Archive
Mall security officers save man during heart attack www.privateofficer.com
Humble TX July 17 2011 J.D. Houston was shopping with his daughter at Deerbrook Mall last month when he suddenly felt ill and decided he should sit down for a moment.
“Next thing I knew, I fell down,” the 62-year-old Conroe resident remembers. “There was no warning, I had no pain in my chest or anything. I just fell.”
Houston later learned that he had suffered a heart attack, but he remembers nothing of the commotion that ensued after he collapsed on the floor. He just knows that thanks to the quick action by two mall security officers who rushed to the scene, he is alive today.
Humble Fire Department Assistant Chief Mike Legoudes said Sgt. Anthony Pate and Officer David Pate (no relation) are to be commended for their clear thinking and life-saving actions.
“They had a report of a man down at the Kids Footlocker in the mall. The two officers grabbed an AED device (Automatic External Defibrillator) and when they checked him over they realized he wasn’t breathing. They started CPR and hooked him up to the AED and started defibrillating the patient twice by the time our crews got there,” Legoudes said. “Their training paid off for Mr. Houston and his family. Deerbrook Mall should be proud to have such excellent responders on property.”
According to Legoudes, when a person’s heart stops and breathing ceases, the patient has a window of four to six minutes before a point of no return is reached and death occurs. The Humble Fire Department’s response time to the incident, he said, was a little more than four minutes that day, and without the officers’ intervention, Houston would likely have died.
“By the time someone realizes that there is an emergency, then to call 911, get an ambulance dispatched, the crew then gets out all its equipment and rushes far into the mall – by the time all this unfolds, several minutes pass,” Legoudes said. “And minutes mean life. Mr. Houston absolutely had his best chance of survival by someone getting there quickly and doing all the right things.”
Justin Roche, senior general manager at Deerbrook Mall, said he is proud of the 21 security officers stationed at the mall and the training they receive. AED devices have been installed at Deerbrook Mall since 1998, and currently there are a total of five dispersed through various locations inside and outside the mall.
“Everyone in our Security department has both CPR and AED certification, so each is able to react quickly and deliver the right care,” Roche said. “Because of these two officers’ quick response and the professional training of the officers, Mr. Houston will be back to shop with us another day.”
Sgt. Pate said the AED devices are routinely taken along to every incident at the mall, but this was the first time the device was actually utilized.
Houston, who had never before experienced heart problems, said he spent 10 days at Kingwood Medical Center Hospital and is currently recovering at home.
“I feel fine now. I have regular checkups and a heart monitor for the next three months. But everything is looking good,” he said. “This was completely unexpected. I never had a scare like this before. Being alive, I wouldn’t call it luck, I call it being blessed to have the right people there at the right time.”
Sgt. Pate urged area residents to take advantage of local courses that combine instructions of CPR and AED utilization, especially if there’s a child or an elderly family member.
“CPR has become really easy, now that mouth-to-mouth is no longer required and the chest compressions are considered more important,” he said. “And the AEDs are just awesome machines and very simple to use. The AED did everything until EMS arrived.”
Both officers said they were worried about the outcome of Houston’s ordeal.
“We’re just happy he’s okay,” Officer Pate said. “He scared us. We’ll be glad to see him come back here someday.”
Police charge Washington man with assaulting security officer www.privateofficer.com
Deputies responded to an apartment complex in the 10,000 block of Mount Baker Highway near Glacier Friday morning, after a security guard reported an assault. The guard was summoned by a woman in the complex who said that Brandon P. Smith had been saying and doing things that frightened her.
When the guard arrived, Smith allegedly attacked and tried to strangle him, though the guard was able to break free and call authorities.
Smith was spotted driving on Mount Baker Highway and pulled over. Smith allegedly became aggressive and demanded that a deputy shoot him, according to Sheriff Bill Elfo. For several minutes, Smith refused to get out of the car or cooperate. When he exited the car, he approached deputies aggressively and implied that he had a weapon. Deputies shot and hit Smith with non-lethal projectiles, and he ran. Deputies followed and were able to catch him.
Smith, 35, was booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault and resisting arrest.
Source:www.bellinghamherald.com
Shoplifter pulls a Taser on security www.privateofficer.com
Police say it happened just before 7:30 Friday night.
They say a 25-year-old man entered a store, grabbed some meat product and then exited the store without paying.
When the security guard confronted him, the suspect dropped the stolen items and pulled out a taser, before fleeing the area.
Police caught up with the suspect a short distance away and say he will face robbery and weapons related charges
Woman arrested for groping TSA agent www.privateofficer.com
PHOENIX AZ July 17 2011 (AP) — Authorities say a Colorado woman who allegedly groped a female Transportation Security Administration agent at Phoenix’s international airport is facing a felony count of sexual abuse.
Phoenix police say 61-year-old Yukari Mihamae is accused of grabbing the left breast of the unidentified TSA agent Thursday afternoon at an airport checkpoint.
TSA staff say Mihamae refused to be go through passenger screening and became argumentative before she squeezed and twisted the agent’s breast with both hands.
Police were called and say Mihamae admitted grabbing the TSA agent and continued to argue with officers before she was arrested.
Maricopa County jail officials say Mihamae was released from custody Friday. They couldn’t immediately provide any information about her case status.
Phoenix TV station KSAZ says Mihamae lives in Longmont, Colo., and is self-employed.
VA. DMV employee killed giving driver’s license exam www.privateofficer.com
It was the first time in DMV history that a crash during a driving test resulted in a fatality, a department spokeswoman said.
Shirley Martin, 56, was pronounced dead at 1:30 a.m. Friday morning at VCU Medical Center, said Williamsburg police Maj. Greg Riley.
Riley said the driver, whose name was not disclosed by police or by DMV, was headed south on Parkway Drive about noon Thursday when her white sedan ran off the road and crashed in a field.
Authorities responding to the report of the crash said the car hit a tree. The driver was taken to an area hospital. Rescuers had to cut off the roof of the car to remove Martin, who was flown to VCU Medical Center by helicopter.
Riley said that as of Friday evening, the driver had not been charged and that police are still investigating the crash.
DMV spokeswoman Melanie Stokes said Martin, who worked in the department’s Williamsburg customer service center, was conducting a road skills test, which tests a driver’s license applicant for knowledge and understanding of traffic signs, motor vehicle laws and safe-driving techniques.
“This is the first time one of our employees has died while administering a test,” Stokes said. “There have been accidents in the past, but never one that resulted in a fatality.”
She said the department had issued a statement to DMV employees mourning Martin’s death and saying the department awaits details of the investigation.
Stokes said that before administering a road skills test, a DMV employee checks the applicant’s vehicle for a valid safety inspection sticker and license plate, and for working brakes.
She said the pre-trip check gives the DMV employee the opportunity to assess the applicant’s communication skills and that the DMV employee can decline to administer the test if there is a problem with the vehicle or a communication problem.
UCONN shuttle bus driver arrested death of pedestrian www.privateofficer.com
Storrs CT July 17 2011 University of Connecticut Police have arrested the driver of a campus shuttle bus that hit and killed a university student on March 22.
Lukasz Gilewski, of Newington, turned himself in Friday at the UConn Police Department after learning about a warrant for his arrest.
Gilewski was charged with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle and failure to yield right of way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, according to an arrest report.
He has been released on $10,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court on Tuesday, July 26.
On March 22, David N. Plamondon, 20, of Westminster, MA, was walking at the intersection of Hillside Road and Alumni Drive around 8 p.m. when he was struck by a campus shuttle bus on the Storrs campus, police said.
Plamondon died due to the severity of his injuries, according to police.
After an investigation by the department with assistance from the Connecticut State Police truck squad/accident reconstructionists and witnesses, it was determined that Plamondon was walking in a pedestrian crosswalk at the time of the accident, police said.
Nightclub security officer gets broken jar in disturbance www.privateofficer.com
Medford Police officers responded to Shenanigan’s early this morning for a reported assault with an unconscious victim. Officers say that when they arrived, two male suspects fled the area on foot.
William Mulipola, Jr. was apprehended at the scene, but a second suspect managed to escape.
The unidentified victim was taken to a local hospital where he is being treated for a broken jaw.
Sausage factory worker dies after falling into machine www.privateofficer.com
Lawton OK July 17 2011 A sausage factory employee met a horrifying end after sliding feet-first into a meat grinder at an Oklahoma processing plant.
Michael Raper, 26, reportedly endured two hours of unimaginable agony Tuesday while co-workers mounted a frantic effort to extract him from the machine.
“He slipped and went into the machine. He was still conscious at the time,” Diane Ferris, the aunt of Raper’s fiancée, told Oklahoma City’s KFOR. “So I can imagine the agony he was in, and he lost both of his legs in this accident.”
Raper, a father of four, died of his injuries the following day.
The incident occurred at a Bar S Foods plant in Lawton, while Raper was cleaning the meat grinder, Bar-S said in a statement posted on KFOR’s Web site.
The processed meats manufacturer bills itself as the maker of the “#1 selling hot dogs in America.”
Local police and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are probing the incident.
Bouncer looses vision in eye after attack www.privateofficer.com
Police Chief Robert P. Frydryk said there was a “battle of the bands” inside the bar, and a “mosh pit” formed, which concerned the staff, as the patrons in the pit were dancing violently and throwing punches at each other.
The bouncer identified one of the dancers who was particularly aggressive in his moves, and that prompted a fight between the bouncer and patron, resulting in the patron jamming either his thumb or finger in the bouncer’s eyeball, Frydryk said. The incident was reported at 10:30 p.m.
“Because of the seriousness of the injury and because it was intentional rather than accidental, we have initiated a criminal investigation,” Frydryk said.
Frydryk said the bouncer may have lost his vision in that eye, and had to undergo emergency surgery.
DC firefighters put on city patrol duty www.privateofficer.com
WASHINGTON D.C. July 17 2011 Firefighters are being dispatched on late-night patrols to high-crime areas as deterrents and during the day to provide payday protection for residents enrolled in the city’s youth-jobs program, raising safety concerns for the “unarmed” firefighters.
The order was issued by the office of Mayor Vincent C. Gray to prevent problems like those last summer when participants in the Summer Youth Employment Program were targeted for muggings and to cut back on summer crime.
Lon Walls, spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services, said Wednesday the firefighters are not expected to serve as policemen, “but sometimes a uniform presence can be a deterrent.”
However, union officials question why the Gray administration would send firefighters to some of the city’s worst corners and perhaps put their safety at risk.
“They are going to send unarmed, untrained firefighters out into some of the most dangerous areas,” said police union Chairman Kristopher Baumann.
A Metropolitan Police Department email obtained by The Washington Times shows firefighters will be deployed at 14 spots across the city — sometimes until 4 a.m.
Among them are the 5600 block of Clay Street in Northeast, known for burglaries and robberies, and the corner of North Capitol Street and Florida Avenue in Northwest.
On the night of Jan. 19, a 33-year-old D.C. man was fatally shot on the hardscrabble corner while returning from the theater. Police said he was trying to help a woman and was shot.
“I’m concerned that this is a knee-jerk reaction to what is a serious problem that is clearly a police matter and not a fire department matter,” fire union President Edward C. Smith said.
Paul Quander, deputy mayor for public safety, said all D.C. government employees have a responsibility to look out for residents.
“We wanted to use our resources wisely and strategically,” he said of the deployment, which started three weeks ago. “We are not putting [firefighters] at any additional risk. I think it enhances their ability to connect with the community.”
Mr. Quander said the assignments will not take firefighters from their regular duties and that they will not act as police.
“If something takes place, they will use their radios or cellphone,” he said. “They will not take direct action.”
He declined to say how many firefighters will be deployed or verify the locations. He did say the police department selected the locations based on crime data.
Police officials declined to comment.
Having enough officers has been an ongoing problem for D.C. police officials as they often lose them to higher-paying agencies in and around the city.
The department employs about 3,850 officers, and officials have routinely testified about the need to hire hundreds more this year to offset an attrition rate that is expected to cut the force to 3,700 by next summer.
Wednesday was the first payday for residents, 14 to 21, in the summer employment program. Mr. Quander said one participant was mugged that morning.
In the first week of the program, two female participants reported sexual assaults at their job sites.
The program — which this year employs more than 14,000 residents in government and private-sector jobs for six weeks — was started in 1979 by Mayor Marion Barry and has had a history of problems, including mismanagement.
Under Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, the program was $30 million over budget in 2008, paying some nonresidents and others who never showed up to work. Last year, at least five participants reportedly were mugged on payday. Some were wearing T-shirts identifying them as part of the program.
Source:washington times
Infant, woman found stabbed to death at Alabama motel www.privateofficer.com
ALABASTER, Alabama July 17 2011– An infant between 3 and 5 months old and a woman are dead, and a man is in police custody following a stabbing at a motel in Alabaster shortly before noon.
Alabaster police took the man, who also was injured, to UAB Hospital in Birmingham.
The stabbings occurred in Room 11 at Shelby Motor Lodge, according to Deputy Police Chief Curtis Rigney. Although he has not been charged with a crime, Rigney said the man is in police custody.
Rigney said police responded to a domestic disturbance call at the motel, which is off U.S. 31, at 11:46 a.m.
The infant was taken to Shelby Baptist Medical Center, where the infant was pronounced dead. Rigney said he did not know the gender of the baby. The woman was flown by Lifesaver helicopter to UAB Hospital where she died.
Rigney said police are still investigating. “It appears everybody was staying in this room, but we don’t know what the relationships are.” He said police did not have identities on any of the victims.
Source:al.com
Washington state woman charged with trying to sell baby www.privateofficer.com
VANCOUVER, Wash. July 17 2011– A 36-year-old Vancouver woman has been arrested after investigators said she tried to sell her infant son at a Taco Bell.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office said Heidi Knowles — also known as Heidi Gasaway — approached a woman who was eating at a Taco Bell restaurant on Thursday, handed the woman her her 3-day-old son, and offered to sell the boy for $500.
The woman called 911, and investigators later found Knowles and her son at Kay’s Motel on NE Highway 99. She was arrested for outstanding warrants and booked into the Clark Co. Jail, where she is being held without the possibility of bail.
Knowles could face charges of attempted child selling/child buying. She is slated to be in court on Monday morning.
The boy was placed into protective custody pending the investigation.
Source:kgw
Paralyzed Ohio police officer released from hospital
SPRINGFIELD TWP, OH July 17 2011 – The Springfield Township police officer run down by a drunk driver is finally home from the hospital.
After 106 days in the hospital, Officer Mark Dodez was discharged on Thursday.
The family would like to thank everyone that has given and cared so much during this difficult time. Mark must still undergo extensive therapy several times a week and has a long road ahead of him.
The accident happened back in March, while Officer Mark Dodez was standing on Arlington Road in Springfield Township looking for evidence.
Officer Dodez suffered a spinal cord injury and is not expected to walk again.
The driver – 34-year-old Michael Plemons – is charged with OVI, aggravated vehicular assault and felonious hit-skip. Deputies say Plemons had a blood alcohol level of twice the legal limit.
Spource:WOIO
Security guard charged in theft from store www.privateofficer.com
According to an incident report filed on Friday, Jonathan Keith Poteat, was working at a Hot Spot on East Main Street, on Monday when a customer said Poteat was sleeping on the job.
A review of surveillance video showed Poteat taking a Bic lighter and a Black and Mild cigar without paying, before going outside to smoke.
Poteat was charged with breach of trust.
Source:www.wyff4.com
