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Mobile AL pastor-wife arrested on drug charges www.privateofficer.com
MOBILE COUNTY, AL June 3 2011- A two month long Undercover drug investigation by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, has led to the arrest of a Pastor, James Hunter and his wife, Sylvia with Forever Flowing Ministries.
MCSO Undercover Narcotic Deputies began purchasing from Hunter and his wife in March. On May 20, 2011 narcotic deputies arranged a buy for morphine. Hunter and his wife came to the pre-arranged location to exchange the drugs and money.
Hunter were detained at the scene by deputies and agreed to work with MCSO on providing further information on his illegal drug operations.
The couple turned themselves in to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office today, June 2, 2011. James Hunter is charged with 6 counts unlawful distribution of controlled substance, attempt/possession of controlled substance and possession/receiving controlled substance. His wife is charged with possession/receiving controlled substance.
They are currently in the Mobile Metro jail.
Source:wkrg5.com
Casino security nab patrons with crystal meth www.privateofficer.com
The security detail had checked the purse for identification and in the course of this discovered a plastic baggie with an off-white crystal like substance within the purse.
When the owner of the purse (Ms. Kershaw) arrived to pick up her belongings the Deputies contacted her. Ms. Kershaw admitted to Deputies that the substance found in her purse was methamphetamine. Deputies weighed and tested the substance in the baggie and determined it to be .3 grams of methamphetamine. Ms. Kershaw told deputies that her friends were waiting in a car in the parking lot for her. Ms. Kershaw was placed under arrest for possession of a controlled substance.
Deputies then contacted four subjects in a red 2007 Ford Taurus in the south east parking lot. Deputies inquired if anyone had anything illegal in the vehicle and Ms. Wardsworth admitted to Deputies that she had a ‘crack pipe’ in her possession. Deputies located a glass smoking device in Ms. Wardsworth’s cigarette box and placed her under arrest as well.
In the course of their investigation Deputies also contacted a Ms. Thomas who told them that she might have a warrant for her arrest out of Butte County. Deputies confirmed that there was indeed a misdemeanor arrest warrant had been issued and placed Ms. Thomas under arrest. During a consent search at the scene Deputies located another clear plastic baggie containing .2 grams of crack cocaine.
The two other occupants of the vehicle were identified and released.
Nashville Wal-mart security agent slashed by shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn.June 3 2011 – A Wal-Mart security guard was hurt while trying to stop two suspected thieves. It happened around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Wal-Mart on Nolensville Pike.
Police said ex-convict Mark Holloway and his friend, Kimberly Kathavong, walked into the store and stole cameras and women’s underwear.
When they tried to leave, the 26-year-old security guard confronted them. That’s when the man pulled out a razor blade and slashed the guard on the arm.
Holloway fled on foot. Police were able to detain Kathavong. The 21-year-old woman was charged with felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor theft. She is being held on a $40,000 bond.
The security guard was taken to the hospital where he received ten stitches.
Police said Holloway was convicted of multiple aggravated robbery counts in 1992, several burglary counts in 1995, and auto burglary & felony theft in 2008. Kathavong was convicted of shoplifting from the Hamilton Church Road Wal-Mart in May 2010.
Anyone knowing Holloway’s whereabouts are urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 74-CRIME.
Source:News Channel5
Air Force security officer retires after 42 years of service www.privateofficer.com
Cavazos said that he had really enjoyed his time and experiences at the base but felt that it was time to close this chapter of his life and move on to a little bit of a slower pace.
Members of the base civilian and enlisted alike said that the officer was someone who took base security seriously and would be missed.
Highline School District security officer charged with assault www.privateofficer.com
King County prosecutors contend Greg F. Seth – a former Seattle police officer employed by the district for the past 15 years – accosted the 5-foot-tall boy at Chinook Middle School on Feb. 1.
The boy, not Seth, was arrested immediately following the incident after Seth claimed the boy pushed past him. Nearly two months passed before the district filed a formal police report.
Seth was placed on administrative leave sometime after the incident and has since been fired, a Highline School District spokeswoman said Wednesday.
According to charging documents, Seth, 64, and an administrator at the SeaTac middle school were interviewing the boy about a theft the day of the incident. Seth put his hand on the boy’s shoulder as he was leaving the administrator’s office, and the boy shrugged it off.
Seth – standing a foot taller than the boy, and outweighing him by about 100 pounds –then grabbed the boy from behind, wrapped an arm around his neck and nearly lifted him off the ground, King County Sheriff’s Detective Timothy Gillette told the court.
“Boy don’t you ever touch me,” Seth yelled, according to charging documents. “I will take you down, I will hurt you, you understand me?
“Don’t you ever touch me, I will hurt you.”
The boy was able to say “I can’t breathe,” but little else during the 5 to 15 seconds Seth held him in a headlock, the detective told the court.
The administrator later told investigators the boy’s face turned purple, then blue, as Seth held him in the chokehold, according to charging documents. Standing on tiptoes, the boy was drooling uncontrollably.
Though the incident was witnessed by the administrator and overheard by another executive at the school, a formal police report wasn’t filed with the King County Sheriff’s Office until nearly two months later on March 27.
Speaking Wednesday, Highline School District spokeswoman Catherine Carbone Rogers said a school resource officer – a King County deputy assigned to the SeaTac Police Department – was notified the day of the incident.
“SeaTac police were involved from day one,” Carbone Rogers said.
The spokeswoman failed to note that the school resource officer was initially told that the boy had assaulted Seth.
According to the officer’s report, Seth demanded that the boy be arrested. Believing Seth, the resource officer handcuffed the crying boy before releasing him after she determined Seth had not been assaulted.
“The security officer told me he wanted me to arrest the student because the student had pushed past him,” the deputy wrote in her report, according to a Sheriff’s Office spokesman. “No one told me that Security Officer Seth had the student in a neck hold.”
“The officer did not have the whole story,” Sgt. John Urquhart said. “The security officer was saying he was assaulted by the student. There was no indication to the (school resource officer) at the time that it was the other way around.”
The school administrator who witnessed the incident spoke with the deputy later in the day and said Seth had placed the student in a headlock, Urquhart continued. The deputy did not file a report at the time because the school was investigating.
No photographs were taken of the boy’s neck immediately after the incident. The boy and other witnesses told investigators his neck was bruised.
According to charging documents, Seth called the school administrator at her home a week after the alleged assault in an apparent attempt to cover up the incident.
The administrator later told investigators Seth said he was being removed from Chinook Middle School before attempting to coach her on what to say to investigators.
“He went on to state several times that all he did was ‘grab (the boy) and put him back in the chair, right?’” Gillette told the court, recounting a statement from the administrator. “She did not reply to this but said she was sorry all of this happened. …
“Because he stated this several times, she felt that Seth was trying to tell her what to say if and when she was questioned about this.”
The following day, a school resource officer told her Seth said he would “get her” if she “lied” to investigators, the detective continued. The administrator was concerned and obtained a restraining order against Seth.
Writing the court, Gillette suggested Seth should be charged with witness tampering for the alleged call to the school administrator and second-degree assault, a felony carrying a three-to-six-month jail sentence. State law allows for such a charge when an offender restricts another person’s breathing through strangulation.
Prosecutors have charged Seth with fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor.
“After reviewing the case, we filed the fourth-degree assault charge based on the evidence gathered to this point,” said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff to Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.
“The amendment of charges is always possible in a criminal case as the investigation continues, including the possibility of a higher assault charge and witness tampering.”
Seth, an Everett resident, has not been jailed in the case
Source:www.seattlepi.com
Security officer accidentally shoots self in leg www.privateofficer.com
TUCSON, Ariz.June 3 2011 – The Tucson Police Department says a security guard was wounded after shooting himself in the leg Wednesday at the U.S. Border Patrol’s headquarters in Tucson.
The police department says the guard is a Wackenhut Security employee.
Tucson police received a call at 11:00 a.m. about a shooting in the Border Patrol Tucson headquarters parking lot near South Swan and Golf Links Roads.
Police spokesman Sgt. Matt Ronstadt said the guard was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. No one else was injured.
Security officer takes wanted Oklahoma man into custody after pursuit www.privateofficer.com
Oklahoma City OK June 3 2011 The person killed in a running gunbattle between police and two men in a sport utility vehicle was a 20-year-old Putnam City High School dropout who did not have a record of violence, his mother said Wednesday.
OKC police release names of officers in shoot-out Police would not confirm who died, saying only that the man collapsed in a parking lot and had apparently been shot.
Clara Crosby, 50, said she was informed by hospital officials that her son, Clay Baron Howell, 20, of Oklahoma City, was killed in the Tuesday evening incident. She said she didn’t know why Howell was in the SUV and had heard few details from police. She said she knew her son was acquainted with Madrious N. Kamisizian, 20, identified by police as the other occupant of the SUV.
Kamisizian was taken into custody by a security guard after the chase ended with both the SUV and the patrol car crashing near NW 58 and Portland Avenue, police Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow said.
Man faces murder complaint in death
He was booked into the Oklahoma County jail without bail on complaints of murder, shooting with intent to kill, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and use of a motor vehicle to facilitate a drive-by shooting. State law allows authorities to pursue a murder charge against someone suspected of committing a felony during which someone died.
Wardlow said the policemen involved were officers Jonathan Beasley and Dustin Wright and Sgt. Renaldo Sanchez. They remain on routine paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. Beasley and Wright were in the patrol car when it crashed into a tree. They were treated for minor injuries at a hospital and released.
The chase began after a man called police about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday to say he was following his stolen sport utility vehicle, Wardlow said. Officers found it near NW 62 and Tulsa Avenue, and the SUV sped away when police turned on their lights and siren.
Police and the two men in the SUV exchanged gunfire during the chase, Wardlow said. It was not clear Wednesday who fired first, how many shots were fired or how many people fired shots.
Witnesses said someone in the SUV fired from the passenger side window at the pursuing police car as both vehicles sped east on NW 62 near Quapah Avenue.
Crosby said her son called his girlfriend during the chase to tell her “something was going down.” She described her son as troubled but not violent.
Investigation ongoing
More details are likely to emerge once the officers are fully interviewed, Wardlow said. Other than a brief interview at the scene, police policy prohibits officers involved in shootings from being fully questioned for 48 hours.
Homicide detectives and internal investigators will conduct investigations to determine if any laws were violated by the officers and if police protocols were followed, including those involving police pursuits.
Oklahoma City officers may fire from a moving patrol car only if they’re being fired upon, according to police policy. Officers can fire at a moving vehicle as a last resort if they think it’s necessary to prevent serious injury or death. Police must also consider the possible presence of innocent occupants.
“Firing at or from a moving vehicle will, under most circumstances, create a greater threat to innocent lives than allowing the violent felon to escape,” the policy states.
Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty announced changes to the city’s police chase policy in 2006 after a series of deadly chases. The policy was revised to require supervisors to get involved in chases and call them off if conditions such as speed, traffic and weather present too great a danger.
Kamisizian and Howell do not have significant criminal histories listed in state or municipal court records.
Facebook pageHowell’s Facebook page identifies him as a member of Putnam City High School’s class of 2009, but his mother said he dropped out after problems with his girlfriend.
The page lists his favorite quote as the first lines of “Omerta,” a song by heavy metal band Lamb of God. The quote reads, “Whoever appeals to the law against his fellow man is either a fool or a coward. Whoever cannot take care of himself without that law is both. For a wounded man shall say to his assailant, ‘If I live, I will kill you. If I die, you are forgiven.’ Such is the rule of honor.”
Howell posted on the page that he is “adrift in this endless nothingness trying to keep from spinning out of control, and ending the reailty (sic) as we know it, but its (sic) all cool.”
Source:newsok.com
Dayton police-fire staffing levels at 50 year low www.privateofficer.com
DAYTON OH June 3 2011 — Already at its lowest police and fire staffing levels in nearly 50 years, Dayton will not hire new officers until at least 2012 and may not be able to hire then depending on state budget allocations.
Both police Chief Richard Biehl and fire Chief Herbert Redden said they can operate with smaller numbers as long as the city’s calls for service remain the same and crime rates continue to decline.
“Right now, we are at a staffing level that is operationally sound,” Redden said. “I don’t know what will happen next.”
The U.S. Department of Justice’s rejection of the results of the city’s police entrance exam has forced the city to delay filling its dwindling police and firefighter ranks.
The firefighters’ entrance exam, originally scheduled for April 2, will not be given until early next year, according to James Moore, Dayton’s Civil Service interim director.
New police recruits will not be on the street until at least the summer of 2012, instead of February or March, he said.
The city’s public safety departments have dwindled to about 650 sworn officers. The decline mirrors that of the city’s population, which has shrunk to about 141,000 residents, 120,000 fewer than in 1960.
Also shrinking is the city’s operating budget. City Manager Tim Riordan recently announced he will cut $9 million to $10 million from the $154 million general fund to offset significant cuts expected to come at the state level.
Riordan said he has not begun discussions about job cuts or if the city will be able to hire new recruits next year. He has said “everything is on the table.”
Police chief says he will need help soon
Since Biehl came on the force in 2008, the ratio of residents per officer was about 375 to 1. Now it stands at about 400 to 1. From 2008 to 2010 violent crime was down 4.5 percent and all crime was down 8.7 percent.
“We will likely be in the 330s (sworn police officers) by the end of the year and I think we’ll be OK,” Biehl said. “The question is that the floor? It’s hard to say.”
Redden has kept the department’s response times well within national guidelines despite declining ranks, but cautioned he will need help soon.
“New recruits need to be in the engine house by July 2012,” Redden said.
The Fire Department has 314 firefighters and medics. That number could drop to close to 300 by year’s end, Redden said. Of that number, 68 firefighters and four others have 25 years or more on the job and are eligible for retirement.
Cedarhurst Avenue resident Ronnie Hinton, who was at Wednesday’s City Commission meeting to offer economic and community pride ideas for West Dayton, said the reduced staffing could have a domino effect.
“It puts a stress not just on one area, but on the whole system, because you could have to call (police and fire) from other stations … or other neighboring districts to respond to a calamity or whatever problem might occur,” Hinton said.
The Department of Justice in March rejected the passing score of the police exam because not enough minorities passed the test by the city’s passing threshold. The DOJ forced the city to lower the score to allow more minorities into the hiring pool.
Shortly after agreeing to lower the score, the city announced it was tossing out the exam scores of those who passed and would hire based solely on how applicants scored on subjective oral interviews.
The city’s charter requires officials to hire applicants one at a time based on their test scores. Biehl said he hopes to hire 25 officers initially that will hit the streets by next July or August.
Hinton said beyond the issues of public safety, there is an economic component as well.
“It also is sad because during these times of economic problems, we need as many jobs and opportunities as possible,” he said.
Moore said the firefighter exam has been pushed back to ensure the city doesn’t repeat the problems it encountered with the DOJ on the police exam.
“We want to finish the process and get everyone into the (police) academy before we start the process for fire,” Moore said.
Randy Beane, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, does not agree 330 officers can adequately cover the city.
“Definitely the safety of citizens is jeopardized, as well as the safety of officers,” he said. He pointed out even as the city’s population and crime rate have dropped, the work load on officers has increased. The reports they must file from their cruisers have increased in numbers and complexity.
“Gangs are a problem. And how is safe is an officer on the street when he has his head down working on the in-car computer to get reports done. It’s not a situation an officer should be in,” Beane said.
Barbara Bauer, who lives on Xenia Avenue in East Dayton, also expressed concern for the safety of emergency responders, and by extension, city residents.
“It’s definitely not good, Bauer said. “We’re already probably understaffed, and if we would have a lot of injuries — and police and firefighters are in a field where they are injured frequently — we could be in really serious trouble.”
Commissioner Matt Joseph said he is “not comfortable” with the dwindling ranks and is concerned about the public’s safety.
“We can always use more (officers) and we have common sense and are trying to do the best we can with the revenue we have,” he said. “When I look at our crime rate for police and our response time for fire, we have been incredible on those fronts, so right now we are meeting expectations.”
Source:Dayton Daily News
PA police officer charged in drug thefts www.privateofficer.com
COURTHOUSE PA June 3 2011 — An investigation into missing morphine cartridges from a supply cabinet in a Plymouth Ambulance chief’s office in May revealed the squad’s assistant chief had allegedly been stealing the narcotics for his own use, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
Dominic Venezia, 37, who was also a Whitemarsh policeman before his arrest, was charged with drug possession and theft and has since been fired from his job at the police department and the ambulance company.
After being confronted with the accusations, Venezia told investigators he had a drug problem and had trouble sleeping due to depression and anxiety stemming from his sister’s suicide several years earlier, according to court papers.
Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said the defendant’s alleged wrongdoing put him at odds with his position of public trust.
“So it’s a tremendous violation,” she said.
The ambulance company’s Chief of Operations Thomas Trojansky became suspicious after finding items out of place in the supply cabinet behind his desk, and he conducted an immediate inventory.
Trojansky knew the cabinet contained 55 morphine Carpuject cartrides prior to May 5, but when he counted them that day there were 24 missing.
Venezia had called Trojansky two weeks earlier asking about “all of the morphine cartridges” in the cabinet, and the operations chief explained that the drugs stored there were for emergency use in the event of a disaster, according to the criminal complaint.
A day later, Plymouth police detectives placed a hidden camera inside Trojansky’s office to find out who was taking the narcotics. They discovered Venezia had come into the office with a key-card and that he allegedly accessed the storage cabinet.
Given that the painkilling drug is used by paramedics to treat patients or people injured in accidents, investigators also checked the morphine supply in the squad’s ambulances to see if the drug was missing or had been adulterated Once we realized that morphine was from the back-up supply had been taken, then we really had to take a look at was anything taken from the ambulances, was anything removed and substituted with a different substance so that, God forbid, a patient could be compromised,” Ferman said. “The answer to those questions is no.”
Though the defendant’s arrest Wednesday comes three weeks after he admitted his guilt on May 7, Ferman said the arrest was not purposely delayed until after the May 17 primary election to avoid embarrassing former Whitemarsh police Chief Eileen Behr, who was running for county sheriff.
Venezia was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Francis Bernhardt, who set bail at $5,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 9 at 9:30 a.m.
source”timesherald
NYC sentenced to prison in NY murder www.privateofficer.com
New York City NY June 3 2011 It took 20 year and two trials, but the family of a Brooklyn man gunned down on New Year’s Day 1991 finally saw justice Thursday when his convicted killer was sent to prison.Derrick Lloyd was sentenced to 18 years to life behind bars for the slaying of William Smith, 22, outside a house party in East Flatbush.
Lloyd spent over 16 years hiding in plain sight in Alabama with an assumed name, a wife and three kids. He made the mistake of trying to apply for a driver’s license using a bogus social security card in 2007, which led to his capture.
“We want you to know that we no longer angry,” the victim’s sister, Karen Smith, 50, told Lloyd. “All we want to know is why.”
Her question was not answered.
Lloyd, who maintains he was never at the shooting scene, just asked not to be sent upstate right away so his struggling family can visit him.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Mark Dwyer credited the convict with living lawfully while on the lam, giving him less than the maximum sentence.
Lloyd’s first trial ended with a hung jury last year, but a second panel believed the three eyewitnesses who fingered him as the gunman, finding him guilty of murder last month.
“The day you left, you put our family in prison. Now it’s your turn,” Smith said. “Was it worth it?”
Source:nydaily
Texas puts security guard’s killer to death www.privateofficer.com
As seen on a surveillance video, Bradford pulls a pistol from his waistband, says nothing and shoots the 29-year-old Williams in the back. He turns the gun toward a store clerk, who runs behind some displays, fires three more times at Williams, then yells for a companion, who joins him in trying to take cash from a register. They left with $7 taken from Williams, who died about an hour later. It was his second day on the job.
Bradford, now 42, is set to die by injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville for the robbery-slaying more than 22 years ago.
“If you saw it once, you wouldn’t forget it,” said Dan Hagood, a former Dallas county assistant district attorney who prosecuted Bradford. “That video was just so chilling. That man’s begging for his life. He’s got his hands up.
“Then: Bam! … Like stepping on a bug.”
The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to reconsider Bradford’s appeal, clearing the way for the fourth execution this year in Texas and the first of four set for this month in the nation’s busiest capital punishment state.
No last-day appeals for Bradford were planned, his lawyer, Mick Mickelson, said Tuesday.
“He’s going to be executed,” Mickelson said.
Bradford was 20 at the time of the Dec. 29, 1988, shooting at the store a few miles south of downtown Dallas, and was on parole for a robbery conviction.
In a confession to police, he contended that he acted in self-defense, that his gun went off and he feared Williams was trying to get his own gun and shoot him. The video, however, contradicted his version of the shooting.
Edwin King Jr., one of Bradford’s trial lawyers, recalled the video as “very disturbing, and when the jurors saw it most of them began to cry.”
His co-counsel, Paul Brauchle, said the tape showing Williams in prolonged agony was devastating to the defense trying to keep Bradford off death row.
“The jury gets to sit there and listen to the guy moan and groan and agonize,” Brauchle said. “A 4-year-old kid could have gotten death.”
Bradford had two trials. His first conviction in 1990 was thrown out by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which ruled that the trial judge in the case improperly denied psychiatric testimony obtained by Bradford’s lawyers. He was tried a second time in 1995, convicted and sentenced again to death.
Last October, he won a Supreme Court reprieve about a week before he was scheduled for execution when his attorneys argued that his trial court appointed an inexperienced and underqualified lawyer to handle some of his earlier appeals. In January, the justices rejected the appeal. Last Friday, they refused to reconsider their decision.
Court records showed Bradford, who told a psychologist he began drinking alcohol in the seventh grade and had about four or five beers daily, was building a criminal record even before he went to prison for robbery. Police told of dozens of contacts with him on the streets of Dallas, where Bradford was known as “G-Man.” One woman testified how he slipped into her home and tried to get into her bed before running off when she alerted her stepfather.
Other testimony at his trial showed that while in prison on the robbery conviction he incited one riot and was involved in another.
Police who arrested Bradford for the Williams slaying found marijuana and guns in his room. Detectives who booked him found he was carrying two plastic bags of crack cocaine.
Bradford told jurors most of the trial testimony against him came from liars.
Earlier appeals rejected by the courts contended he was mentally impaired and ineligible for execution.
Bradford declined to speak with reporters as his execution date neared. His accomplice, Vandron Seymore, received 42 years in prison for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. He served 12 years and was paroled in 2002.
Source:www.chron.com
Clarksville ISD middle school teacher arrested www.privateofficer.com
Local law enforcement agencies requested assistance from the Texas Rangers who, in turned, launched a full investigation. Savage was removed from the campus last week after allegations surfaced about the improper teacher-student relationship.
In an affidavit obtained by The Clarksville Times, Savage allegedly communicated with the student during lunch periods, by cell phone, text messages and Facebook over a period of several months. The document also details possible after school contact involving Savage and the student.
The child’s parent filed a complaint with local authorities after discovering a handwritten note, allegedly written by Savage, in her child’s pants’ pocket while preparing laundry. The note, addressed to the juvenile, details sexually explicit acts.
According to the affidavit, the juvenile admitted to kissing and hugging Savage but denied any other sexual contact.
Savage is currently being held in the Red River County Jail. Her bond has been set for $10,000 on each of the two second-degree felony offenses.
Massechussetts State Trooper dies from injuries sustained 8 years ago www.privateofficer.com
BOSTON MA June 3 2011 – Eight years after her parked cruiser was hit by a teenager who was speeding, Ellen Engelhardt yesterday became the first female state trooper to die from injuries sustained in the line of duty.
The 58-year-old mother, who in 1981 became one of the state’s first female troopers, died at a South Shore nursing home where she was being treated for severe brain injuries suffered as a result of the crash. Engelhardt is one of 32 state troopers to die in the line of duty since the State Police was founded in 1865.
“This is a large loss,’’ said Colonel Marian J. McGovern, superintendent of the State Police, who served as Engelhardt’s drill instructor when she was a recruit. “She touched so many lives. She was a vibrant, outgoing person. People can tell you about her compassion and the passion she brought to the job. She was really a role model for a lot of people.’’
Six years ago, William P. Senne pleaded guilty to driving drunk on July 26, 2003, when he slammed his car into Engelhardt’s cruiser at nearly 100 miles per hour. The former sailing instructor from Wayland was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in the Plymouth County House of Correction, significantly less than the eight to 10 years that prosecutors requested.
Senne had spent the night before the crash at a Wayland party and was driving his father’s Volvo to a regatta on the Cape early the next morning. Engelhardt was working the overnight shift and had parked in the breakdown lane of Route 25 in Wareham. Her cruiser’s blue lights were flashing, as she investigated an earlier hit-and-run collision.
When Senne’s car struck Engelhardt’s Crown Victoria, the cruiser was propelled forward at 50 miles per hour, prosecutors said.
Yesterday, prosecutors said they are reviewing the case to decide whether to file new charges against Senne, which could include vehicular homicide.
“Our sympathies go out to [Engelhardt’s] family,’’ said Bridget Norton Middleton, a spokeswoman for the Plymouth district attorney’s office. “In terms of the criminal case, the prosecutors will review the evidence and the circumstances of her passing to determine if additional charges are warranted.’’
Senne has been released from jail. Neither he nor relatives could be reached yesterday. His lawyer did not return calls.
McGovern said her staff will be conferring with the district attorney’s office about possibly filing additional charges.
“We’ll see what happens,’’ she said. “I believe in our judicial system and that they do the right thing. In this case, a young man did a horrible thing and changed the life of Ellen Engelhardt and her family forever. She never had the chance to meet her grandchild.’’
Senne, who was 18 when the crash occurred, had three speeding citations on his record. Also in 2003, he was arrested by Wayland police for having an unopened 30-pack of beer in his car while underage. He had no other criminal record until his guilty plea in 2005 to charges of operating under the influence to cause serious bodily injury and of driving to endanger.
Prosecutors said tests done nearly four hours after the crash showed Senne had a .051 blood alcohol level. They said government specialists would have testified that at the time of the crash, Senne’s blood alcohol level ranged from .08 to .123. The legal limit is .08.
Neither relatives nor friends of Engelhardt returned calls yesterday. A few months after the crash, Lora Tedeman, Engelhardt’s daughter and only child, told the Globe that the crash, which left her mother comatose, had a huge impact on her family. “This has changed everything,’’ she said. “It’s turned our world upside down.’’
Engelhardt was initially treated at Boston Medical Center and was then sent to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, nationally known for treating patients with severe brain injuries. She later lived in a Middleborough rehabilitation center.
At a press conference in 2003, Sergeant Richard Teves, her closest friend, said: “This is terrible, in every category.’’
Lieutenant Maryann Dill, another of the state’s first female troopers, told the Globe then: “I’m devastated. She was always smiling, always caring.’’
In a phone interview yesterday, McGovern said the family had yet to provide her staff with the funeral arrangements.
She said the last time she saw Engelhardt was several years ago at a road race in Marshfield held in her honor. Engelhardt had been an avid runner.
“She was unable to communicate and in a wheelchair, but she stayed for the whole race,’’ McGovern said.
She added: “Trooper Engelhardt has been an inspiration to every member of this department for the courage, grace, and dignity with which she lived.’’
Wal-Mart shoplifter leads Louisiana police on 32 mile pursuit www.privateofficer.com
THIBODAUX LA June 3 2011 — A woman accused of stealing clothes from a Walmart was arrested 32 miles away after leading multiple police departments on a car chase through Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, authorities said.
Delores Cheavis Delores Cheavis, 51, 5063 Bayou Black Drive, Gibson, had gotten a ride to Walmart, 410 N. Canal Blvd., from her friend, Denish Adams, about noon, Thibodaux Police said. While in the store, Cheavis allegedly put more than $160 worth of clothing into her purse and tried to walk out.
Walmart security officers confronted Cheavis, but she told them to leave her alone and walked out the doors, police said.
Cheavis then went back to Adams’ Mistubishi Mirage, got in the passenger side and said, “Take off,” police said. Adams later told police she “was not getting involved with her stealing” and got out of the car. Cheavis slid into the driver’s side and drove away.
Police were dispatched to the Walmart for the shoplifting call, but Cheavis was spotted driving on St. Patrick Highway, authorities said. Thibodaux Police spokesman Ricky Ross said officers turned on their emergency lights to pull her over, but she sped up, going as fast as 90 mph. Officers from Thibodaux Police, the Terrebonne Sheriff’s Office, Lafourche Sheriff’s Office and State Police Troop C participated in the pursuit.
Cheavis made her way to Brule Guillot Road and later turned on La. 20, heading toward Terrebonne Parish, police said. She then got onto Bayou Black Drive and headed east.
Cheavis crossed the Jarvis Bridge near the 5600 block of North Bayou Black Drive and continued driving east. The chase ended near the intersection of North Bayou Black Drive and Savanne Road, when State Police put out metal spike strips that flattened the car’s tires, authorities said. Cheavis was arrested without further incident.
Ross said he was one of the officers chasing Cheavis and stuck with the pursuit until the end.
“It seemed like an eternity. I was concentrating on driving,” Ross said. “When you hear ‘She is refusing to stop,’ you have to go.”
Cheavis is charged with aggravated flight from an officer, no license, disobeying a stop sign, speeding, theft of motor vehicle, theft of goods and flight using a motor vehicle. If convicted of all charges, she faces more than 14 years in prison.
Cheavis is being held at the Terrebonne Parish jail in lieu of $50,000 bond for her charges in Terrebonne and $105,000 for the charges in Lafourche.
Source:dailycommet.com
TSA pays 2K for exposing woman’s breast www.privateofficer.com
The TSA reached a settlement with Lynsie Murley, 24, of Amarillo, Texas, earlier this year, The Smoking Gun reported Wednesday.
Murley accused TSA officers at Corpus Christi Airport of pulling down her top during a security pat-down, “exposing [her] breasts to everyone in the area,” according to her lawsuit, which added that “[TSA employees] joked and laughed about the incident for an extended period of time.”
The pretty blonde claimed she was singled out for “extended search procedures.”
She was so embarrassed and upset at her treatment during the ordeal in May 2008 that she left the security line and went to be consoled by a friend who dropped her off at the airport.
But when she returned to go through security a second time, Murley said a male TSA employee told her that he was disappointed he missed the earlier incident. According to her, the employee then said that “he would just have to watch the video.”
The details of the agreement were released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The eight-page settlement said that the payout did not constitute an admission of “liability, fault or wrongdoing” by the TSA.
Loudoun County teacher under arrest for being drunk at school www.privateofficer.com
Loudoun County VA June 3 2011 teacher arrested for allegedly being drunk at school. The teacher was not interacting with students when she was allegedly under the influence of alcohol on campus, officials say.
Loudoun County Schools spokesman Wayde Bayard says that 43-year-old Laura Ann Collins, a 20-year veteran of the school system, was in a school training session at Creighton’s Corner Elementary School when she was allegedly drunk. A substitute teacher was watching her class, officials said.
Fourth-grade student Joey Colon was surprised when he learned the teacher had been arrested Thursday morning.
“She’s a really nice lady and I wouldn’t think she’d get arrested… I wish she had called in and said ‘I can’t come into school. I’m not feeling well,’” he said.
A staff member alerted police to Collins condition around 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. She was subsequently arrested and charged with being drunk in public. She is out of jail on her own recognizance.
“There’s a certain behavior that needs to be followed and certainly drinking.. is not one of them,” said Jami Haycock, a parent at the school.
Collins, 43, has been a fourth grade teacher at Creighton’s Corner Elementary since the school opened in 2008.
All students brought home a letter alerting their parents of Collins’ arrest Thusday. School officials say they tried to use the incident to teach students a life lesson, and maintain Collins was not in front of students at the time.
“Student safety was never compromised,” said Loudoun schools spokesperson Wayde Bayard.
Collins has been put on paid leave pending the investigation. Results from a breathalyzer test given to Collins are not yet available. Her court date is scheduled for July 17th.
Student Colon says he hopes his teacher will be given a second chance. “I hope she comes back next year. Just to teach other kids and tell people about her,” he said
Source:ABC7
South Carolina teacher facing charges www.privateofficer.com
Spartanburg SC June 3 2011 A former South Carolina school teacher turned herself in Wednesday, pending charges accusing her of having a sexual relationship with a Boiling Springs High School student.
Abby McElhenny, 23, was charged with sexual battery of a 16 or 17 year old, according to a Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office report.
Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright told Fox Carolina that McElhenny was seen by friends, holding hands with the teen at the city’s annual Spring Fling festival.
According to reports, the teen’s parents became suspicious of his activities after he was caught in a lie about spending the night out with friends. The parents then searched their son’s cell phone and found hundreds of text messages between an unknown number and their son. In five days, there were 391 text messages exchanged between the two numbers.
Wright said that the teen’s parents then had a friend call the number, acting as a newspaper solicitor, eventually discovering that the person on the phone was, in fact, McElhenny.
The warrant states that McElhenny engaged in sexual battery with a student between Dec 25, 2010 and May 16, 2011.
The Pennyslvania native turned herself in Wednesday morning and was bonded out of jail Wednesday evening, wearing a black sheet as she exited the jail.
McElhenny taught Spanish at Boiling Springs High School and was also the varsity swim coach. She taught at the high school for the past two years.
According to the district Superintendent, Scott Mercer, McElhenny was no longer employed by the school district as of May 31, 2011
Six dead in Yuma AZ murder spree www.privateofficer.com
Yuma AZ June 3 2011 Authorities now say the suspect and his six victims were all connected, with Sheriff Ralph Ogden saying “these people all knew each other.”
Authorities are not prepared to elaborate on their relationship. However, at a press conference, officials stated “these victims were targeted.”
Police say the suspect, 73-year-old Carey Hal Dyess, was found dead in the Blaisdell area.
Authorities say Dyess lived in the Foothills near Yuma.
YCSO officials say Dyess took six lives not including his own – five in the Wellton area and an attorney in downtown Yuma.
Another shooting victim was taken to a Phoenix hospital.
YCSO officials began breaking down the timeline.
Sheriff Ogden says “our first call was at five of seven this morning. We found a person that had been shot. That’s the person that is in critical condition in the Phoenix hospital.” The victim was found at 2 ½ E and Highway 80. Authorities say she had been shot multiple times.
Ogden says at 8:19 a.m., another call came in that a second shooting victim was found dead at a residence at 35E and Highway 80.
At about 9:20 a.m., YPD responded to the scene of 2nd Avenue in Yuma, where officers say attorney Jerrold Shelley was shot and killed.
Sherriff’s officials say shortly before 9:45 a.m., two more victims were found at 32E and Highway 80. Another victim was found at 10:20 at 36E and Highway 80.
Authorities say they found the final body at 10:40 a.m. in the Blaisdell area. It was later determined that this was the suspect, Carey Hall Dyess.
Ogden said the Yuma County Sheriff’s office and the Yuma Police Department “started working together and sharing information” early on because “this is very unusual.”
Authorities are not releasing the names of any victims other than Shelley.
However, YCSO tells News 11 one victim was Dyess’ ex-wife.
Police could not confirm if every victim was shot. They are still looking into many angels of the investigation.
Update (2:53 p.m.) YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities have confirmed that one of the people killed Thursday in a southwest Arizona shooting spree was a Yuma attorney.
Yuma Police Chief Jerry Geier tells The Associated Press that the gunman walked into the law office of Jerrold Shelley in the downtown area, and shot and killed Shelley sometime Thursday morning.
Police earlier identified the suspected shooter as 73-year-old Carey Hal Dyess of Yuma.
Authorities say Dyess killed four other people elsewhere in Yuma County and wounded one person before fatally shooting himself. The wounded person was flown to a Phoenix-area hospital.
The downtown-area shooting forced officials block off a city street and lock down the nearby Yuma County Courthouse and some schools. No one was injured at the courthouse or schools, and the buildings were later reopened.
The other victims’ names were not released.
AP
