Archive
Cop accidentally fires gun in school www.privateofficer.com
HAZELWOOD, Mo. May 12 2011– A school resource officer is off the job in a suburban St. Louis district after his revolver discharged while he was cleaning it.
Officials say no one was injured when gun went off around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday at Hazelwood East High School.
The Hazelwood school district says the officer will not be returning to the school. St. Louis County police say the five-year veteran of the force remains on duty because no one was hurt.
St. Louis County police spokesman Rick Eckhard says the department is looking at why the officer was cleaning his weapon in the school.
Source:www.sacbee.com
Former Ga. cop gets 140 year prison sentence www.privateofficer.com
FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga May 12 2011- A former Tyrone police officer was sentenced to 140 years in prison Wednesday morning after being convicted of child molestation and sexual exploitation of a minor.
Matthew Anthony New, 40 of Tyrone, was sentenced by Fayette County Superior Court Judge Crawford for the November 2007 crime. He was convicted Tuesday on 35 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, 2 counts of child molestation, and 1 count of enticement of a minor.
Investigators started looking into accusations against New in February of 2008 when family members had come forward saying he had inappropriate contact with two children under 16. Police ceased New’s computer and sent it off to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for analysis. The GBI found inappropriate pictures of those two minors on his hard drive.
New, who was a police officer with the City of Tyrone for almost seven years, resigned just weeks after being put on administrated leave during the investigation.
Homeless man found living on roof of Waffle House www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA May 12 2011 — Georgia authorities say man who was living on the roof of a Waffle House and was found unconscious there is recovering in a hospital.
Richmond County sheriff’s Capt. Gerald Metzler said Wednesday the man appeared to have no physical injuries. His name was not released.
WJBF-TV reported that police and firefighters were called to the restaurant Tuesday when an air conditioning repairman found someone living on the roof.
Metzler said he didn’t know how long the man had been on top of the Waffle House, or how he got up there. Police describe him as homeless.
Waffle House, which is headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Norcross, opened its first restaurant in Avondale in 1955.
Waffle House spokeswoman Kelly Thrasher said, “We hope he’s OK and we wish him well.”
Ohio mall janitor charged with rape of co-worker www.,privateofficer.com
Leonard Delaney, 51, of Cincinnati, is held on $100,000 bond at the Butler County jail for Warren County authorities. He was arrested and charged with rape May 4 at the mall by Monroe police, the same day of the alleged offense.
According to Monroe Police Detective Ken Parson, Delaney forced a 22-year-old female janitor who works for him to have sex with him in a back room of a supply closet between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
The woman, who suffers from a mental disability, told a co-worker about the alleged crime a few hours later. That worker contacted mall security, who called police.
Parson said the woman reported that she did not consent to sex with Delaney – and even if she had, it’s a moot point. Her disability prevents her from being able to consent to sex, he said.
“Actually, it really does not matter whether or not we believe her,” Parson said. “She did say she told him no. But, even if she told him yes, she is not able to give consent. We do have evidence that the sex did actually occur, and that’s all we need.”
An arrest report states he told her she would lose her job if she told anyone what happened and threatened to “hunt her down.”
Both the woman and Delaney work for ABM Janitorial Services in Queensgate, police records show. Company officials did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
Source:Cincinnati.com
Dallas security officer killed during robbery www.privateofficer.com
DALLAS TX May 12 2011-
http://www.wfaa.com/news/Security-guard-killed-in-shooting-at-Dallas-Wing-Stop-121629024.html
A security guard was shot and killed overnight Tuesday while trying to stop a robbery at a Wing Stop restaurant on the 1500 block of S. Buckner Boulevard.
Dallas police said the guard, who patrolled the shopping center the restaurant is in, happened upon the robbery and was shot in the neck. The guard, whose name has not yet been revealed, died at the scene. He has worked in the lot for some time and was well-known to the Dallas police.
“I’ve worked this division for awhile. He’s a friendly guy, a very nice man. He’s always open for conversation. A very decent man. A very decent human being,” said Lt. Charles Epperson, with the Dallas Police Department.
The robber also shot the store’s manager. He was transported to Baylor Hospital where he is in stable condition.
Investigators said that as the robber fled he tried to leave in guard’s golf cart, but ran into trouble and had to flee on foot. A short time later, police received a 911 call reporting a man banging on windows and trying to get into a home before running away.
While investigators haven’t released the name of the suspect, police said they have a lot of evidence at the scene and hope to make an arrest soon.
“There’s much to be gained from the evidence that we have here and suspects will be quickly apprehended,” said Epperson. “He [the suspect] left some informatioin behind that we hope to be able to use in the future to apprehend him quickly.”
The owner of Merchants and Industrial Security said the guard was a great guy and had worked for him for 18 years.
KY police officer arrested on felony Florida warrant www.privateofficer.com
RADCLIFF, KY May 12 2011 – A Radcliff police has been suspended without pay after being arrested on warrant out of Florida.
Lieutenant David Williams, 37, was arrested Monday night in Hardin County.
Radcliff police, state police, and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office out of Florida worked together.
All that is known at this point is that the Electronic Crimes Division is involved.
Williams pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. Radcliff police say Williams is on administrative leave without pay.
Source:WAVE
Jockey found dead at Churchill Downs www.privateofficer.com
LOUISVILLE, KY May 12 2011 – Metro police are investigating the death of a jockey whose body was found on the backside at Churchill Downs Tuesday afternoon around 4:30.
Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Jim Wesley has identified the man as 24-year-old Michael Baze. He was pronounced dead at 4:47 p.m.
Police say someone in the area had spotted Baze inside his SUV near Gate 5 earlier in the day. When he never got out of the vehicle, police were called and discovered he was dead.
The coroner says he may have been dead for several hours before being found, but can’t yet confirm the exact cause of death.
Churchill Downs officials say they are cooperating with police and were shocked by his death.
“It’s just a terrible tragedy to see a life snuffed out so early,” said Vice President of Racing Communications John Asher. “We don’t know why, we don’t know what happened, but it’s after an incredible Kentucky Derby weekend that had everybody floating about six feet off the ground – this is a punch in the gut to anybody in the industry, whether you knew him well or didn’t know him.”
Police are calling this a death investigation and do not suspect foul play.
Toxicology reports are pending, but it could be several weeks before the results are available.
Source:WAVE
Shots fired at lounge ends in police chase www.privateofficer.com
ALIQUIPPA PA May 12 2011 — Aliquippa police filed charges Friday against a local man who led officers on a lengthy car and foot chase through the city before his arrest.
Valley Terrace security officer Thomas Allan called police around 2:40 a.m. May 6 to report shots fired in front of Harold’s Lounge on Franklin Avenue, the police report said.
Allan told police that a vehicle parked in front of the bar had sped away toward Building A of Valley Terrace after the shots were fired, and that three black men got out of the vehicle and later jumped into a gray van that drove away on Superior Avenue.
Police said they attempted to pull the van over on School Street, but the driver, later identified as Christopher L. Hillman, 26, of 290 Return St., refused to stop. When police drove up along the driver’s side of the van, it stopped suddenly and Hillman jumped out and ran west on Franklin Avenue.
Officer Angelo Lewis chased Hillman in his patrol car, the report said, finally cornering him near the post office. But when Lewis told Hillman to get on the ground, Hillman refused, and tried to flee again.
Police were finally able to handcuff Hillman when another officer with a police dog arrived and told Hillman he would let the dog loose unless Hillman complied with commands, the report said.
Police said they found a loaded .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol in Hillman’s pants pocket. He is charged with carrying a firearm without a license, fleeing police, resisting arrest, reckless driving and driving without a license.
It’s not Hillman’s first run-in with police. He was arrested in November 2004 after a woman told officers that he threatened her with a handgun. When he was arrested, police found 49 pieces of crack cocaine in his possession and in a bag on the ground nearby.
Hillman eventually pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and carrying a firearm without a license, court records show. He was sentenced to three years probation.
Hillman was also charged in December 2004 after police said he sold drugs to a confidential informant. A search of Hillman’s residence turned up crack cocaine, ammunition and a safe containing $320, police reported.
In that case, Hillman pleaded guilty to possession with intent to manufacture or deliver. He was sentenced to three years probation.
Shooting at San Jose State Univeristy leaves 3 dead www.privateofficer.com
SAN JOSE, Calif. May 12 2011– Police are investigating a shooting at a San Jose State University parking garage that left three people dead, including the suspected gunman, as a murder-suicide.
Campus police say the victims and suspect in Tuesday night’s shooting knew each other and it was not random.
Investigators have not released a possible motive or said whether the victims and suspect were students at the school.
School officials say students on the rest of the Northern California campus were never in danger.
Campus police were alerted to the shooting on the fifth floor of the campus’s main garage just after 8:30 p.m. The six-story structure also houses the school’s student services center.
Police say two people were pronounced dead at the scene. The third died at a hospital.
The victims’ identities have not been released.
New Orleans employees charged with theft of metal, copper www.privateofficer.com
New Orleans LA May 12 2011 Three New Orleans Department of Public Work employees lost their jobs and two were arrested Friday after allegedly stealing metal and copper wire from a city supply yard and selling it to a Chalmette scrap yard.
Delbert Surtain, 39, and Richard Thompson, 34, both of New Orleans, were booked in St. Bernard Parish on a count of possession of stolen property, Chief Deputy Jimmy Pohlmann said.
An investigation by the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office indicates that Surtain received at least $15,000 since 2009 by selling material to W.B. Scrap in the 5000 block of Paris Road, Pohlmann said.
A third city employee, who was not identified, is a suspect in the case, Pohlmann added, and he sold about $37,000 worth of property over the past two years that may have belonged to the city. Those items included streetlights and traffice signals.
“We don’t know if those items were stolen yet. We haven’t verified that,” said Col. John Doran, chief of detectives.
The value of the material sold could be at least $100,000, since scrap yards don’t pay full value, Pohlmann said.
There were no records that showed Thompson had been to the scrap yard before Friday, Pohlmann said.
New Orleans Deputy Mayor Cedric Grant on Tuesday said he has “no tolerance” for the alleged thefts. “That’s what this swift action indicated,” he said. “Anything remotely resembling theft or crime will be dealt with severely and promptly.”
Surtain and Thompson ended up in custody after someone flagged down a sheriff’s deputy about 9:20 a.m. Friday when the men pulled up to the business in a New Orleans department of public works truck, Pohlmann said. Surtain and the unidentified man who sold scrap to the yard were usually in a city-owned truck when they went to sell scrap, a scrap yard representative said.
Nathan Barlow, who manages the business, said no red flags were ever raised since a man visited the yard two years ago and identified himself as a department of public works supervisor, saying some of his employees would sell them scrap on occasion.
“He came in and shook our hands like everyone else,” Barlow said. “We could’ve bought from him for 10 years and we wouldn’t have known (not to).”
Barlow said Surtain and the other man typically sold the scrap yard damaged traffic signals, street lights and their parts.
“They even sold the stop lights — the red, green and yellow,” he said.
Although investigators suspect the signals and lights were sold to the scap yard without city authorization, theft charges are pending the outcome of a New Orleans Police Department investigation, Grant said.
Surtain and Thompson told the deputy during Friday’s traffic stop that the wire they sold to the yard was left over from a job and that they had permission to take it. Thompson later admitted to a deputy he didn’t have permission to take the wire, according to a police report.
A department of public works supervisor summoned to the traffic stop identified the wire as being stolen from a yard in the 2800 block of Lafitte Street in Mid-City. Now sheriff’s office investigators are going through the scrap yard’s files to help the city determine if the items previously sold there were stolen from the city.
“We’re going to have to backtrack. We have a little work cut out for us to do,” Doran said.
Doran said the scrap yard has cooperated with the investigation.
“There’s no indication that they knew anything was wrong. These guys went in there with a good story that ‘this is scrap stuff, we have permission to do this,’” Doran said.
Source:NOLA.com
Chicago police officer commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
In 2003, Weems was breaking up a fight on a train platform when 23-year-old Michael Pleasance showed up on the scene. The officer was detaining Pleasance’s friend, and then shot Pleasance in the face, killing him.
Weems and the CPD originally said that Pleasance had lunged at the officer with his fist cocked, ready to strike. But a surveillance tape of the incident surfaced shortly thereafter which clearly shows no such thing.
Only once the tape had surfaced would the city and Weems admit that the shooting had been in error. In 2007, a jury awarded Pleasance’s family $12.5 million in a wrongful-death lawsuit, but that ruling would be overturned by the Illinois Appellate Court in 2009, which wrote that the trial jury had been prejudiced.
Just last month, the Daley administration finally settled with the family, awarding Pleasance’s mother a $3 million settlement.
Meanwhile, the Office of Professional Standards (now the Independent Police Review Authority) recommended that Weems be fired on the basis of ten separate charges, relating both to the shooting and to the account he gave of the incident afterwards. Instead, former police superintendent Phil Cline (whose own career would be ended by another surveillance video of police violence) gave him a 30-day suspension. He was later promoted to detective.
Then on Thursday, Weems was found dead in his West Side home of a gunshot wound. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said it appeared to be self-inflicted, according to NBC Chicago
The Chicago Sun-Times spoke to Pleasance’s brother about Weems’s apparent suicide. “It doesn’t bring any closure,” said Maurice Pleasance. “It’s an unfortunate situation for both our families…. We don’t take any comfort in knowing that an individual committed suicide.”
The Fraternal Order of Police was also mourning the loss, according to the Chicago Tribune. “We have lost one of our members. This is a grieving time for the family, and the Fraternal Order of Police offers its deepest sympathies,” FOP President Michael Shields reportedly said.
Source:HuffPost
Hospitals bar code, electronically tag newborns for security www.privateofficer.com
South Africa May 12 2011 A South African public hospital plans to tag babies electronically as one of several security measures to beat baby-snatching.
If it goes ahead, Tygerberg Hospital would become the first public health facility in the Western Cape to use the tag.
The device is activated if a tagged baby is removed from a specific area.
The infrastructure for the plan is expected to be completed next year.
In some UK hospitals, babies have a personalised electronically programmed tag attached to their ankle. This is different from the tags in use in another South African hospital, Life Kingsbury Hospital in Claremont, Cape Town, which consist of a waterproof barcode placed on the baby’s back. The device looks like a plaster.
Tygerberg spokesman Regan Beukes said this tagging system had been used for years.
There have been several incidents of baby-snatching from maternity wards in South African hospitals in recent years.
In October last year, a baby boy was snatched from Khayelitsha Day Hospital in Cape Town.
The safety of babies in hospital was highlighted in July 2009 when Siphisihle Ncumani was snatched from a maternity ward at the hospital. He was found about a month later.
It was established then that no hospital staff had played a role in his abduction and that a woman, Bulelwa Xeza, had got into the ward before smuggling the baby out. She was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
In 2005, a newborn disappeared from a hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria.
At the time of the abduction at Tygerberg, a number of measures were announced – including tags and CCTV cameras to increase security.
Since then, Health Department spokeswoman Faiza Steyn said, a number of these plans were implemented at the hospital.
These included:
• An increase in the number of security guards;
• Newborns being kept in a dedicated area;
• CCTV cameras were installed;
• An electronic access-control door was placed at the entrance to the maternity wards;
• Visitors to the wards were meticulously screened
; and
• Visits during non-visiting hours were strictly controlled.
To further boost security, Steyn said, the electronic tags were in the pipeline.
It was not yet clear how much money would be needed for the tags. Steyn said she could not say exactly when the tags would be implemented.
- Cape Times
Husband-wife embezzel $250,000 from Richmond security company www.privateofficer.com
Cheryl A. Wadsworth, 43, and her husband, James B. Wadsworth, 40, both of the 100 block of Swanage Road, were being held on five felony embezzlement counts each for alleged offenses dating to Jan. 1, 2009, according to police and court records. They are accused of stealing funds from Al’s Security Patrol, owned by Cheryl Wadsworth’s stepfather, Al Resh.
“Cheryl was my stepdaughter,” Resh said. “That’s how we got (victimized), because you know how you put trust in family. And we really didn’t pay attention because it was family.”
Resh, who reported the theft in February, estimated the loss at $250,000. He said the couple had worked for him since 2006. They were arrested at a motel in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where they traveled after Resh became aware of the theft, Resh said. Court records list Myrtle Beach as the place of their last address.
Resh, who has operated the business 21 years, said the company provides armed uniformed security guards to apartment complexes and commercial establishments in the Richmond area.
Despite the size of the theft, Resh said he believes his company will survive.
“I don’t think it will sink me,” he said. “I think I can come out of it, but it’s not going to be easy.”
Cheryl Wadsworth was being held at Riverside Regional Jail and is scheduled to appear Friday and on June 17 in Chesterfield General District Court. James Wadsworth was being held in the Chesterfield Jail and has court appearances set for Thursday and on July 19, court records show.
Source:Timesdispatch.com
CHP officer nabbed for shoplifting at Target store www.privateofficer.com
Sacramento CA May 12 2011 A California Highway Patrol officer is facing charges after police say he was caught stealing an Xbox gaming system from a Target store.
The Sacramento Bee reports that Officer Shawn Hammonds was arrested Monday after police were called to a Vacaville Target store by security officers.
Vacaville police Sgt. Jeff King told the newspaper that including Monday’s incident, Hammonds is suspected of stealing more than $1,300 in merchandise from the store on four separate occasions. He allegedly sold the merchandise over the Internet.
A CHP official says the 36-year-old Hammonds, who has been out on injury leave for several months, has been with the CHP for five years.
He was assigned to the CHP’s Protective Service Division, which provides security to state buildings.
Hammonds is free on bail after being booked on suspicion of four counts of burglary.
It was not known if he had retained an attorney.
Source:www.sfgate.com
Security officer sues LA deputy after assault www.privateofficer.com
Shepard had had a bad experience with a texter on the road once and wanted to report the chatty driver to the police. What luck, he may have thought, when he looked in his mirror and saw a LA County Sheriff’s deputy on a motorcycle right behind him.
Shepard applied his brakes and stuck his arm out of his window, trying to flag down the officer.
He would soon learn that no good deed apparently goes unpunished.
According to a lawsuit filed against the sheriff’s department, the deputy pulled alongside Shepard, told Shepard that texting was not illegal and then drove away.
Texting while driving, as many people know, is of course illegal under California law.
Puzzled by the officer’s response and wanting an explanation, Shepard chased after the officer.
But when Shepard caught up with the deputy, he didn’t get the answer he was looking for. Instead, Shepard claims, the officer told him to pull over and began giving him a ticket for changing lanes without using his turn signal.
Shepherd says he refused to sign the ticket and grabbed his cell phone to call 911. But the deputy ordered Sherpherd not to call 911 and then blasted Shepherd in the face with chemical spray, Shepard claims.
Yelling at the deputy and demanding an explanation for why he used his chemical spray, Shepard stepped out of his car.
He then saw the officer use his police radio and, according to the lawsuit, heard the deputy “make untruthful statements that Shepard was assaulting him.”
Shepard says that when he tried to get back into his car, the officer “without warning,” grabbed Shepard from behind and began choking him with his forearm.
Shepard is suing LA County and the sheriff’s department in federal court.
Source:LA Weekly
Police search for shoplifter who ran down pedestrian www.privateofficer.com
KNOXVILLE TN May 12 2011 - Police located a vehicle used by an alleged shoplifter that struck a pedestrian as the driver fled and have filed warrants for the suspect’s arrest.
Joseph George Faddoul, 25, faces charges of aggravated assault, theft and leaving the scene of an accident upon arrest, according to Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk.
DeBusk said police on Tuesday located a 2000 Lexus RX-300 that had been abandoned in the parking lot of an Oak Ridge Highway business. Police impounded the vehicle.
Police suspect the Lexus was driven by Faddoul about 5:30 p.m. Monday when a man fled from the Walmart, 6777 Clinton Highway.
KPD Lt. Tony Willis said a man had stolen printer ink cartridges from the business and then struck a 58-year-old man as the driver fled.
The pedestrian, Norman Morgan of Knoxville, suffered a broken ankle and a deep cut to his arm, Willis said.
Morgan was taken to Mercy Medical Center St. Mary’s where he was treated and released.
Police said anyone with information about Faddoul’s whereabouts can call KPD at 865-215-7212.
