Washington DC police officer accused of murder www.privateofficer.com

 

Washington DC June 5 2011 Richmond Phillips, a married D.C. police officer, met in a Prince George’s County park on Monday with Wynetta Wright to talk about her year-old daughter.

Phillips was due in court the next day for a hearing that would begin to determine whether he was the baby girl’s father and, if so, how much he’d have to pay to support her.

The meeting ended horribly, police said. Phillips, 39, allegedly pulled out a gun and killed the 20-year-old Wright with a bullet to the head. He then left her body in the park, drove her car up a hill away from the scene and abandoned the baby in the car, according to law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the case.

When an officer found the car Thursday, after the scorching midweek heat, the baby was dead. As police awaited autopsy results Friday, they said she might have died from the extreme heat in the car. Her body showed no clear signs of trauma. The car has tinted windows, one official said, so passersby were unlikely to notice the baby inside.

“Just a tragic, tragic incident,” said Prince George’s Deputy Police Chief Gary Cunningham.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier called it “a horrific crime.”

Phillips, a vice officer who joined the D.C. police force in 2003, was arrested by Prince George’s police Friday and charged with first-degree murder. A family member said Phillips, who is being held without bond, lived in the county’s Temple Hills area with his wife of 13 years and their 12-year-old daughter.

Wright, an aspiring Prince George’s sheriff’s deputy, also lived in Temple Hills. She filed a court petition in February seeking to have Phillips declared the father of her daughter, Jaylin Wright, who was born June 6, 2010. She also asked the court to order Phillips to make child support payments and provide health insurance for Jaylin.

Wright was found dead Thursday on the ground in Oxon Run Spring Valley Park, about a mile from Phillips’s home, authorities said. They said Jaylin was found elsewhere in the park, dead in a car seat in Wright’s green 2008 Saturn Vue.

Phillips has been charged in Wright’s slaying, but authorities are awaiting the autopsy results on Jaylin before deciding whether to charge him in her death.

Two county police officials familiar with the case, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing, said Wright told a friend that she planned to meet with Phillips on Monday to discuss what would happen Tuesday at a scheduled court hearing in the paternity matter.

Detectives have obtained surveillance video showing Phillips and Wright arriving a few minutes apart Monday in a parking lot of the Hillcrest Heights Community Center, at the edge of Oxon Run Spring Valley Park, the officials said.

After Wright failed to return from the meeting, her mother alerted authorities that she was missing, police said. On Tuesday, Phillips showed up for the paternity hearing in Prince George’s Family Court and agreed to take a DNA test, said Paula Tolson, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Human Resources.

The court was going to notify [Wright] that she and her baby also had to be tested,” said Tolson, whose agency oversees child support enforcement in the state.

On Tuesday or Wednesday, Prince George’s police questioned Phillips about the missing woman and her baby, the police officials said. They said Phillips told investigators that he had not spoken with Wright in a year. However, Phillips’s telephone records indicate that the two had spoken more recently, according to the officials.

After Wright and the baby were found dead Thursday, Phillips was charged with murder and placed on leave by D.C. police.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to the Wright family,” Lanier said. “As we have seen all too often, domestic violence has its impact on the most innocent victims.”

Wright had been active for two years in the Prince George’s Sheriff Explorers program, in which young people learn about the discipline and skills needed to be a law enforcement officer, said Sharon Taylor, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.

The group meets weekly for physical training, instruction and other activities, said Taylor, who likened the program to the Boy and Girl Scouts. She said Wright had recently been promoted to the rank of private first class.

“She came to the program specifically because she was interested in becoming a sheriff’s deputy,” said Taylor, who met Wright once.

Phillips was not involved in the Explorers program, Taylor said. It is not clear how Phillips met Wright.

Phillips and his wife share their home with Phillips’s 75-year-old mother, Ruth Phillips, who said her son did not seem disturbed about anything this week.

She said the family kept up its routine. After Phillips’s wife left for work each morning, she said, Phillips drove their 12-year-old daughter to school, then came home to rest before leaving in the late afternoon for his night shift with the vice unit.

As for the charges against her son, she said, “I’ll be glad when all this is over and all these questions are over with.”

Phillips was assigned to the vice unit in the D.C. police 1st District station, in the 100 block of M Street SW. The precinct covers a wide swath of the city from the Anacostia River to 17th Street NW, south of New York and Florida avenues.

He worked in plain clothes on short-term investigations, making undercover drug buys and performing other anti-vice tasks, police said.

Source:Washington Post

Lake Mary school security guard charged with sexual assault www.privateofficer.com

 

 

LAKE MARY, Fla.June 5 2011 – A former Lake Mary High School security guard was arrested Friday for allegedly sexually assaulting a student.

Police say Alonzo Brundidge turned himself in at the Seminole County Jail Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, investigators have been looking into the case and determined they had plenty of evidence to issue a warrant and make an arrest. Brundidge is charged with six counts of sexual battery of a minor and an additional six counts of lewd and lascivious behavior. Officer Zach Hudson of the Lake Mary Police Department talked to WFTV about the charges. “You’re talking about a very, very serious crime. It’s unconscionable you actually have someone out there who’s willing to prey on students,” said Hudson.

A student and a teacher reported Brundidge had an inappropriate relationship with a female student under the age of 16. The teacher and some other witnesses claim to have seen Brundidge and a girl enter a janitor’s closet during school hours. Brundidge denies the accusations. However, the alleged victim recently told police what happened.

Lake Mary High School students have mixed emotions about what happened. Lindsey Hale is a graduating senior and said that she wouldn’t call Brundidge inappropriate, but did talk to the girls more than usual. Heidi Swanson is another graduating senior from Lake Mary and she said that she felt uncomfortable around him. “I mean he’s kinda creepy, I kinda just stayed away from him. Like I’ve heard lots of stuff about him, but I don’t really really know anything for fact,” said Swanson.

The school district superintendent told WFTV that Brundidge has been fired. His first court appearance is scheduled for 9:00 am Saturday morning.

Source:wtfv.com

ST Louis soccer coach indicted for impersonating federal officer www.privateofficer.com

 

ST. LOUIS MO June 5 2011 A St. Louis youth soccer coach was charged in federal court with impersonating a homeland security officer to avoid paying back a $100,000 loan from a girlfriend.

Mark Chartrand, 40, of St. Louis was arrested Friday morning on a federal warrant. He was indicted on one count of impersonating a federal officer.

According to the indictment, Chartrand met the woman while coaching for a city youth soccer program that he has been involved with for the last eight years. Prosecutors say he collected loans from the woman over the course of five years, and that 13 of the checks that he sent to repay her bounced.

The indictment says that Chartrand invented a story about being a Homeland Security agent to explain to the girlfriend how he would repay her. Chartrand told her he was expecting “a large payment from the government in compensation for his extraordinary service,” according to the indictment. It says he also fabricated a document from a “senior government official” to support his claim.

If convicted, Chartrand could face up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The case was investigated by U.S. Secret Service and Webster Groves Police.
Source:www.stltoday.com

Woman arrested for stabbing security officer, library patron www.privateofficer.com

 

Austin MN June 5 2011

35-year-old Samira Abdalla Salim is in jail charged with two counts of second degree assault.

Police say Salim stabbed a woman she didn’t know in the back with a pen as the woman was walking into the Oxboro library in Bloomington Wednesday.

A witness told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the victim was bleeding. She did not go to the hospital and is okay.

A security guard at the library went to check on the situation. That’s when police say Salim stabbed him in the abdomen. He is also okay.

Police found Salim at her apartment complex which is next door to the library. They searched her home and believe the weapon used was a pen.

Source:KAAL

Violent crime at Tennessee schools increasing www.privateofficer.com

 

Nashville TN June 5 2011 Overall crime on Tennessee school grounds dropped slightly from 2009 to 2010, but violent crimes — which include offenses such as assault and sex crimes — increased.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released its yearly K-12 school crimes study showing sex crimes and assaults rose by 3.4 percent last year.

“Although it’s always good to see a decrease in crime at schools across the state overall, the slight increase in crimes against persons on school property probably concerns most parents,” said Kristin Helm, spokeswoman for the TBI.

“No one ever expects to become a victim, but that’s especially true at school.”

Adding school resource officers helped Wilson and Sumner counties reduce crime on school grounds in 2010. Both counties put sheriff’s deputies in nearly every school.

“I think that’s helped tremendously,” said David Burton, director of safety for Wilson County schools.

“And, we’re adding more officers to the program. I would like to see one in every school, that’s my goal.”

Sumner County also got tougher with petty crimes by asking police to handle the cases instead of just sending students to in-school suspension.

“If you know that you’re going to have to go through the court system as opposed to a suspension, it’s something you think twice about,” said Jeremy Johnson, spokesman for Sumner County schools.

Metro Nashville schools saw an almost 3 percent jump in overall crime, largely fueled by increases in weapons and drug violations.

Violent crime rose less than 1 percent, and property crimes dropped.

Metro schools officials said no one was available to comment on the statistics.

But parent Francie Hunt, Nashville director of Stand for Children, a parenting organization, said the numbers are troubling.

“Obviously, from a parent’s perspective that would not be good news,” she said.

“It’s clear to us that one of the greatest factors that parents are weighing when making school choice is obviously the safety of the schools.

“That’s disturbing to hear that there is an increase.”

In 2010, Williamson County boasted the biggest decrease, with an almost 30 percent drop in overall crime.

Rutherford County saw jumps in both violent and property crimes, but an overall drop because of declines in drug and weapons incidents.

Wilson County also is working to prevent problems by focusing on anti-bullying efforts.

The district plans to survey students and target counseling and education to their specific concerns to reduce the chance that students could be harassed or even attacked.

Source:The Tennessean

Ranch security officer discovers father-son shot to death www.privateofficer.com

 

LATHROP CA June 5 2011 — A 40-year-old Patterson man and his 10-year-old son were found shot to death about 8 a.m. Friday by a ranch security officer in a field west of Interstate 5 and the Manthey Road off ramp in Lathrop.

Sheriff’s deputies believe the deaths were possibly a murder-suicide. Officers reportedly broke into the van through the driver’s side window to gain entry and found the driver had been shot in the upper torso. In a further search of the van the youth was discovered in a rear seat of the vehicle. He too had been shot and was deceased at the scene, according to a sheriff’s spokesman.

The adult was identified as Anthony Lee Williams, Sr. and the youth Hussan Williams, 10.

A weapon was found in the van.

Deputies made notification with the wife and mother in Patterson and learned that the couple had been going through a divorce.

Sheriff’s public information officer Les Garcia said Friday evening that his department is withholding the release of further information as the investigation is continuing. Deputies were at the scene most of the day, he added.

Gaston police officer arrested for murder of wife www.privateofficer.com

 

MUNCIE IN June 5 2011 – Police say a reserve officer with the Gaston Police Department shot and killed his estranged wife Friday morning during a domestic dispute in his Harrison Township home.

The victim, Lisa A. “Nettie” Hankins, 32, was pronounced dead at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital. She suffered multiple gunshot wounds, Delaware County Coroner Scott Hahn said.
Her husband, Benjamin Allan Hankins, 36, called 911 at 7:44 a.m. to report his wife had been shot in his house, in the 5800 block of North Delaware County Road 600-W, just north of Bethel Avenue. He was taken into custody at the scene and has been preliminarily charged with murder, according to Capt. Richard Pickett with the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office.
Lisa Hankins had filed for divorce last September, and the case was still pending at the time of her death, according to court records.
In a frantic call to 911 dispatchers, Benjamin Hankins reported his wife “pulled my gun on me. And then I shot back.”
Pickett on Friday night confirmed more than one weapon was found at the scene.
The police captain said the shooting occurred after Lisa Hankins had stopped at her husband’s home so their two oldest children could catch the bus to Wes-Del Elementary School.
“It was during the time when kids were going to school and getting on the buses, and we’re trying to find out all those details,” Pickett said.
The couple’s third child, who is 4, was apparently waiting outside in a car when her mother was shot.
“My wife and I were having an argument,” Hankins said during one of three separate conversations with dispatchers.
Asked where his wife had been hit by gunfire, Hankins said there was a wound “right in the chest (and) there’s one in the arm.”
Hankins sounded panicked as a dispatcher repeatedly urged him to try to perform CPR on his wife, whom he indicated was not breathing.
“There’s all kinds of blood,” he said. “I… I… I can’t.”
Pickett said Lisa Hankins was still alive when police arrived at the scene. She was taken to the Muncie hospital, where doctors attempted a life-saving surgery, according to Coroner Hahn.

Pickett said Lisa and Benjamin Hankins were not living together at the time of the shooting. She is listed in court documents at a Muncie address.
Gaston police Cpl. James Dixon said Benjamin Hankins has been a reserve officer with his department for about three years. He declined further comment about the shooting, calling it an “open investigation.”
“It’s a sad day for us, it’s a sad day for the family,” Dixon said. “We knew their family well. They’ve come to all our events and things like that, so we need to let the investigation take its course.”
According to Delaware Circuit Court 4 records, Lisa Hankins sued her husband for divorce last Sept. 13, saying her marriage had “suffered an irretrievable breakdown.”
While the divorce suit was pending, Lisa Hankins was granted custody of the couple’s three children, who range in age from 9 to 4. The couple reached an agreement in late October for Benjamin Hankins to continue to pay the family’s baby-sitting expenses and “visitation shall be as the parties agree.”
On Dec. 1, Benjamin Hankins requested a citation be issued against his estranged wife, claiming she “fails and refuses” to abide by that visitation agreement.
A Dec. 22 order by Delaware Circuit Court 4 Judge John Feick indicates that dispute involved the Thanksgiving holiday, and Feick specified, by the day and hour, where the children would be during the Christmas holidays.
A final hearing, at which the divorce presumably would have been granted, was set for Feb. 11, but Benjamin Hankins requested a continuance, reporting he had “just started a new job and is unable to miss work.”
The hearing was reset for May 10. Lisa Hankins’ attorney, Kristin Willadsen, requested a subpoena for Benjamin Hankins to provide documentation that his work schedule had in fact prevented him from attending the February hearing.
On May 10, however, both Lisa and Benjamin Hankins and their attorneys — Willadsen and Jack Quirk, who represented Benjamin — asked that the matter be “continued until further order.”
Friday’s shooting reportedly caused a 45-minute lockdown at nearby Wes-Del Community Schools.
Superintendent Steve McColley said the lockdown was “requested by the police.” The lockdown was lifted by about 9:30 a.m.
Neighbor Dick Fink said he was surprised to come outside to find Benjamin Hankins’ property outlined in police crime scene tape with squad cars blocking off County Road 600-W, approaching the house from both the north and the south.
“I didn’t hear nothing,” Fink said. “I didn’t even hear the police come out.”
Fink was shocked to hear of a homicide — believed to be Delaware County’s first since December 2009 — in his quiet, rural neighborhood.
“I never thought anything like that would happen,” he said. “Not out here.”

Pickett said Lisa and Benjamin Hankins were not living together at the time of the shooting. She is listed in court documents at a Muncie address.

Gaston police Cpl. James Dixon said Benjamin Hankins has been a reserve officer with his department for about three years. He declined further comment about the shooting, calling it an “open investigation.”
“It’s a sad day for us, it’s a sad day for the family,” Dixon said. “We knew their family well. They’ve come to all our events and things like that, so we need to let the investigation take its course.”
According to Delaware Circuit Court 4 records, Lisa Hankins sued her husband for divorce last Sept. 13, saying her marriage had “suffered an irretrievable breakdown.”
While the divorce suit was pending, Lisa Hankins was granted custody of the couple’s three children, who range in age from 9 to 4. The couple reached an agreement in late October for Benjamin Hankins to continue to pay the family’s baby-sitting expenses and “visitation shall be as the parties agree.”
On Dec. 1, Benjamin Hankins requested a citation be issued against his estranged wife, claiming she “fails and refuses” to abide by that visitation agreement.
A Dec. 22 order by Delaware Circuit Court 4 Judge John Feick indicates that dispute involved the Thanksgiving holiday, and Feick specified, by the day and hour, where the children would be during the Christmas holidays.
A final hearing, at which the divorce presumably would have been granted, was set for Feb. 11, but Benjamin Hankins requested a continuance, reporting he had “just started a new job and is unable to miss work.”
The hearing was reset for May 10. Lisa Hankins’ attorney, Kristin Willadsen, requested a subpoena for Benjamin Hankins to provide documentation that his work schedule had in fact prevented him from attending the February hearing.
On May 10, however, both Lisa and Benjamin Hankins and their attorneys — Willadsen and Jack Quirk, who represented Benjamin — asked that the matter be “continued until further order.”
Friday’s shooting reportedly caused a 45-minute lockdown at nearby Wes-Del Community Schools.
Superintendent Steve McColley said the lockdown was “requested by the police.” The lockdown was lifted by about 9:30 a.m.
Neighbor Dick Fink said he was surprised to come outside to find Benjamin Hankins’ property outlined in police crime scene tape with squad cars blocking off County Road 600-W, approaching the house from both the north and the south.
“I didn’t hear nothing,” Fink said. “I didn’t even hear the police come out.”
Fink was shocked to hear of a homicide — believed to be Delaware County’s first since December 2009 — in his quiet, rural neighborhood.
“I never thought anything like that would happen,” he said. “Not out here.”

Source:www.indystar.com

Chula Vista cop arrested for cheating at casino www.privateofficer.com

 

CHULA VISTA CA June 5 2011— A Chula Vista patrol officer was arrested Friday on suspicion of cheating at blackjack at an East County casino, police said.

The officer, 9-year-veteran Jesus Salazar, 30, also faces drunken driving charges in an unrelated case at the same casino, Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano said Friday at a media conference at police headquarters.

Salazar was arrested about 1:30 a.m. by Sycuan tribal police after he was seen by casino employees and on surveillance cameras to have increased a wager when he already knew he had won, Bejarano said.

The chief said the officer was playing blackjack and the amount of money involved was about $100. “Obviously, we’re disturbed, disappointed by this arrest,” Bejarano said. “This is a serious allegation, it pretty much amounts to theft. If the allegation is sustained, I assure you, this individual will not be a member of our department.”

Salazar was booked into county jail at 5:11 a.m., with bail set at $10,000, said Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Melissa Aquino. He posted bail at 10:26 a.m., she said.

He is scheduled to appear June 10 in El Cajon Superior Cout.

Bejarano said that Salazar will be placed on unpaid administrative leave.

“We are taking away his peace officer powers,” Bejarano said. “We will take his gun and badge.”

Salazar is suspected of “capping,” a sleight-of-hand method of illegally adding more chips to a winning bet.

A spokesman for the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Nation said Salazar spent at least two and a half hours in the casino late Thursday night, and about half an hour at one Blackjack table. He was accompanied by his mother and girlfriend.

“The suspect capped his bet three times and on his fourth attempt, the dealer notified gaming commissioners,” said Adam Day, assistant tribal manager. He said gaming commissioners hire independent employees to watch the action in casinos.

Day said tribal police were brought in to arrest Salazar, who denied doing anything wrong.

“But we had it on surveillance tape,” Day said. “We’re still investigating where else he was in the casino that night.”

Salazar also was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on April 9 by tribal police who saw him hit a stop sign with his vehicle as he was arriving at the casino parking garage about 1:30 a.m., Day said. He said Salazar was turned over to the California Highway Patrol for booking.

Salazar was arraigned May 20 and charged with two counts related to the DUI arrest, a District Attorney’s Office spokesman said.

Sycuan police will investigate the gambling case and Chula Vista police will conduct an internal investigation of Salazar, Bejarano said.

The Chula Vista police website of 2006 shows Salazar received a department safe-driving award.

He said Salazar was placed on paid administrative leave after the DUI arrest and recently returned to work. If convicted in the gambling case, he could face up to one year in jail.

“We can’t have an officer serving our community with that lack of credibility,” Bejarano said.

U.S. taxpayers could save $1 billion on airport security www.privateofficer.com

 

Washington DC June 5 2011 U.S. taxpayers could save $1 billion over five years if the 35 biggest U.S. airports used private rather than federal security screeners, said Representative John Mica, a Florida Republican.

The conclusion is based on analysis by Mica’s staff of screening costs at Los Angeles and San Francisco international airports. Screeners at the privately staffed San Francisco airport on average checked 16,113 passengers each in 2010, compared with 9,765 for the government workers in Los Angeles, according to the report.

“What we have are various layers of failure at great cost,” Mica said at a news conference today in Washington. “Managing a lot of people is not necessarily running a security operation.”

The analysis extends a dispute between the House Republican majority and the Democratic administration of Barack Obama over the expansion of private screening in airports. John Pistole, who runs airport screening for Obama, froze the number of airports with private workers at 16 in January.

Nicholas Kimball, spokesman for Pistole, disputed Mica’s findings and said in an e-mail that “best estimates” show private contracts cost more than public screening.

“Capacity to push out intelligence information to our frontline workforce and quickly change procedures based on threat and intelligence is paramount,” he said. “Privatized screening will increase the complexity of this process.”

The dispute prompted action by the Republican-controlled House yesterday. Lawmakers approved a $40.6 billion security bill for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 that sets aside almost $270 million that can only be used for private screening.

The amendment by Mica that would make the money available was approved on a 219-204 vote. The provision would force the security agency to let 5,000 screeners go, accounting for 10 percent of the current workforce, Representative David Price, a North Carolina Democrat, said during yesterday’s debate.

Lawmakers may also propose legislation removing Pistole’s ability to freeze the private-screening program, Mica said.

The law that created the Transportation Security Administration required five airports to have private screeners under a two-year pilot program that began in 2002. The number later grew to 16, including airports in San Francisco; Kansas City; Roswell, New Mexico; Key West, Florida; and Montana.

Pistole told a House panel in February that private screeners curb his flexibility in managing the agency. He said he can’t easily shift the private screeners to other airports or change protocols such as new pat-down procedures.

Source:The Bloomburg Report

Apartment employee arrested for stealing rent money www.privateofficer.com

 

PANAMA CITY Fla June 5 2011 — An employee of a property management company was arrested Thursday and charged with stealing rent money paid by tenants, according to Panama City Police.

Amber Lee Horne, 31, was charged with grand theft. Police said they believe that between April 1 and April 25, Horne received approximately $5,020 from tenants paying rent. The money was never deposited into her employee’s bank account, police said.

The company she worked for was a management company based Atlanta that was the management company for Arbour’s Apartments in Panama City, police said.

New Jersey shoplifter dies after arrest www.privateofficer.com

 

TENAFLY NJ June 5 2011 – A prisoner who was arrested yesterday afternoon in Tenafly in connection with an earlier shoplifting case in Fort Lee died early this morning, several hours after he was transported to the Bergen County Jail, according to Tenafly police.

Aris Luis Maria, 24, whose residence was listed as Salem, Mass., was arrested around 1:40 p.m. on June 2 with two other suspects in connection with the shoplifting theft at a T-Mobile store in Fort Lee about 20 minutes earlier. Fort Lee Police had alerted Tenafly that the vehicle used by the suspects was registered to a Tenafly address.

Officer Jason Heese spotted the vehicle on East Clinton Avenue and stopped it on Heights Lane. He allegedly found that the suspects were in possession of two cellphones taken from the Fort Lee store. Also arrested were the driver, Michael Ranucci, 21, of Tenafly, and Kang Yi, 26, of Palisades Park.

In the process of charging Maria, Tenafly police determined that there were drugs in the room he was staying in at the Clinton Inn. With his consent, the police searched the room and found 608 assorted prescription pills but no valid prescription.

According to Capt. Robert Chamberlain, Maria appeared to be ill and was taken to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center around 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon. He was sent back to Tenafly at 7:40 p.m. and transported to the Bergen County Jail at 11:35 p.m.

Chamberlain said the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office informed the Tenafly police at 5:40 a.m. on Friday that Maria was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, suffering from cardiac arrest.

Ranucci was found to have an outstanding warrant from Florida in connection with a burglary there, and Chamberlain said that the Florida authorities planned to extradite him. Ranucci has been charged with receiving stolen property and being a fugitive from justice. He was being held in the county jail.

Yi was charged with receiving stolen property and released.

In addition to being charged with receiving stolen property, Maria had also been charged with possession of drugs, possession of drugs with intent to distribute, possession of drugs with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school zone and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Source:northjersey.com

Farmington couple has been charged with felony theft www.privateofficer.com

 

Farmington MN June 5 2011 A Farmington couple has been charged with theft after authorities say they shoplifted thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise from stores in Apple Valley and other cities in Dakota and Hennepin counties. Ultimately, the couple returned items totaling more than $4,000 in value to police, according to a criminal complaint, while they allegedly told police they had sold other items online.

Elizabeth Sarah Hobbs, 28, and Zachary Michael Hobbs, 29, each face a felony theft charge in the case. The maximum penalty for each is five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaints against the couple, an Apple Valley police officer went to Target on Jan. 12 when Target employees reported they had caught a shoplifter.

An employee told police he had followed Elizabeth Hobbs around the store for more than an hour, watching her allegedly select and conceal merchandise in her coat, her purse and a diaper bag before leaving the store, the complaint says.

Hobbs was stopped and brought back into the store, and store employees found more than $500 worth of shoplifted merchandise, according to the complaint.

Hobbs allegedly said she had shoplifted other items during “multiple previous trips” to the store; she told authorities that she shoplifted to help support her “financially strained” family, the complaint says.

She allegedly told police that in addition to shoplifting items for her family to use, she stole Blu-ray DVDs and sold them online, according to the complaint.

Hobbs, who estimated that she and her husband had shoplifted about six times from Christmas to the Jan. 12 date, told authorities that the couple frequently shoplifted from several retail stores, and she provided an “extensive list” of merchandise that she had stolen, the complaint says.

A Target loss prevention officer found surveillance video of the couple allegedly shoplifting DVDs on Jan. 10.

On Jan. 13, Elizabeth Hobbs and Zachary Hobbs delivered six shopping bags full of shoplifted merchandise to the Apple Valley Police Department, the complaint says.

Zachary Hobbs told police that they kept some items to use, but other items were sold online for money to help pay household bills, according to the complaint.

The total value of the items returned by the couple—and ultimately returned to the stores—was $4,210, the complaint says.