Archive
OFFICER DOWN-Police Officer Chris Kilcullen
Eugene Police Department
Airport security officer dies in house fire www.privateofficer.com
ORANGE NJ April 24 2011 — An ebullient airport security officer with a knack for cheering up co-workers died early today during a fire in her apartment building, officials said.
Tosha Lassiter, 36, who lived in an apartment in the 100 block of Park Street, was the only one of 17 people in the building unable to escape.
The fire began about 2 a.m., officials said. Firefighters described flames reaching out the back of the building, with smoke billowing on all sides, but they rescued several second-floor occupants, they said.
Lassiter, who lived on the second floor of the three-story building, was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:44 a.m., officials said. An autopsy will be done to determine cause of death.
Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly said the cause of the fire had not been determined, but it did not appear to be suspicious.
“We are focusing on the kitchen area” of Lassiter’s apartment, he said tonight.
The 16 displaced people were relocated by the Red Cross, he said. Word of Lassiter’s death cast a pall at Newark Liberty International Airport, where she worked as a Transportation Security Administration officer.
Paul Mullins, a former TSA manager who had supervised Lassiter, said she was universally liked by colleagues.
“Her smile lit up an entire room,” Mullins said. “You could be in a lousy mood, but if Tosha Lassiter walked up to you and gave you a smile and a big hug, it made your day.”
He said Lassiter had worked for the TSA for at least five years. Ten area companies assisted Orange in fighting the fire. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Orange Fire Department are investigating the fire, fire officials said.
Source:NJ.com
Heartless home health aide steals $800,000 from disabled woman www.privateofficer.com
The 85-year-old victim, who is practically bedridden, said her savings were stolen right under her nose by a woman she trusted for seven years.
“She robbed me,” Renee Fuld told the Daily News yesterday. “The only thing I could figure out is I gave her money to buy things and she kept it. I’m just sorry I didn’t see her taking money. She would lie to me with a straight face.”
Fuld said the aide, Jackie Pokuwaah, turned the Forest Hills apartment into a virtual boarding house, moving in at least seven friends and relatives – rent-free.
“I don’t know how they all fit in here,” the octogenarian said.
Pokuwaah, 52, is now locked up on charges of grand larceny and stolen property for the check-writing scheme, which went on for almost three years.
The fleecing ended when Pokuwaah’s twice-weekly visits to a TD Bank – often carrying $800 checks with “laundry” written on the memo line – raised red flags with employees, officials said.
“Thank God for the bank,” said Fuld, who is in the care of a new aide. “If they hadn’t noticed the activity, she would still be roaming around here.”
After Pokuwaah’s arrest earlier this month, Fuld found $4,000 in bills for jewelry and clothing from Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus hidden in the apartment.
Fuld, who has no kids, has limited use of her hands and trouble hearing. When she is able to get out of bed, she needs a wheelchair to get around her cluttered apartment.
A psychiatric exam found the victim is cognitively impaired and “presents the opportunity for exploitation,” according to court papers. The criminal complaint says she “did not understand why her bank account balance was decreasing and did not give the defendant permission and authority to take approximately $791,054.”
Fuld, whose husband died about five years ago, told The News she relied on Pokuwaah to handle her banking.
She would write out checks with notations for food or laundry on the memo line, and Pokuwaah would tell her how much money was needed, the complaint charges.
The aide often told her she lost a check and needed a replacement to pay bills, Fuld said.
Pokuwaah – who appeared to have a spotty credit history – took home weekly salary checks of $1,561 – or $81,000 annually, according to the complaint.
“I can’t believe she did this to me,” Fuld said. “Why would she steal from me? I didn’t pay her a pittance.”
The aide was held at Rikers Island in lieu of a $25,000 bond and is expected back in court Tuesday. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Her lawyer, Henry Forman, refused to discuss the case.
Fuld said she doesn’t know how much money she has left or whether she will get any of it back. Mostly, she feels betrayed.
“I’m just sorry I didn’t see her taken away,” she said.
Source:NY Daily News
Former Corpus Christi police officer commits suicide in Wal-Mart parking lot www.privateofficer.com
Patzner, a former marine, had graduated from the Police Academy in 1988. He served in the swat unit and was in the patrol division covering downtown Corpus Christi and then Annaville. He was also a man who had been arrested for drugs and a weapons charge.
The body of Patzner was found inside his white van in the parking lot of the Greenwood Walmart at 5:45 p.m. Thursday, April 21, 2011. It’s believed the former CCPD patrol officer shot himself in the head. He may have been dead and inside his van for some time. Police were told he could have arrived at the Walmart at around noon. No one apparently witnessed the shooting but Walmart does have security cameras aimed at the parking lot, and police will take a look at those tapes.
Assistant Police Chief Steve Mylett says, “we’re going to be interviewing his family members to see if there was anything that would lead him to take his own life, but again we’re waiting on the medical examiner’s report to make the determination of the cause of death.”
Patzner did have a head wound, and a revolver was found on the floorboard of the van. Patzner retired from the force in 2008 and shortly after that he was being questioned by police about his involvement in drugs.
According to the Nueces County Court records, in august of 2009 he was arrested on charges involving drug possession and unlawfully carrying a weapon. Most of the charges were dropped after he pled no contest to the marijuana and gun charge. He was given probation for a year which actually ended back in march of this year.
Patzner leaves behind a wife, an 18 year old son, and a 12 year old daughter.
Officers who worked with Patzner say he was a thrill seeker who they remember parachuting off the Harbor Bridge several times back in the 90′s.
Source:kiiitv.com
Security guard charged with raping cleaning company employee www.privateofficer.com
San Mateo CA April 24 2011 A contract security guard who worked at Electronic Arts pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he repeatedly sexually assaulted a cleaning woman at the video game company’s Redwood City offices.
Pacifica resident Raymond Nygard, 29, worked for a security company hired by EA, headquartered on Redwood Shores Parkway, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
The victim worked weekends for a cleaning service also contracted by EA.
On three separate Sundays — two in January and one in February — Nygard sexually assaulted the woman at work and threatened to have her fired or her immigration status challenged if she did not comply, said Wagstaffe, adding the woman was a legal immigrant.
Wagstaffe said Nygard raped the woman once and forced her to perform oral sex on him twice. The victim reported the assaults to her supervisor Feb. 10, four days after the last assault, he said.
Nygard has been charged with rape, oral copulation against the victim’s will, sexual battery and kidnapping to commit rape. He faces the kidnapping charge because during one incident he allegedly picked up the victim and took her to another room to assault her, Wagstaffe said.
The assaults took place in a cafeteria-type room, an office and in a utility room, Wagstaffe said. The assaults happened out of view of the building’s surveillance cameras, so there is no recording of the incidents, he said.
“That was no accident, since the guy worked there in security,” Wagstaffe said. “He would know what areas were covered by the camera and which were not.”
Nygard’s defense attorney, Charles J. Smith, said the sex acts were “consensual activities.”
“We’re looking forward to going to trial,” Smith said.
An Electronic Arts spokesperson said the safety of its employees and contract workers is a “top priority” and the company takes seriously “every complaint and incident that occurs on our campus.”
“When we were alerted to this complaint we immediately contacted law enforcement and the contractors who employ the people involved,” EA Senior Public Relations Manager Nyla Comisso wrote in an email.
A jury trial is scheduled to begin June 6, Wagstaffe said. Nygard is being held in county jail on $750,000 bail.
Source:Mercury News
Man arrested for stealing Mobile public transit bus www.privateofficer.com
MOBILE, Alabama April 24 2011– A man remained jailed Friday evening after he was charged with stealing a WAVE Transit bus and driving it through downtown Mobile, police said in a news release.
Barry Turner Parr, 57, is charged with first-degree theft of property, according to Mobile County Metro Jail records. His bail was set at $7,500, jail records show.
Police responded to a call at 2:09 p.m. Friday to Church and Royal streets regarding a stolen WAVE bus. The driver stopped to go to the restroom in the Museum of Mobile, and left the keys in the ignition, according to Ashley Rains, a police spokeswoman. When the driver returned, the bus was gone, Rains said.
A few minutes later, an officer saw the bus near State and Joachim streets, Rains said.
A man police identified as Parr drove the bus and picked up a passenger on St. Louis Street, who was most likely standing at one of the stops. The passenger told police that he did not immediately realize the legitimate driver was not steering the bus, but shortly after getting on, demanded to be let off.
Police then boarded the bus and arrested Parr, Rains said. The passenger was not injured, and officers did not report any damage to the vehicle, Rains said.
Police said they do not know if Parr had ever worked as a bus driver.
Officials with WAVE Transit were not available for comment Friday evening.
Parr has previous arrests dating back to 2005 for various charges, including trespassing, disorderly conduct and theft.
Source:AL.com
Unarmed security officer shot in the head www.privateofficer.com
East ST. Louis IL April 24 2011 Police are asking for the public’s help in solving the Saturday morning murder of an unarmed security guard.
Illinois State Police and the East St. Louis Police Department are investigating the murder of Joshua L. Miller, 22, of East St. Louis, according to a news release from Illinois State Police Master Sergeant Dave Wasmuth.
Shortly after 2 a.m., police were called to reported shots fired in the 1200 block of Cleveland Avenue. Officers responded to the area but initially were unable to locate any evidence that a shooting had occurred.
A subsequent call was received about 3:20 a.m. of a man found shot inside of a vehicle parked in the same area.
Preliminary investigation indicates Miller suffered a gunshot wound to the head, Wasmuth stated.
Miller was working as unarmed security guard for KLM Security at the Sinai Village redevelopment project when he was killed.
Anyone with information is asked to call the East St. Louis Police Department at 482-6700, Illinois State Police Special Agent Calvin Brown at 346-3765 or CrimeStoppers at (866) 371-8477. CrimeStoppers offers rewards up to $1000 for information on crimes
Source:www.bnd.com
Casino security find baby left in car while mom gambles www.privateofficer.com
SAN JOSE, Calif.April 24 2011 — A Santa Clara woman faces a child endangerment charge for allegedly leaving her three-year-old daughter in her car while she gambled.
San Jose police arrested 25-year-old Maria Sison Thursday evening outside the Garden City Casino.
A security guard found Sison’s daughter strapped in a car seat with the doors locked and rear windows cracked slightly. The girl was pulled from the car and she was hot and sweaty.
The child’s father picked her up as Sison was taken to jail. Sison was out of jail Friday night.
“Whoever came to get the child, they had no clue, they were hugging the baby,” said Tiffany Walker who witnessed the reunion.
Garden City management wouldn’t comment Friday night, but police said casino cameras showed Sison playing cards while her daughter was in the car for at least 30 minutes.
Sison had no explanation when she was paged from the tables, San Jose Police Sgt. Jason Dwyer said.
“Caught, hand in the cookie jar, doing something she knew was extremely poor judgment,” Sgt. Dwyer said.
If the girl had been any younger, she could have died, according to one expert.
“The thing about infants and children, their bodies heat up lot faster than adults, they heat up three to five times faster,” Jan Null, of the Golden Gate Weather Services said.
Outside the casino Friday night, patrons were shocked.
“I have a gambling problem, but I would never leave my two month old in the car,” Robin Fillie said.
Fillie said she is trying to stop gambling, but it’s hard.
“I spent all my money, my car payment, both bank accounts, over-drafted them both of them, ya that was pretty bad,” Fillie said.
Man fights with-shoots at security after being denied entry into nightclub www.pirvateofficer.com
MOBILE, Alabama April 24 2011 — Mobile police were searching Friday for a man they say was involved in an early-morning shooting in the downtown entertainment district, officials said in a news release.
The shooting was reported about 2:45 a.m. Friday, officials said.
Two men tried to get into a club in the 200 block of Dauphin Street, but were denied entry because they were not dressed properly, Officer Christopher Levy said.
Bystanders started gathering as the two men physically fought with club security, police said.
One of the men who was denied entry went to a vehicle, retrieved a handgun and fired several shots, scattering the crowd, Levy said.
One of the shots hit a 21-year-old man in the right leg, he said. The victim was not involved in the altercation, Levy said. The victim was treated and released from the University of South Alabama Medical Center, he said.
Source:AL.com
Memphis security company growing by using technology and their hearts www.privateofficer.com
Memphis TN April 24 2011 When Kim Heathcott decided to start her own company, it was her husband, Larry, who recommended the security industry, having worked in the industry himself for many years.
Larry Heathcott is president and Kim Heathcott is chief executive officer of Clarion Security, which began as a woman-owned security solutions business.
After months of planning, Kim Heathcott discovered software on Android-powered cell phones that transformed her whole design concept.
Now, after only a year since Memphis-based Clarion Security LLC opened shop, Heathcott has taken the Android-powered niche in the industry and turned it into a thriving security company with 55 officers and 10 accounts.
Developed in 2009 as a woman-owned business, Clarion Security provides armed and unarmed security guards, roving vehicle patrols, camera surveillance, investigative auditing and GPS monitoring in the Memphis area, as well as in parts of Mississippi and Arkansas.
The officers at Clarion are equipped with the Android software app, which allows them to take pictures throughout the night as they complete each step in their post order – a list of instructions given to the guard by the client. With the time and date stamp on each picture, the clients are able to log onto a Clarion website at any time to follow the guards’ progress.
This is a solution to paperwork, which, according to Heathcott, can be manipulated.
“Memphis is a huge security town, and people are spending a lot of dollars on physical security,” she said. “It would frustrate me to no end (as a client) if I’m paying thousands of dollars and I really don’t know if I’m getting my product.”
Although this technology gives Clarion an advantage in the security industry, it is the company’s dedication to its officers that has drastically separated it from its competitors.
Larry Heathcott, who officially joined Clarion in January, said he tells prospective clients his company is using the same amount of money they would spend on competitors’ services, but that the competitors spend the money in other ways.
“I don’t have a big office and I don’t have gas pickup trucks running all over town. …
My competition has been doing the same thing and doesn’t see any interest in changing,” he said.
“And I’m perfect with that because I’m going to take all of their accounts.”
Clarion, whose motto is “Protecting Customers, Valuing Employees” runs things differently in other ways, too.
Each officer is subject to a drug test every three months, as well as a background screening every six months.
Also, officers are delivered one healthy meal every shift at no cost to the officer.
The biggest difference, however, is the health care offered at Clarion. A nurse is brought into headquarters or travels to posts if an officer is sick. The benefit extends to family members who are sick and might be hindering the officers from working.
“As I looked into it, I found this is not so much a ‘catching bad guys’ business as it is a people business,” Heathcott said. “We tell all of our officers they’re going to be treated well. First of all, you need health care. I screen them better. I’m feeding them. … I want to know that when I pull up (to a post) at 11 o’clock at night, they go, ‘Man, these guys get it. They care.’”
While Larry Heathcott is on the relationships and marketing side of things, Kim Heathcott meticulously handles operations and customer service. The couple’s skills are complementary to each other, she said, and although her husband works primarily from home, he said he’s still there whenever she needs him.
“There’s no real drop off of passion,” he said. “I have mine and she’s got hers and wherever mine isn’t, hers kind of fills in.
“These officers see a united front and these clients do, too.”
Recently, two officers, Matt Graddy and Justin Brazzell, were promoted to supervisory positions.
“One of the reasons why we promoted the people we did is they know how it felt to be treated,” Kim Heathcott said. “If they know how it felt to be treated, then when they get into management, they’re going to remember that and they’re going to respond to an employee. Already we can tell a difference. … All the sudden, it’s not a dead-end guard job – they’re advancing.”
The Heathcotts expect 30 accounts by the end of the year – not impossible for a company that has been on a rapid trajectory of growth since it began.
“I love the underdog story,” Larry Heathcott said. “You don’t judge somebody by their size. This is the David of the industry, but the Goliaths will all fall.”
Source:The Daily News
Arizona pastor commits suicide at church when police serve warrant www.privateofficer.com
Chandler AZ April 24 2011 An Arizona pastor shot and killed himself at his church after being served with a search warrant investigating his Internet conversations with a 14-year-old girl, police said on Friday.
Nicholas William Minerva, 52, committed suicide on Thursday, shortly after officers arrived at the Trinity Baptist Fellowship Church in south Phoenix, said Detective Frank Mendoza, a Chandler, Ariz., police department spokesman.
“After we made contact, he ran away and retreated back into the church,” Mendoza told Reuters. “A short time later, he shot himself to death.”
It was unclear if the girl or her family are church members, he said.
Police said Minerva allegedly contacted the teen in a chat room in July and continued through Thursday. He allegedly had “inappropriate conversations” with her and once showed his genitalia via a webcam, police said.
Minerva has been a Trinity Baptist pastor since January 2004, according to the church website.
A call to the church was answered by a voice mail recording made by Minerva.
Source:Reuters
Police seek Maryland armored car robbers www.privateofficer.com
Prince George’s County police officers want the public’s assistance in identifying two suspects wanted in connection with an armored car robbery in Clinton last week.
On April 16, at about 8:55 a.m., two suspects approached a person from behind as he transported money in the 8700 block of Branch Avenue; one displayed a handgun and demanded the money from the man. The victim complied and the suspects took an undetermined amount of cash and fled the scene in a burgundy, four door Mazda.
The first suspect is described as a black male between 20 and 30 years old, between 5’8” and 5’10” with a medium build, dark gray hoodie, dark colored baseball cap, black pants with a white stripe and armed with a silver handgun.
The second suspect is described as a black male about 20 years old, 5’6” with a medium build, black hat, black jacket and black pants.
Anyone with information should call the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Robbery Unit at (301) 772-4905. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477) or text “PGPD plus your message” to CRIMES (274637) on your cell phone. Go to http://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/police/ and submit a tip online.
Memphis police officer wrongly accused of burglary www.privateofficer.com
MEMPHIS, TN – April 24 2011 – A Memphis police officer was wrongly arrested and charged with aggravated burglary after his fingerprints were found at a burglary crime scene that he was investigating.
Now, the MPD has opened an administrative investigation, as officials try to determine how the officers fingerprints would up as evidence, and why he was arrested.
The incident happened in mid-March at the Memphis home of Priscilla Copeland. Her neighbor, Antavious Christopher, happened to be outside at just the right time, and saw the burglary in process.
“I asked ‘em, I said, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ Christopher said. “I had my handgun on the side.”
Copeland was staying elsewhere while her home was being renovated when the pair of men broke in.
“It just hurt my heart, you know? I work hard,” she said.
Because Antavious Christopher called 911, within 15 minutes, the officers were able to catch two suspects, Terrance Jones and Mario Norfleet.
Back at the scene of the burglary, investigators found fingerprints on a displaced lawnmower in the backyard. Eventually the prints came back to Edrick Braxton, who was arrested, booked into jail, and charged in mid-April – more than a month later.
But, the charges were quickly dropped, because the arrest was a mistake. Braxton is a Memphis police officer, and was originally called to the house to help work the case. According to a statement released Friday by the police department, “…upon further investigation, the warrant was recalled and Officer Braxton was released.”
“I’m okay with that,” Copeland said when she heard the news. “I’m sorry it happened to him.”
Copeland said she is pleased to have a neighbor like Christopher, and is confident in what he witnessed.
Norfleet, meanwhile, also was arrested for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of furniture from a nearby warehouse.
Officer Braxton was not available for comment Friday.
Source:WMC
Former Red Wing MN teacher accused of sex crimes www.privateofficer.com
Durk Lee Stark, 42, is accused of having a sexual relationship with a girl, who was 17 at the time, from November 2009 to June 2010.
Stark voluntarily resigned from his position as a special education teacher April 1. Supt. Stan Slessor said Stark was on placed mandatory leave Oct. 25, 2010, after the district learned about the allegations. Stark had been employed with the district since August 2009, Slessor said.
Stark is charged with one count of third-degree and one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. If convicted, he could serve up to 15 years in prison and pay a $30,000 fine.
The court complaint, filed April 8, states that Stark had sex with the girl “multiple times.” The incidents occurred in Stark’s car or just outside his car in several wooded areas, one near the high school, one in Hay Creek Township and others in Wisconsin, the complaint says.
The girl reported that the incidents would start with Stark flirting with her at school and then after school he would drive them off school property to have sex with her.
The complaint also states that the girl would go to Stark’s classroom after school to get help on her math homework, even though she did not have Stark as a teacher. The girl said that topics of conversation during these meetings would turn sexual.
Stark told the girl he knew “what he was doing was wrong, and told her not to tell about it,” the complaint says.
Stark took the girl to Red Lobster in Oakdale, Minn., as a “first date,” the girl said in the complaint. It also states he told the girl they would date openly once she turned 18.
A call made to Stark was not immediately returned. He has not yet been arrested, the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office reported.
“The safety and wellbeing of a student is a priority for us,” Slessor said. “When we received that information (about the allegations) last fall, we immediately placed the teacher on mandatory leave.”
Slessor added that the district is cooperating with the investigation by the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office. He also stressed that the incidents of sexual intercourse detailed in the court complaint did not happen on school property. He could not confirm whether the girl is still enrolled at Red Wing.
Stark, whose current address is listed as Alexandria, Minn., on the complaint, will make his first court appearance June 3 in Goodhue County District Court.
Because some of the alleged incidents occurred in Wisconsin, Goodhue County District Attorney Erin Kuester said all of the information pertaining to the case was sent to Pepin County for review. If that county decides to prosecute, Stark could face separate charges in both Goodhue and Pepin counties, Kuester said.
Source:Red Wing eagle
Westlake teacher found drinking alcohol in class www.privateofficer.com
WESTLAKE, Ohio April 24 2011— A spokesperson for the Westlake Police Department tells Fox 8 News that a substitute high school teacher was arrested earlier this month for an incident that happened while she was allegedly drinking at the school.
WPD Public Information Officer Guy Turner says that Anne M. Keller, 57, of Westlake, was placed under arrest at Westlake High School on April 8 for an incident that occurred at approximately noon in Room 127.
“In the beginning, she denied she’d been drinking,” Turner says. “But, in the end, she admitted it. It was kind of hard to refute, given her condition.”
Turner adds that school officials at first thought Keller was having a medical issue. But when they woke her up, they suspected something else, and called the Westlake police officer assigned to the school
According to the offense report, Keller was cited for Disorderly Conduct Intoxication and Open Container. She pleaded guilty to both charges. The report says Keller had a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka with her.
Westlake Schools Superintendent Dan Keenan says the district has used Keller as a substitute since last spring. He says she passed all background checks and the district had never had a problem with her before.
“When these things happen, we can’t tolerate it,” Turner says. “We have to address it the way we did.”
She was taken from the school to the Westlake Jail for booking.
Keller was not home when FOX 8 went to her home seeking comment today. Her husband asked us to leave their property.
Source:Fox8
Philadelphia teen dies by his own gun during police chase www.privateofficer.com
PHILADELPHIA PA April 24 2011 — Philadelphia police say a teenager fleeing police was killed by his own gun after officers tackled him.
Police said officers responded to a call about a person with a gun in North Philadelphia early Friday.
Authorities say they saw 18-year-old Khalil Burton, who fled. Officers pursued him and tackled him on North Broad Street.
Police said when Burton fell, his gun went off, wounding him in the groin, and he was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital at about 5 a.m. Friday.
The Philadelphia Inquirer says court records indicate that Burton was arrested last month in Montgomery County on drug and resisting arrest charges and related counts.
Philadelphia TSA screener arrested for having child porn www.privateofficer.com
Philadelphia PA April 24 2011 A passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport is facing charges that he distributed more than 100 images of child pornography via Facebook, records show.
Federal agents also allege that Transportation Safety Administration Officer Thomas Gordon Jr. of Philadelphia, who routinely searched airline passengers, uploaded explicit pictures of young girls to an Internet site on which he also posted a photograph of himself in his TSA uniform.
Homeland Security agents arrested the TSA officer March 24, and he is being held without bail.
Although the case was unsealed Thursday, neither the indictment nor the news release mentioned Gordon’s job searching airline passengers for TSA.
The arrest comes as TSA grapples with several other incidents involving screeners, including a YouTube video posted last week by parents angry about the pat-down their 6-year-old daughter received at an airport in New Orleans. TSA officials said the pat-down was proper; the parents said the girl was “groped.”
Citing privacy rules, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis would not say if Gordon has been suspended from his job, but noted that he had been in federal custody since his arrest.
“We can assure the public that he is no longer working at the airport,” Davis said.
Gordon began working as a TSA screener at the Philadelphia airport in December 2005, Davis said. The airport has 900 screeners, she said.
If convicted of the child pornography charges, Gordon, 46, faces a minimum mandatory sentence of five years. The maximum prison term is 250 years and the top fine is $3.2 million.
Gordon is paid $37,000 annually as a TSA screener, records show. He has no prior criminal record, officials said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Levy, chief of his office’s child exploitation unit, declined to comment Friday.
Gordon’s lawyer, Elizabeth Toplin, an assistant federal public defender, could not be reached for comment via e-mail or phone late Friday.
Tipped by the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, federal agents began investigating Gordon on March 10, according to an affidavit from a Homeland Security Investigations agent.
The tip allegedly included evidence that Gordon had uploaded five explicit photographs of young girls onto the web site Photobucket.
The federal agent alleged that Gordon’s Photobucket account also included a picture of him wearing his blue TSA uniform.
The indictment alleges that Gordon used at least six Facebook accounts and employed multiple names “to upload and store images of sexual exploitation of minor children.”
The charges detail 104 illicit photographs allegedly uploaded over four weeks in February.
Authorities also seized from Gordon an HP laptop and a four-gigabyte flash drive that they say contained more than 600 images or movies containing child pornography, according to court filings.
Gordon’s job as a TSA screener was in jeopardy last year for unrelated reasons, according to an online newsletter of the American Federation of Government Employees.
Citing a family issue, it said Gordon was having “difficulty maintaining his work schedule.” The union lawyer helped convince TSA officials that a change in shift schedule resolved the problem, the newsletter said, and Gordon returned to work.
Source:Philly.com
Two Pa. women charged with felony retail theft www.privateofficer.com
LIMERICK PA April 24 2011 — Two Lower Pottsgrove women, one of them pregnant, were arrested for allegedly stealing more than $1,200 in merchandise from eight stores in the Philadelphia Premium Outlets.
Beverly Stafford, 45, and Samiyah Carter, 25, both of 2120 Buchert Road, were charged with retail theft and related offenses. Stafford was also charged with providing false identification to police and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Both women were sent to Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 cash bail following their arraignment by District Judge Walter F. Gadzicki April 15. Their preliminary hearings are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday before Judge Gadzicki.
According to court documents, an employee of Express notified mall security that two women had entered the store and reportedly concealed merchandise before leaving the store without paying for it. Mall security notified a Limerick Township police officer who was on duty in the area of the outlets.
The officer was given a description of the women, one described as a pregnant female wearing a blue shirt and blue hat, and the other wearing a red shirt and a red hat. When police made contact with the women, they each had “a very large number of personal bags and merchandise bags that appeared very faded and worn in appearance.”
The police officer noted in court papers he asked whether the women had any stolen merchandise in their bags, and the women “immediately stated (the officer) was permitted to check inside of their bags.” Inside the bags the officer found products with hangers still attached as well as some items with security sensors still attached, according to court documents.
The police officer asked the women if they had receipts for any of the merchandise and neither woman could provide receipts, police said. When police checked with the seven stores, in addition to Express, where the merchandise in the women’s bags was from, they learned the women had not made purchases in those stores, court papers indicate.
Police said the total value of the stolen merchandise was $1,213.90. When police took the women into custody, Stafford, the woman wearing the red shirt and red hat, allegedly lied about her date of birth, police wrote in court papers.
Stafford was also found in possession of a glass pipe commonly used to ingest crack-cocaine, as well as a prescription bottle containing several unidentified pills but with a label for another person on it, police said.
Mall security nabs flasher www.privateofficer.com
Naite Kolula, 24, smirked as he walked past the 43-year-old woman who first noticed his exposed genitalia, police spokesman Sam Clemens said, then walked into an athletic apparel store near the mall’s food court.
The woman reported the incident to mall security, who apprehended Kolula soon after he walked out of the store. Several witnesses later told police that Kolula had flashed them on the way out.
Source:Argus leader
