar theft ring involving scores of shoplifters who stole DVDs, video games and electronics from Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy stores. Ten Twin Cities-area residents have been convicted or pleaded guilty.
In southern California, Supervalu played a role in cracking a huge interstate theft ring. “That was a three-year investigation,” Martinson said. “There was $4.9 million worth of inventory, and it took 55 semi-trailers to empty the warehouse.”
In Seattle, police recently busted a theft ring that had stolen $1.5 million from Target and other retailers. Most of the boosters were drug addicts, police said.
In Florida, officials shut down a ring run by an extended family that stole an estimated $60 million worth of health and beauty products.
And in New Jersey, officials shut down a network that used hundreds of boosters, mostly drug addicts, to steal from Target and CVS stores.
“The magnitude is greater than most people realize,” Target’s Brekke said. “It has a negative pull on business, has a negative pull on tax revenue, has an increased cost to law enforcement.”
Source:Twincities.com
Dressed like a mannequin, man records women in bathroom www.privateofficer.com
Birmingham April 21 2011
University of Birmingham student Joel Hardman was caught trying to secretly film women on his mobile phone, the Birmingham Mail reports.
The 22-year-old from Edgbaston was seen sneaking into the women’s toilets “dressed like a mannequin with a mask and a wig” earlier this month.
When security guards nabbed him after he emerged from the locked cubicle, Hardman admitted to performing a sexual act and said: “I’ve been a bit weird.”
He also told police he found the sound of women on the toilet sexually exciting and said: “It’s good you’ve caught me — maybe now I’ll stop.”
Police found three images of women’s feet taken beneath cubicle doors on his mobile phone, and an audio recording of a flushing toilet, the court was told.
Hardman told Birmingham Magistrates’ Court he felt “sexual gratification out of everything that goes on in women’s toilets”.
When asked to explain his outfit, he said he wore the clothes to a fancy dress party and then tried it out at the shopping mall.
Hardman confessed he had done it before in the women’s toilets at a university campus, but moved to the shopping centre because it was busier.
The student was released on bail on the condition he stayed away from public toilets.
District Judge Lesley Mottram said Hardman could face jail time because of the “aggressive nature” of the crime and the case is adjourned until May 10
Florida shoplifter leaves behind ID, cell phone www.privateofficer.com
Lee County Fla April 21 2011 An alleged shoplifter temporarily evaded arrest, but left behind the merchandise he attempted to steal, as well as his driver’s license, car keys and cell phone, according to Lee County Sheriff’s Office reports.
Bruce DeVries, the on-duty manager at the Dollar General in North Fort Myers told deputies he witnessed a man concealing merchandise down the front of his pants. When the suspect started to leave, DeVries attempted to detain the suspect, according to reports.
A struggle ensued and the suspect escaped by pulling out of the shirt he was wearing, reports said.
The suspect left behind the merchandise he allegedly tried to steal, his driver’s license, car keys and cell phone. The driver’s license identified the man as 50-year-old Gregory Anthony Lewis.
Another deputy located the suspect a little over an hour later at Herron Road and Pineapple Lane, reports said.
Lewis was charged with petit theft 2nd offense, resisting officer in recovery of stolen property, and resisting arrest without violence.
Alarm industry may seek national license for central stations www.privateofficer.com
WASHINGTON DC April 21 2011 —Following the New York state licensing debate over Article 6-E, the Alarm Industry Communications Committee—the membership committee that handles the security industry’s lobbying in Congress and with the FCC—has formed a subcommittee to execute the push for a national license for central stations. The committee, which had its first meeting on March 3, has important work to do, according to industry leaders.
“The subcommittee is tasked with developing language and a game plan for approaching Congress,” CSAA president Ed Bonifas said. “The project is important because central stations are continuously subjected to redundant state and municipal licensing and registration.”
Lou Fiore chairs the AICC and said the subcommittee was ready to pick up the national licensing torch.
“I think it was five or six years ago, that John Murphy was pushing for reciprocity in the monitoring industry, but we didn’t get enough support behind it,” Fiore said. “But with the 6-E issue it breathed new life into this push, and people are saying, ‘We should do this,’” Fiore said. “We came up with a draft, based on the old draft. Bill Cooper who co-chairs the subcommittee wrote it.”
ADT industry liaison manager Bill Cooper co-chairs the subcommittee with C.O.P.S. president and COO Jim McMullen.
“Our agenda for the immediate future includes presenting a bill for public comment. We’ll ask for suggested changes, additions, etc.,” Cooper said, noting the committee had a deadline May 13 for comment on the bill, which will be on the AICC website soon. “If the bill looks feasible, we’ll then find a sponsor.”
McMullen on March 25 sent a press release detailing the subcommittee’s future plans to Security Systems News.
“AICC is calling upon the experience and expertise of national monitoring companies and other industry professionals to provide constructive input necessary to draft a comprehensive bill that details the criteria or requirements of a ‘Nationally Recognized Monitoring Company,’” the release reads. “The AICC has established a website that contains the first draft of the proposed bill along with an online form to collect the input from various sources.”
Fiore said he was hopeful the AICC subcommittee could carry a bill through with the current momentum the issue has.
“The way this will probably end up reading is that if your state has licensing and you’re licensed there, then you’ll be vetted to monitor in other states,” he said. “We’re putting the draft up on our website and looking for comments back by May 13, after which time we’ll bring it back at the AICC June 2 meeting for approval and preparation to take to congress.”
Source:SSN
Tampa 10 year old commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
TAMPA Fla April 21 2011 – Neighbor Doritha Boler described the 10-year-old boy as a happy-go-lucky child who loved to play with other children at the apartment complex on Sligh Avenue.
There wasn’t a day that you wouldn’t see him around, biking, playing slap boxing or fooling around with his friends, Boler said.
“He was pretty outgoing and a good kid,” Boler said.
But the boy, who The Tampa Tribune has chosen not to name, died from an apparent suicide Monday afternoon, Tampa police said.
His mother sent him to his room for a timeout late Monday afternoon for misbehaving. She checked on him about 45 minutes later and found him hanging in his closet from a noose he had fashioned from a game system cord, police said.
A neighbor began to do chest compressions. When police officers arrived, they began CPR. He was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said the preliminary autopsy report indicates the boy committed suicide.
Boler said the parents and community are struggling with the loss.
“Everybody took it hard because we know the baby,” Boler said.
She said residents at the apartment complex believe it was an accident. The boy may have been fooling around with the cord or planning a prank, Boler said.
“We don’t believe he intended to do that,” Boler said. “There’s no way that baby would have done that on purpose. That wasn’t his frame of mind.”
The school district sent grief counselors to Foster Elementary, where the boy was a fourth-grader. The school postponed its FCAT examinations for fifth-graders because of the tragedy. The school’s principal sent a phone message to parents at the school, said Linda Cobbe, a school district spokeswoman.
Although it is rare for a child to commit suicide, suicidal thoughts in children are not uncommon, said Eli Newberger, a pediatrician and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
But it’s typically boys who commit suicide, said Newberger, who has written a book on the development of boys, entitled “The Men They Will Become.”
There is a social code that expects boys to ball up their emotions. They are expected to be independent and “soldier on” when there’s a stress, he said. “Every male should be like a rock and to be impervious to being weak.”
The area has experienced its share of child suicides in the past couple of years.
In 2008, 9-year-old Efrem Tyree was found by his mother hanging in a closet at the family’s Pasco County home.
In 2009, a 13-year-old Hillsborough County girl, Hope Witsell, hanged herself after months of classmates’ taunts. Her family is now suing the Hillsborough County school district for not doing more to help the girl.
Last year, a 9-year-old Lakeland girl, Twan’ya Boyd, accidentally hanged herself by a belt — possibly while playing a choking game to give herself a high.
Source:TBO.com
Armored car guard leaves gun in store’s restroom www.privateofficer.com
The man, an armed courier for Dunbar Armored Security, told police that he took off the gun to use the restroom and returned to work without it, according to a police department press release. The gun, a Springfield semi-automatic pistol, was gone when he returned to get it.
Anyone with information may call the police department at 717-597-9506.
Fort Bent TX security officer killed during theft www.privateofficer.com
FRESNO, TX April 21 2011 — Authorities are looking for information about a deadly shooting overnight.
At about 12:30am Wednesday, Fort Bend County Sheriff’s deputies were called to J. D. Abrams, a construction site located in the 8400 block of FM 2234 in Fresno. They found a private security guard, Fidel Sanchez, 26, of Houston, who had been shot several times. He was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital where he died.
According to detectives, Sanchez responded to an alarm call at the site, discovered a major theft of construction materials in progress and was shot.
Fort Bend County detectives are requesting anyone with identifying details on the suspect or suspects, or circumstances surrounding this incident to please contact the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office at 281-341-4665 or Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers at 281-342-TIPS (8477).
Youth detention security officer beaten,locked up as teen escapes www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC April 21 2011 Officer Sylvester Young was working the Sunday night shift at the youth detention center run by the District when two teens picked the locks on their rooms, grabbed him from behind and beat him. The attack was swift, he said, and he quickly blacked out.
When Young came to, swollen, bruised and dazed, he was locked in Room 10 and couldn’t get out.
An 18-year-old who had attacked him — who was supposed to be locked in Room 10 — had stolen Young’s keys, scaled the facility’s fence and sped off in Young’s car.
“When I woke up, I didn’t have my wallet or keys,” said Young, 53, who recounted the incident in an interview Tuesday. “I banged on the door for a while. The officer next door heard me banging, banging, banging and came and got me.”
The escape Monday morning from the New Beginnings Youth Development Center in Laurel has heightened concerns about staffing and security at the state-of-the-art facility, which has had three escapes since it opened in May 2009.
D.C. Council Member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who oversees the District’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), said Tuesday that nine cameras, which he said should have been actively monitored in a control room, captured the assault and escape. He said the two youths used the guard’s stolen electronic key card seven times. It is unclear when or how the escape was first detected.
“We’re having an intense revelation of how insecure the facility is,” Graham said. “We have got to take immediate steps to make sure it’s a secure facility.”
On Tuesday evening, the 18-year-old had not been found by authorities. Graham said the youth is from Southeast Washington and was being held on burglary and theft charges. He said the youth had been written up dozens of times since May for breaking facility rules, infractions Graham said should have sparked additional intervention.
The teen initially was thought to be 17, but Graham said Tuesday that he had recently turned 18. The second teenager did not leave the facility and was caught.
Christopher Shorter, chief of staff for the DYRS, said that the attack was caught on video and that his staff is conducting an internal investigation, which should be completed in several weeks. He declined to offer additional details about the incident, citing the ongoing investigation.
Young, who has more than two decades’ experience as a guard, said he was escorting a detainee back to his room from a bathroom break about 12:30 a.m. when he was attacked.
“I was shocked. It was like a bad dream,” said Young, whose eye is swollen shut and who will have to undergo facial surgery.
Like other officers on staff, he was by himself on a unit with nine or 10 inmates during the overnight shift, he said.
“I wish we had more staffing on midnights,” he said. “It wouldn’t have happened if we had more officers.”
Young has worked for New Beginnings since it opened. Before that, he worked for its predecessor, Oak Hill, for 20 years. Oak Hill was closed after decades of problems, and New Beginnings opened with high expectations.
Although the aim of the center is to rehabilitate the detainees, Young said the youths can be violent.
“A lot of them are really dangerous. We have to treat these guys like it’s maximum security,” Young said. “I know it’s supposed to be a treatment facility, but we have to be aware of what they’re capable of.”
After they attacked Young, the teenagers took his swipe card to leave the unit and grabbed a ladder left by a maintenance crew, officials said. One held the ladder and the 18-year-old scaled it, Young said.
The youth who held the ladder decided not to make a run for it, Young said.
Young’s car, a Hyundai Genesis with Fraternal Order of Police license plates, was found in the Barry Farm neighborhood in Southeast on Monday afternoon, he said.
Young said he’d never been attacked before. He knew the escapee for six months and had never had a run-in with him.
“It was an opportune moment for him to escape,” Young said. “He was going to make sure nobody was in his way.”
Young’s wife, Karen Young, said officers need better protection.
“I’m somewhat angry with the guy who did this to my husband, but my anger is really with the facility,” she said. “They put him in that position.”
Source:Washington Post
Shoplifter bites, pepper sprays security officer www.privateofficer.com
Madison WI April 21 2011 A shoplifter sprayed mace in the face of one security guard and bit another before she was arrested in an incident Saturday night, Madison police reported.
Gevonna Marie Green, 18, of Madison, was jailed on a variety of tentative charges, including a weapons violation, substantial battery, retail theft and obstruction, following her arrest near the 2100 block of Zeier Road at about 7:40 p.m. Saturday, police said.
The shoplifting allegedly happened at Gordmans, 131 East Towne Mall.
Three other suspects — Caressa Richmond, 18, Octavia Jefferson, 17, and Demetria Patterson, 20, all of Madison — were tentatively charged with retail theft.
According to police, store security tried to detain the suspects in the parking lot of Gordmans, but all four got away when Green threw the merchandise taken from the store at a guard while spraying him in the face.
“The guard was momentarily disabled, allowing the four suspects to flee,” said police spokesman officer Howard Payne.
A different security guard who followed the suspects physically detained Green for police, but she allegedly bit him, drawing blood, according to an officer at the scene.
The stolen goods included a purse and socks.
Source:Cap Times
Hospital security recognize, chase down wanted murder suspect www.privateofficer.com
Indianapolis IN April 21 2011 — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says the suspect wanted in connection with a north side murder earlier this week has been arrested. Tuesday around 8 p.m., security officers at Community North Hospital recognized 21-year-old Christopher Woods. They were able to apprehend him following a short chase.
Woods has been arrested and faces charges of murder and possession of a firearm without a permit.
Woods is accused of fatally shooting 21-year-old Sparkle Majors on Monday at a north side apartment in the 1700 block of Century Circle. Police say Woods fled the scene following the shooting. A manhunt caused nearby schools in Washington Township to be put on lockdown as a precaution while police searched for Woods.
Source:Fox 59
Jackson school security handcuff students to pole as punishment www.privateofficer.com
Jackson MS April 21 2011 Students at Jackson Public Schools’ Capital City Alternative School, including some in special education, are being handcuffed for hours as punishment for such infractions as not wearing a belt and talking back, according to a civil rights organization.
In a letter sent Friday to school district officials, a copy of which was obtained by The Clarion-Ledger, the Southern Poverty Law Center urges JPS to abandon such alleged practices and adopt a stricter policy on use of restraints.
The allegations, involving five to 10 students, include that “JPS security guards have repeatedly placed students in restraints, attached the restraints to a pole in the school gymnasium, and left the children there without supervision for hours,” according to the letter.
Excessive restraint is not allowed, Superintendent Lonnie Edwards said.
The allegations are being investigated, he said. Edwards noted he received his copy of the center’s letter on Tuesday.
“We will certainly have more of an official position once we have completed the investigation,” he said.
JPS, like other school districts around the state, has a policy allowing limited restraint of students if they pose immediate danger to themselves or others.
Jackson’s policy generally mirrors samples provided by the state Department of Education. Prohibited are “excessive force, or cruel and unusual punishment, regarding student management and discipline.” First, the student should be told to stop any inappropriate behavior and be warned that he will be restrained if he doesn’t, according to the policy.
The center seeks a district response by Monday, according to the letter. The group also wants the Jackson School Board to revise its policy on student restraint “to condemn this behavior,” according to the letter.
The last request is for school security personnel to be trained in “safe and humane security practices by an expert in this area to be mutually agreed-upon by the Southern Poverty Law Center and JPS.”
Jody Owens, director of the SPLC’s Mississippi office, said the group hopes to work with JPS to resolve the issue.
“We think it’s a type of situation that if all parties are aware, then we should be able to reach a compromise and agree that this should have never happened,” Owens said.
The alleged incidents in JPS go back about six months and the students involved are as young as 12 or 13, he said.
A similar incident occurred in New Orleans about a year ago, he said. A subsequent lawsuit was settled in favor of the students, and a policy was passed “to ensure it would never happen again,” Owens said.
“When you have youth who suffer from mental health-related issues, there’s a proper way and an improper way to treat them and to discipline them when necessary,” he said.
The stigma of being handcuffed derails the students’ ability to achieve a positive outcome and experience, Owens said.
In general, limited use of restraints is allowed when done to protect students and those around them, said Josh Cunningham, research analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some related federal lawsuits have given more leeway to sue individuals who use restraints if they go beyond what a state policy allows and harm a child, he said. The school also can be held liable, Cunningham said.
There has been much interest in Congress on the use of restraints and seclusion in schools, said Russell Skiba, a professor of counseling and educational psychology at Indiana University.
“In two successive sessions, a bill was introduced in Congress to set strict limits on the use of restraints and seclusion,” Skiba said.
He didn’t have details about the local situation, but said if the allegations are true, handcuffing students goes against what are considered best practices for student discipline.
Source:ClarionLedger.com
Florida teens kill, burn boy in dating dispute www.privateofficer.com
Marion County Fla April 21 2011 Several Marion County youths are accused of killing a teen boy this past weekend and then burning his body to get rid of evidence of their crime, according to the sheriff’s office.
The suspects, who range in age from 15 to 20, reportedly lured Seath Tyler Jackson, of Belleview, to a home, hit him, and shot him multiple times, according to arrest affidavits filed in the case.
Charlie Kay Ely, 18; Amber E. Wright, 15; Michael Shane Bargo, 18; Justin Soto, 20; and Kyle Lonnie-Duan Hooper, 16, all of Summerfield, have been charged with first-degree murder. James Young Havens III, 37, also of Summerfield, is charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
On Monday, Seath’s parents reported him missing and said that he might have run away the day before. Tracey Wright, who is the mother of Kyle and Amber, contacted authorities on Tuesday to say that Kyle had told her that he had seen Seath killed at Ely’s house in the 13800 block of Southeast 53rd Avenue in Summerfield.
When Kyle and his mother went to the sheriff’s office, he first told deputies that he saw Bargo shoot Seath. He later admitted that he, Amber, Bargo, Ely and Soto had planned the crime and lured Seath to Ely’s home.
According to posts on Seath’s Facebook page, Seath and Amber had recently ended a romantic relationship and she had entered into a relationship with Bargo. The posts, which are peppered with profanity, indicate that the breakup was a difficult one. Seath called Amber names and questioned whether she had been unfaithful to him, a charge she denied.
A person who has a serious grievance that the person doesn’t think law enforcement will handle may engage in what’s called “self-help justice,” said Jay Corzine, a UCF criminologist and chairman of the department of sociology.
“What happens is people take matters into their own hands,” Corzine said.
Kyle told deputies that he, Amber, Ely, Bargo and Soto had been at Ely’s house on Sunday when Bargo began to talk about how much he hated Seath. The group then began to plan to lure Seath to the house so Bargo could kill him, according to arrest affidavits filed in the case.
Amber and Ely then tried to get Seath to the home, but he did not come, infuriating Bargo. Amber then sent Seath a text message and he arrived at the home, according to the documents.
As soon as Seath entered the house, Bargo, Hooper and Soto began to hit him in the head with wooden objects. Ely told detectives that she ran into her bedroom after she saw Kyle hit Seath.
Bargo shot Seath several times with a .22-caliber revolver, according to an arrest affidavit. As Seath tried to leave the house, Soto tackled him and Bargo shot him again, according to the sheriff’s office.
Amber watched the killing, according to the documents.
The teens and Soto then placed Seath’s body in a bathtub so Bargo could break Seath’s knees in order to place him in a bag more easily. Soto said he and Bargo realized that Seath was still alive, so Bargo shot the boy again. Seath’s body was then placed into a blue bag.
Soto said he then helped look for firewood. The group then burned Seath’s body until it was just ashes and bone fragments, according to the sheriff’s office.
Bargo placed the remains in paint cans and then took the paint cans and other items from the killing to another location, Soto told deputies.
The group then set about cleaning the house with bleach, according to the arrest documents.
Havens, who is stepfather to Kyle and Amber, knew about the plan to kill Seath in advance, according to the sheriff’s office. He helped the group get rid of the boy’s remains and gave Bargo a ride to Starke.
Authorities have not found Seath’s remains.
