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Tampa security guard arrested in shooting www.privateofficer.com
Tampa, Florida May 24 2011– A security guard is under arrest for shooting a patron at the Flash Dancers club Saturday night, police said.
Carlos A. Catalan-Flores, 26, was arrested in Brandon with help from the U.S. Marshals Office after detectives used witness statements and physical evidence to develop probable cause.
Investigators say a patron at the club threw a beer bottle at him but missed Saturday night. He shot the victim twice, causing non life-threatening injuries.
Catalan-Flores was booked into the Hillsborough County jail on a charge of attempted murder.
Tampa Police
OFFICER DOWN-TREVOR SCOTT PHILLIPS
Police Officer
Trevor Scott PhillipsTuscaloosa Police Department, Alabama
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Motorcycle accident
Date of Incident: May 21, 2011
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Police Officer Trevor Phillips was killed in a motorcycle accident while escorting a funeral procession on 35th Street at approximately 2:20 pm.
As he drove towards the front of the procession a vehicle attempted to exit the procession by making a U-turn. The vehicle pulled into the path of Officer Phillips, causing a collision in which he was thrown from the motorcycle.
Officer Phillips had served with the Tuscaloosa Police Department for 10 years.
Agency Contact Information
Tuscaloosa Police Department
3801 Mill Creek Avenue
Tuscaloosa, AL 35401
Phone: (205) 349-2121
Former Washington state deputy hangs himself in jail www.privateofficer.com
Chief of Detectives Stew Graham told the Yakima Herald-Republic Sunday that 37-year-old Sean Moore was found hanging in his cell Saturday night. Graham says authorities are investigating his death as a probable suicide.
Moore pleaded guilty March 11 to first- and second-degree assault as well as third-degree rape and burglary. He faced more than 10 years in prison. He resigned from the sheriff’s office the day before his plea.
He was accused in October of entering the home of a woman he knew and assaulting her and a male friend. The woman reported that he returned later that same day and forced her to perform a sex act.
Moore had been kept away from the jail’s general population and was alone in his cell.
An autopsy is set for Monday.
GA. rookie firefighter drowns in lake rescue www.privateofficer.com
MACON, Ga.May 24 2011 — A Central Georgia family and a brotherhood of firefighters are mourning the loss of a 24-year-old who died while rescuing three children from a lake over the weekend.
Macon-Bibb County firefighter Michael Dewayne Jones drowned at Lake Tobesofkee Saturday evening.
Jones jumped into the lake to rescue his sons, 5-year-old Joshua and 7-year-old Jarell, as well as a little girl who was also playing in the water.
“The little girl started drowning,” said Michael’s sister Tiffany Jones. “He saved her. My nephew started drowning; he saved him. My other nephew started to drown and somehow my other nephew got back in the water and started to drown.”
Michael’s widow, Tykia, said she left her family at the lake and made a quick trip to a nearby convenience store. When she left, everything was calm, the kids were OK and Michael had their 7-month-old strapped to his chest. When she returned less than 10 minutes later, there was a bystander holding her baby, the kids were all wet and Michael was in the water.
Macon-Bibb County Fire Chief Marvin Riggins said Michael had been with the fire department for a week, but he was already part of the firefighter brotherhood.
“It’s gonna be tough for his training group because they learn to bond and grow together, so it’s gonna be tough,” Riggins said. “Our hearts are heavy for the family and for the department itself.”
As the family struggles with the loss, Tiffany said she still can’t believe their hero is gone.
“It was like shock. Like, I know he’s gonna come up out of that water, I know he’s gonna walk around here trying to find us.”
Source:11Alive
Nursing moms stage “Nurse-In” at city hall www.privateofficer.com
FOREST PARK, Ga.May 24 2011 — About 200 nursing moms and their supporters staged a nurse-in at Forest Park City Hall on Monday to protest new limits on breast-feeding in public.
“Nursing is so good for children,” said Sarah Waterhouse of McDonough as she nursed her 23-month-old daughter. “We’re against anything that discourages moms or makes them feel humiliated.”
Last week, the city council passed a public indecency ordinance designed to protect citizens from lewd acts in public places. The ordinance included one sentence that exempts women who are breastfeeding infants “under the age of two.”
“Breastfeeding women have to take a stand against laws like this or the laws will become even worse,” said Jessica Lister, the organizer of Monday’s nurse-in. “Next, they’ll say you can only nurse infants up to the age of one.”
Lister brought her 19-month-old son to the protest and nursed him in front of Forest Park City Hall.
In response to Monday’s protest, Forest Park city leaders are reviewing the new indecency ordinance and could revise it in two weeks, according to city manager John Parker.
Parker points out that Forest Park’s city attorney used the exact breastfeeding wording that already exists in DeKalb County and City of Griffin public indecency ordinances.
“We are now crafting an amendment to this ordinance to try to nullify some of these conflicts,” Parker said on Friday.
Lister said she might consider organizing protests in DeKalb County and Griffin. She points out there are no age limits in the Georgia law that allows breastfeeding in public places.
Source:11Alive
CT police captain retires to start new career as a teacher www.privateofficer.com
AVON CT May 24 2011 — A little more than a year after rising to the rank of captain, second in command of the Avon Police Department, Rob Whitty is leaving an 18-year career in law enforcement behind to start a new career in teaching.
He will leave the department June 1, and on July 1, he will begin teaching math at Avon Old Farms School, his alma mater.
“I’ve always wanted to teach, have thought about it the past four or five years,” Whitty said. “I went to Avon Old Farms and have maintained ties. A lot of my mentors are still there.”
That includes Headmaster Ken LaRocque, who at the time was his college advisor.
Whitty, 42, an Avon native, graduated from Avon Old Farms in 1982, and earned a bachelor’s in marketing from Bentley College, where he minored in philosophy.
He said he went through the usual application and interview process to get the job.
“Everything just came together,” Whitty said. “If a job had opened up at another school, I would not have pursued it like I did this one. The connections I have there, the investment they made into me, I want to put that back into the school, the kids.”
He will be teaching algebra and geometry to freshmen and sophomores.
“I have a strong background in math,” Whitty said.
Before starting at Old Farms, he’ll be taking refresher courses at Tunxis Community College, Whitty said. Although school will not yet be in session July 1, he’ll be working on lesson plans.
Whitty’s wife, Kim, has been working at the school in the admissions department since last August, and their son Jake, 14, will be a freshman there in the fall.
“I can’t wait to be part of it,” he said. “The school turns out good students, good athletes, good young men who are civic-minded.”
He also plans to coach sports, and hopes to be involved with the school’s wrestling program since that was his primary sport there, Whitty said.
As the father of two children, he has been involved with local sports leagues, either serving on the board or coaching. Currently he coaches his 11-year-old daughter Ellie’s softball team.
Whitty said he looks forward to the opportunity to guide the students at Avon Old Farms School.
“I want to be able to be part of something where I can show them how to become young men, help them with decision-making, to understand consequences and apply what they learn,” he said.
His 18 years in law enforcement will help with that, he said. Whitty came to the Avon Police Department in 1998 after serving the East Hartford Police Department for five years.
“I bring my life experience,” he said. “I’ve seen the repercussions of bad decisions, the consequences.”
Whitty said he has been involved with education on the police force. Along with now-retired Jeff Peltier, he started the school safety program, which is presented at each Avon school four times a years.
“I was also heavily involved in field training,” he said.
Asked about his accomplishments with the Avon Police Department, Whitty mentions the school safety program. In addition, he was the lead person for creation of the department’s new communications dispatch center, a $550,000 project that he oversaw.
“I’m leaving the town better than when I got here,” he said. “There are more programs now.”
Whitty also cites three cases he worked on: a 1998 homicide involving four suspects that he located, identified and arrested, who were all successfully prosecuted; a 2003 homicide where he was first responder and then was assigned as investigator, leading to successful prosecution of two suspects; and his role as lead investigator into the July 2005 multiple-fatal accident at the foot of Avon Mountain, including collection and preservation of evidence, interviewing witnesses, and coordination with other law enforcement agencies and private laboratories. The investigation led to the successful prosecution and conviction of the persons involved.
“We were able to get a positive conclusion for the families,” Whitty said.
He’s also proud to have been selected to attend the FBI Academy.
Topping the list of accomplishments “are my relationships with the people here in the department, both personal and professional,” Whitty said. “They will last forever.”
Leaving the department was a difficult decision, he said.
“The hardest thing will be leaving the people here,” Whitty said. “That’s what I’m going to miss the most. I hold them close to my heart. At the same time, it’s a new opportunity, and it’s a perfect scenario for myself and my family.”
He’s been busy working to transition his tasks to other officers, which he said was easy since he’s been gradually training them to assume the role.
Chief Mark Rinaldo said he will be talking with Town Manager Brandon Robertson about whether the captain’s position will be replaced. When Whitty was promoted to the rank in March 2010, the position had been vacant for three years, following Rinaldo’s appointment as chief.
“Capt. Whitty will be missed, but this is an excellent opportunity and career decision,” Rinaldo said.
“The chief has been very supportive,” Whitty said. “He knew teaching was always something I wanted to do. This is the right time for me and the department.”
Source:AvonNews.com
CT teacher commits suicide after arrest www.privateofficer.com
The Connecticut medical examiner’s office said Monday that an autopsy concluded 23-year-old Jeffrey Francis drowned himself in Beseck Lake in Middlefield.
The Durham man’s body was found on Friday, two days after he was arrested in Wallingford on charges of allegedly having sexual contact with an underage juvenile he met online.
He had not yet entered a plea.
Francis had been placed on administrative leave from his job as a special education teacher at the Interdistrict School for Arts in New London.
Lexington police car slams into newlywed couple www.privateofficer.com
Lexington KY May 24 2011 A newlywed husband and wife were on the way to their wedding reception in Lexington when they had a car wreck going through an intersection.
Lexington police say an officer responding to a priority call drove through a red light and hit the convertible carrying Joseph and Amy Snider yesterday.
Police say Amy Snider was ejected from the car.
The police officer driving the car was Justin Rowland and he was travelling with a ride-along from the Citizen’s Police Academy.
According to investigators, Rowland had not activated the vehicle’s emergency equipment and acknowledged not noticing the red light.
The wreck sent the bride, groom and three others to the hospital, though none had life-threatening injuries.
Teen cop impersonator arrested again with gun www.privateofficer.com
Chicago IL May 24 2011 A teenager who made news two years ago for impersonating a Chicago police officer so effectively that he went on patrol with real police has been arrested again, this time for weapons offenses.
Vincent Richardson, 17, wasn’t carrying a gun when he was arrested for pretending to be a police office in January 2009. This time he was charged as an adult with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of ammunition without a FOID card and appeared at the Cook County Criminal Courts building earlier this month, court records show.
Police said Richardson was arrested May 10 at about 9:30 p.m. after officers got a call of a person with a gun in the 5900 block of South Throop Street. When they arrived officers saw a male fitting the description the caller gave and approached him. Police did a pat-down and found a loaded gun and ammunition.
Police sources said a family member lives on the 5900 block of Throop Street but his address is listed as the 5400 block of South May Street.
Richardson was arrested and appeared the next day in court, where he was ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bail. He remains in Cook County Jail and awaits a June 1 court date, according to court records and the jail’s Web site.
Chicago Bears running back Garrett Wolfe arrested www.privateofficer.com
Miami Fla May 24 2011 Chicago Bears running back Garrett Wolfe was arrested Sunday morning in a Miami Beach nightclub and charged with retail theft, disorderly conduct, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest with violence, according to Miami-Dade County Police Department records. His bond has been set at $11,500.
“It started with him refusing to pay his bill at a club,” said Miami Beach Police detective Juan Sanchez. “He became aggressive while being ejected by bouncers and two off-duty officers were summoned. They gave him the opportunity to settle his bill and he refused. He attacked one of the officers. Both officers suffered minor injuries.”
The arrest of the former Holy Cross High and Northern Illinois star could make it more difficult for Wolfe, whose free-agent status remains in limbo during the lockout, to either re-sign with the Bears or latch on with another team.
“I’m one of those guys caught in limbo,” Wolfe told the Sun-Times last week. “I’ve finished my fourth year. Technically, I’m a free agent but with no [collective bargaining agreement], and under the terms from last year, I’m not a free agent, so I’m caught in between. If we get a CBA figured out I’ll be a free agent but if we don’t I’m not a free agent. I’m just stuck in-between.”
The 5-foot-7, 185-pounder has not displayed the game-breaking ability Bears’ general manager Jerry Angelo hoped for when he made NIU’s record-breaking running back the team’s third-round choice in the 2007 NFL draft. While primarily serving as a special teams player, one of the most prolific running backs in college football history has amassed only 282 rushing yards in four seasons with the Bears.
A Bears spokesperson said team officials had no immediate comment. Wolfe’s agent, Rick Smith, also had no comment.
On Wednesday, Wolfe said he was eager for the lockout to end and his future to be resolved. Four days later, that future remains more unsettled than ever.
“It was good to get some time away from football but it’s weird because I’m used to being back at work by now,” he said. “It’s weird, very weird, something we could never have seen happening this long. The attitude from most of the players is this has gone on long enough and it’s something that needs to be taken care of. Guys are eager to get back to work.”
Source:Chicago Sun Times
Airline pilots operating on fatigue a safety concern www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN May 24 2011 Airlines operate thousands of flights each day that expose pilots to potentially dangerous fatigue, schedule data and the latest research on fatigue shows.
A USA TODAY review of airline schedules for May found an average of 2,600 flights a day — or about 10 percent of all passenger airline departures from U.S. airports — operate at times that make it hard for pilots to get normal sleep. That puts them at risk for reduced alertness or, in a worst case, nodding off on the job.
The flights operate at times that have been cited as contributing to accidents by the National Transportation Safety Board. The accident investigation board has cited fatigue in 15 airline accidents and incidents since 1993, with a total of 24 deaths.
The airline schedules that pose a higher risk of fatigue include early-morning departures, arrivals after midnight or flights during the middle of the night. Working at these times interrupts the brain’s deep-seated need for sleep, experts say.
“Fatigue is not something you can ever will away,” says Harvard Medical School sleep researcher Charles Czeisler. “We’re trying to work at a time of day when the brain wants to go asleep.”
Although the seven air-traffic controllers who nodded off or were unresponsive in recent months have dominated headlines, airline schedules demonstrate that the 24-hour world that pilots operate in is just as vulnerable to sleep deprivation.
It also highlights the depth of the problem as the Federal Aviation Administration prepares to release new restrictions before Aug. 1 on the hours that pilots can work.
Even though the U.S. airline industry is enjoying its safest period in history, Tom Balkin, chief of the Department of Behavioral Biology at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and chairman of the National Sleep Foundation, says interfering with normal sleep patterns increases the odds of accidents or errors. It makes it difficult for the brain to solve problems, he says.
Reduce risks
Experts say there are ways to reduce the risks of fatigue.
Pilots who are rested before they begin a series of flights deal with fatigue much better than those who are already sleep-deprived, he says. Airlines can help by ensuring that pilots get adequate time for sleep between shifts.
On average this month, 2,019 of a scheduled 25,624 daily flights depart from U.S. airports in the hours before 7 a.m., according to data from OAG-The Official Airline Guide. An additional 612 are overnight flights or ones scheduled to land after midnight.
“We operate a large number of flights when the human body has a natural drive to be asleep,” says Capt. Don Wykoff, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association’s flight and duty time committee.
The Air Transport Association that represents large carriers, says the steadily declining accident rate demonstrates that its schedules are safe.
Oscar-winning “You Light Up My Life” composer commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
New York May 24 2011 The Oscar-winning “You Light Up My Life” composer, who was awaiting trial for rape while his son faced a murder rap, killed himself Sunday in his upper East Side apartment.
Joseph Brooks, 73, was found dead with a plastic dry-cleaning bag over his head near a hose attached to a tank of helium gas.
Cops said his lunch date found his body slumped over a couch just after noon in his unlocked apartment at 130 E. 63rd St.
Ten days ago, a former friend filed suit to seize the 15th-floor co-op to pay off a $3.2 million debt.
“He was facing serious charges and had nothing to live for. I’d have done the same thing,” said neighbor Jack Stone, a 51-year-old artist.
In a rambling, three-page suicide note, Brooks said he would be exonerated of rape but complained about his failing health and a woman who had abused him and taken his money, a law enforcement source said.
In 2009, he sued 22-year-old ex-fiancée Joaly Gomez, claiming he spent $2 million on her before learning she was already married.
Brooks, who was out on $1.5 million bail, stood to lose his longtime home to former Morgan Stanley honcho Frederick Whittemore, who said Brooks put up his apartment as collateral for a $2.4 million loan in 2006. In a May10 lawsuit, he threatened to take the apartment.
Brooks had lived there for many years. The apartment was where he lured a string of young actresses with promises of movie roles – and then jumped them, prosecutors said in 2009.
He was awaiting trial on 82 counts of sex crimes.
Neighbors said that until recently they saw a steady stream of call girls at the elderly Brooks’ flat. “I’d see beautiful women leaving his apartment and say, ‘I’m better looking than him!’” Stone said.
Other neighbors noted that Brooks, who had a stroke in 2008, had begun to look very gaunt.
“He looked very ill. He looked like a depressed man, like a dying man,” said Elizabeth Zoch, 75, a psychoanalyst. “Truly, he looked like a dying man.”
Jennie Lee, 28, who works at a deli on 62nd St., was among the last to see Brooks alive. He bought orange juice around 11 a.m. and asked for help opening the carton.
“He normally buys papers, but [Sunday] he just bought orange juice. I thought that was unusual,” she said.
Brooks’ case ends with his suicide. “Hopefully for the women, it’s a close for them,” Zoch said.
His son’s murder trial is unaffected. Nicholas Brooks, 25, is awaiting trial for allegedly strangling his girlfriend, swimsuit designer Sylvie Cachay, at the posh Soho House club last year.
Susan Karten, lawyer for the Cachay family, called it all a “terrible, terrible tragedy.”
She said Cachay’s family would not oppose the son being let out of Rikers to attend his father’s funeral. “Even though he comes from a messed-up family, it’s still his biological father,” she said.
Brooks’ 1977 ballad “You Light Up My Life” was the biggest hit of the 1970s. He never again saw such success.
Evelyn, a neighbor who would not give her last name, said it was hard to square the sweet song with its author. “When you think of the fact that he wrote this beautiful song, it’s just tragic. Here’s the end of a tragic life,” she said.
Source:NY Daily News
ST Louis police officer accidentally shoots himself www.privateofficer.com
ST. LOUIS MO May 24 2011 A St. Louis police officer working security at a Schnucks store accidentally shot himself in the leg Sunday when he stopped by a pizza store next door, police said. He was treated at a hospital and released.
The unidentified officer had been working in uniform as a security guard at the Schnucks, 3431 Union Boulevard. The St. Louis Police Department had approved him for that second job.
At about 5:20 p.m. Sunday, he went to an Imo’s pizza restaurant at 3441 Union Boulevard. He adjusted his weapon and the gun accidentally discharged, police say.
He was hit in the leg. He was taken to an area hospital in serious condition but has since been released, police say.
Source:stltoday
NY man arrested for assaulting hospital security officer www.privateofficer.com
Clarkston NY May 24 2011 A Upper Nyack man arrested on a disorderly conduct charge at a West Nyack club is also accused of assault after kicking a Nyack Hospital security officer in the face at the hospital late Sunday, according to Orangetown and Clarkstown police.
Clarkstown police said Steven C. Castrello, 35, of 233 Birchwood Ave., Upper Nyack, was highly intoxicated at Lace gentlemen’s club, 195 S. Route 303, West Nyack at about 10:30 p.m. He refused to leave the club and was charged with disorderly conduct and then taken to Nyack Hospital for evaluation, police said.
Orangetown police said that Castrello was combative and had to be restrained at the hospital. In the process, at about 11:30 p.m. Castrello kicked the hospital security officer, who required stitches to close a cut inside his lip, according to Orangetown police.
Castrello was charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, and was released pending a May 31 hearing in Nyack Justice Court.
Memorial service for slain security officer announced www.privateofficer.com
ST. PETERSBURG Fla May 24 2011 – A memorial service for slain security guard Mathew Finley Little will be held on May 28, at 11 a.m., at Twin Lakes Park, Sarasota.
The full honors service will be private, limited to friends, family and the law enforcement community, according to a written announcement released Monday by St. Petersburg police and Critical Intervention Services of Largo, the company that employed him.
St. Petersburg police have offered to provide their Honor Guard for the ceremony, at the request of the Little family.
Little was found shot to death Monday, May 16, at Mariner’s Pointe apartments in St. Petersburg. Bradley Bolden, a 20-year-old St. Petersburg man, has been arrested in connection to the shooting.
Little’s family had requested a full honors memorial service for the 26-year-old security guard, who had planned to enter the police academy in the fall.
Law enforcement workers are expected to wear their uniforms for the May 28 service. A scholarship is Little’s name is being established by CIS to assist disadvantaged children in the community. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to this fund.
Twin Lakes Park is located at 6700 Clark Road, Sarasota.
Oklahoma deputy sheriff shot working security job www.privateofficer.com
Oklahoma City OK May 24 2011 One of the two men arrested in the weekend shooting of an Oklahoma County sheriff’s deputy had previously worked as a dishwasher at the restaurant from which the deputy was carrying a bank deposit, the owner said.
Suspect in deputy shooting once worked at Cattlemen’s Keonta Stephan Terrell Prince, 18, and Christopher Travis Baker, 28, were arrested on complaints of shooting with intent to kill and robbery with a firearm in the shooting early Saturday of Oklahoma County sheriff’s Maj. John Waldenville, officials said.
Prince and Baker have not been charged and remained Monday in the Oklahoma County jail. Prince is being held without bail and bail has not been set for Baker, a jail spokeswoman said.
Prince worked for about three months at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in Stockyards City. Waldenville was taking a deposit from the restaurant to a nearby bank about midnight when two men shot and robbed him, restaurant owner Dick Stubbs said.
Prince quit his job about a month ago, the owner said. He said he didn’t know much about Prince or why he quit.
Deputy still recovering
Waldenville, 60, remained in critical condition Monday at OU Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said. Officials said he was shot once over his right eye, and doctors were not able to save it.
Waldenville suffered multiple injuries to his head and face but is expected to survive, Sheriff John Whetsel said.
“He’s holding is own, and that’s about all you can ask for right now,” Whetsel said Monday.
Waldenville is a 25-year veteran of the sheriff’s office and is supervisor of the administrative services bureau. He was in uniform and attacked from behind or the side, authorities said.
Investigation continues
The investigation into the ambush and robbery is ongoing, Oklahoma City police Master Sgt. Gary Knight said. Officials have not yet recovered money stolen in the incident.
Cattlemen’s has changed the way its night deposits are handled, Stubbs said, adding he couldn’t say how for security reasons. The restaurant has arranged to have another security guard while Waldenville recovers.
Stubbs said restaurant employees are praying for a speedy and full recovery for Waldenville, but otherwise declined further comment.
Prince and Baker were arrested Sunday after law officers spent the weekend canvassing the Oklahoma City area. Prince was arrested at a motel at SW 3 and Meridian Avenue, and Baker was arrested at an apartment near NW 10 and Rockwell Avenue.
Source:newsok.com
