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OFFICER DOWN KYLE PAGERLY
Kyle Pagerly
Berks County Sheriff’s Department, Pennsylvania
End of Watch: Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Age: 28
Tour of Duty: 5 years
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: June 29, 2011
Weapon Used: Rifle; AK-47
Suspect Info: Shot and killed
Deputy Kyle Pagerly was shot and killed while serving a warrant as part of a fugitive task force at a home on Pine Swamp Road in Albany Township.
When task force members arrived at the scene the suspect ran into the woods. Deputy Pagerly and his canine pursued the suspect. When officers located him he opened fire with an AK-47, striking Deputy Pagerly in the head. Other officers returned fire and killed the subject.
Investigation revealed that the suspect had written a suicide note two days earlier and it is believed that he shot Deputy Pagerly in his attempt to commit suicide-by-cop.
Deputy Pagerly was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.
Deputy Pagerly was a U.S. Army veteran and had served with the Berks County Sheriff’s Department for five years. He also served with the Spring Township Fire Department. He is survived by his expectant wife.
Agency Contact Information
633 Court Street
3rd Floor
Reading, PA 19601Phone: (610) 478-6240
Arizona security officer honored with award for saving a life www.privateofficer.com
Phoenix AZ July 2 2011 The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors honored a Tolleson security guard who saved a man’s life at the county’s transient resources campus in Phoenix.
Board members recently praised Officer Raymond Belmontes, 30, and gave him a plaque for his efforts May 25 when he helped revive Daniel Hill after he lost consciousness at the St. Vincent de Paul dining hall, which is part of the Human Services Campus in Phoenix. Other organizations on the campus include Central Arizona Shelter Services and Maricopa County Healthcare Clinic for the Homeless.
Belmontes and Benny Martinez were working security about 11 a.m. in the campus’ Lodestar Day Resource Center when they were called to the dining hall to help Hill, who had slumped over in his seat after an apparent drug overdose.
They helped Hill out of his chair onto the floor and started talking to him, but when Hill’s pulse and breathing stopped, Belmontes immediately began administering chest compressions.
He got a pulse back, but Hill still wasn’t breathing, so Belmontes continued the compressions, even after paramedics arrived. With the help of the paramedics, they revived Hill and he was taken to a hospital.
Belmontes, who started with Maricopa County on May 2, spoke with The Republic about the incident, how his experience on two tours in Iraq as a U.S. Army cavalry scout helped him stay calm, and about being recognized by the board.
Question: What were you thinking while you were doing the chest compressions?
Answer: “Just trying to get his pulse back, trying to keep pumping, pumping, pumping. I wasn’t really, it was just going from training – you just do it. You go step by step and you just do it. I have prior experience from the military from doing that and some other security jobs that I had previously to working for the county.”
Q: How did your military experience help you with this incident?
A: “Just going to Iraq and all the stress, being able to handle stressful situations, I think that just helped with something like this. You know, not to panic, you know, just do everything in order the way it’s supposed to be done and then hopefully everything prevails, and luckily in this case it did.”
Q: Hill came back later that day to thank you for saving his life. What was that like?
A: “It was surprising to see his face that fast out of the hospital. It was surprising that he was walking. I mean, there was no pulse at all when I checked him before I even started chest compressions. There was nothing. . . . He was wondering who saved his life and (said) that he was appreciative, and I just told him, you know, ‘You got a second chance, now make good use of it.’ . . . And actually later he looked a lot cleaner than he normally is. He still drinks a little bit of liquor but other than that he doesn’t look like he usually looks when he’s on his drugs and stuff.”
Q: Does that happen often, where you get to see what happens after you help somebody?
A: “No, you actually don’t. . . . Even when I was in Iraq . . . and you help a soldier out and then they get taken off and you never see if they’re OK, if they lose their leg or anything, you never see the conclusion of that, so it was a sight to see (seeing Hill afterward).”
Q: What did it feel like to save a life?
A: “It’s just something you do. It wasn’t part of the job; it was just a human trying to save another human. He looked dead, I’m not just going to let him lay there. So it’s kind of like natural instinct, human instinct, just to try to help out another human. Not really the job, but I’m pretty sure the training helped out. I wouldn’t have known what to do other than call 911.”
Q: What is it like working security at the Human Services Campus?
A: “It’s pretty interesting. It’s always fast-paced. We deal with medical issues almost every day, especially now that it’s getting hot. . . . We have predators here that come here and try to prey on (people) and sell them drugs and keep them down, and we try to find those individuals and . . . keep them away from campus and the people that need help.”
Q: How did it feel to be recognized by the Board of Supervisors?
A: “It was surprising, especially since I just started with the organization, and then to earn an award, I was like, ‘I was just doing my job.’ It was nice. It was a nice thing. I got awards before from the military, but . . . since I’ve been in a civilian workforce after getting out of the military, this is the first time I got an award outside of a military award, so it was a nice gesture.”
Source:www.azcentral.com
Atlanta police shoot-kill unarmed man during struggle www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA July 2 2011 — An Atlanta police officer shot a man to death Thursday evening, police said. Family members said the man was mentally disabled and unarmed.
The officer was conducting a traffic stop at about 7:30 p.m. near Campbellton Road and Childress Drive, Atlanta police spokesman Sgt. Curtis Davenport said. Family members said 37-year-old Maurice Hampton was heading to a job interview at a nightclub before the shooting.
Authorities told Channel 2′s Amy Napier Viteri that Hampton man pulled into the parking lot of a nearby business and fled on foot. Davenport said the officer pursued the Hampton for about 200 yards, and a fight broke out between them.
“At some point, the officer drew his service weapon and fired at least one round, fatally injuring the individual,” Davenport said.
Police said the officer was likely protecting himself.
“If he feels at some point that his life is in danger, typically we instruct them to produce their city-issued service weapon,” said Atlanta officer Keith Meadows.
Family members said Hampton may have been scared because of a mental condition, and he was driving without a license.
“My brother has a seizure disorder. He’s on medication. He’s paranoid schizophrenic,” Hampton’s sister Vajunda Wyatt said. “He could’ve thought somebody’s trying to hurt him.”
The officer, who is not being named, received minor injuries in the scuffle. He has been placed on a three-day administrative assignment as the shooting is investigated. Police are interviewing people who witnessed the traffic stop.
Source:WSBTV.com
NH music teacher arrested for sexual assault www.privateofficer.com
Police arrested 34-year-old Andrew Lalos on three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault.
The attacks allegedly occurred in 2005 at Cawley Middle School, where Lalos was a music teacher. Police said the alleged victim recently came forward with the allegations.
Lalos is scheduled for arraignment on Aug. 3 in Hookset District Court. It was not known if he had hired an attorney.
Hookset School Superintendent Dr. Phil Littlefield said the allegations, if true, were “horrific.”
Under conditions of his bail, Lalos has been ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim or her family, and no unsupervised contact with any children other than his own.
Source:WMUR
AZ teacher accused of stealing-pawning school property www.privateofficer.com
SURPRISE, Ariz. July 2 2011– A teacher in Surprise has been arrested for stealing and pawning school property.
Surprise police officers discovered that Dean Desaulniers, 43, had pawned a computer and two digital projectors belonging to Western Peaks Elementary School, which is located near Bell Road and Cotton Lane.
Sgt. Mark Ortega said Desaulniers admitted stealing and pawning the equipment when questioned by investigators.
Desaulniers was transported and booked into the Maricopa County Fourth Avenue Jail for three counts of trafficking stolen property and three counts of theft.
Police capture man wanted in Colorado mall bombing www.privateofficer.com
Denver CO July 2 2011 Federal charges were filed today against the man accused of planting explosive devices at a Lakewood mall on Saturday.
David J. Lawless, 30, was charged with one count of arson and one count of using a destructive device, according to federal court documents.
If convicted Lawless could face life in prison.
The charges allege that just after midnight on Saturday the alarm at the Borders bookstore at the Colorado Mills mall was triggered when Lawless shattered the glass door and entered the store.
After arriving, the Lakewood Police Department discovered two explosive devices inside the store. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad was called to the scene where they later discovered a third device outside the mall in a garbage bin.
According to the documents, the third device was an aluminum water bottle filled with “suspected smokeless powder” and an improvised fuse. The water bottle was taped to a small propane tank.
The explosive “partially functioned” and blew a plastic lid off the aluminum water bottle, but the propane tank was not damaged. A large amount of smokeless powder was found in and around the device, as well as in front of the mall’s doors.
A similar explosive was found inside the bookstore. The device also partially detonated and several pieces of unknown material were found embedded in the ceiling tiles above the device.
Officers also discovered a large propane container placed next to a candle on a table inside the bookstore. That device did not ignite.
At 2:54 a.m., officers received a report of an explosion at the Marriott Hotel in Golden. There they found what appeared to be a melted plastic container, likely for smokeless powder.
The hotel is located 1 mile from the bookstore.
Lawless is also accused of smashing the front windows of a Best Buy store – located about half a mile away from the bookstore – just after 8 a.m.
Several surveillance cameras at the Best Buy and around the mall spotted a Toyota Tacoma early Saturday morning.
Almost 10 hours later, Lawless was arrested by the Colorado State Patrol while driving his green Toyota Tacoma in Clear Creek County.
Police say Lawless was driving under the influence and tried to run away. While two off-duty Arapahoe County Sheriff’s deputies were detaining Lawless, he attempted to stab them with a pair of scissors.
Lawless is being held in the Clear Creek County Jail.
He admitted to investigators that he placed the devices and lit them with the intention of detonating them. Lawless revealed that he researched how to make the explosives on the Internet and admitted to keeping materials needed to build the explosives at his Denver home.
Source:Denver Post
Police charge two with Home Depot robbery www.privateofficer.com
WATERTOWN MA July 2 2011 — Two men were arrested after they allegedly attempted to steal a cart full of merchandise from Home Depot in Watertown.
On June 17, police responded to Home Depot on Arsenal Street around 5:15 p.m. after a security guard reported that two men had tried to steal a shopping cart of full of items by producing a receipt for an identical purchase.
According to reports, a security guard watched as the men walked around the store and placed identical items in each of their carts, but one of the men added a spray nozzle. The first suspect reportedly paid for the items in his cart and then left the store.
He reportedly returned and gave his receipt to the second suspect. The second suspect handed the first suspect’s receipt to the clerk at the store’s door and the security guard reportedly attempted to stop the suspect from leaving with the items.
The men reportedly fled but police were able to catch up with them and place them under arrest.
Frank Alfred, 48, of 244 Blue Hill Ave, #3, Roxbury, and Michael Mitchell, 44, of 16 Dayton Ave., Dorchester, were arrested and charged with larceny over $250.
Alfred was additionally charged with operating a motor vehicle after his license had been revoked and an arrest warrant.
Escaped murderer arrested in Georgia 16 years later www.privateofficer.com
Tommy Long of the U.S. Marshals Service says authorities arrested 49-year-old Manuel Hrneith early Thursday after following up on a tip from North Carolina. Authorities there say he escaped from prison in May 1995 while serving a sentence for second-degree murder.
Authorities say he’d been living a fairly quiet life in rural Tattnall County, where he bought a mobile home in 2004, had his own pine straw business and settled down with a wife and three children.
Captain Kevin Keyfauver of the Tattnall County Sheriff’s Office says the fugitive has waived extradition back to North Carolina, where he was sentenced to 18 years in 1991.
Associated Press
Shoplifters held on felony charges after theft spress www.privateofficer.com
Police began investigating James R. Johnson, 36, and Carl D. Newsome, 38, in May while working on burglary cases on the city’s west side. Newsome reportedly was approached by police one day as he knocked on residential doors in the 1800 block of Indiana Street at 12:30 a.m. He also was seen walking through backyards at the time of another reported residential burglary, police said.
Police began surveillance on the black Jeep Newsome drove and Johnson occupied. The car was seen at Meijer stores in Elgin, St. Charles and Aurora, where groceries and liquor were stolen, police said.
Authorities notified security personnel at the Elgin Meijer on June 2 after observing the Jeep there, police said. The men were taken into police custody after they reportedly were seen stealing groceries.
Johnson and Newsome, both of the 1600 block of Indiana Street, were charged with burglary, a Class 2 felony, and retail theft, a Class 4 felony. They are being held on $75,000 and $50,000 bond,
respectively.
St. Charles police said more charges are possible, as Meijer security personnel are in the preliminary stages of their investigation. Other police departments also have begun investigations.
The charges stem from the Meijer incident, police spokesperson Paul McCurtain said. He said the police department is waiting for the state lab results on evidence from some of the residential burglaries.
Woman charged with assaulting hospital security officer www.privateofficer.com
Police say that Chandran D. Murray, 29, of Chicago, was charged with battery for pushing a security guard at Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers.
Security told police that Murray had gotten into an argument with her mother inside the hospital while they waited for a family member to receive treatment.
When security got in between the two, Murray shoved the guard and took two unsuccessful swings, police said.
The woman was taken into custody and transported to jail.
Florida police kill knife weilding man during domestic dispute www.privateofficer.com
Officers were called to an apartment at Laguna Vista Apartments, 555 Belcher Road South, at around 1:30 p.m. because of a domestic disturbance between a mother and her son, Nicholas John Pesare, who was threatening suicide and using narcotics, police said.
Two officers entered the apartment and another officer remained outside, police said.
The two officers inside the home made contact with Pesare, who displayed a knife and assaulted them, police said.
One officer used a Taser on Pesare, but it failed to stop him. The other officer took out his handgun and shot and killed Pesare, police said.
Pesare’s mother, Anne Polce, said she called police to help and they overreacted by killing her autistic son.
“No sooner they go in my door I hear bang, bang,” Polce said. “It’s over.”
Polce said she returned from church and caught her son sniffing Xanax with a straw.
She talked to him about moving to Rhode Island and he began to get worked up. She worried he would hurt himself so she went to a neighbor’s home and called 911.
When officers arrived, she left the neighbor’s home and met police officers at the door. She said she could go in the apartment and calm him down, but officers would not let her enter with them.
“Why would you shoot a kid that’s 5-foot-3, 118 pounds?” Polce asked. “And I don’t know how many times because they are not telling me anything. Why would you shoot a small kid like that in the chest?”
The officers involved in the incident were placed on paid administrative leave while the case is being examined. The officers weren’t identified.
The case remains under investigation.
Child sees grandpa having sex with dog www.privateofficer.com
DeFUNIAK SPRINGS Fla July 2 2011 — A man is facing an animal cruelty charge after his grandson saw him attempting to have sex with a dog, according to a Walton County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
Eugene Hickman, 54, was arrested on Saturday morning and charged with one felony count of animal cruelty, according to the report.
His family contacted law enforcement after the grandson told his father that he had seen Hickman nude in the bedroom on top of the dog, the report stated.
When asked about the incident, Hickman didn’t deny it and said he knew it was wrong and wouldn’t do it again, the report said.
The 3-year-old female bulldog was turned over to animal control by deputies and was going to be examined by a veterinarian.
AP NEWS
Gun falls from pocket of shoplifter fighting with Wal-Mart security www.privateofficer.com
Fort Myers Fla June 2 2011 A Naples man had a gun fall from his pants during a scuffle with South Fort Myers Walmart loss prevention officers, according to Lee deputies.
Jose Luis Huerta, 18, of the 15000 block of Arborview Boulevard, was charged with battery, petty theft, resisting a merchant and on eight Collier County warrants for failure to appear on violation of probation on burglary, robbery and absconding from supervision counts.
According to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office report:
On Saturday afternoon, employees of the store, located at 14821 Six Mile Cypress Parkway, stopped a man for taking a jug of anti-freeze, and the man began to fight. During the scuffle, a gun fell from his right pants leg. One of two other men with him grabbed the gun and fled. During the fight, Huerta bit a Walmart employee.
A woman who was shopping in the area saw the handgun fall. She hid behind some bushes in the garden center and called 911.
Several Walmart employees held Huerta until law enforcement arrived. One employee said when the gun fell it sounded like it was plastic and believed it was a pellet or BB gun.
Huerta told deputies he needed the anti-freeze for his cousin’s car so he could go out later.
The incident was caught on surveillance video.
Source:marconews.com
Store clerks arrested in KY lottery ticket fraud www.privateofficer.com
As it turned out, the clerks may have been the biggest losers.
The “disappointed customers” were actually undercover Kentucky Lottery Corp. security officers. And the four clerks — two in Louisville and two in Lexington — were indicted Thursday on charges of state lottery fraud for allegedly keeping the winning tickets to cash in for themselves.
Arch Gleason, the lottery’s president and chief executive officer, announced the indictments at a press conference with Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney David Stengel Thursday.
The indictments culminate a lengthy investigation in which lottery security personnel went to 33 retailers in Louisville and Lexington posing as customers who were unsure if they had winning tickets or not.
At three locations, the four clerks told the alleged customers that they had not won a prize and instead tried to cash the tickets themselves at lottery headquarters in Louisville.
“While I’m disappointed in these actions by a few retail locations, I continue to strongly believe … the vast majority of our retailers deal with our players from an appropriate fashion and in a high level of integrity,” Gleason said. “And they are honest in their dealings with our players.”
The four clerks indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury were Joanne Wiggins, 38, of the 10000 block of Laurent Way in Louisville; Vaishaliben Patel, 28, of the 6200 block of Maravian Drive in Louisville; and Bhaggy Patel, 45, and Hardik Patel, 25, both of the 4500 block of Clooney Pass in Lexington.
They were charged with state lottery fraud, a felony carrying a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Hardik Patel also was charged with providing false information to state lottery investigators, which carries a maximum five-year sentence.
The four will be arraigned in Jefferson Circuit Court on Tuesday. They have not been arrested but instead were ordered to appear in court.
When the tickets were presented, the security personnel told the clerks they didn’t know if any of them were winners, Bill Hickerson, the lottery’s senior vice president of security, said in a press release.
“It was up to the clerks to scan the tickets to see if they were indeed winners,” he said.
Vaishaliben Patel worked at Hunter’s Market in the 6300 block of Lower Hunter’s Trace in Louisville; Wiggins worked at Meijer Gas in the 9900 block of Dixie Highway; and Bhaggy Patel and Hardik Patel, a mother and son who are not related to Vaishaliben Patel, worked at Pantry Fresh on Squires Road in Lexington.
No one answered the phone at Pantry Fresh, and the answering machine was full.
Vaishaliben Patel did not respond to a message left for him through his employer.
A man who answered the phone at Meijer said Wiggins no longer worked there, and a phone number for her could not be located.
The retailers involved continue to sell lottery tickets, Gleason said, adding that only the conviction of an owner would lead to a license revocation.
Gleason said three other retailers told the security personnel that the tickets presented to them weren’t winners and then returned them to the customers.
“This is a training issue that will be addressed with our retailers,” he said.
Gleason and prosecutors said they believed these were the first such arrests in the Kentucky lottery’s history. And Gleason expressed confidence that these few stores and clerks are “not representative of the behavior of our 2,800 Kentucky Lottery retailers.”
He noted that the lottery security department’s investigation focused only on businesses that had previous customer complaints in an attempt to determine if store clerks were following procedures for cashing winning tickets.
Those previous complaints were all investigated, and none of them resulted in charges.
“This is not reflective of a problem,” Gleason said of the four people indicted.
Most states allow retailers to play the lottery, and Gleason said there is no effort to prohibit it in Kentucky.
Gleason said there are ways for players to protect themselves — “low-tech and high-tech” — including checking tickets closely for winners, checking tickets themselves at self-scanners, which are available at most retails locations, and signing tickets to ensure proof of ownership.
He also said players can contact the lottery’s security department through its Fraud Watch program if they feel they have not been paid properly. The number is (502) 560-1813 or via e-mail at klcfraudwatch@kylottery.com.
Gleason said the investigation will continue, but he declined to discuss specifics.
“Success of our games is dependent on integrity,” he said. “…It is the most important thing we have to sell.”
San Jose lays off 66 police officers www.privateofficer.com
San Jose CA July 2 2011 Amid a homicide surge in what once was dubbed “America’s Safest Big City,” 66 young San Jose cops turned in their badges Thursday as a $115 million budget shortfall led to the city’s first-ever police layoffs.
The somber embraces of laid-off cops with fellow officers come as tensions simmer between cops and city leaders over pay and benefit cuts needed to save jobs as more deficits loom. While the toll was much less than had been feared weeks ago because dozens of the 122 who were given layoff notices found jobs in other police departments, the cuts will take a historic toll on San Jose’s police force.
In addition to the cops let go, the city cut nearly 100 police positions left vacant by recent retirements and departures, shrinking the force from 1,271 to 1,106 officers. That’s fewer cops than the city had two decades ago, when San Jose had 200,000 fewer people.”
“It hurts a lot,” said Mayra Aguayo, 24, after turning in her badge, city identification card and keys at the San Jose Police Officers’ Association headquarters following a lunch for those cut from the force. “We gave our all to the city.”
Lt. George Beattie, the POA’s president, thanked the laid-off officers after the lunch, noting that most if not all had approved a contract cutting salaries 10 percent, preventing an additional 156 cops from losing their jobs.
“It’s not supposed to be this way,” Beattie said. “This is a very bad event for the city of San Jose and a very bad event for the Police Department.”
Chief Chris Moore called it “one of the saddest days I’ve had in my career.”
“We’ve lost many of our youngest and best,” Moore said. “I’m just hoping this is the floor. I can’t see us going through this again.”
Because the layoffs are determined by seniority, those laid off were recent recruits, who averaged two years on the job.
Thursday’s announcement that Assistant Chief Diane Urban will leave to become Hayward’s chief prevented a 67th San Jose officer from being laid off. But the force may lose 19 more officers in February if the city follows through on plans to outsource airport policing to the Santa Clara County sheriff to reduce costs.
It’s a stark turn for a city that only a few years ago was looking to expand one of the leanest urban police departments in the country. In 2006, when San Jose had 1,356 officers, then-chief Rob Davis urged city leaders to hire 478 more over five years.
Despite the “financial constraints,” Davis said San Jose needed more cops to keep the “Safest Big City” title awarded by a private organization based on federal crime statistics. At the time, San Jose already was losing the title – and it hasn’t regained it since.
After taking office in 2007, Mayor Chuck Reed had called for hiring 100 more cops over four years, and the force reached a high of 1,395 officers by 2009.
The city cut vacant police positions last year as the city bled $118.5 million in red ink. But officer pay concessions avoided layoffs.
Reed and other city leaders blamed Thursday’s layoffs on a 10-year run of deficits as employee costs have outpaced revenues, chiefly for generous public safety pensions. Over the last decade, San Jose has cut some 2,000 positions citywide, about 30 percent of its workforce.
“It’s sad to see good officers leaving the city when we should be hiring officers,” Reed said, adding that the city has still increased police and fire department budgets 1 percent this year while cutting all others 10 percent.
“We’ve increased the Police Department budget $100 million in the last decade and have less officers now than we had 10 years ago,” said Reed, who blames the increase in pension costs – $25 million this year alone.
Beattie and other officers blamed the layoffs on city leaders, especially Reed and City Manager Debra Figone. He said that while the city faces real financial woes, the officers did their part in agreeing to requested pay and benefit cuts. But, Beattie contended, city leaders dismissed options that could have kept more cops on the beat.
The options included applying for more federal grants, cutting council office budgets further and using money that the mayor has earmarked for next year’s likely special election aimed at slowing the growth in pension costs.
“The gang members are just waiting for this day,” Beattie said, noting that San Jose this year is on pace for a 30-year high in homicides. “The mayor and city manager have now made it acceptable to lay off police officers in the city of San Jose. They own it. It’s theirs. At some point in their lives, they’re going to regret this decision.”
Figone disputed Beattie’s assertion that she “botched” an opportunity to save more cops’ jobs by seeking more funding under a federal Community Oriented Policing Services grant, arguing it would have committed the city to spending $16 million it doesn’t have.
Reed said his proposed pension reforms will save far more money than it will cost to put them on the ballot. But he acknowledged that city leaders decided to fund programs such as libraries rather than spare more officers the budget ax. Residents, he said, wanted those programs maintained and believe they contribute to public safety.
Beattie said the police cuts will mean less attention to property crimes as the remaining officers focus on violent crime. It will also take officers longer to respond to calls, he said.
Aguayo, the laid-off cop, said the increase in response time is already evident. On her last shift Sunday, as she collected shell casings and blood for evidence from a shooting, calls came over the radio pleading for officers to respond to a rape in progress near the convention center and to handle a fight at a bar across the street from City Hall.
“They were screaming, calling for additional units,” Aguayo said, “and there were no units.”
Moore and the mayor did not dispute that the force will be strained, though the chief said the city still has “one of the finest if not the finest police departments in the country.”
Moore said he’s been “deluged” with calls from other chiefs statewide and beyond looking to hire San Jose cops facing the ax. More than 30 had been hired by Thursday, shrinking layoff totals.
Beattie said officers went to Palo Alto, Los Altos, Hayward, San Leandro and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.
Still, the mood was somber as the departing cops dropped their badges on a table and filed past more than two dozen uniformed patrol officers who had come to see them off with handshakes, bear hugs and moist eyes.
“I never, ever would have thought we’d get laid off,” said laid-off officer Wiley Griffin-Bagno, 29. “It’s just unfortunate. The citizens of San Jose will have to suffer because we’re gone.”
Source:Mercury News
Mountain Vista High School teacher charged with sexual assault www.privateofficer.com
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. July 2 2011– A teacher at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch was arrested Friday on suspicion of sexual assault on a former female student.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit arrested Frank S. Lavoie, 32, on Friday.
The investigation began in February, according to the sheriff’s office. Authorities say the incident occurred in 2009.
The sheriff’s office said the high school student was 17 at the time.
The Mountain Vista website identifies Lavoie as an English teacher and the head wrestling coach.
Lavoie was arrested for investigation of a sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, a Class 3 felony. He was being held in the Douglas County Jail under a $50,000 bond Friday.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing.
Detectives have asked that anyone who has information about additional victims, or any inappropriate conduct by Lavoie, to call the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Detective Dave Weaver, at 303-660-7537.
Source:ABC 7
