Archive
Detroit homicide Sgt. Michael Martel killed in motorcycle accident www.privateofficer.com
Martel, 42, was traveling on his motorcycle westbound on Pointe Tremble Road, near Island Drive, about 12:30 a.m., when he left the roadway, according to Clay Township police.
Martel was taken to St. John River District Hospital in critical condition and then was transferred to Mt. Clemens Regional Medical Center.
On Sunday evening, Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens confirmed Martel’s death and said more information would be available today.
Hundreds morn courageous Indiana police officer www.privateofficer.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind.July 19 2011— A police officer killed while trying to serve an arrest warrant was remembered Monday as being as courageous in chasing suspects as he was funny and easygoing, and public officials lamented a promising public safety career cut tragically cut short.
Officer Brent Long, 34, a six-year veteran of the Terre Haute Police Department, was fatally shot July 11 while helping serve a warrant at a Terre Haute apartment. His K-9 partner, Shadow, was injured in the shooting but is recovering. The suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Dozens of the officers attending the funeral brought their police dogs, and they filed past Long’s flag-draped casket at Indiana State University’s Hulman Center for more than an hour before the service. The final salute came from members of Terre Haute’s K-9 unit and their dogs, including Shadow, who wore a blue muzzle to protect the jaw broken by the gunman’s bullet.
Police Chief John Plasse said Long made a lasting impression in his short time on the police force, where he also served as a member of the SWAT team and was trained as a sniper.
“There were no limits to what Brent would do on our department,” Plasse said. “Brent wore his badge proudly. He was a rising star who will never know just how bright he would become.”
Speakers described Long as a comedian with a mischievous smile, which earned him the nickname “Bean” — in reference to the British TV character played by Rowan Atkinson who rarely talked. But his easygoing nature belied an ambitious and courageous young man who was dedicated to public safety and worked tirelessly to serve his hometown.
Long spent a decade as a volunteer with the Honey Creek Fire Department, cleaning the station, waxing the fire trucks and testing hoses, Chief Jean Frankel said. But, she added, “he always wanted to be in the heat of the battle.”
Vigo County Sheriff Greg Ewing recalled seeing Long regularly when he was a security guard at Terre Haute South High School.
“I watched that young man grow as a snot-nosed freshman in high school to become an outstanding police officer with the city of Terre Haute,” Ewing said, fighting tears. He was a member of the wedding party when Long married Danielle Bailey in 1999.
“I am so happy that his dream of being a police officer finally came true,” the sheriff said.
Police officers said Long quickly established a reputation after joining the department.
Sgt. Terry John said Long’s narcotics work with Shadow over the past year — including seizures of more than 100 pounds of marijuana and 2 kilograms of cocaine — would have been a lifetime achievement for many officers. But Long, he said, “was just hitting his stride.”
“We should take great pride in knowing Shadow protected to the very end and that he gave as good as he got,” John said. Sgt. Todd Haller stood beside John on stage and placed his hand on his back while he fought back tears.
Shadow was released from a Purdue University veterinary clinic last week and will spend several weeks in rehabilitation with the K-9 unit before being retired and given to Long’s family.
“They were a tremendous crime-fighting team,” Assistant Chief Marc Eldred said.
Source:louisville courier-journal
Two off-duty California police officers die in plane crash www.privateofficer.com
Brian Hayes, 35, and Nicole Anderson, 32, were killed in the crash at Winslow-Lindbergh Regional Airport in Winslow, Ariz., Sunday morning. Hayes was a police officer in Anaheim. Anderson, his girlfriend, was an officer with the Simi Valley Police Department.
They were flying a single-engine, fixed-wing Mooney M20F airplane, which crashed during takeoff and rolled over.
Hayes had been a police Explorer and reserve officer before being hired full time by Anaheim in 1999. He was working patrol at the time of his death, according to a department statement.
Anderson had worked for the Simi Valley Police Department since 2003. During her career, she’d worked on the department’s crisis negotiation team and been a bicycle officer. Most recently, she’d been the department’s youth services officer, according to a Simi Valley police statement. She was given the department’s Meritorious Service Award in 2008 for her role in transitioning the department to paperless report writing, a massive project that required a year to implement.
A celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Simi Valley Police Department scheduled for Monday night has been postponed until Aug. 8 because of Anderson’s death.
Funeral services for both officers are pending.
Man in wedding dress runs onto Atlanta braves field during game www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta GA July 19 2011 A man in a wedding dress who invaded the pitch was the talk of either side after a game of Major League Baseball.
The oddly-dressed man jumped into the outfield in the bottom of eighth in the game between Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves.
The Braves fan landed on the outfield warning track and raised his arms in triumph. A pack of security guards immediately raced to the spot, tackled the offender, eventually put him in handcuffs and led him away as many of the more than 42,000 began cheering loaudly as he smiled back at them.
In the after-match press conferences, the man in the wedding dress was the centre of attention, although Nationals’ first baseman Michael Morse recounted a story about being on the field when a woman came into the playing area to sprinkle ashes.
“That was a pretty good open -field tackle, too (by security). I’m just wondering was he getting married, or is he going to the wedding or coming from it. I don’t know,” Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson said of the interruption.
Australia’s worst pitch invader and serial pest is Peter Hore, of Newcastle, who has disrupted numerous sporting events and the funerals of former INXS frontman Michael Hutchence and racehorse trainer T J Smith.
One of the most famous pitch invaders of modern times is Karl Power, who has played on Centre Court at Wimbledon, walked out to bat for England at Headingley during an Ashes Test and did the Haka during the warm-up for an England rugby match against Italy.
But his original and probably best-ever gag came when he managed to get into Manchester United’s team photo ahead of a Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in April 2001.
Security officer shot at during drive-by www.privateofficer.com
The guard said he was at Eighth Street and Boulevard Avenue about 10:35 p.m. when he saw a muzzle flash from a red sport utility vehicle, possibly a Ford Explorer, sheriff’s Lt. Jim Nolan said.
The round missed, but the guard ducked down instinctively, Nolan said. Deputies found one shell casing in the street
Youth escapes mall security handcuffed www.privateofficer.com
Yuba City CA July 19 2011
A teen returned to the Yuba Sutter Mall on Friday with the handcuffs he was wearing when he fled a security officer two days earlier and turned himself in, police said.
Police arrested the 16-year-old Yuba City teen at 1:13 p.m. on suspicion of battery, assault with a deadly weapon and petty theft, in relation to throwing a full can of soda at a security guard he did not like, said Sgt. Michelle Brazil. He was booked into juvenile hall.
The incident began Wednesday, when the boy approached a mall security officer and without any interaction or exchanging any words, threw a full can of soda at the guard.
The security officer took him into custody, and they went to the security office to call police.
But the boy fled the mall on foot — wearing handcuffs — and was not caught. Police responded to help search for the teen without success.
On Friday, the teen returned to the mall, flagged down a security officer and turned himself in. In a statement to police, the only explanation he would give for his actions is “he did not like that security officer,” Brazil said.
The misdemeanor battery and felony assault charges are related to the soda can and the misdemeanor petty theft charge is because he fled the mall wearing the handcuffs
Busted by Facebook- friends are watching www.privateofficer.com
Louisville KY July 19 2011 If you don’t want to do the time, stay offline. Or at the very least, don’t “friend” your probation officer.
Convicted of possessing methamphetamine and Ecstasy, Scott W. Roby learned that the hard way. The Louisville man had his probation revoked this month — and was sentenced to two years in prison — in part for violating conditions that required him to stay alcohol-free and out of bars and liquor stores.
Roby had invited his probation officer to be his friend on Facebook, then Roby posted pictures of himself drinking — including one in which he was holding a beer while posed next to “Buddy Bat,” the mascot for the Louisville Bats, said prosecutor Dinah Koehler.
In another Facebook post, according to court records, Roby asked: “Anyone wanna go get smashed tonight one last time before the end of the Earth?”
Judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the Kentucky Department of Corrections say that with increasing regularity, offenders on probation are losing their freedom or incurring other sanctions after posting pictures online of themselves clubbing, using “beer bongs,” posing with firearms or bragging about out-of-town trips they’ve made without their probation officer’s permission.
Louisvillian Donnie Lee Griffith Jr., 22, for example, who also was on probation, went to prison last year on theft and burglary convictions after posting a Facebook photo in which he was holding a jar of clear liquid over a caption that said, “Moonshine rocks and so do I!”
In another post, according to court records, he reported that he was “drinking like a fish.”
Chelsea Otto, also 22, got 60 days tacked on to her 1-year sentence for cocaine possession in 2009 after she boasted that she drank “like 20 pina coladas” during an unauthorized weekend jaunt to Clearwater, Fla.
In another post, she exclaimed, “We SHUT Hotel down!” referring to a 4th Street Live! nightclub.
Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Audra Eckerle said she’s revoked probation for two offenders in part for their Facebook posts in recent years, including one who brandished a firearm in violation of his probation rules
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Bill Adams, who prosecuted Otto, said he’s had a half-dozen cases in which offenders on probation incriminated themselves through social-media sites.
Probationers are required to stay away from alcohol, drugs and firearms and out of places that derive most of their revenue from alcohol sales.
The state doesn’t track revocations triggered by social-media postings, but Lisa Lamb, a Corrections Department spokeswoman, said officers have used social media heavily for four years, both to find absconders and to monitor offenders on probation.
One officer, Shannon Blalock, who works out of the department’s Murray office, does nothing but troll online and train other officers to do the same.
Blalock said some judges peruse social-media sites themselves, looking for violators.
Facebook indiscretions
Kentucky is not the only place where offenders are getting kicked off probation for implicating themselves online.
In Connecticut, according to press accounts, a woman convicted of killing a teenager while driving drunk had three years added to her sentence in 2009, in part because she was shown posing with alcohol in virtually every picture on her Facebook page — “worshipping at the altar of alcohol, debauchery and lewd behavior,” a prosecutor said.
The ABA Journal recently reported that the first thing some criminal-defense lawyers tell clients now is to shut down their Facebook accounts.
In Jefferson County, judges and lawyers say the stunning thing is that offenders often disclose their indiscretions online even knowing their probation officer is watching.
Griffith, for example, was thrown out of a pretrial diversion program after friending his officer, Olivia Payne, then posting photos of himself out of town and drinking at nightclubs. “Get a clue, strap on yo’ shoes and get your — to the Pink Door,” he said in one post.
When Jefferson Circuit Judge Susan Schultz Gibson gave Griffith a choice of shutting down his Facebook page — or continuing it with Payne still looking over his shoulder as his friend — he chose to keep it.
Then he posted a report saying he’d been arrested for drunk driving, which Payne read. That was the last straw for Gibson, who revoked Griffith’s probation and sent him to prison.
Why would somebody tell on himself in what amounts to an online confession?
“That is the $100,000 question,” said Louisville attorney John Dolan, who defended Griffith.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Ryane Conroy, who prosecuted him, suggested that it is a “cockiness that they won’t be held accountable.”
Other lawyers chalk up such cases to sheer stupidity.
Griffith, who was released on shock probation after serving about six months behind bars, didn’t respond to messages left on his Facebook page, which no longer shows him drinking.
Otto, who has moved to St. Louis, also didn’t answer messages left on her now-sanitized page.
Roby is in prison and his lawyer, Scott C. Cox, said he had no comment, other than to note that his client’s Facebook postings were only part of the reason his probation was revoked — as was true in some of the other revocations. Roby also was cited for failure to report to his probation officer and changing his address without notifying the officer.
The posting ‘high’
Experts on the psychology of social media, including Joseph Mazer, an assistant professor of communications at Clemson University, said it is so easy to post information online that the convenience “overrides a person’s ability to critically consider the reach of social networking sites.”
Kieron O’Hara, who studies issues of trust and privacy online as a senior research fellow at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, said, “Posting is such a ‘high’ that people will often ignore what they really know is their best interests.
“We shouldn’t underestimate how pleasurable and addictive some people find social networking” — and that in turn causes people to “give their privacy away so cheaply,” he said in an email.
Writing last month in a blog for the Houston Chronicle — “Facebook and the 5th Amendment” — former prosecutor Murray Newman said “bad posting decisions” are more prevalent among younger defendants, who seem to think they’ll be more popular among their peer group by showing how “thuggish” they are.
But Newman said Facebook confessions aren’t limited to the young and foolish.
“Drunk-driving defendants of all ages seem to enjoy taking pictures of themselves at closing time looking like Keith Richards on a bender,” he wrote.
In an interview, he said, “I tell clients to consider Facebook their own personal probation officer and that it will report you for the slightest violation.”
Civil libertarians seem to have no problem with corrections officials monitoring social-media sites.
“To the extent individuals voluntarily post information on social-networking sites that are accessible to others, the use of that information to establish a violation of probation or parole is likely to withstand any claims of invasion of privacy by the poster,” Bill Sharp, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky, said in an email.
He added, however, that courts must be careful to verify the defendant really was the poster. He cited a recent decision in which the Maryland Supreme Court held that a judge improperly admitted information from a social-networking site where the only evidence that the page belonged to a witness was that it contained his birth date and photograph.
In another recent Maryland case, a judge said photographs of a man on probation for a drunk-driving death — one showing him sitting next to a nearly full bottle of rum and another next to an empty bottle — didn’t on their own justify revocation, absent evidence he drank the alcohol, which he denied.
Still, Newman advised, “Just remember that because Facebook is fun and gives you the opportunity to act like a high-schooler again doesn’t mean that you necessarily should.”
Source:louisville courier journal
Lawsuit filed against patrol officer working security www.privateofficer.com
“I haven’t even been able to go back to the place since it happened,” Williams said. “I couldn’t go to the hospital, since I don’t have health insurance. It would just be another bill.”
Williams has filed a $2 million lawsuit against Forestville-based SPX Building Corp., which rents out the Knights of Columbus Hall and employed the deputies for security. In the case, which is scheduled for a jury trial July 25 in Prince George’s County Circuit Court, he claims charges of assault, battery false imprisonment and negligence.
Williams is not suing the Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff, because the deputies were acting as employees of the building owner, not the sheriff’s office, during the incident.
On July 11, 2010, Williams, a Baltimore resident, was leaving a party at the Forestville hall. He said he was talking to some friends from out of town when an off-duty Prince George’s County sheriff’s deputy, who was working security for the event, cursed and got into an argument with him.
After 20 to 30 minutes, Williams began to walk away, when he said the deputy, referred to as “Lt. Saunders” in the lawsuit, stepped into his way, while a second off-duty deputy, Cpl. Lee, shot him in the back with a Taser. Williams’ attorney, Jimmy Bell, whose office is in Bowie, said they did not have the first names of the deputies.
“[The first deputy] said some derogatory things to me, and I said some things back to her,” Williams said. “We continued to argue for a little while, but there was a distance between us, it wasn’t like we were arguing up close.”
Representatives for SPX Building Corp. declined to comment on the case.
Mark Spencer, the inspector general for the county sheriff’s office, confirmed that the two deputies named in the lawsuit are currently employed by his office, but pointed out that the deputies were not named as defendants. He said his office is conducting an internal investigation into the incident.
According to the lawsuit, Williams claims the deputies did not follow guidelines put forth by Maryland Attorney General’s Task Force on Electronic Weapons issued in December 2009.
“Officers should be permitted to use [electronic weapons] only when an individual poses an imminent threat of physical injury to themselves or others,” the guidelines say.
Williams also said that the deputy who Tased him pulled the metal barbs out of his skin himself, which is against the attorney general’s Taser recommendations that dictate that they should be treated as “a biohazard” and removed only by trained individuals.
Spencer said his office is aware of the recommendations for electronic weapon use.
“At present we are looking at all of our standards in terms of general orders and best practice standards,” Spencer said. “We are aware of the attorney general’s published standards and guidelines in the use of ECW weapons, but we don’t see them as mandates.”
Bell said he and his client filed a complaint with the Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff, but does not know if any action was taken as a result.
“What I do know is that a jury will hear the case on July 25, and we’ll let the chips fall where they may,” Bell said.
Spencer said he was unaware of an official complaint made to the sheriff’s office, but that an investigation was already launched when the office learned of the lawsuit.
Source:gazette.net
Man pulls knife on Nashville bouncer www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN July 19 2011 A man is behind bars charged with trying to cut a bouncer at a downtown strip club.
It happened around 1:30am at Deja Vu. Police tell us bouncers tried to remove a man who had passed out.
When they told him to leave, he got upset and pulled a knife. He tried to cut one of the bouncers, but only got his shirt.
The man is now being charged with Assault and Criminal Trespass.
San Antonio teacher arrested for exposing himself www.privateofficer.com
53-year-old Kelly Reed was arrested this morning after investigators say he exposed himself at Olmos Park.
District officials confirm Reed has been with San Antonio I.S.D. for the last 14 years, most recently working at Hawthorne Academy with children in pre-K through eighth grade.
S.A.I.S.D. spokesperson Leslie Price says the district has had no prior issues with Reed and he has no criminal history.
Price says Reed was immediately put on administrative leave following news of his arrest. Reed is charged with indecent exposure.
Source:Fox29
Knightdale NC police officer shoots wife, commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
KNIGHTDALE NC July 19 2011 — Police on Monday identified the couple involved in an attempted murder-suicide.
Police said Richard Lee Roberts Jr., 41, shot his wife, Chaila Janai Diaz, 37, twice in the torso about 4 p.m. Saturday in a home on the 200 block of Hope Valley Road.
Roberts then turned the gun on himself.
Diaz was taken to WakeMed in Raleigh with minor injuries, where she remained in stable condition on Monday, Shawn Brown, Knightdale’s police chief, said in a news release.
Roberts was found dead from a gunshot wound to his head inside a bedroom when police arrived on the scene shortly after 4:10 p.m.
A 14-year-old girl was also at the couple’s home during the incident, police said. Police did not identify the girl.
Knightdale police have completed their investigation, Brown said.
“We still have no idea what prompted such violence,” he said. “It’s a tragedy that Ms. Diaz, her three children and the community has to suffer through something so horrific.”
Police said they hadn’t received any complaints about Roberts or domestic violence at the home prior to Saturday’s incident.
This eastern Wake County town is usually pretty quiet, but violent crime has recently increased. Roberts’ attempt to kill his wife was the second attempted murder in Knightdale this year.
In January, a 17-year-old Knightdale boy was shot in the head while walking on a sidewalk in the Laurens Way subdivision. He survived.
In January 2010, the manager of a Domino’s pizza was beaten to death with a baseball bat. Police said it was the only murder ever to occur in the town’s limits.
Source:www.newsobserver.com
Late bet at casino leads to woman’s arrest www.privateofficer.com
Bethlehem PA July 19 2011 Pennsylvania State Police have accused a 48-year-old New York woman of trying to bilk the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem out of $2,000 by placing a late bet, according to a news release.
Aizhen Liu was playing baccarat early Saturday morning and plunked down $2,000 after the winner was called, police said.
The dealer suspected that something was amiss and summoned casino security, police said. Security footage allegedly shows Liu placing the bet.
Liu is charged with theft by deception and was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.
source:leighvalley live
Man runs onto NJ airport tarmac with knife www.privateofficer.com
Thirty-nine-year-old Xiang Xun Shao of Manhattan was charged with defiant trespass and a weapons offense after the incident Saturday night.
He was later taken to a hospital and was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.
A spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, says the man was initially seen walking around near a gate where vehicles access the tarmac area. The spokeswoman says he then jumped over a retractable metal barrier and briefly ran onto the tarmac before being caught near Terminal C.
No planes were delayed as a result.
Source:Washington Post
Bartenders, security, 23 underage patrons arrested www.privateofficer.com
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. July 19 2011- Two bartenders, a bouncer and 23 underage patrons face charges after a raid by state investigators targeting underage drinking in New Brunswick.
The bartenders at the Scarlet Pub were charged with selling alcohol to underage patrons, while the bouncer was charged with aiding people under the legal age to consume alcohol.
Twenty-two people were charged with underage drinking , including four who were also charged with presenting fake IDs , while another patron was charged only with presenting a fake identification. All 23 are from New Jersey and range in age from 17 to 20.
The pub is not far from the Rutgers University campus, and Wednesday’s raid came as part of the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s College Initiative enforcement program.
Source:Philly.com
Off-duty Philadelphia cop arrested for assaulting AC officer www.privateofficer.com
The officer who was allegedly assaulted was trying to move Rosado and five other men with him, including the off-duty Philly cop, out of the casino about 3:15 a.m. because they were being disorderly, police said.
The men made threatening statements to the cop and Rosado punched him in the face, police said.
Rosado, who had won a fight at Bally’s earlier that night, and his five companions were charged with aggravated assault on police and related offenses.
The off-duty Philly cop who was arrested was identified in reports as Officer Eliezer Morelas.
A Philadelphia Police spokeswoman did confirm that a city cop was arrested in Atlantic City early Saturday and that Internal Affairs is investigating the incident, but she declined to identify the officer
Source:philly.com
Chicago nighclub security arrested for assault on police www.privateofficer.com
It happened about 2 a.m. at 2109 S. State St., Reggie’s Rock Club, according to Central District police Lt. Richard Guerrero.
Police initially responded to a person who had fallen and struck their head but when they got there, Alonzo Dilworth, who works security at the club, “became impatient and upset and slapped an officer’s hand,’’ said the lieutenant .
A 10-1 — an emergency call for police response — was called and Dilworth was placed into custody.
Twenty-five year-old Dilworth, of 85th and Halsted, was charged with three counts of battery and one count of obstructing the police, according to Guerrero. All charges are misdemeanors.
Nightclub security officer shot during ID check www.privateofficer.com
Anchorage AK July 19 2011 It began as a routine ID check at an Anchorage nightclub and ended with two men in the hospital with gunshot wounds.
Early Sunday morning, Anchorage police responded to a shooting outside of Platinum Jaxx, a nightclub at the corner of Sixth Avenue and I Street in downtown Anchorage, at 3:19 a.m.
Witnesses said a man who was trying to get into the club got upset when security staff wouldn’t let him in without proper ID, resulting in a “verbal dispute,” according to police.
The man, later identified as Aaron Cook, returned with ID in hand a few minutes later.
Platinum Jaxx security said that his presence would be “disruptive” to the club given the argument that had occurred with staff just moments earlier. Cook was denied entrance.
He left the club, but returned with a pistol and shot a bouncer in the leg outside of the nightclub.
The bullet passed through the bouncer’s leg, striking an unidentified club patron in the hip. Both victims were taken to a hospital for treatment; neither injury is considered life threatening.
Cook, the suspect, then fled the scene in a Chevy Impala with three other people; police found the car unoccupied several hours later.
The 14-hour manhunt ended when Aaron Cook turned himself in to Anchorage police between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. later that day. Cook’s friends encouraged him to give himself up to police after watching media reports that he was an active suspect in the shooting.
Two felony warrants were issued for Cook’s arrest on two counts of first-degree assault, misconduct involving a weapon and reckless endangerment.
His bail has been set at $30,000 with a court-approved third-party custodian required for release,
Source:ktva
PR police officer gunned down in robbery www.privateofficer.com
Puerto Rico July 19 2011 A police officer in Puerto Rico has been killed during an attempted robbery in which his father, also an officer, was injured.
Police say 29-year-old Luis Gomez Crespo was shot several times while standing outside a restaurant Friday afternoon in the southern coastal city of Patillas.
Police say he died at the hospital. They say his father, 47-year-old Luis Gomez Rodriguez, was shot once and is recovering. A third man also was injured.
It is unclear what prompted the shooting. No one has been arrested.
Police say 611 people have been reported killed this year, compared to 516 in the same period last year. The island of 4 million people reported its second-worst year for homicides in 2010 with more than 955 deaths
Bakersfiled security officer murder goes unsolved www.privateofficer.com
Around 9 p.m. on July 18, 2010, deputies were called out to Mercado Latino in East Bakersfield to reports of a shooting.
A security guard from one of the restaurants, identified as Francisco Flores, 34, was shot multiple times in the parking lot of the business.
According to the sheriff’s department, Flores asked one of the men to leave a restaurant earlier in the evening because he had become belligerent.
The man left and returned about an hour later with a group of men who then fired at the security guard.
The security guard was armed but it’s unknown whether he was able to fire his gun. Throughout the next several weeks, homicide detectives said, they were able to identify three people in connection with the killing.
On Aug. 10, 2010, detectives were able to obtain no-bail arrest warrants charging murder and conspiracy for Jesus Aragon, Jose Torres and Juan Vasquez.
On Aug. 20, 2010 Friday, Aragon was arrested on narcotics charges by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He is currently in custody in Los Angeles on narcotics charges and is also being held on the no-bail arrest warrant charging murder and conspiracy in connection to the security guard case. The other two men are still at large.
If anyone recognizes Aragon and has information regarding his involvement or participation in the shooting, please contact the Kern County Sheriff’s Office at 661-861-3110 or Secret Witness at 661-322-4040.
Torres, 33, is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds. He is said to have brown hair, brown eyes and his last known address is 2806 Potomac St. Vasquez, 18, is 5 feet 8 inches tall and 150 pounds. He is said to have brown hair, brown eyes and his last known address is 2040 Robinson St.
Authorities said both men should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. They should not be approached. If you have information about their whereabouts, please contact the Kern County Sheriff’s Office at 661-861-3110 or Secret Witness at 661-322-4040.
source:kero.com
Arizona sheriff arrests 28 illegal immigrants in bread factory raid www.privateofficer.com
Mesa AZ July 19 2011 At least 28 arrests were made at a Mesa bread factory after the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the bakery around 11 a.m. Thursday.
Officials said 31 people are suspected of being in the country illegally and that they had used false identification documents, mainly Social Security cards, to gain employment at the Alpine Valley Bread Company, near Country Club Drive and Southern Avenue.
“These investigations zero-in on people who have provided false identification,” Arpaio said. “It’s a class 4 felony.”
Approximately 50 to 60 employees were working inside the bakery when the raid occurred, and as of 3:00 p.m., the Sheriff confirmed 28 arrests had been made. The Sheriff’s Office is still investigating but believes 26 of those people are in the country illegally. The other two arrested are U.S. citizens with outstanding warrants, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office had been investigating the factory for the past two-and-a-half months. Arpaio declined to comment on how the agency was tipped off to the factory.
The agency’s raids have drawn mixed criticism from citizens across Arizona.
One individual driving by the factory yelled profanities at Arpaio as others shouted in support.
A Tempe man brought his 8-year-old son to the scene as an educational opportunity.
“This is something that I wanted him to see and learn from,” said Mark Calderon.
Arpaio reiterated several times that the raids targeted identity fraud, and denied that he was racially profiling anyone.
“We’re number 1 in the nation for false identification, and that’s who we’re arresting,” he said. “All I do is enforce the law.”
The Rev. Magdalena Schwartz, an immigrant-rights activist and pastor, drove to the factory to address the sheriff.
“We need immigration reform,” she told Arpaio. “We need your help.”
According to Arpaio, people opposed to the raids should contact lawmakers. It’s unclear whether or not the employers at the bread company will face any charges.
“We have to prove employers know fully and willingly hired them,” Arpaio said.
Arpaio said his office has cited only three employers in the 48 business raids it has made over the last three years.
“I think I’m doing something for the president and the economy since we have a big unemployment,” Arpaio said.
None of the individuals arrested have yet been identified. Check back with azcentral.com for updates.
source:tucson citizen
Four charged with $10,000 theft from NJ mall www.privateofficer.com
Police were called to the mall by Lord & Taylor security on July 13 to investigate a suspected shoplifting.
Security guards observed Abraham German, 32, of Guttenberg, stacking jeans near the front of the store.
He was apprehended by Freehold Township police on his way to the parking lot.
While on the scene, police saw a suspicious van speed through the mall parking lot, hit another vehicle, and continue on with a damaged tire that was nearly in flames, police said.
Three individuals then exited the vehicle, during which police observed a large amount of merchandise and anti-theft devices inside the vehicle.
The officers apprehended the three individuals, including Santos J. Umanzor Alvarez, 21, of West New York, and two juveniles.
Umanzor Alvarez, an undocumented alien, intially provided a false name to police. The police also found an additional $5,891 worth of merchandise from Macy’s.
Police said the four suspects worked in conjunction with each other to steal the merchandise.
German is charged with shoplifting, receiving stolen property, employing a juvenile to commit commercial retail theft, and conspiracy to commit retail theft. He is being held on $50,000 bail.
Umanzor Alvarez is charged with receiving stolen property, employing a juvenile to commit commercial retail theft, conspiracy to commit retail theft, posession of an anti-theft device, and providing false information to police. He is being held on $53,500 bail.
The juveniles were charged and released to their guardians.
Source:nj.com
Buffalo man given prison for impersonating police www.privateofficer.com
James Lewis, 47, of Alma Street, dressed as a Buffalo police officer and claimed to be a high-ranking officer, District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said.
Lewis’ company provided security guards for local businesses. A State Police investigation revealed Lewis held falsified licensing documents. He had been barred from being an armed security guard because of his criminal record. Erie County Judge Michael D’Amico sentenced Lewis on second-degree criminal impersonation and third-degree possession of a forged instrument convictions.
