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Tennessee Army National Guard helicopter crashes killing 2 pilots
CARYVILLE TN July 10 2011 - Two Tennessee Army National Guard pilots were killed after the helicopter they were flying crashed Saturday evening in Campbell County.
According to a press release by the Tennessee Military Department, 1st Lt. Thomas Joseph Williams, Jr. and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Daniel Cole, both of Knoxville, were killed Saturday around 5:30 p.m. when their OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter crashed in Campbell County.
“Our deepest sympathy goes out to their families and loved ones. Words cannot express the sorrow I personally feel for these Soldiers, their families and their fellow Soldiers who knew and served with them in peacetime and combat,” said Major General Max Haston.
“Their loss is incalculable.”
At the time of the accident, the crew was conducting a routine training flight.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Source:WATE.com
Shots fired during attempted armored car robbery www.privateofficer.com
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas July 10 2011– Authorities are investigating after gunmen attempted to rob an armored car in north Harris County on Friday.
Deputies said a Loomis armored truck was in the parking lot of a Fiesta grocery store in the 1700 block of W. Mount Houston around 11 a.m. when multiple armed suspects approached.
A Loomis spokesperson said the suspects fired multiple shots at the car, but no one was injured.
The suspects then fled on foot. No money was stolen.
Armored truck carjacked in Michigan www.privateofficer.com
The Total Armored Car vehicle was waiting outside of the Michigan Department of Treasury offices at 41300 Dequindre, north of 18 Mile Rd., about 9:20 a.m. today, said Chief Michael Reese.
One of the two armored car employees was inside the office, while the other employee remained in the vehicle. That employee was approached by two men, one carrying a 9-millimeter handgun, who ordered him out of the car, Reese said.
The driver got out and the robbers drove away in the armored car. The vehicle was found about one hour later in Troy, on 18 Mile Road, west of Dequindre. No one was injured.
Investigators are in the process of trying to determine how much, if any, money was taken from the car.
Police are also looking for information on a second vehicle that could be related to the carjacking. It’s a 2005 to 2008 red Chevrolet Impala, with tinted windows and one door painted a different color, Reese said. Witnesses were unable to tell police which door or what color. That was likely the getaway car, police said.
Anyone with any information should call the Sterling Heights Police Department at 586-446-2800.
The robbers remain at large.
Source:Detroit Free Press
Naples mall security takes identity theft suspect into custody www.privateofficer.com
Naples Fla July 10 2011 A Miami man was charged with 19 counts of identity theft after a failed attempt to buy Gucci sunglasses tipped off investigators, police say.
Ricardo Fleurant, 30, was arrested by Naples police officers Friday at Coastland Center mall, 1900 Ninth Street N., after a salesperson at Sunglass Hut asked him for identification for the $295 Gucci sunglasses he attempted to buy on a debit card, the report said.
According to the report, Fleurant asked the sales clerk at Sunglass Hut to only charge $220 on a Visa Turbo Tax debit card. When the transaction received an approval code, the clerk asked for identification and Fleurant became nervous and ran out of the store, the report said.
Suspicious, the sales clerk notified police and supplied them with Fleurant’s description, the report said.
Mall security noticed Fleurant in the parking lot near the food court of the mall and made contact, the report said. They asked for Fleurant’s identification. Once provided, a security guard noticed Fleurant had additional credit cards that did not have his name and belonged to two different people.
The security guard then placed Fleurant into custody, and while searching Fleurant the security guard discovered two large bundles of U.S. currency wrapped in rubber bands.
Once Naples police arrived, they searched Fleurant’s car and found a .40-caliber Springfield XD handgun and several bags. In the bags were several receipts and merchandise from Publix, Walmart and Sweetbay.
All property was removed from the vehicle, the report said. Fleurant then told officers that the funds from the debit cards were from tax return funds and deposited Friday. The cards originally had a balance of $6,500, the report said. Based on the transaction history, about $5,500 had been withdrawn, the report said. The report said the receipts and the merchandise coincided with the amount withdrawn.
One of the victim’s, whose card was being wrongfully used by Fleurant, resided in New York, police reported.
In addition to the 19 counts of identity theft, Fleurant was charged with grand theft, between $5,000 and $10,000, a felony, and scheme to defraud for the ongoing purchases using the above cards.
Further investigation into fraudulent tax returns is being conducted, the report said, and referred to the Internal Revenue Service for follow-up, the report said.
Source:naplesnews.com
Mall security finds couple stealing catalytic converters www.privateofficer.com
Maurice Baptiste Jr., 37, and Wanda L. Barboza, 36, both of 129 County Road, East Freetown, were each arrested and charged with four counts of larceny of property worth more than $250 and four counts of malicious damage to a motor vehicle.
Taunton police officers responded to the mall, 2 Galleria Drive, for a reported larceny in progress at 3:24 p.m. The mall’s security supervisor then told police that he observed a female standing by a black Ford Expedition and could hear metal being cut with a saw.
“The security supervisor stated that he yelled to the party and a male crawled from beneath a black Jeep Cherokee with a large metal object later identified as the catalytic converter from the Jeep,” a police report said. “The security supervisor stated that the male and female then entered the Ford through the rear passenger doors and the vehicle fled the area.”
A short time later, police said, a state trooper observed the Ford traveling on Route 18 in Middleboro before initiating a traffic stop.
The trooper arrested Baptiste and Barboza, but a second woman who was driving the Ford was not arrested. The female driver confirmed that she drove Barboza and Baptiste so that “Baptiste could fix a vehicle.”
The report said the female driver told police that each time this happened she drove Baptiste to an East Freetown auto mechanic where he would bring the equipment.
After Barboza was arrested, police told her they had the incident on camera and said that there was three other larcenies of converters the day prior. The police added that they had seen the suspects in their vehicle at the mall the prior day.
Judge Mary Dacey White ordered Baptiste and Barboza both held on $1,000 cash bail. They are both due back in court to continue the case on Aug. 1.
Experts say that catalytic converter theft has become more problematic as scrap metal value increases. Platinum, rhodium and palladium, all valuable metals, are each found in catalytic converters.
A catalytic converter replacement can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000. The converters can be scrapped for approximately $100 to $150.
In the Taunton area, catalytic converter thefts have plagued businesses on Route 44 in Raynham along with the Silver City Galleria, including at least four thefts in May.
Source:www.heraldnews.com
Alabama police dog killed after escaping handler’s home www.privateofficer.com
HARPERSVILLE, Alabama July 10 2011 — Hunter, the Harpersville Police Department’s drug detection dog, was struck by a car and killed on U.S. 280 on July 4, the department announced today.
Hunter escaped from his enclosure at his handler’s home and ran onto the highway where he was struck and killed.
In a press release, the department said Hunter had served for several years and “was instrumental in making numerous drug cases” for Harpersville police, the Shelby County Drug Task Force, and other agencies.
Hunter also played a major role in Harpersville’s community outreach efforts, especially with school children, the department said.
The death is a blow to both “the crime fighting efforts” of the department and to Hunter’s handler, Officer Michael Moore, the department said.
Source:AL.com
Petty larceny lands woman in jail on robbery charges after assault www.privateofficer.com
LORAIN OH July 10 2011 — After stealing several items from Rite Aid, a woman was caught in the midst of a not-so-daring escape July 7, according to a Lorain police report.
Police went to Rite Aid, 2709 Broadway, around 4:30 p.m. where a security officer said Robin Pannell, 39, had just stolen several items and ran around the back of the building. When they went around the back, they found Pannell trying to crawl through a hole in a fence.
The security officer told police he saw Pannell put a five-pack of lighters and a pair of sunglasses in her purse, then pay for a bottle of pop and some candy. He tried to stop Pannell at the door, she shove him out of the way and ran, according to the report.
She was charged with robbery and taken to Lorain City Jail.
Grandma nabs burglar-makes him sit and wait for police www.privateofficer.com
CENTER HARBOR, N.H. July 10 2011— A New Hampshire woman was so angry when she came home and found a burglar in her house that she grabbed the thief half her age by the collar and made him sit down while she called police.
Police say 63-year-old Linda Carr returned to her Center Harbor home Saturday to find a man walking out of her bedroom with a backpack. He tried to walk past her, but she grabbed him and made him empty his pockets, which contained her jewelry and prescription medication.
Police arrived minutes later and arrested the suspect.
Carr tells WMUR-TV she told the man “You sit there and stay there and don’t you move.” He replied, “‘I won’t.”
Authorities say 29-year-old Richard Royea was arraigned on a burglary charge and released on $25,000 bail.
College security nabs sex offender viewing child porn on computer www.privateofficer.com
Longview WA July 10 2011 The Cowlitz County Prosecutor’s Office charged two men Wednesday with distributing and possessing child pornography. One of the men is suspected of viewing the images on a Lower Columbia College computer, according to court documents.
LCC officials became suspicious in April 2009 that a student, Danny Joe Kenneway, 20, of Kelso had been looking at child porn on a school computer, investigators said in a report. One of the college’s computer experts remotely accessed the computer and found images of nude children, police said.
The LCC official as well as a college security officer confronted Kenneway, a registered sex offender, who said he got the images from a 30-year-old Longview man named Jonathan Lee Floyd, according to the report.
Kenneway said he met Floyd on a bus and showed the LCC officials more than 25 emails from Floyd with subject titles suggesting they contained explicit images of children, according to the report. Three images contained in the e-mails that were opened at random by LCC staff portrayed nude females between 8 and 13 years old, police said.
Investigators got a search warrant and seized three LCC hard drives.
Detectives served another search warrant in May 2009 at Floyd’s home in the 3000 block of Hemlock Street, Longview. Police found in the home images of “nude underage minors,” a DVD with a title suggesting it contained child porn. Investigators said they seized 28 DVDs and CDs and a computer.
During an interview with police in September of last year Floyd admitted that all of the child porn was his and that he had emailed some of the images to Kenneway, investigators said.
Floyd faces charges of dealing in child pornography and two counts of possessing child pornography. Kenneway also has been charged with dealing in child pornography as well as a single count of possessing child pornography. Summonses have been issued for both men.
Michelle Shaffer, the chief criminal deputy prosecutor, said the case took so long to bring to court partly because the computer equipment was sent outside the county to allow the drives to be scanned for evidence. “It’s a lengthy process,” she said.
Source:tdn.com
Merrillville Indiana teacher found murdered-teen held www.privateofficer.com
Merrillville IN July 10 2011 A teen is being held in connection with the death of a well-liked Indiana special education teacher, police said.
The 16-year-old boy was arrested late Thursday night, one day after Anna Schulz was found dead in her Merrillville, Ind., home, the Post-Tribune reported.
The teen, whose name was withheld because formal charges have yet to be filed, had no prior contact with the Lew Wallace High School teacher, police said. He’s being held in the Lake County (Indiana) Jail.
Schulz, 80, was found laying on the ground in her nightgown and with rollers in her hair by her son. Her 2003 silver Cadillac DeVille had been stolen.
Merrillville police Lt. Jeff Snemis said the slaying and vehicle theft may have been part of a hurried escape attempt. The teen had reportedly been chased on foot earlier Wednesday, a suspect in another burglary in the area.
Schulz’s car was later found in a Gary alley, near the home of one of the teen’s relatives, police said, according to the Post-Tribune. Relatives then helped authorities find the teen.
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com
Leesburg VA teacher charged with sexual assault of 4 year old child www.privateofficer.com
Brad R. Minor, 23, of Leesburg, was first charged Tuesday with one count of forcible sodomy in an assault that authorities said took place at the Chesterbrook Academy Preschool in early March.
On Wednesday, the family of a second 4-year-old girl contacted Leesburg Police to file a complaint, authorities said. After investigating that complaint, police said they obtained a warrant Friday charging Minor with aggravated sexual battery. Minor also faces an additional charge of indecent liberties with a child in connection to the first assault, authorities said.
Police said they received a complaint from the family of the first 4-year-old girl on March 7, after the child made comments to her parents.
Minor was a teacher and bus driver who supervised before- and after-school activities, Chesterbrook Academy spokeswoman Kathleen Shaffer said.
Chesterbrook Academy opened in 1999. About 100 students, ages 3 to 5, attend the private preschool on Cardinal Park Drive SE in Leesburg. Police said school officials are aware of both complaints and are cooperating with the investigation.
Shaffer said Minor was hired Oct. 29, 2009. He underwent a criminal background check as part of the hiring process and had no record of criminal activity or child abuse, Shaffer said.
“He’d never given us any indication to think he was dangerous,” Shaffer said.
The school learned in March about the allegations against Minor and placed him on leave, Shaffer said. The school later received a letter, dated April 27, from Loudoun County Child Protective Services stating that “the case was closed and the claim unfounded.” Minor was reinstated from leave May 3, Shaffer said.
Minor was arrested July 5 and fired from the school July 6, Shaffer said.
Jeff Dubé, spokesman for the Leesburg Police Department, declined to comment on when the second alleged assault occurred, or if it happened during the time Minor was reinstated.
Child Protective Services spokeswoman Heather Dziewalski said she would not comment on the case because of confidentiality laws.
Dubé said that he could not comment on any actions taken by Child Protective Services but that the case was never closed by police.
“Our charges were placed after the collection and examination of forensic evidence, which led to the arrest of Mr. Minor,” he said.
Minor remains held in the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center without bond pending an arraignment scheduled for Monday, according to authorities.
The investigation is ongoing, and Leesburg Police asked that anyone with information on these incidents contact Detective Shaw at (703) 771-4521. Callers wishing to remain anonymous can call the Leesburg Crime Line at (703) 443-TIPS.
Source:Washington Post
Stamford’s Assistant Police Chief rescues suicidal man www.privateofficer.com
Stamford CT July 10 2011 Stamford’s Assistant Police Chief Jonathan Fontneau pulled a man to safety Thursday night after he threatened to jump off the roof of the parking garage at Stamford Town Center, according to Captain Richard Conklin.
Police arrived at the mall at approximately 7:55 p.m. and found a man, who’s name has not been released, sitting on the edge of the parking garage’s roof facing Greyrock Place near Tresser Boulevard. According to the Stamford Advocate, the man called 2-1-1 and informed the operator of his location and motive. Officers were forced to shut down vehicular and pedestrain traffic during the incident.
Conklin told Patch that after about 30-40 minutes of communication between the man and Officers Chris Brown and Heather Franc of the Stamford Police Department’s negotiation team, Fontneau was able to get on the roof, approach the man from behind, grab him and secure him to safety.
According to Conklin, the man was taken to the hospital for psychiatic evaluation shortly after and released Friday morning. He also said that the man has made similar threats in the past in Norwalk and has a “history of emotional problems.”
Canadian casino security officer receives honor for aiding police www.privateofficer.com
Warni Fernando, 28, was feted by his employer, city officials and members of the Nanaimo RCMP detachment for going to the officer’s aid.
Fernando, who works at the casino, was presented with the company’s Chairman’s Award of Merit by its president, Rod Baker, for his actions on May 12.
RCMP Insp. Al O’Donnell said: “We really appreciate Warni’s intervention that evening.”
Source:www.timescolonist.com
Kansas City man pleads guilty to bank robbery where security officer was killed www.privateofficer.com
The U.S. Attorney’s office says 24-year-old Thirplus Moose faces up to 25 years in prison under terms of a plea agreement. Moose pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy, armed bank robbery and a weapons charge.
Moose admitted he and another man robbed a United Missouri Bank branch in south Kansas City of more than $8,000 in early February 2006.
Moose admitted they returned to the bank two weeks later and shot the guard, Dwight Mayhugh, when they confronted him in a parking garage. The robbers drove off in Mayhugh’s car, and he died the following day.
Moose’s co-defendant is scheduled for trial later this month.
Drug smugglers use “homemade spike strips” against US Border Patrol www.privateofficer.com
LOS EBANOS, Texas July 10 2011- Two U.S. Border Patrol vehicles were disabled with homemade spikes Thursday as agents assigned to the Rio Grande City Station confiscated nearly a ton of marijuana.
The event occurred when agents patrolling the area, observed a white Chevrolet Suburban driving north. The driver of the Suburban made an abrupt turn and drove toward the river while the passenger was throwing homemade spikes in order to disable service vehicles. Two Border Patrol vehicles sustained flat tires as a result. The driver of the Suburban drove into the Rio Grande over a high embankment. Several boats were waiting below and picked up the driver and passenger and took them to Mexico.
“The reckless use of homemade spikes by these smugglers in an attempt to prevent us from seizing their contraband, put not only our agents in danger, but the public in general as well,” Chief Patrol Agent Rosendo Hinojosa said. “We will not be deterred by the desperate measures to which these criminal organizations are resorting. We will continue to protect this nation from all threats.”
Border Patrol agents assigned to the McAllen boat unit were called in to assist in recovering the narcotics from the submerged vehicle. In total agents seized more than 1,800 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $1.5 million.
If anyone has information regarding the manufacture and or deployment of these spikes, they are urged to contact the Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers at (956) 668-TIPS.
Garda Security fined $92,000 for not protecting security officer www.privateofficer.com
CALGARY Canada July 10 2011 — The vast majority of $92,750 in penalties levied against a national security company on Friday, for failing to ensure the safety of a female guard who was raped by an intruder at an unsecure construction site nearly five years ago, will go to a new program for safety training of lone workers.
Provincial court Judge Marlene Graham accepted the joint sentencing submission by Crown lawyer Alison McGill and Robbie Davidson, counsel for Garda Canada Securities Corp., which pleaded guilty to the Occupational Health and Safety Act charge.
The total amount includes a $5,000 fine and $750 victim fine surcharge, plus $87,000 for the Hazard Assessment Working Alone program at SAIT Polytechnic starting in September 2012.
“I like this program,” said the 39-year-old woman who was attacked by the man about 3 a.m. on Nov. 1. “I feel nobody will get hurt after this program is going. It will benefit everybody.”
Previously, the victim, who had been living in Canada for three years and had only been issued her security guard licence by Garda three weeks prior to the assault, told court in a victim impact statement she thought she was going to die.
“I was scared when I got there that night,” she recalled on Friday outside court. “There was no entrance. It was just covered with plastic. When I heard the noise, I was in the corner so he wouldn’t see me.”
McGill previously told the judge this is the first such prosecution under the OHSA in Alberta, and possibly Canada, where a company has been charged after an employee working alone was the victim of a criminal offence.
The victim was called by a supervisor to keep watch overnight at a Macleod Trail site where a Shoppers Drug Mart was under construction after a co-worker called in sick.
Graham said Garda’s primary negligence was failing to conduct a specific site assessment.
“In my view, this was very obviously a dangerous and unsafe site,” said the judge. “It was an outdoor site just off Macleod Trail. “There was an exit door at the back that was always locked. One wonders why you’d have an exit door if it’s always locked.”
Graham noted the front of the site was covered by an orange tarp flap that was unsecured. She was provided with a chair, but no means of protection from anyone who might venture on to the site.
“There was a high degree of probability an intruder might enter at night in winter, for warmth or to take construction material . . . who knows what else,” she said.
“It was also foreseeable that a criminal act could happen. It was patently unsafe and not addressed by Garda. It showed a high degree of negligence. (The victim) was affected profoundly by the sexual and physical assault.
“Garda is not to be prosecuted for the act of the intruder, but for its own negligence.”
Source:www.calgaryherald.com
Virginia police officer gets community service in fatal crash www.privateofficer.com
A judge ordered officer Joey G. Bennett Jr. to perform 40 hours of community service and pay court costs; a 30-day jail sentence was suspended. Circuit Court Judge Jerrauld C. Jones told the courtroom he found the connection between Bennett’s driving and the crash with Donnell Worsley “blurry at best.”
According to court records, Bennett and officer Derek Folston were driving their patrol cars near the Campostella Bridge in the early morning of July 25, 2010. The vehicles accelerated to respond to a nonemergency call. Folston’s vehicle struck Worsley near the 1600 block of Brambleton Ave. Worsley, 34, suffered severe head injuries and died two months later.
Prosecutor Megan Blancho told the court Bennett did not have his vehicle’s flashing lights or sirens on.
Bennett and Folston were originally charged with involuntary manslaughter, but prosecutors dropped the charges. Both officers are on administrative duty, a police spokeswoman said. Folston pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless driving and is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
Family and friends of Bennett and Worsley filled the courtroom Friday. Worsley’s family members declined to comment after the sentencing.
Jon Babineau, an attorney for Bennett, said the death was tragic but accidental. Bennett drove at least 20 mph over the speed limit before the crash but slowed down coming over the bridge, he said.
“It was an accident,” Babineau said. “It just happened.”
LAPD investigating $1million heist www.privateofficer.com
Los Angeles CA July 10 2011 Robbers broke through the roof of a South El Monte company, slipped down a rope, blindfolded and tied up employees and stole perhaps more than $1 million that had been destined for ATMs throughout the Los Angeles region, investigators said Friday.
“This is one of the biggest robberies we’ve seen this year, even compared to the jewelry heists,” said Lt. Kent Wegener of the County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau.
“It appears it has all the hallmarks of a well-planned robbery at this point,” he said.
About 7:30 p.m. Thursday, three robbers peeled back the roof of the Commonwealth International building in the 12300 block of Barringer Street. The company, owned and operated by current and former law enforcement officers, handles cash for hundreds of automated teller machines across the L.A. region.
Wegener said they dropped down a rope and wove their way through a complex of vaults and safe rooms inside the building.
They first jumped a manager, blindfolding him and binding his hands, Wegener said. They forced the manager to summon two other employees, who were also blindfolded and bound.
“They came upon the victims so fast, they say they never got a look at them. They just knew they were three men,” Wegener said.
The robbers took about 20 minutes dragging cash from the main vault out a side exit to a car, Wegener said. “Most of the cash was probably in small notes for ATMs,” he said.
Insurance assessors and auditors were working to determine the exact loss. None of the employees was injured in the robbery, investigators said.
A person associated with the company alerted the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s Temple Station at around 8:45 p.m. Commonwealth officials did not return calls Friday.
A sheriff’s forensic team on Friday dusted for fingerprints and searched for DNA on items the robbers may have come in contact with.
Wegener said the company had security cameras inside, but sources familiar with the investigation said the robbers may have accessed the equipment and removed any record of their presence.
“At this point, we don’t have any description,” Wegener said.
Source:LA Times
Security officers injured during “take over escape attempt at MS. juvenile detention center www.privateofficer.com
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi July 10 2011– Pascagoula police said up to six juveniles attempted a “take over” escape from the Jackson County Youth Court and injured two security officers in the process on Wednesday.
Police were notified by security officers that they “were being held against their will inside the complex, and informed that up to six juveniles were involved in the escape attempt,” according to a news release from Lt. James DeShannon Massey of the Pascagoula Police Department.
The incident occurred at 9:35 p.m., Massey stated.
“With the intake personnel’s assistance, responding Pascagoula patrol officers were able to make entry into the secured facility and restore order with minimal force,” he stated. “Officers assisted in placing the juveniles back in their individual cells.”
Two detention officers were injured and treated at Singing River Hospital, Massey stated.
The officers are employees of Mississippi Security Police, which has provided security at the facility since 1999, said Tony Best, vice president of Mississippi Security Police.
Best said three Mississippi Security Police employees — two men and one woman — were overpowered by the juveniles. The officers are not armed, he said.
The male employees were injured, he said.
Best said the juveniles were not armed.
There are security measures in place that are visible and public knowledge, and there are security measures that are not visible and shared only between MSP and Pascagoula police, Best said.
Best said a resolution to the incident “didn’t take long.”
Youth Court Judge Sharon Sigalas said through an assistant that she could not comment on the incident.
According to the assistant, “Anything that happened here is still under investigation and that she does not have any comment or she is not able to comment while there is an ongoing investigation.”
Bobby Knochel, an assistant district attorney in Jackson County, also confirmed the court incident is under investigation.
The court is located at 4903 Telephone Road in Pascagoula.
Source:gulflive.com
Bismarck police officer shot to death www.privateofficer.com
Bismarck police have not yet released any names.
The FOP website describes Kenner as a sincere and dedicated individual who will be remembered for his kind and gentle disposition and selfless service to others.
Police say two officers responded to the call about 11 p.m. and found a man sitting in a vehicle outside the house. As they approached the vehicle, the man shot one of the officers. The other returned fire, hitting the suspect.
Police say the officer later died at a hospital. The wounded suspect also was hospitalized.
