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2 Killed, 12 shot at Miami bar www.privateofficer.com
MIAMI Fla June 30 2011 – Two people were killed and 12 others injured in a shooting early Thursday at a Miami bar.
Authorities said that a gunman and one other patron were fatally shot and 12 patrons injured when an argument broke out between two men at the South Rock Lodge Bar and Grill at 3:15 a.m.
A security guard approached the suspected gunman, and they exchanged fire. Both the gunman and the man he was originally arguing with were shot, police said. The gunman was taken to a local hospital, where he died a short time later, and the other man died at the scene.
Of the 12 others injured, at least 10 were taken to local hospitals, with one listed as a trauma alert.
Authorities from several state agencies, including sheriff’s officials and fire crews, responded to the scene and were investigating Thursday.
“Detectives have a lot of work to do to put the puzzle pieces together and find out what happened,” Dani Moschella, spokeswoman for Broward Sheriff’s Office, told the Miami Herald.
Iraq war hero, college grad, faces deportation www.privateofficer.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.June 30 2011 — Just last year Elisha Dawkins was getting pinned, having just graduated from the Florida State College at Jacksonville school of nursing. His plan was to take the boards after he returned from his deployment to Guantanamo Bay.
That plan changed, though, when he was arrested upon his return in April. Immigration officials said there was a problem with Dawkins’ passport paperwork. They said he checked the box stating he never applied for a passport before, when in fact he had.
“We were all like, ‘He was arrested for what?’” said FSCJ classmate Diane Rinehardt.
Rinehardt was friends with Dawkins and was planning a reunion for the whole class in August.
“We found out it was over a passport, and we’re like, you’re kidding, right?” she said.
It’s definitely not a joke, considering he’s been in a Miami detention center for two months now. He’s facing felony charges, but that may not be the worst of it.
“While he is in jail they found out he wasn’t actually born in the United States,” Rinehardt said.
Turns out immigration officials found that Dawkins was actually brought to the United States by his mom as an infant. She was later deported, but he was allowed to stay.
Dawkins was raised by other family members, always being told that he was born in the U.S.
He even had a Florida birth certificate and social security number. He served in Iraq in the U.S. Army and has since joined the Air National Guard.
Because he is not a citizen, he now faces deportation. And that has the attention of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).
“Our military was certainly glad to consider him a citizen,” Nelson said on the Senate floor. “The Dream Act would allow the U.S. government to consider as a citizen someone like Elisha Dawkins who was brought here as a child and wanted to serve this country.”
Rinehardt and her classmates have put together a Facebook page to support Dawkins while he’s in jail. He is still waiting on $10,000 to get out on bail.
Source:First Coast News
FBI raids Atlanta jail, detention officers, deputy sheriff arrested www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta GA June 30 2011 Four Fulton County jail officials have been cited in a federal indictment on 11 counts, ranging from possession of cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute to extortion under color of official right.
Indicted were Brian Shelby Anthony, a detention officer, Aqeel Muhsin Rasheed, Keithan Henri James and Robert Lee Swain Jr. A fifth individual, whose name was redacted, will likely be named in a separate criminal complaint to be released later.
The four indicted individuals will appear before a federal magistrate Thursday evening.
The indictments follow an FBI raid on the Fulton County jail Thursday morning in which four people were arrested. The four arrested were one Fulton County Sheriff’s deputy and three detention officers. They were taken into custody during roll call, the source said.
One of the detention officers had a cell phone in his possession when he was arrested. Cell phones are not allowed inside the jail facility.
Deputies and detention officers both work at the jail, but deputies have other law enforcement duties outside the jail and are armed. Detention officers work only at the jail and are not armed.
A caravan of seven black vehicles pulled out of the jail parking lot around 9:15 a.m. after the raid was over. Sheriff’s deputies set up roadblocks so the FBI vehicles could leave unimpeded.
The arrested officers were taken to Atlanta FBI headquarters off Clairmont Road in DeKalb County. They left there shortly after noon for an undisclosed location.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office scheduled a news conference at 3 p.m. at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in downtown Atlanta, spokesman Patrick Crosby said.
Thursday’s raid comes just over a week after an inmate was shot by another inmate.
Fulton County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said the injured inmate was shot in the hand and a small gun “no larger than a mobile telephone” was found in the June 21 incident. No other inmate was injured, and the wounded inmate’s injury was not considered life threatening.
An earlier report from a deputy inside the jail said several shots were involved and that the incident occurred on the jail’s seventh floor, which houses some the jail’s most dangerous inmates. Flanagan did not provide any information on the number of shots involved or where the incident occurred.
The jail statement said the two inmates involved in the incident had a dispute concerning the commissary. Details of the dispute were not disclosed.
Flanagan said the injured inmate was treated by medical personnel within the jail.
While the jail did not release the identity of the injured inmate, it identified the alleged shooter as Kortez Hurt, who has an extensive rap sheet, including an assortment of felony murder, aggravated assault, drug possession and theft charges.
Hurt was in the Fulton Jail on his 14th incarceration, the jail said. He will face additional charges of aggravated assault and party to a gang in connection with the shooting.
Source:AJC
NY pediatrician charged with sexual assault of patients www.privateofficer.com
MINEOLA NY June 30 2011 – A pediatrician from Bethpage previously charged with secretly videotaping young female patients has been indicted on charges that he sexually abused and assaulted some of them. Prosecutors say victims were as young as 11.
Dr. Rakesh Punn faces arraignment on charges including sex abuse and assault on July 11. He was first arrested in July 2010, charged with secretly videotaping girls while they were naked in his office.
He is being held on $3.5 million bail on those charges, which his attorney denied at the time. The attorney didn’t immediately comment Wednesday on the additional charges.
Prosecutors say Punn covered the girls’ eyes with gauze and a blindfold and then assaulted them.
Authorities are still investigating and have asked other possible victims to come forward.
Source:Fox News
Fullerton Calif. police officer arrested for theft of IPad www.privateofficer.com
Miami Fla June 30 2011 A Fullerton police officer has been put on paid administrative leave after she was arrested on suspicion of stealing an iPad from a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint in an airport
Kelly Janeth Mejia, 25, was arrested last month at Miami International Airport on suspicion of stealing an iPad that belonged to another traveler. She has been with the Fullerton Police Department for about six years, four of them as a sworn officer.
Mejia was spotted on surveillance video placing the iPad in her carry-on bag after taking it from a bin adjacent to a metal detector, according to the arrest report filed by Miami-Dade Police.
Mejia was arrested on May 2 and has pleaded not guilty to third-degree grand theft. She is due back in court Aug. 29, court records show.
Her attorney did not return a phone call seeking comment.
According to the arrest report, a traveler told police she placed the iPad in a bin which was then sent through the TSA X-ray machine. When she went to retrieve the iPad, it was gone.
After viewing surveillance video of the incident, officers located Mejia and saw the iPad in “plain view in her purse,” according to the arrest report.
Mejia told police she found the iPad, according to the arrest report. When she was asked what she planned to do with it, the report quotes Mejia as saying, “Keep it.”
“She had seen the iPad in the bin and placed her bag of check in over it and walked away with it,” the report stated.
Court documents put the iPad’s value at $800.
In a written statement to police, Mejia said she didn’t see who placed the iPad in the bin and picked it up as “found property.”
“I sat down in my waiting area and did not see the flight workers in the area and was unable to turn in the notebook prior to being contacted by the police,” Mejia stated.
Fullerton Police Sergeant Andrew Goodrich said officials placed Mejia on administrative leave as soon as they found out about the arrest
“We took swift action,” Goodrich said.
The sergeant said Mejia’s future with the department will be determined by the outcome of the court proceedings in Florida and an internal investigation within the Fullerton department.
By law, Mejia has to be paid while on administrative leave, the sergeant said.
“We have to wait for the outcome,” Goodrich said.
Mejia was among 22 Fullerton police officers who were honored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for making a significant number of DUI arrests in 2008. Mejia made 29 DUI arrests that year.
Source:OC Register.com
Textbook theft ring busted in Atlanta Ga area www.privateofficer.com
Four people are accused of orchestrating the plan that involved taking books from the library and cashing them in at Dorks Textbooks in Lawrenceville.
Police told Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh that Brittany O’Mealy, Johnathon Cooper, Joshua Leverette and a fourth unidentified suspect stole books right off the shelves of the library then used a black marker to cover the college stamp.
It was an observant employee at Dorks Textbooks who spotted the word “college” and notified police. Investigators said the doctored textbooks carried a value of $1,700. Officers also said they recovered more stolen text books in Cooper’s dorm room at Georgia Gwinnett College. An employee at the bookstore told Kavanaugh they saw the suspects inside the store several times.
Student Grace Meggison donated her books to the school library. She said she was upset about the news.
“If somebody has to go there and steal, they’re hurting us,” Meggison said. “If they have to replace the books, that comes down to us.”
Source:WSBTV.com
Alabama woman charged with identity theft at hospital www.privateofficer.com
Alabaster AL June 30 2011 An Alabaster woman was indicted by a federal grand jury June 28 on counts of identity theft, possessing stolen mail attempting to commit bank fraud, misusing someone else’s Social Security number and aggravated identity theft.
Chelsea Catherine Stewart, 26, of Alabaster, was arrested in early June and charged with violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and wrongfully obtaining individually identifiable health information from Trinity Medical Center in Birmingham.
During the indictment, the grand jury also charged Stewart with possessing a stolen credit card bill in March and attempting to use a convenience check from the bill to obtain $2,200. The indictment also charged her with fraudulently obtaining someone else’s credit report online in March by using a Social Security number and a debit card.
If convicted of violating the HIPAA statute, Stewart faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She faces a maximum prison term of 30 years and a $1 million fine for attempted bank fraud. For possession of stolen mail and misuse of a Social Security number, Stewart faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge. If convicted of aggravated identity theft, Stewart must serve two years in prison for each count, although those terms might run concurrently with one another.
The Alabaster Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Secret Service are still investigating the case, and Trinity Medical Center recently set up a toll-free number at 1-866-367-5548 to offer free credit monitoring to those affected by the case.
“This case is a prime example of the impact that can be made through the cooperative efforts of local and federal law enforcement. Thorough and efficient police work by the Alabaster Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspectors and the U.S. Secret Service led to a quick arrest of Stewart,” U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance wrote in a press release.
Source: shelby county reporter
Mass. corrections officer pleads guilty to attempting to smuggle heroin into prison www.privateofficer.com
Ronald McGinn Jr. of Bridgewater pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to possession of heroin with intent to distribute at MCI-Norfolk.
Federal prosecutors say the 40-year-old sent text messages and discussed with an undercover FBI agent the amounts he would smuggle into the prison and fees he would charge to do so. He was arrested in April afternoon in possession of about 29 grams of heroin.
The investigation began after a Massachusetts Department of Corrections officer told the FBI that someone was smuggling contraband to the facility about 25 miles southwest of Boston.
McGinn faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing set for Sept. 27.
EEOC sues Guardsmark for discrimination www.privateofficer.com
The suit states that Inderpal Nayyar, who worked as a security guard for Guardsmark in San Jose, Calif., was harassed about his Indian national origin and his age. He was 66 years old at the time.
The suit said a co-worker ridiculed Nayyar’s turban and his accent and would tell him that he was “too old” and “you need to retire.”
The EEOC said Nayyar’s numerous complaints to supervisors were ignored and he was involuntarily transferred. Nayyar’s hours were reduced, he lost his benefits and he ultimately resigned.
Nayyar is a naturalized U.S. citizen of East Indian descent. He said he suffered retaliation for speaking out.
“All I wanted was to be able to do my job in peace,” Nayyar said in a statement.
The civil suit against the actions was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose after first trying to reach a voluntary settlement, according to the EEOC.
Nayyar’s suit seeks back pay, other monetary losses, compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief to prevent any future discrimination, the EEOC said.
Guardsmark did not respond to a request for a comment on the lawsuit.
“The law is very clear: all employees have the right to work in an environment free from hostility, intimidation and ridicule,” said William R. Tamayo, EEOC regional attorney.
Source:Commercial Appeal
ST Cloud police shoot-kill armed woman www.privateofficer.com
ST. CLOUD Fla June 30 2011 – A woman has died after she was shot by police this morning during a confrontation.
Police said a call came in to 911 about 9:24 a.m. about a domestic dispute between two women who were roommates at a home in the 400 block of Tennessee Avenue. The person who made the call said one shot had already been fired.
When police arrived at the scene, the woman who made the call exited the house.
The second woman also came out of the house with a gun in her hand and ran away from police. Two officers chased her on foot and shot her in front of a home in the 400 block of Alabama Avenue just before 9:30 a.m., according to St. Cloud Police Chief Pete Gauntlett.
“It’s my understanding she brandished the weapon toward the officers after repeatedly being told to drop it,” Gauntlett said.
The woman was rushed to St. Cloud Regional Medical Center, where she died.
Crime-scene tape surrounds the Alabama Avenue property.
A van is inside the crime-scene boundary.
Police said the woman was shot near the van.
Neighbors said they heard four shots.
This incident was the first time in more than 20 years that a police officer in St. Cloud has shot someone. It is thought to be the first officer-involved fatal shooting in the city’s history.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.
Source:Orlando Sentinel
School security-police team up to bust burglars in Florida www.privateofficer.com
WPBF 25 News was at Dan McCarty Middle School as police arrested the teens Monday.
“We received a call from school security, who were monitoring their security system,” Capt. Greg Kirk said.
Police said the teens were seen on surveillance video ransacking a cubicle inside the school.
The director of safety and security for St. Lucie County schools just happened to be monitoring surveillance cameras from his home at the same time.
“That’s how he caught them, sitting at home watching the cameras like we are here,” Mark Woods said.
The school was burglarized a week before, and the detailed monitoring system in place stopped the same result from happening again.
“With the economy the way it is and the manpower shortage, we’d be in a lot of trouble without these cameras,” Woods said.
The number of school break-ins increases every summer, and with surveillance cameras at schools throughout the county, authorities have a message for those thinking of testing the system.
“We’ll get you,” Woods said. “Eventually, we will get you.”
Source:www.wpbf.com
Twin River casino officers snag suspect in theft www.privateofficer.com
LINCOLN, R.I. June 30 2011 – A Cranston teen is facing robbery charges after police say he tried to test his luck on some easy money at Twin River casino in Lincoln.
Mahler Petty, 19, was arraigned late Wednesday morning on charges of first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, and one count of simple assault. He was ordered held without bail due to being a probation violator.
When officers arrived at the casino around 1:40 a.m. Wednesday, they found security guards struggling with Petty, who they said grabbed ticket vouchers from two different people.
One of the victims, a 51-year-old man, told police Petty had been “hovering” behind him as he played at one of the gaming machines. The man said he got nervous, decided to cash in his voucher, and that is when Petty grabbed the ticket.
As Petty ran through the casino, police said he grabbed another ticket from a 76-year-old woman. Security officers then caught up with Petty and restrained him until Lincoln police officers arrived.
Police said neither robbery victim was hurt. However, a security officer was injured after being struck in the face.
Source: WPRI
Omaha teens robbed fireworks stand, threaten security guard www.privateofficer.com
The thieves grabbed about $5,000 worth of fireworks in a 20 minute spree. They cleared several tables of expensive fireworks and crammed it all in a van.
After the robbers left, the part time security guard called police and the van was stopped by a LaVista officer. Two 16 year olds were arrested but five others ran off.
Papillion police recovered all the stolen fireworks in tact. Lt Chris Whitted said the use of a two by six to threaten the overnight fireworks stand employee makes this more than a simple theft. Whitted said, “There are enhanced penalties for that. This is a serious situation and even though there was no other weapon present its still an act of violence.”
Stand owner Don Bellino said the thieves took big bang items. He has 10 armed security officers patrolling his stands across the metro to prevent future robberies. Bellino said, “There’s been some shoplifting from time to time but as far as somebody actually taking something by force, this is the first time in 35 years of business.”
Papillion police have leads in identifying the five suspects who fled the traffic stop by the LaVista officer.
Source:WOWT
Armed man arrested at Sacramento airport www.privateofficer.com
SACRAMENTO, Calif. June 30 2011— Authorities in California say a man was arrested at Sacramento International Airport after security officers found a loaded handgun and several rounds of ammunition in his backpack.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s department says deputies arrested 49-year-old Tam Nguyen on Tuesday afternoon, after security officers found a firearm and ammunition at the bottom of the backpack.
The Sacramento Bee reports that Nguyen was booked at the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of unlawful possession of a loaded, concealed firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is being held on $60,000 bail and is expected to be arraigned this week.
Source:sacbee.com
Asst. Security Director Charged in Fraud Scheme www.privateofficer.com
Las Vegas NV June 30 2011 The assistant director of security for the Electric Daisy Carnival was one of two men arrested in an alleged scheme to produce and sell counterfeit show wristbands, according to an arrest report released Wednesday.
The alleged scheme unraveled when a friend at a printing business called Meelo Solis, an employee of Insomniac LLC, the event’s organizer, and told him about the rumored plan, the arrest report states.
That conversation and subsequent investigation by Metro Police led to the arrests of Aaron Hernandez, 37, and Pathomrat Kunawongse, 35, both of California.
As assistant director of security for the EDC, Hernandez had access to the wristband design on June 19, officials said. He allegedly met with Kunawongse that day at Aliante Station and gave him a paper with an image of the guest wristband to be used for the event, according to the arrest report.
The apparent agreement was this:
Kunawongse was supposed to find a printer to make fraudulent wristbands and have someone sell 5,000 at $200 apiece for a profit of $1 million. Hernandez, in turn, would get a 25 percent cut of the profit, according to details in the arrest report.
When the image made it to the printer, however, an unidentified man tipped off his friend at Insomniac LLC because he didn’t want to be involved in illegal activity.
Insomniac LLC officials then told a small group of people, including Hernandez, about the alleged fraudulent wristband scheme, according to the arrest report. Hernandez then passed the information to Kunawongse, who canceled the order for the fraudulent wristbands, police said.
Police arrested Kunawongse during a staged meeting Friday with Solis at the Cosmopolitan. Hernandez was later arrested at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the EDC.
Both suspects allegedly confessed to their involvement in the scheme, according to the arrest reports.
“Hernandez stated that he was sorry and that he knows what he did was stupid” but did so to earn extra money for his home, police wrote in the report.
Kunawongse was charged with burglary, attempting to obtain money under false pretenses, possession of stolen property, attempted forgery and conspiracy to commit a crime. Hernandez was charged with obtaining money under false pretenses, attempted forgery and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Source:Vegas Sun
Milwaukee cops hurt off duty will get less money www.privateofficer.com
Although the practice has been going on for years, the city’s chief labor negotiator now says the light-duty program was only supposed to be for officers injured on the job, and the city will no longer extend it to those injured off duty. This comes after the Journal Sentinel asked for records detailing how much those officers are being paid.
The city would save $1.3 million a year by replacing the 64 officers injured off duty with 43 lower-paid civilians, and the money saved could be used to hire 25 new officers to patrol the streets, the city budget office said. Officers injured on the job would still be eligible for light duty.
Police union leaders criticized the policy change, which one called “an attack on police officers.” City labor negotiator Troy Hamblin predicted it would lead to years of legal battles.
The Police Department’s light-duty program allows officers to keep working – at full pay – after they sustain injuries that keep them off street patrol but aren’t serious enough to prevent them from working altogether. Many of those officers are in clerical jobs ordinarily filled by civilians. But under a program started by Police Chief Edward Flynn, some are taking police reports about minor incidents over the phone, freeing healthy officers to focus on more serious crimes.
As of June 6, the department had 121 officers on light duty, the city budget office said in a memo to the council’s Finance & Personnel Committee.
Flynn calls that group “my virtual district,” because it’s about enough officers to staff an entire district station – or to add a pair of two-person squad cars to each of the existing seven police districts on all three shifts, seven days a week, said Mike Tobin, executive director of the city’s Fire and Police Commission.
Of the 121 officers on light duty, 64 – more than half – were injured outside working hours, the budget office reported. City officials believe that was a misinterpretation of a union contract provision that was intended to cover only officers injured in the line of duty, Hamblin said.
But if it was a mistake, it’s a mistake that’s been going on for a long time. At least one such officer has been on light duty for a full 10 years, according to records provided by the Police Department in response to an open-records request from the Journal Sentinel.
The newspaper first requested the records in April and is still in discussions with the department to determine the total amount these officers have been paid.
Hamblin said he plans to notify the two unions representing sworn officers that the city will limit the light-duty program to officers injured on duty. Officers injured off duty could use up their sick leave, then transfer to one of the department’s roughly 550 civilian jobs or leave the department, Hamblin and Tobin said.
But if they transfer to a civilian job, the injured officers would likely take a cut in both pay and pension, Tobin said.
That drew fire from the Milwaukee Police Association, representing rank-and-file officers and detectives, and the Milwaukee Police Supervisors’ Organization, representing commanders below the rank of inspector.
“This appears to be nothing more than another attack on police officers,” said Mike Crivello, president of the police association. He said city officials should show more respect for police instead of seeking ways “to take a benefit from officers to try to save a few bucks.”
Thomas Klusman, labor relations manager for the police supervisors union, said Hamblin should have discussed the issue with the unions instead of imposing the change in a way that would lead to a complaint before the state Employment Relations Commission.
But Hamblin said the issue had been discussed with the police association in the past, to no avail.
“Maintaining the current policy is not fiscally responsible,” Tobin said.
The change will treat police the same as any other city employees who are injured off the job, including firefighters, Tobin said.
Source:jsonline
