Archive
Rhode Island wrestling coach arrested for police impersonation www.privateofficer.com
NORTH PROVIDENCE RI June 17 2011 — A suspended school wrestling coach who was free on bail on a child pornography charge has been accused of impersonating a state trooper.
Joseph J. Simone, 22, of 16 Beach St., was taken into custody by state and federal officials Tuesday, the state police said Wednesday. His bail from the previous arrest was revoked.
On Tuesday, the director of security at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence informed the state police that a man had represented himself to security personnel as a state trooper, according to Capt. James O. Demers, state police detective commander.
The man wore a tactical vest with a state police badge, and other police paraphernalia, Demers said. The man allegedly told security officials that he was working on a case with the Bureau of Immigration and Criminal Enforcement for the upcoming “American Idol” show.
The security staff said that the suspect showed a letter with the logo of the state police, and gave a fictitious company name of Rhode Island Security and Protection. The letter was signed Capt. Joseph Simone, director of protection division, with an e-mail address purportedly belonging to the state police.
Demers said security personnel identified Simone through photos.
A search of Simone’s apartment, which Demers said had been consensual, turned up a pistol, a tactical vest with state police badge, a flashlight, handcuffs, pepper spray and other items, the police said.
In March, the state police charged Simone with possessing child pornography and with indecent solicitation of a minor.
Simone, at the time an assistant wrestling coach at the Moses Brown School in Providence, allegedly posed as a teenage girl on a social network, and began an online relationship with a teenage boy. He persuaded the boy to send nude pictures of himself, according to the police. He then threatened to release the photos on Facebook if the boy balked at sending more such photos, the police said.
Moses Brown officials placed Simone on administrative leave and banned him from the campus of the private school.
District Court Judge Anthony Capraro Jr. ordered Simone at the time to not use computers or have contact with anyone younger than 18. He also was barred from coaching or participating in youth sporting events.
Source:projo
Security officer shot at Ga. nightclub www.privateofficer.com
Albany GA June 17 2011 Police responded to a shooting at the Sports Zone Bar and Grill around 2:15 Thursday morning.
According to the victim and witnesses, the business was preparing to close for the evening, when a few men refused to leave the pool room area. The security officer and owner began escorting the individuals out of the club. An argument then started between the men and the security officers and a fight ensued outside the club where shots were fired.
Tony Cox, one of the security guards was struck by a bullet in the right leg. After hearing the shots, bar owner Reginald Gordon went into the parking lot and returned fire. The suspects fled in three separate vehicles. The vehicles are described as a black Chevy Impala, a white Expedition and another burgundy vehicle.
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A security guard is receiving medical treatment Thursday morning after he was hit in the leg outside a South Albany business.
Police say four to five customers of the Sports Zone Bar and Grill in Albany were unhappy the business was closing and grabbed guns from their vehicle and started shooting into the building. The bar owner then returned fire and the suspects fled the scene. Police are still investigating the case and are gathering as much information as possible.
Police are looking for more information on the incident and encourage the public to assist them by calling CRIMESTOPPERS at 436-TIPS.
New York socialite caught shoplifting www.privateofficer.com
Greenwich June 17 2011 A New York City socialite was arrested Monday and charged with stealing an $11,000 scarf, police said.
Beata Boman, of 123 E. 56th St., New York, allegedly took the scarf from Richards Of Greenwich at 359 Greenwich Ave. about 3:45 p.m. Monday. The 38-year-old is a self-described former model and fashion designer.
A security guard who told police he saw her steal the scarf followed Boman out the store and down Greenwich Avenue. When a police officer approached Boman, she admitted that she stole the scarf, police said, but she intended to return it.
In August 2008, Boman made news in Britain after photographs of her and Prince Andrew kissing in St. Tropez were published in the Daily Mail.
Boman is charged with first-degree larceny and posted $5,000 bail. Her next court date is set for Monday.
The scarf was fur-lined, police said.
Source:AP
Virginia assistant principal arrested for child porn www.privateofficer.com
According to court documents, 29-year-old Joshua Myers chatted online with an undercover officer and gave the officer a password to folders on his computer that contained child pornography.
The documents say the officer then used the password to download seven videos — videos that showed adults engaging in sexual contact with children as young as 2 years old.
Myers has recently served as the Assistant Principal at Greenville Elementary School in Nokesville, Virginia.
This comes after a former high school teacher in Manassas was sentenced to 25 years on child pornography charges last month. And in April, a fourth grade teacher at John Adams Elementary School in Alexandria was arrested for receipt of child pornography.
Myers is scheduled to appear in federal court in Alexandria today.
Source:WAMU
Houston instructor charged with sexual assault www.privateofficer.com
Anne Lynn Montgomery, 35, is charged with sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between educator and student.
According to court documents, she met the victim, Bradman Moore, while she was the color guard instructor at Sharpstown High School in 2005. Moore, who was 15 at the time, was a member of the marching band.
Moore told investigators that he fathered a daughter with Montgomery in 2007, when the two had sex in the back seat of Montgomery’s car, while parked at his mother’s apartment complex.
Police said Moore and Montgomery moved in together, and he transferred to Bellaire High School in 2007. Around the same time, Montgomery also left Sharpstown to teach dance for Bellaire students.
Moore told investigators he fathered a second daughter with Montgomery when he was 18. He said the two kept their relationship a secret as they continued to live together and raise their children.
But a few months ago, the relationship was exposed when Montgomery filed a restraining order against Moore, saying he physically abused her.
That restraining order was granted, but during the court proceedings, Moore admitted that he was just 15 when he began a sexual relationship with Montgomery.
An HISD spokesperson said Montgomery hasn’t been associated with that district in any way since 2009, the same year Moore graduated.
She was most recently employed as a color guard instructor at Ridgepoint High in Fort Bend ISD.
But when investigators went to the school in April, asking questions about Montgomery, she was relieved of her duties.
Source:KHOU
Jefferson County PTO theft leads to arrest www.privateofficer.com
Investigators with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office say almost $8,000 is at stake here.
Late Wednesday evening, a 32 year-old Imperial, Missouri woman was arrested. She’s said to have forged checks from a Parent Teacher Organization account, tied to Antonia Elementary School in the Fox C6 school district.
Sheriff’s Deputies say this woman sits on the P.T.O. board, and for about a month between February and March, the woman wrote a total of eight checks-forging two other board member signatures. Deputies say this woman wrote six of those checks to herself, cashing them for personal gain.
The principal of Antonia Elementary got sheriff’s deputies involved last Thursday after realizing that the P.T.O.’s bank account statements were no longer coming to the school. Investigators say that’s because the female suspect changed the address on the account so she would receive the statements.
“When the school realized they hadn’t been receiving the bank statements, then they started to investigate. Then they inquired about the statements and they weren’t getting a whole lot of cooperation from that individual,” says Captain Ron Arnhart, with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Charges against the woman are expected to be filed sometime Thursday.
Source:KSDK
Pit bull kills man in Virginia www.privateofficer.com
SPOTSYLVANIA VA June 17 2011— Police say a Spotsylvania County man found dead in his home was killed by his pit bull.
The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Department says in a news release that an autopsy found indications of paw marks on the victim’s body and defensive wounds on the fingers and hands.
Police say the body of 38-year-old David Quyon Haigler was found Saturday in his home by his 18-year-old son.
Sheriff’s Lt. Col. Michael Timm tells The Free-Lance Star that the 6-year-old pit bull was roaming free in the house. Another 6-year-old pit bull was chained in another area of the residence.
Timm says both dogs are being held at the county animal shelter.
Lakeland Housing Authority board member arrested in thefts www.privateofficer.com
LAKELAND Fla June 17 2011 A Lakeland Housing Authority board member was arrested Tuesday and charged with misusing funds from a nonprofit advisory group serving residents of subsidized housing.
Lakeland police launched an inquiry in April after being told about the missing money by an employee of the housing authority.
Nita McGee admitted to taking $6,086 while serving as treasurer for the Lakeland Housing Authority Advisory Association, using the funds for personal needs, like a Rent-A-Center account, a police report said.
She was released from the Polk County Jail on Wednesday morning after posting a $1,000 bond.
McGee, 58, could not be reached Wednesday to comment. She is charged with one count of scheme to defraud, a third-degree felony.
Lakeland police investigators launched an inquiry in April after being told about the missing money by an employee of the housing authority.
The advisory association keeps residents apprised of rules and regulations of public housing living and services available to them.
McGee is one of seven governing commissioners of the housing authority, an independent agency that develops and manages affordable housing in Lakeland and other parts of Polk County, and oversees the distribution of federal Section 8 housing vouchers.
Commissioners are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by city commissioners. One member must be a resident of public housing, a position held by McGee.
Bruce Lyon, chairman of the housing authority board, said Wednesday that he is seeking direction from the city attorney as to McGee’s status as a board member.
“There’s no housing authority money” involved in the alleged theft, he said.
Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields said it would be inappropriate to remove McGee from service without a conviction on the charges.
“We just have to wait,” he said
As treasurer, McGee had access to the resident association’s checkbook and debit card, tools she used to withdraw cash and pay bills between June, 20, 2006 and Feb. 12, 2008, a police report said. In all there were 38 transactions.
McGee told investigators that the association’s account was funded with $8,000 from the Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency grant program within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
She said she took from the fund because “she fell on hard times and was taking prescription medication after her mother had passed,” the report said.
Source:the Ledger
Elderly Florida man dies in Pit Bull attack www.privateofficer.com
Officials say 74-year-old Roy McSweeney died Wednesday afternoon in a Gainesville hospital.
Jennifer Biewend, his family’s attorney, says McSweeney suffered brain damage from severe blood loss when the dogs tore off one arm and partially removed the other. The dogs — either pit bulls or pit mixes — also attacked the man’s face. The attack occurred June 10 as the man was doing yard work.
Investigators found that the dogs broke loose from the yard of McSweeney’s next-door neighbor, Deanna Blitch. The dogs were taken by officials and euthanized.
No charges have been filed, but an investigation continues.
Security officer may have had medical emergency prior to accident www.privateofficer.com
Marshall C. Chastain, 67, of Williamston, was patrolling the grounds at the plant around 4 a.m. when he lost control, Anderson County Deputy Coroner Don McCown said.
Chastain’s 2011 Jeep went through one fence, down a hill, through another fence and into a building wall, McCown said.
Officials did not discover the accident until 6:50 a.m. at the plant that is still under construction. Chastain was not wearing a seat belt and died of multiple traumatic injuries, McCown said.
Chastain was employed by Security Forces Inc., of Charlotte, N.C., a subcontractor for First Quality, McCown said. He was working an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, the coroner said.
“Talking to his family, I understand that he had diabetes and was an insulin-dependent man and his blood sugar was up last night,” McCown said.
A toxicology test to confirm Chastain’s blood sugar levels has been started, he said.
An Independent Mail reporter seeking information about the incident was asked to leave the First Quality property Thursday morning and was told to check back with the company later because the case is under investigation.
First Quality Plant Manager Ken Collins could not be reached for comment.
Alabama Marine Police crack major thefts www.privateofficer.com
Investigators with the Alabama Marine Police have arrested two men accused of stealing more than 200-thousand dollars worth of marine equipment from boats in Mobile, Spanish Fort, Satsuma and Saraland.
Keith Stockman and Steven Young have both been charged with first degree theft.
Warrants are out for another suspect.
Police say the men used a boat to steal boat engines, propellers, radio equipment and navigation tools from boats docked on area waterways.
One of the boats targeted by the men was Blakeley State Park’s riverboat located in Spanish Fort.
Police say the men stole some of the stolen items on Craig’s List as well as using word of mouth to sell their stolen items.
Gulf Shores Alabama employee arrested for theft www.privateofficer.com
GULF SHORES, Alabama June 17 2011 — The Gulf Shores assistant public works director has been arrested on theft charges, but remains employed with the city, officials said today.
Baldwin County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Noel Hand, 36, and his wife, Tami Tate Hand, 31, late Tuesday on charges of theft of property greater than $2,500, according to the Baldwin County jail log. They were both later released on $7,500 bail.
In a statement released this evening, Gulf Shores officials said that Noel Hand denied committing any crime. He would remain employed with the city “while the charges are addressed and resolved,” the statement read. The charges are unrelated to Hand’s position with the city, a Gulf Shores official said.
“When the matter is settled in the courts, the city will take whatever action, if any, that is appropriate,” City Administrator Steve Garman said in the release. “Unless and until convicted, Mr. Hand is innocent under the law and will continue with his employment, as during his service with the city he has never shown himself to be anything other than a reliable and dedicated public employee.”
Source:AL.com
Valley Center Middle School teacher arrested for hosting wild drunken party www.privateofficer.com
Sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Bishop said empty hard liquor and beer bottles were strewed about the house on Puma Trail. Teenagers were passed out on couches in their own vomit, and there was even a strip poker game going on in one bedroom involving four girls being photographed by boys.
The woman, Nancy Jean Hildebrand, was at the house and, according to witnesses, was passing out beer to the minors, Bishop said.
She wore a name tag that said “My name is Nancy, I’m (her daughter’s) mom.”
Hildebrand could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District Superintendent Lou Obermeyer said she could not comment about the incident.
The party, Bishop said, was a joint graduation and birthday party for Hildebrand’s daughter, a Valley Center High School student.
Deputies came to the house about 12:30 a.m. Sunday after several calls were made to the Sheriff’s Department about a loud party at which several fights were breaking out.
Bishop said it took deputies quite some time to push their way past about 50 teenagers and get inside.
“Every room was trashed,” he said. “Booze bottles and beer cans were laying all over the place.”
Hildebrand was booked into the Vista jail later that morning on charges of providing alcohol to minors and for violating a relatively new “social host” county ordinance that forbids adults from hosting parties where minors are drinking alcohol. She was bailed out from jail later on Sunday. She is scheduled to be arraigned July 23, Bishop said, pending a charging decision by the District Attorney’s Office.
Bishop said several teenagers told deputies they saw Hildebrand “in the middle of party, drinking with everybody else, and handing out beers to kids.”
When deputies came into the house, Hildebrand told them to get out since they didn’t have a search warrant, Bishop said. They told her they had every right to be there to look out for the welfare of the children. Virtually everyone at the party was either 17 or 18, he said. Hildebrand then said she had been asleep in a backroom and had no idea what was going on.
During the incident, deputies found a boy on a bed on top of a girl who was wearing only a small bikini, Bishop said. The two 17-year-olds later disappeared, and a deputy found them hiding in the back seat of a car. When the deputy tried to get them out of the car, the girl begin hitting the deputy and then bit him on the arm.
“The deputy had a handful of her hair trying to remove her teeth from his arm when her boyfriend started hitting him,” Bishop said. The fight went on for a minute or two before other deputies could break it up. Both juveniles were arrested on battery charges, taken to the Valley Center substation, then released to their parents.
Bishop said the Sheriff’s Department takes the social host ordinance very seriously. He said there have been too many times when deputies, with a deputy medical examiner by their side, have had to tell parents about the death of their child following a party.
Source:San Diego News online
Casino security find women shooting up heroin with baby in car www.privateofficer.com
Madison WI June 17 2011 A 2-year-old child was found Friday afternoon in a car with two women who were shooting up heroin, Madison police reported.
The women were arrested and the child was given to a responsible party, police said.
Holly Seals, 23, of Madison, was tentatively charged with possession of heroin, possession of drug paraphernalia and on an outstanding warrant, and Amy Seals, 21, Madison, was tentatively charged with a probation violation.
DeJope Casino security guards spotted the two in a gray Chevy Impala in the parking lot of the facility, said police spokesman officer Howard Payne.
“Uncapped needles, a tourniquet and heroin were all located inside the vehicle,” Payne said in the incident report. “Officers found a responsible party to take care of the child, upon recommendation of Dane County Social Services.”
Security officer credited with saving woman’s life www.privateofficer.com
Cruz is working there as a security guard for a contractor of the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
According to news reports from the area, a Hamilton County Sheriff’s spokesman said the single-car crash happened at about 8:45 a.m. when 37-year-old Melinda Lindkvist swerved to miss a deer and hit a guardrail.
When officers arrived, Cruz and another man were putting water on the woman’s burns. Officers then learned that Cruz had pulled the driver from her burning car.
They credited Cruz’s quick thinking for saving her life. Lindkvist was airlifted from the scene and later taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center.
The accident investigation found traces of gasoline on the guardrail that apparently fueled the fire.
Contacted by telephone in Tennessee, Gary Cox of Billings, Cruz’s supervisor, said they both work for Security Consultants Corporation.
The business contracted with FEMA to provide security at flooding sites in Tennessee.
He said Security Consultants put out a call nationwide for officers willing to deploy to fill in the manpower shortage.
“They live under miserable, rotten conditions at disaster sites,” Cox said.
Cox said that Cruz left Kalispell in early May. He was assigned to FEMA staff and a recreation vehicle full of computers and electronic equipment.
“These people are out assessing the damage,” Cox said. “He protects the people and equipment.”
In Kalispell, he serves as a reserve officer for Security Consultants.
The group provides protection at the Social Security and Internal Revenue Service offices in Kalispell.
“He’s their backup officer,” Cox said.
He said Cruz was on the way to his job site when the accident occurred. Cox said he wasn’t surprised that Cruz put his own safety aside to pull the woman from her burning vehicle.
“That’s just Cruz,” he said. “He’s a very professional law enforcement officer.”
According to Cox, Cruz, who turns 60 this year, is scheduled to return to Kalispell no later than June 25.
Wal-Mart security assists police in locating carjacking suspect www.privateofficer.com
Redding CA June 17 2011 Police arrested a man and a woman last night who are suspected of hijacking a pizza delivery man’s car.
The victim, who works for Domino’s Pizza, was delivering an order to 2751 Fairway Avenue in Redding. A man and a woman met him there, according to a press release from the Redding Police Department.
The man pointed a gun at the victim and requested all his belongings, including the keys to his car, and then instructed him to run. The victim complied and called police from a nearby residence.
The delivery man gave a description of the stolen vehicle. Police in Anderson saw a vehicle matching the description about an hour later in the parking lot of a Walmart store there.
Anderson and Redding police, Shasta County sheriff’s deputies, and Walmart security personnel worked together to locate and apprehend the suspects.
Harley Davidson Graham, 20, and Krystal Gail Witcraft, 28, were arrested on charges of carjacking, robbery, and conspiracy and booked into Shasta County Jail. Both live in Redding.
Graham is a documented gang member.
Source:www.sacbee.com
Football fan sues security alledges Freedom of Speech violation www.privateofficer.com
In 2009, as the San Diego Chargers were blowing out the Kansas City Chiefs at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diegan and Chiefs fan Jason Ensign said nearby Chargers fans began cursing at him.
“He turned around and he gave the screaming, cursing fans the finger and that’s when he was grabbed. A security guard grabbed him and said, ‘You’re out of here,’” said Mary Frances Prevost, Ensign’s attorney.
Prevost said after the ensuing tussle with that security guard and others, Ensign was arrested on battery charges.
“He had a First Amendment right to use his finger at the crowd,” said Prevost. “A forum like Qualcomm [Stadium] is a public domain.”
A judge agreed and dismissed the charges against Ensign. The judge ruled Ensign had a right to engage in obscenities and physically defend himself.
“I think the decision is wrong,” said San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. “A private entity has the right to remove patrons who are provoking violence and bothering other patrons.”
Goldsmith, who alleges Ensign was also cursing, called the ruling dangerous.
Right now, using the middle finger and cursing can get a fan ejected from a sports event, including an NFL game, where it is spelled out in the code of conduct.
Goldsmith said if sports teams can no longer eject fans for such behavior, it could lead to trouble.
“It will escalate into violence, as it has in the past,” he said.
In 2000, a taunting Raiders fan stabbed a Chargers fan. In 2003, after a Padres game at Qualcomm Stadium, 22-year-old Jeremy Lindsay was beaten into a coma in the parking lot and died seven weeks later. In 2004, three Chargers fans beat a Jacksonville Jaguars fan unconscious.
Goldsmith said allowing fans’ obscene behavior to go unchecked will set a bad precedent for fan safety.
“It could deter families from going to ballgames,” said Goldsmith.
On Friday, Ensign will once again go before Judge Gale Kaneshiro to attempt to have the arrest expunged from his record. The NFL has submitted an affidavit against it.
If Ensign wins, Goldsmith has promised to appeal.
Ensign’s camp said the Chiefs fan will score the final victory.
“It’s the First Amendment. You may not like it, but that’s what this country is grounded on,” said Prevost.
Ensign, who lost a nursing job because of the incident, has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Diego and the security guards.
