Archive
San Francisco’s new budget replaces police with private security at hospital www.privateofficer.com
SAN FRANCISCO CA June 26 2011— San Francisco’s new budget proposes replacing sworn police and sheriff’s deputies with private security guards at San Francisco General Hospital. This is the third year in a row that the Mayor’s office has tried to privatize hospital security. On Friday some administrators, doctors and nurses from SF General told the supervisors’ budget committee they support the plan as a way to improve the safety of patients, staff and visitors. But not everyone agreed.
“I personally enjoy and value working with the outstanding officers that currently staff the hospital,” said hospital psychiatrist Dr. Mark Leary. Leary added legal mandates have changed so that they can no longer restrain or detain patients unless they have a court order or if there is criminal activity. Leary said that puts everyone at risk.
Institutional police dismiss the notion that private security guards would do a better job.
“There is no highly trained contract security force that’s going to put their hands on a 5250 or 5150 [codes for involuntary psychiatric hold],” said one officer.
Source:CBS
Police charge man in murder of East St Louis security officer www.privateofficer.com
EAST ST. LOUIS IL June 26 2011 Prosecutors charged Stanley T. Chairs III today with first degree murder for the April shooting death of 22 year-old Joshua L. Miller.
Miller was shot on April 23 while working as a security guard in the 1200 block of Cleveland Avenue in East St. Louis. Miller was working as a guard for KLM Security at the Sinai Village redevelopment project.
Chairs, 18, is currently jailed at the East St. Louis Police Department.
“Port-a John” voyeriusm suspect nabbed in Colorado www.privateofficer.com
Luke Irvin Chrisco, 30, was arrested 100 miles west of Boulder in Vail, Colorado after police there stopped his vehicle on reports of a man illegally panhandling in the area.
“An astute officer realized that he resembled the portable toilet suspect,” Boulder police said in a news release.
Boulder detectives were contacted, and after interviewing Chrisco arrested him for the portable toilet incident.
Police said the strange event occurred June 17 at the Hanuman Yoga Festival when a woman using the facility noticed movement inside the storage tank, and asked a male bystander to investigate.
The man told police he saw someone inside the tank covered in a tarp.
A security guard waited outside the lavatory for 10 minutes until a shirtless, barefoot man with numerous cuts on his back and legs, and covered in feces, emerged.
The guard tried unsuccessfully to apprehend him as he ran from the festival grounds.
Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said in a written statement that his department received a dozen tips on the suspect’s identity “which pointed us in the right direction.”
“We are grateful to the public for helping us resolve this disgusting case in an expeditious manner,” Beckner said.
Chrisco faces one count of unlawful sexual contact and one count of criminal invasion of privacy, both misdemeanors.
He is being held on a $1,000 bond for the panhandling charge, and a $1,500 bond for the alleged toilet offenses.
Source:Reuters
Robbery suspect uses Internet to con Armored Car Company www.privateofficer.com
ST. LOUIS IL June 26 2011 It would have been a new twist in bank robbery: going online to order delivery of the loot.
Mario Darnell Smith, according to federal authorities, posed as the electric company in emails to try to arrange an armored car pickup of about $180,000 from a bank in Chicago.
What might have happened from there is conjecture, because Ameren caught on to the scam and the FBI nabbed Smith, 28, empty-handed. He is charged with bank fraud.
One theory is that Smith might have planned to obtain a guard’s uniform and pose at the bank as a money courier, because delivery arrangements would seem problematic.
Smith has had ample warning about the potential penalties for greed.
He was in the gallery of the U.S. District Court here on May 12 when John Wesley Jones was sentenced to 32 years in prison for a role in the Aug. 2 armed robbery of ATM Solutions — at $6.6 million, the region’s largest cash heist.
Smith gave interviews to reporters afterward, identifying himself as a friend of a friend and observing that Jones “got fried.”
Asked why Smith had been there, his lawyer, Steve Welby, said his client may just have been curious. Welby said there was never any suggestion that Smith was involved in the ATM Solutions case.
Smith has prior convictions on federal identity theft and firearms charges.
The bank fraud case came to the attention of the FBI on May 31, when Ameren called to complain that someone tried to get money from U.S. Bank, according to an affidavit filed in court by Special Agent Brian D. Jackson. The utility said the would-be thief pretended to be an employee and used email addresses set up to look similar to real Ameren addresses.
The schemer contacted the bank again on June 13 and June 20, asking it to release about $180,000 for pickup in Chicago by an armored car on June 21.
It is not clear how the FBI came to target Smith. But he was being followed by a surveillance team that watched when he made a call June 20 at the same time one was received by the bank, Jackson wrote. Smith was then arrested at a Quizno’s sandwich shop in St. Louis.
A form used to request the money was filled out by someone using the name “Bigdaddyallday,” according to data imbedded in the Microsoft Word document, the agent wrote. Smith is said to use that name on his YouTube channel.
Jackson also wrote that the June 13 contact with the bank had taken place at an unprotected Wi-Fi hot spot across the street from Smith’s apartment, in the 4500 block of Fair Avenue. He noted that Smith, who is on supervised release from a prior conviction, requested permission on June 15 to travel to Chicago in the coming days.
After his arrest, Smith “acknowledged that he was involved in this scam but provided few details,” Jackson wrote. So it was not clear exactly how Smith intended to take delivery of the money.
U.S. Bank spokeswoman Lisa Clark was unable to locate information on the case Friday afternoon but did say that $180,000 would fill two to five bags, depending on the bill denominations requested.
An Ameren spokeswoman did not respond Friday to requests for comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bodenhausen and the defense lawyer, Welby, declined to comment on the case.
In 2006, Smith was sentenced to 366 days in prison for identity theft. He had used a man’s credit cards to set up other credit accounts in that name and taunted the victim during the course of the crime.
In 2009, Smith, at this point a convicted felon, was caught with a gun and sentenced to 21 months in prison. He may face additional punishment in that case because of the new charge.
Source:stltoday.com
Jacksonville sheriff’s detective dies attending seminar www.privateofficer.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.June 26 2011 — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is now mourning one of its detectives, who was found dead at the age of 50 while attending a seminar in Daytona Beach.
Detective Jim Davis received 29 commendations during his 18 years with JSO.
A JSO colleague who was rooming with him at the seminar found him unresponsive in their hotel room on Tuesday.
Davis worked in the Intelligence Unit and had previously worked as a homicide detective.
One case he helped solve was the murder of 8-year-old Dreshawna Davis.
Jim Davis was also a retired Marine.
A viewing is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. Sunday at the Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home on Edgewood Avenue.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Westside Baptist Church on Herlong Road.
Davis will be laid to rest at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.
Source:News4JAX
Jacksonville sheriff’s office arrests officer for bank fraud www.privateofficer.com
Justin Hike, 21, a community service officer, is facing charges of bank fraud and engaging in schemes to defraud, the result of a month-long investigation by JSO’s Integrity Unit.
Police said Hike wrote bad checks from one of his bank accounts five times and deposited them into another account, then withdrew money from an ATM. The check would later come back as a bad check with insufficient funds.
“Basically, what he was doing was he would open an account that had no money in it,” Undersheriff Dwain Senterfitt said. “But then he would go to his account and deposit money from one account to that account and then withdraw the money from the ATM before the check came back.”
Investigators said that he fraudulently withdrew nearly $4,400 in all.
Hike, who has worked for the Sheriff’s Office since August 2009, resigned after his arrest Thursday.
“We take it very seriously,” Senterfitt said. “We don’t tolerate any kind of misconduct, especially criminal misconduct, and when we find that it has happened with our employees, we arrest them, too, just like we do anybody else.”
Hike is the second JSO employee arrested this week and the fourth officer arrested in the past seven months.
Source:News4JAX
Florida man dies after fighting with nightclub security-patrons www.privateofficer.com
TAMPA FLA June 26 2011During a night out at a Waters Avenue nightclub, one customer got into several fights – with patrons and with club security, deputies said.
Two days later he was dead.
Deputies are investigating the June 14 death of 21-year-old Tyler Tourinho. A medical examiner’s report doesn’t list a cause of death, sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Carter said today.
The fights took place June 12 at the Vanity Ultra Lounge Nightclub, 3603 W. Waters Ave. One incident occurred about 2:45 a.m. – after the bar closed and Tourinho was denied re-entry by club security, a search warrant states.
Tourinho fought with club security and fell to the asphalt; he was struck and kicked several times on his torso, the warrant states.
After the confrontation ended, Tourinho tried walking back to his vehicle.
One security employee, “Chris,” approached Tourinho “and hit the right side of Tourinho’s head with his fist,” the warrant states. “Tourinho fell backward, striking his head on the pavement and became unconscious.”
After regaining consciousness, Tourinho went home with friends.
At 10 p.m. that day, Tourinho was admitted to St. Joseph’s Hospital. He was diagnosed with brain damage, the warrant states.
Source:TBO
General manager of Birmingham Christian radio station arrested for lewd acts www.privateofficer.com
The GM of a Christian radio station in Birmingham, Alabama is in trouble with the law in Florida.
The Birmingham News reports that WLJR-FM (88.5) GM James Ashley Hulgan was arrested by police in Walton County, Florida on charges of lewd and lascivious behavior, and exposing himself.
It is alleged that the 40-year old Hulgan exposed himself to a 15-year old girl and 23-year old woman. A sheriff’s report says “The defendant stated that while he was in his vehicle he took his clothes off because he loved being naked.
He stated he pulled up to a couple of girls and asked them where the nude beach was,” all while he was allegedly naked from the waist down.
The Christian station is located at the Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, where Hulgan was also the president of a video production company that videotaped high school sports, cheerleading, and other competitive sport.
Washington Park police detective Kim Lamar accused of fraud in security company scheme www.privateofficer.com
Kim Lamar McAfee was charged Friday in federal court with 16 counts of making a false statement, 15 counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and three counts of falsifying records in a federal investigation.
McAfee, standing before the judge, wore street clothes and handcuffs, with chains around his waist and feet. He pleaded not guilty.
The indictment accuses McAfee of engaging in a scheme in which he falsified records claiming to have paid more money to his employees than he was actually paying them. The employees worked for his security firm, KLM Loss Prevention Inc., which has held contracts for provide security for the East St. Louis Housing Authority and East St. Louis School District 189.
Entities that receive federal funding for contruction projects are required by law to pay the “prevailing wage,” which typically mirrors the union wages for the region.
McAfee is accused of underpaying the employees by thousands of dollars. When government agencies found out, McAfee issed checks to employees for “retro pay,” but he had the employees give him back the cash from the checks. McAfee tried to use the canceled checks to show he had paid employees any wages they were owed.
Washington Park Chief Dave Clark said McAfee will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.
U.S. Magistrade Judge Stephen Williams read the charges to McAfee at his arraignment Friday and told him the charges were serious. After Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Burke told the judge he was not seeking detainment for McAfee, the defendant was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond, which means he’ll have to pay that amount if he doesn’t show up later for court. Williams admonished McAfee that he could face additional charges if he fails to show up for court appearances.
Burke said in court that probably 35 employees are involved in the case.
The charges state: “Beginning at least as early as May 2006 and continuing as late as February 2011, McAfee routinely engaged in a scheme of falsifying employee pay records, allowing McAfee to pay the employees less than required under contacts and labor laws and to retain for himself and KLM, money owed to employees.”
The indictment says McAfee engaged in this scheme with regard to a contract to provide security to District 189 school construction sites and for the East St. Louis Housing Authority.
If convicted on all counts, McAfee faces up to 500 years in prison and fines of up to $9 million.
The charges of fraud and falsifying records each carry a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. The charge of making a false statement is punishable by up to five years in prison. William told McAfee that he faces up to five years each on the first 16 counts.
While free on bond, McAfee’s travel is restricted to central and Southern Illinois and eastern Missouri. And he cannot possess a firearm or any other weapon.
He also is prohibited from talking to his employees about the case because many, if not all of them, are witnesses. He is allowed to communicate with his employees only in regard to scheduling and future pay raises. If he wants to talk with employees for any other reason, he must first contact Burke or go through one of his attorneys, Dave Nelson or Steve Riles, from Belleville, who were present during the arraignment.
Source:www.bnd.com
Former Northside High School security officer aquitted of rape www.privateofficer.com
Memphis TN June 26 2011 A former Northside High School security officer was acquitted on statutory rape charges Friday after a student testified that they had sex twice in 2009.
Mario Harris, 30, was arrested in October 2009 and charged with aggravated statutory rape and statutory rape by an authority figure after the victim’s aunt approached school authorities about a suspicious voicemail on the girl’s phone from an older-sounding man.
The phone, prosecutors said, was a gift from Harris, as was a basket of chocolate-covered strawberries he sent to her at school.
The student, who was 17 at the time the charges were made, told the jury she and Harris had sex in the basement security office twice, once in May and again in August, and that Harris wrote her a note to return to class when they finished.
But defense attorney Ted Hansom pointed out that the office had been moved to the third floor of the school during the summer of 2009, making it impossible for them to have had sex there in August.
“Our position was that it never occurred. We’re very pleased with the verdict and appreciate the hard work the jury put in,” Hansom said.
Harris did send the student chocolate-covered strawberries because she was having a bad day, Hansom said, but pointed out that he socialized with other students as well.
If convicted of the two charges, Harris could have been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
“I can finally go on and look forward to my future,” Harris said. “My life’s been on hold for two years. I might look at something in law enforcement, but probably not back in the school system.”
Source:Commercial Appeal
Gang member convicted in security officer murder www.privateofficer.com
Judge W. Mark Ward sentenced 21-year-old Terrell Loverson on Friday, The Commercial Appeal reports.
Loverson was convicted in March in the death of 28-year-old Marques Rainey, a former Marine who was shot once in the chest when he tried to break up a gang fight in February 2010.
At trial, prosecutors said Rainey was just trying to do his job when he was shot. On Friday, prosecutors argued Loverson deserved the maximum sentence because he fired in a mall filled with women and children.
Loverson’s lawyers argued that he shot out of fear with no premeditation.
Safeway store security attacked by shoplifting teen girls www.privateofficer.com
Mountain View CA June 26 2011 One Safeway security guard was attacked and another injured Thursday afternoon while trying to detain two teenage girls who shoplifted cans of baby formula from the Mountain View store, police said.
At about 3 p.m., three teenage girls entered the grocery store on California Street and were spotted by a security guard filling their purses with baby formula and some paper gift bags, Mountain View police spokeswoman Elizabeth Wylie said, adding that the theft also was caught by surveillance cameras.
One of the girls then walked out of the store without paying. When the other two did the same soon afterward, a couple of security guards caught up with them and an argument ensued.
When a security guard tried to handcuff one of the teens, she resisted and ran away with him in chase. Meanwhile, as the second security guard was struggling the other girl, a teenage boy and girl suddenly appeared and began attacking him, Wylie said.
They punched the guard several times in the face and threw him onto the hood of a car. He briefly lost consciousness and was kicked a couple of times while on the ground, Wylie said.
When the first guard returned with a 13-year-old suspect, all of the other assailants were gone. The beaten officer was taken to a hospital for treatment of several small abrasions, scrapes and bruises. He said the suspects drove away in a gray SUV with other people inside.
It is not known how many cans of baby formula were stolen, but one of the recovered bags had 10 cans worth a total value of $254.59.Wylie said baby formula is frequently stolen and resold.
“This was not a case where people simply could not afford baby formula for their babies due to the economy and HAD to steal it because they felt they had no other way,” Wylie wrote in an email. “This is an organized crime with the intent to make a profit by selling the formula for cheap on the street.”
The arrested 13-year-old is from Oakland, Wylie said. The other female who had been briefly detained was described as about 16 to 17 years old, about 5 feet 5 inches tall, with long hair.
Source:Mercury News
