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OFFICER DOWN- Charles “Chuck” Armour www.privateofficer.com
Police Officer
Charles “Chuck” Armour
Detroit Police Department, Michigan
End of Watch: Saturday, June 11, 2011 Age: 40
Tour of Duty: 17 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Vehicular assault
Date of Incident: June 5, 2011
Weapon Used: Automobile
Suspect Info: In custody
Police Officer Chuck Armour succumbed to injuries sustained one week earlier when he was intentionally struck by a vehicle he had attempted to stop while on foot patrol in the Greektown area of Detroit.
The driver driving the wrong way down a one way street and was yelling obscenities at pedestrians.
Officer Armour instructed the man to stop when observed him driving the wrong way on St. Antoine Street at approximately 12:30 am. Instead of stopping, the driver struck Officer Armour and then turned the wrong way down a another street. He was stopped by other officers and arrested on Monroe Street.
The suspect was initially charged with assault with intent to kill.
Officer Armour was transported to a local hospital with several broken bones and passed away one week later from complications after undergoing surgery for his injuries.
Officer Armour had served with the Detroit Police Department for 17 years.
Agency Contact InformationDetroit Police Department
1300 Beaubien Street
Detroit, MI 48226
Phone: (313) 596-2200
OFFICER DOWN Jeffrey Alexander www.privateofficer.com
Deputy Sheriff
Jeffrey Alexander
Chemung County Sheriff’s Department, New York
End of Watch: Saturday, June 11, 2011 Age: 26
Tour of Duty: 5 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Date of Incident: June 11, 2011
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey Alexander was killed when his patrol car collided with another vehicle.
Deputy Alexander was on patrol and traveling northwest on State Route 427 when he lost control of his patrol car and struck an oncoming car as he came around a curve in the road.
Deputy Alexander had served with the Chemung County Sheriff’s Department for five years and is survived by his parents and fiancée.
Agency Contact InformationChemung County Sheriff’s Department
203-209 William Street
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: (607) 737-2987
Kohl’s employee charged with theft using “bonus cash” www.privateofficer.com
Putnam County NY June 13 2011 Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports the arrest of a 20 year-old Southeast (NY) woman on criminal charges stemming from her alleged unlawful use of “Kohl’s cash” in making purchases.
On June 8, 2011, the Sheriff’s Office received a complaint from the Loss Prevention Department Supervisor of Kohl’s Department Store located in the Town of Southeast. He reported that store authorities had completed an audit of purchases made by Brianna M. Grant, an employee. Their review discovered that Ms. Grant has been using Kohl’s cash that was unearned in stealing clothing and various other items over the past year amounting to $8,500.00.
Deputy Ryan Diskin responded to conduct the initial investigation which was later referred to Investigator Stephen Tricinelli of the Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
As a result of the store’s investigation and that of Investigator Tricinelli, Ms. Grant was arrested. She was charged with Grand Larceny 3rd Degree, Grand Larceny 4th Degree, and four counts of Petit Larceny.
Ms. Grant was arraigned before Patterson Town Justice John King, on behalf of the Town of Southeast Justice Court. She was remanded to the Putnam County Correctional Facility in lieu of $8,500 bail. Ms. Grant is scheduled to appear in Southeast Town Court on June 16, 2011.
If convicted of the most serious crime charged, Ms. Grant may face a prison term of up to seven years in a New York State correctional facility as determined by a court.
Some of the stolen items have been recovered by investigators.
Thieves still profit from snail mail www.privateofficer.com
Detroit MI June 13 2011 It’s one of the cardinal rules in the postal book: Don’t put cash in the mail.
Still, some folks are taking their chances — at least that’s what a recent case in U.S. District Court shows. A heroin addict went looking for money and made off with roughly $800 by targeting neighborhood mailboxes, records show.
“I don’t think there’s a way people can protect themselves from the imaginations of criminals,” said Kevin Mulcahy, chief of the general crimes unit for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “People kind of forget that the mail is vulnerable.”
Mail theft, a crime once punishable by death in the U.S., has long been a thorn in the government’s side. In an average year, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrests about 12,000 people, nearly half for mail theft or possession of stolen mail.
In the last decade, mail theft arrests have actually declined, from roughly 6,300 in 2001 to 3,500 in 2010. At the same time, however, less mail has gone out — 171 billion pieces delivered in 2010, compared with 207.5 billion in 2001 — as people rely less on traditional mail and more on electronic communications.
But while snail mail loses its luster with the public, it remains a hot commodity for thieves, authorities say.
The court dockets are proof.
On June 1, Daniel Mylin of Oxford pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to possessing 150 pieces of stolen mail taken from at least 50 different addresses in Oakland and Lapeer counties — a crime spree that landed him roughly $800 in cash. A tipster led police to Mylin, who court records say admitted he stole to support a drug habit that cost him $50 to $100 a day.
Mylin, who faces four to 10 months in prison, will have to pay restitution to his victims. He will be sentenced Sept. 27.
In another recent case, four individuals were indicted May 31 on charges that they broke into several U.S. mail trucks in Detroit last fall and stole 28 Social Security checks totaling more than $15,000. According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court, the group ran the scheme by recruiting others to open bank accounts, where the checks would be cashed.
Charged were Deandre Joiner, Deondria Joiner, Deonna Joiner and Caprece Barnett, all of Detroit. Deandre Joiner was arrested for similar activity in 2003. His lawyer, Ronnie Cromer, declined to comment.
In western Michigan, a couple pleaded guilty last month to stealing mail from mailboxes around Kent County and cashing the checks they found inside. The pair, records say, used a chemical to remove the name of the check recipients, and then wrote in one of their names and cashed the checks. In three weeks, they made off with more than $8,000 in checks written to other people, records show.
Sometimes, records show, it’s the postal employees themselves accused of stealing.
Kimberly Linenberg, a dispatch window clerk at a Trenton post office, is charged with stealing several Kohl’s and JCPenney coupons from a bulk mail pile at work, court records show.
According to a criminal complaint, red flags went up last June at a Kohl’s department store in Taylor, where Linenberg used roughly 14 coupons in one day.
The next day, she returned to the same store wearing U.S. Postal employee identification around her neck, records show. Store personnel contacted authorities, which led to criminal charges. The case is pending.
Criminal defense attorney Elias Escobedo said mail theft is often a sign of financial hard times.
“Some of the criminal activity we see is symptomatic of the times,” said Escobedo, who has defended a handful of mail theft cases.
He is representing Mylin. He also represented a female letter carrier — a single mom he says was struggling to get by — in a mail theft case that ended in probation.
“Not that it justifies the criminal behavior, but when people are barely capable of living, they’re going to resort to activity that they otherwise would not,” Escobedo said.
The U.S. Postal Inspections Service gets that.
“We’re constantly investigating vulnerabilities. It is a problem that we address vigorously,” Inspector Wylie Christopher of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said of mail theft.
He also noted: “Mail is still one of the safest ways to transmit things.”
The U.S. Postal Service offers several tips to avoid falling prey to mail thieves:
• Install a locking mailbox.
• Pick up incoming mail promptly after delivery.
• Never leave mail in your mailbox overnight.
• Do not place outgoing mail in your mailbox.
• Avoid sending cash.
Mulcahy said he doubts there’s any sure way people can protect themselves from the “imaginations” of mail thieves.
“What we’ve seen from these cases is that some of the criminal element who does this are very ingenious,” Mulcahy said. “It’s almost as if their imagination is the only limit.”
Shoplifters avoid cameras, security agents, brazenly steal www.privateofficer.com
Miami Fla June 13 2011 A woman walks into a Pembroke Park liquor store, grabs a couple of bottles of expensive liquor and hides them under her skirt.
Two men enter Victoria’s Secret in Boca Raton’s Town Center mall on a Saturday afternoon and stuff 130 panties into a bag before fleeing.
A man uses a secret compartment in his wheelchair to hide three pairs of sneakers he has taken from Burlington Coat Factory in Hallandale Beach.
Despite the proliferation of security cameras, guards and electronic sensors, shoplifters nationwide take about $11.6 billion a year in merchandise, a study by the University of Florida and the National Retail Federation shows.
Since retailers pass on the cost, the average American family spends an extra $423 a year, according to the Center for Retail Research.
Mark Doyle, president of Jack L. Hayes International Inc., a consulting firm that provides data on shoplifting, said, “You get an idea of … how lucrative it can be when they’re willing even with cameras and other electronic devices to still go through with it.”
In 2010, Broward and Palm Beach counties reported a total of more than 83,800 incidents of larceny, which includes shoplifting and fraud. That’s a slight drop from 2009, but more than the 2005 to 2008 averages.
“Our chief has said the No. 1 crime in Boynton Beach is retail theft,” police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said.
Some reasons for this: The recession has caused more people to steal the basics, retailers have fewer employees to keep an eye out for shoplifters, and it’s easy to sell stolen goods online, experts say.
In addition, thieves are getting savvier, police say, with some using machines to change price tags on items in a store.
In Boynton Beach, Detective Jason Llopis recalled a woman in Dillard’s who was stuffing clothes into what security officers later learned was a fake pregnant belly.
“There is so much ingenuity,” Llopis said. “If they put as much effort into being productive they could probably come up with some clever ideas.”
At a beauty supply store in the Lauderhill Mall, an employee who only wanted to be identified as Greg said he had surveillance video of shoplifters trying to steal hair extensions.
“They put it in their private parts,” he said.
Broward Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Rich Rossman said organized groups are hitting up stores and then selling the stolen items online, from private homes and in flea markets and small convenience stores.
These crimes are not just in our area,” Rossman said. “There are groups that travel across county lines and across state lines.”
Of 129 retailers, primarily national store chains, surveyed this spring by the National Retail Federation, 94.5 percent said they were victimized by organized criminals in the past year. And 84.8 percent said the problem has worsened in the past three years.
The greater Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, along with Tampa and Orlando, is among the top 10 areas that organized gangs target. Other cities include Chicago, Houston and Baltimore.
But more shoplifters are getting caught, as well.
In his annual retail theft survey, which surveys 25 large retailers with more than 18,000 stores nationwide, Doyle said the number of shoplifters apprehended rose by more than 15 percent. In 2008, about 904,000 were caught at the stores he surveyed. In 2009, the latest figures available, that jumped to about 1.1 million.
By law, the theft of goods valued between $100 and $300 is considered a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. Anything above that but under $5,000 is considered a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Anything above $5,000 can result in up to 30 years.
Those who have two misdemeanors can have their third bumped up to a felony.
Not all cases lead to arrest. A store determines whether to press charges.
In 2009, the latest figures available, about 5,750 defendants had a case in Broward or Palm Beach courts for theft, forgery or fraud cases.
Broward County Court Chief Administrative Judge Sharon Zeller said those who come before her on shoplifting charges run the gamut from a “woman who stole top-of-the-line cheese,” to teens acting on a dare.
And then there are those who tell Zeller, “I didn’t know I put it there,” even though security tapes show them looking over both shoulders before slipping the item into their pocket.
Broward County Chief Assistant Public Defender Lynn DeSanti said she has seen a spike in the number of shoplifters “stealing for necessities, whereas before you had more kleptomaniacs.”
Jailing the poor can be futile, she said, because “when they’re incarcerated, they get back out and they’re in the same situation.”
Source:Sun Sentinel
Police arrest man in beating-robbery of 7 year old child www.privateofficer.com
ANCHORAGE, Alaska June 13 2011– Police say a 7-year-old girl who refused to give up her bicycle was severely beaten by an Anchorage man who had tried to steal it.
Police have issued a warrant charging 32-year-old Byron Edward Syvinski with assault and robbery. The girl is in critical but stable condition Monday.
Witnesses say Syvinski tried to force the girl off the bike Sunday and punched her when she refused. They say he then knocked her to the ground and punched her repeatedly after she lost consciousness.
Police say he will be arrested after he is released from a hospital, where he had been taken for medical clearance.
The attack was first reported by the Anchorage Daily News.
Security agents capture car theft suspect www.privateofficer.com
Security officers captured a car theft suspect near the Ward Centers parking lot Tuesday night, police said.
The retail security personnel were conducting a routine surveillance of the parking lot when they noticed a man breaking into a car, police said.
The security officers confronted the suspect, who fled on foot. Police said the officers caught up with him on Auahi and Kamakee streets at about 9:10 p.m. Tuesday and held him until police arrived.
Officers arrested 35-year-old Chinatown resident on suspicion of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle in the first degree.
Woman faces prison in KY. shoplifting spree www.privateofficer.com
Richmond KY June 13 2011
A Richmond woman accused of going on a shoplifting spree at two stores pleaded guilty last week in Madison Circuit Court and likely will serve one year in prison.
Brandy Nicole Mullins, 25, told Judge Jean Chenault Logue that she was getting high and was “shoplifting to get more drugs.”
Mullins was accused of opening store packages at Walmart on March 4, then concealing the merchandise inside her purse, according to a police report.
When store employees attempted to detain her as she tried to leave the store, Mullins dropped the purse and fled on foot toward Richmond Mall, police said, where she was picked up by a waiting vehicle.
The purse had $678 in stolen merchandise inside.
Later that day, officers were dispatched to Kohl’s after store employees reported that a woman who matched the description of the Walmart suspect was concealing items in her purse. A vehicle in the parking lot also matched the description of the vehicle in which she fled.
When Mullins attempted to leave Kohl’s without paying for the merchandise, she fled on foot when employees tried to detain her, police said.
She was apprehended, and the purse contained $2,026 in Kohl’s merchandise, much of it jewelry.
She was indicted on two counts of theft by unlawful taking, and second- and third-degree criminal mischief. She also was charged with felony theft by unlawful taking in connection with the alleged theft of a wallet containing $950, which had been reported March 3.
The victim of that theft reported that Mullins had stolen his wallet from his vehicle while he was inside a residence on Turpin Drive, according to the police report.
As part of her plea agreement, she likely will be sentenced to one year on each of the theft by unlawful taking charges, four months for second-degree criminal mischief and 30 days for third-degree criminal mischief. The sentences will run concurrently for a total of one year.
Mullins also will be required to make restitution.
If she had been convicted by a jury, she could have faced up to 15 years in prison.
Logue asked Mullins if she was interested in drug court, and ordered a drug court evaluation.
She is scheduled to be sentenced July 14 at 1:30 p.m.
Father takes two sons to rob Florida store www.privateofficer.com
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. June 13 2011– Witnesses helped deputies arrest a father, his two sons and another man after investigators say all four robbed a convenience store on Highway 1 in Mims late Saturday.
Two of the men barged into the store with a baseball bat and a wrench while the others stood guard outside. They stole cigarettes then started punching the clerk while demanding money.
The clerk told Eyewitness News he wasn’t hurt and that a customer helped him subdue Joe Meister while Michael Alton and Meister’s two sons took off in a getaway car. The customer and the clerk were able to hold Meister until authorities arrived.
Deputies later found the car on International Avenue in Mims. The men had smeared mud across the license plate hoping to hide the numbers because they had apparently been involved in several car burglaries in Merritt Island earlier in the day on Saturday. However, an eyewitness had seen the car and called in the tag number.
Officials were able to make the connection right away, and now all four, including Meister’s 14-year-old son are charged with armed robbery.
The armed robbery may have been caught on the store’s camera. Authorities plan to review the store’s surveillance video Sunday. Major Mike DeMorat of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said he couldn’t believe Meister’s actions.
“Hard to comprehend someone would do that. A father would subject their children to that,” DeMorat said.
Joe Meister was also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a child. Deputies say the group will face charges for at least one of the car burglaries.
Source:wftv.com
Harrah’s Casino clapped with $26,000 fine for allowing underage patron to gamble www.privateofficer.com
Pittsburgh PA June 13 2011 The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board slapped a $26,000 fine Tuesday on Harrah’s Chester Downs and Marina, LLC for allowing an underage patron to gamble at its facility, Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack.
The fine, a consensual agreement between Harrah’s and the PGCB Office of Enforcement Counsel, stems from an incident Nov. 8, 2010.
A casino security officer permitted a 19-year-old male to enter the gaming floor. The patron proceeded to play blackjack at several tables for 90 minutes until he was discovered to be underage after trying to obtain a player’s card.
Individuals under 21 are not permitted to gain access to the gaming floor and gamble.
Harrah’s spokeswoman Monica Bersani released a statement saying the incident resulted from “an individual lapse rather than systemic failure.” It said Harrah’s has zero tolerance for underage gambling.
“In this case, an individual employee, since terminated, failed to follow clear and established procedure,” the statement read. “As a result, an underage person was permitted to play at Harrah’s Chester’s table games until being identified by a Harrah’s Chester employee as underage. Harrah’s Chester remains committed to its zero tolerance policy and has renewed its emphasis on the importance of adherence to established procedures in its training regimen.”
Harrah’s was previously fined $70,000 last October for seven incidents of underage slot gambling. The casino also was cited for underage gambling in August 2008. It opened in 2007.
MAN TACKLED AFTER STABBING POSTAL WORKER www.privateofficer.com
PORTLAND OR JUNE 12 2011 – A man walked into a downtown Portland post office Friday and stabbed an employee before being tackled by other postal workers, police said.
Just before 1 p.m. the suspect entered the University Post Office, at 1505 SW 6th Avenue, and stabbed the employee in the hand, according to Lt. Robert King with Portland police.
Fellow postal workers tackled the suspect and held him down until police arrived, King said.
Officers arrested 47-year-old James Stephen Reagh for second-degree assault.
The victim, later identified as 55-year-old Thomas Peterson, was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
SOURCE:KGW
Charlotte Lowe’s store employee killed in workplace accident www.privateofficer.com
Charlotte NC June 13 2011 A worker at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store in South End was killed in a storage building Saturday morning, an apparent accident that was the first workplace fatality at the South Boulevard location, a company official said.
Police confirmed the death, but neither investigators nor the spokeswoman would detail the circumstances surrounding the incident, which happened around 11 a.m., according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Capt. Earl Mathis.
The employee’s name had not been released Sunday night, pending family notification. Julie Yenichek, a spokeswoman for Lowe’s who was at the store answering reporters’ questions, said no other employees or customers had been involved.
The storage facility runs along South Boulevard and is across the parking lot from the store.
The store remained open following the incident, and it’s unclear if shoppers knew about it. At one point, a police crime scene investigation van was parked outside the store.
Sunday afternoon, a garage-style door to the storage facility was partially open, showing pieces of pine straw on the floor.
Caution tape surrounded a large section of the parking lot, and two employees had been posted just outside the restricted area.
Police homicide detectives were on hand, as were investigators with the N.C. Department of Labor, which looks into workplace safety violations.
Source:www.charlotteobserver.com
Norfolk Virginia police officer charged with drug offenses www.privateofficer.com
A Norfolk police officer has been charged with 11 drug-related felonies in Virginia Beach, according to court records.
Officer Kristen Wayne Harris was arrested Thursday in Virginia Beach. He was charged with 10 counts of manufacturing or selling steroids or illegal stimulants and one count of selling or distributing marijuana.
He also faces misdemeanor charges of selling or intending to sell drug paraphernalia, and assisting an individual in unlawfully procuring a prescription drug, court records show.
He is scheduled to appear in Virginia Beach General District Court for an arraignment Tuesday morning.
According to court records, Harris is accused of committing the offenses on several dates in April, May and June.
Norfolk records show Harris was hired in January 2000. Court records list his first name as Kristen; in city records, it is spelled Kristin.
Norfolk police issued a news release Sunday that said Officer K. Harris resigned from the department effective Friday.
No other details about the case have been released by Norfolk or Virginia Beach police departments.
Source:Pilot online
Several guns found at Louisville KY airport www.privateofficer.com
Louisville, Ky.JUNE 13 2011- Louisville International Airport had to deal with not one, but two separate incidents of passengers trying to take guns on a plane without the proper paperwork.
TSA officials say around 10:30 Sunday morning, both passengers checked their bags with the guns inside to be stored on a Pinnacle Airlines plane bound for Detroit. TSA noticed the guns when the luggage went through the baggage screen, causing an alert to security. The passengers were contacted and interviewed by security. TSA says that the passengers were not a threat and were allowed to repack their guns and declare them to the airline, which TSA says the passengers did not to do at first.
After properly checking their guns into the airline, the passengers were allowed to get on their flight to Detroit.
TSA says many passengers who transport their guns on planes forget to properly notify the airline.
Some passengers feel that guns should not be allowed on planes at all.
“I don’t think that we should be allowed to carry any weapons on planes for security purposes,” said Josephine Parker of Australia.
“It’s kind of controversial because if it was a empty gun and you were transporting it – on the other end we don’t really know what’s going to happen,” said Sharon Pinner, who was flying home to Chicago.
Police won’t say if the passengers are in law enforcement or the military, but that they just didn’t properly check their weapons.
Pinnacle Airlines says there was a six minute delay on the flight to Detroit and did not cause any other flight delays.
Louisville International Airport says no one has been charged in the case.
Source-WHAS news 11
A retired Army sergeant attemps suicide at Dayton hospital www.privateofficer.com
Dayton Oh June 13 2011 A retired Army sergeant major fired a gunshot in an apparent attempt to kill himself Saturday at the Wright-Patterson Medical Center, according to Air Force base officials.
The man entered the emergency room with a 9 mm handgun at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The lone shot he fired seemed to be aimed at his own body, but he was not struck, and no one was injured, according to the base’s public affairs office.
The shooter, who was described as appearing intoxicated and distraught, surrendered to base security forces. The Air Force is not releasing his identity.
Wright-Patt spokeswoman Chandra Lloyd said Sunday afternoon that the shooter had not yet been charged and was being treated at the Medical Center, located at 4881 Sugar Maple Drive, just off Ohio 444 near Fairborn.
Daryl Mayer, another base spokesman, said the Air Force Office of Special Investigations has taken over the probe, as the Medical Center is on federal property. Mayer would not answer questions about the man’s connection to the Medical Center or further details of Saturday’s incident.
Lloyd said the Medical Center does not have metal detectors at its entrance. Most area hospitals, including Good Samaritan, Kettering and Children’s, do not use metal detectors, but all said they have security teams trained to handle heated situations. Miami Valley Hospital used federal funds to put metal detectors in its emergency room after the 9/11 attacks, spokeswoman Nancy Thickel said.
Source-DaytonDailyNews.com
Mall security guard accused of pimping teenage girls www.privateofficer.com
A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Alexandria says Cooper Kweme, of Arlington, ran a prostitution business by taking nude photos of the girls, posting them on a website he created for the escort business and on other sites like Backpage.com and driving the girls to appointments at hotels or a client’s home.
He worked at the Westfield Wheaton Shopping Center as a security guard and has admitted to investigators that “he would walk around trying to recruit girls for his prostitution,” according to the complaint. Mall officials didn’t return a call for comment Friday afternoon.
Kweme is charged with transportation of a minor for prostitution. He was arrested earlier this month. No attorney was listed for him in online court records.
Authorities learned of the escort business from one of the girls who worked for Kweme and reported him to the Arlington County police.
The 16-year-old girl met Kweme on a social-networking site called Tagged.com. The pair communicated online, then by phone. Kweme told the girl his Tagged account was “an undercover police profile the police used to catch sexual predators,” according to the complaint.
Kweme told the girl he was a police officer. The girl saw him wear uniform pants, a ballistic vest that had a gold badge and read “police,” and carried a gun and a stun gun, the complaint says.
The girl told authorities that she had sex with Kweme several times, and also slept with about eight other men who were clients of Kweme’s prostitution business.
When she slept with Kweme in a hotel, he would bring the stun gun into the hotel, the complaint says.
The girl reported that Kweme suggested she “have sex with his friends” and later took her to an apartment building without telling her why. The girl said she didn’t want to have sex with the man there “but he was a big guy and she did not feel that she could get away from him.”
After he was arrested, Kweme admitted to authorities that he had been a “manager” for his escort service since October and drove girls to clients in Maryland, Virginia and the District.
Source:Washington Examiner
