Archive
VA woman accused of killing man she met on Craigslist www.privateofficer.com
A 24-year-old Culpeper woman has been accused in the stabbing death of a 53-year-old Florida man police say she met on Craigslist.
Latoya Korren Jordan faces a first-degree murder charge after being taken into custody Thursday at a home in Fountain, Fla., in connection with the death of Daniel Stuart Somerson.
Deputies found Somerson’s decomposed body in his Fruit Cove, Fla., home this month, according to the St. John and Bay County sheriff’s offices.
Investigators said Jordan admitted fatally stabbing Somerson. At the time of her arrest, she was staying with another man in his 50s she met on Craigslist.
The victim had been deceased for a period of time when deputies responded to his home to check on him July 8. Dental records were needed to identify Somerson. The cause of his death was multiple stab wounds, Florida authorities said.
Somerson met Jordan at the end of May, picked her up and returned with her to his home, police said. According to news reports, deputies said the two were living together when an argument led to the killing.
Authorities said Jordan stayed at the victim’s home for an undetermined period after his death, when she met the second man.
Authorities said that as detectives tracked her movements, it was learned Jordan used many names when communicating online with men. The investigation further revealed the suspect had used Craigslist to seek other men with whom to live before Somerson’s death and at least four others since she left his home. Investigators said the arrangements were platonic.
sorce-rtd.com
Houston man engages security-police in fire fight www.privateofficer.com
HOUSTON TX July 25 2011 – Charges have been filed against a man who allegedly shot at security guards before engaging in a fire fight with an HPD officer in east Houston on Saturday.
Jose Albert Hernandez, 23, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault of a peace officer. Hernandez remains on the run.
Police said Hernandez approached Club Sofia in the 1300 block of Sheffield around 6:30 a.m. and pointed a rifle at two security guards.
Hernandez exchanged gunfire with the guards, who were not hit. They called Houston police to the scene.
An officer arrived to the parking lot and, as the security guards were telling him what happened, Hernandez drove by in a maroon Lincoln.
Police said the officer then chased Hernandez until he lost control and crashed in the 1600 block of Dunaway near Strick.
Hernandez got out of the car holding a rifle and pointed it at the officer. The officer told him to drop the gun, but the suspect refused.
Police said the officer then fired a shot at Hernandez, who fled into nearby woods.
It is not believed the suspect was hit.
Two other people in Hernandez’s vehicle were taken in for questioning.
Anyone with information on Hernandez’s whereabouts is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
Source-khou.com
Four killed-13 shot overnight in Chicago www.privateofficer.com
Chicago IL July 25 2011 Four people were slain and at least 13 others wounded in separate overnight shootings in the city, officials said.
The first of the four homicides was the shooting of a 53-year-old woman about 6:20 p.m. on the 5800 block of West Thomas Street in the city’s Austin neighborhood on the West Side.
According to preliminary reports, the woman, later identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office as Robin Winston of the 1100 block of North Menard Avenue, was shot in her chest and abdomen and taken in critical condition to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. She was pronounced dead at 6:52 p.m., according to a spokesman for the medical examiner.
The second homicide occurred about 8 p.m. Saturday night in the 400 block of East 74th Street in the Park Manor neighborhood on the South Side, police said. Floyd Peterson, 32, of the 7300 block of South Eberhart Avenue, was pronounced dead 12:31 a.m. this morning at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the medical examiner.
Peterson was walking on a sidewalk when he got into a verbal altercation with three individuals, police said. Peterson walked away, but one of the individuals he was arguing with got on a bicycle, rode up to Peterson, pulled out a gun and shot him in the abdomen, police said. Peterson was in critical condition when he was taken to Christ hospital.
The third homicide occurred about 10:48 p.m. Saturday in the city’s Stony Island Park neighborhood. Two men, ages 22 and 40, were standing in a yard while attending a party in the 8200 block of South East End Avenue when someone came out of a gangway and began shooting, police said.
The 22-year-old, later identified by the medical examiner as Sean Avery of the 8200 block of East End, suffered a gunshot wound to his abdomen and was taken in serious condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 3:35 a.m.
The second victim suffered a graze wound to his toe and was treated on the scene, police said.
The fourth homicide occurred about 3 a.m. this morning in the 4900 block of South Wolcott Avenue in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side, police said. Beto Rodriguez, 28, of the 4900 block of South Wolcott, was pronounced dead at 6:40 a.m. at the Stein Institute, according to the medical examiner’s office.
In other overnight shootings:
About 8 p.m. Saturday, a man described as in his 30s was shot in the right shoulder in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. That shooting happened about 8 p.m. on the 3700 block of West Grand Avenue, police said. The man was taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, but there was no immediate information available about his condition, police said.
A 19-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the leg about 12:30 a.m. today in the 300 block of East 60th Street in the Washington Park neighborhood on the South Side, police said. He was treated and released from the University of Chicago Medical Center.
About 1 a.m. this morning in the 3600 block of West Lawrence Avenue in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side, two men were shot by someone in a vehicle, police said. A 30-year-old man was hit in the facial area and was transported to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center; his condition was not available. A 21-year-old man suffered a graze wound to his head and a wound to his arm; his condition stabilized after being transported first to Swedish Covenant Hospital and then to Illinois Masonic.
At 1:27 a.m. today, a 27-year-old man was walking on a sidewalk in the 11100 block of Homewood Avenue in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side when he was shot in the head by another man, according to a new release from Chicago police News Affairs. the victim was transported to MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue island where his condition had stabilized.
At 1:33 a.m. today, a 17-year-old male suffered gunshot wounds to his legs after hearing shots while he was walking on a sidewalk in the 1300 block of North Mayfield Avenue in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side, according to a police news release. The victim was taken in good condition to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park.
About 2:15 a.m. today, a 20-year-old man was shot in the arm in the 5700 block of South Winchester Avenue in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, police said. He was treated and released from Holy Cross Hospital.
A 16-year-old boy was in critical condition at Storger Hospital after being ahot in the face about 3 a.m. this morning in the 300 block of East Garfield Boulevard in the Washington Park neighborhood on the South Side, police said.
About 5 a.m. today, a 25-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the leg in the 12300 block of South Wentworth Avenue in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side, police said. No other information was available.
A little after 5 a.m. today, a 24-year-old male was shot in the leg in the 1700 block of Keystone Avenue in the Hermosa neighborhood on the Northwest Side, police said. He was taken to Stroger, where his condition had stabilized.
Three men got into an argument about 5:30 a.m. today in the 5100 block of West Monroe Street in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side when one of the men pulled out a gun and shot the other two, police said. Both victims were taken to Loretto Hospital. One, 39, was in fair condition with a gunshot wound to the leg; the other, 27, was in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the chest.
No one was in custody for any of the shootings. Police detectives were investigating.
Police make several arrests at Westfield Trumball mall www.privateofficer.com
Trumball CT July 25 2011 Edwin Gomez, 21, of Gurdon Street, Bridgeport was arrested following a reported domestic violence incident at the Westfield Trumbull Mall. Police said he approached a former acquaintance at the mall and punched him in the nose. He also allegedly punched the car in which the alleged victim rode.
Gomez then fled but was later located and arrested on charges of third-degree criminal mischief, second-degree breach of the peace, third-degree assault and two counts of second-degree threatening.
The alleged victim was treated at a local hospital, police said.
Gomez’s bond was set at $5,000 bond.
Also at the mall, Tommy Myers, 42, of Boston Avenue, Bridgeport, is was arrested for allegedly threatening a mall employee.
Police said Myers made threats and began cursing at mall security when they intervened. He was combative until he was arrested, police said.
Myers is charged with interfering with police, second-degree breach of the peace and threatening.
Car show in Washington turns deadly www.privateofficer.com
The rest of the parking lot looked like a ghost town covered in yellow and red crime tape.
Whether it was one suspect or many, whoever shot up a strip mall car show in Kent around 4:15 p.m. Saturday escaped in the ensuing chaos.
“There were a couple hundred people and everyone was just kind of running away,” said Barbara Belk, manager of a nearby restaurant. “A lot of cars were getting out as fast as they can. It was a car show with a lot of old cars and people looked like they wanted to get their cars out.”
“I just laid down… when I saw all the people running away,” said car show participant Alejandro Lara, “I just heard the shots, boom boom boom boom.”
The shooting happened outside the Des Moines Goodwill in the 23000 block of Pacific Highway. Hundreds of people were gathered for a car show when a fight broke out and that ended up with gunfire.
“The scene being so large,” said Kent Police Sergeant Jarod Kasner, “there’s a lot of information to sift through.”
Because part of the shopping center is considered within the city of Kent, Kent Police are leading the investigation.
Seven victims were transported to multiple hospitals. One person declined treatment. The rest apparently self-transported to nearby medical centers, said investigators. The extent of the victims’ injuries was not immediately released, but are said to be non-life threatening.
Business owners in the area were asked to close while police investigated. Misa Nguyen with ProNails Salon said about 15 people in the store crammed into their two bathrooms when they heard the gunshots.
“At first I thought it was fireworks, but it was actually gunshots because I saw so many people scattering around outside,” Nguyen said.
Officers from Kent, Des Moines and the King County Sheriff’s Office were on the scene.
nwcn
Six people killed-four others shot at Texas birthday party www.privateofficer.com
GRAND PRAIRIE TX JULY 25 2011 — Six people were killed and at least four were injured in a mass shooting during a family birthday party at a Grand Prairie roller rink Saturday evening.
The shooting at Forum Roller World, 1900 S. Great Southwest Parkway, occurred when a family member drew a pistol during what apparently started as a fight between a husband and wife, police Chief Steve Dye said.
The gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“It was an argument. The shooter had gotten into here at a private birthday party,” said John Brimmer, Grand Prairie police spokesman. “It escalated to the point where he pulled a gun and started shooting.”
The ages and identities of the victims were not released Saturday evening. The victims were Vietnamese, Brimmer said. None were children.
The shooting call came in at 7:10 p.m. The first officer arrived about 90 seconds later, he said. “It just started raining police,” Brimmer said.
Once four or five officers arrived, they went in, he said. By then, the shooting had stopped.
Aaron Feldt of Grand Prairie was standing across the street at Forum Bowl when he saw family members of the shooting victims run out of the rink.
“I saw family coming across the street looking panicked,” said Feldt, standing across from the rink with other stunned bystanders. “They had children along with some adults. You could tell there was a sense of urgency and panic in their eyes.
“There’s just no cause for this,” he said. “It’s real unfortunate.”
Dye said his department was working to notify the victims’ next of kin. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their family,” he said.
Brimmer said all witnesses were taken to police headquarters to be questioned. Crisis counselors were there to help.
“We’re going to assist the family and anybody else who attended to help them overcome this terrible situation,” he said.
Witnesses told police that the gunman had rented the roller rink for the party. It was decorated for the occasion.
Police cordoned off Great Southwest Parkway in front of the rink. Police cars and a mobile command unit were shining lights onto the building late Saturday as officers picked over the scene and investigators moved in and out of the building.
The rink has been in an area of warehouses for about 35 years. Its light brown stone and metal-sided exterior is topped by a trapezoidal roof.
At 9:30 p.m., bodies were still inside the roller rink as detectives investigated.
“This was a private party; there were no other patrons inside,” Brimmer said. “Everyone who was shot was attending the private party.”
Dye said police did not know how many people were inside the rink at the time of the shooting.
“We’re still working all the numbers and interviewing quite a few witnesses,” he said.
Pam McDonald of Grand Prairie, 47, lives a few blocks from the rink and said she goes there about once a month.
“I’m shocked, really shocked that something like this would happen,” she said. “It’s so close by.”
Byron Raspberry of Grand Prairie lives close to the rink, which is near Interstate 30 and State Highway 360, and came to the scene after hearing about the shooting.
“This is sad, man,” said Raspberry, who has children ages 4 to 15. “My kids come up here a lot. We come all the time.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “I don’t feel safe at all.”
Chaos erupted inside a crowded tribal casino leaving 4 dead www.privateofficer.com
Auburn WA July 25 2011 Chaos erupted inside a crowded tribal casino in Auburn early Sunday morning when a 42-year-old man walked onto the dance floor and opened fire with a handgun, shooting his estranged wife, her male dance partner and her sister, according to police.
At least four other people suffered less serious injuries, either from gunshots or in the panic that ensued, said Auburn police Cmdr. Mike Hirman.
The suspect, a Covington man, was arrested and is expected to be booked Sunday into the King County Jail for investigation of attempted homicide. Charges could be filed as early as Monday, he said.
The man’s neighbors in Covington described him as a quiet man who had recently lost his job. They said his wife had left him in the past year and took the couple’s four children.
The shooting occurred about 1:30 a.m. on the dance floor at Club Galaxy, a nightclub at the Muckleshoot Casino.
Police Cmdr. Jamie Sidell said the alleged shooter’s estranged wife “was in the company of another male. Both were dancing, both were out there on the dance floor.”
The suspect, he said, “went up there with a purpose, so we have to assume at this point he was looking for the female victim in this case.”
After shooting the woman and her dance partner, the gunman then fired multiple rounds inside the nightclub, Sidell said.
Detectives said the gunman was tackled by casino security officers. An off-duty Auburn police officer, who was working at the casino, placed him under arrest.
The four most seriously injured victims were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and three others were taken to the Valley Medical Center in Renton. Valley Medical Center spokeswoman Kim Blakely said the three individuals were “observed and released” after being taken to the hospital’s emergency room.
“Nobody was injured badly enough that they required treatment,” she said Sunday afternoon.
Susan Gregg, spokeswoman for Harborview, said two of the victims brought to the Seattle hospital were in serious condition Sunday and the other two were in satisfactory condition. She said the victims are three women, ages 34, 39 and 28; and a 29-year-old man.
Sidell said the suspect is expected to be transferred to the King County Jail and would have an initial court appearance Monday.
Police searched his home and detectives were interviewing the suspect, Hirman said.
The man’s neighbors in Covington described him as a quiet man who had recently lost his job. They said his wife had left him in the past year and took the couple’s four children.
They said police had arrived at the house — occupied by the suspect and two or three other men — early Sunday morning.
The Seattle Time routinely does not identify suspects until criminal charges are filed.
One neighbor, Rebecca Wells, 30, who lives across the street from the small-beige home at the end of a cul-de-sac, said the men who lived there mostly kept to themselves.
Wells said police had responded to the house more than once in the past year. She said the man had been depressed since he underwent surgery and was unable to find work.
His wife, she said, supported the family by working at a local grocery store.
“He seemed like he was down in the dumps, but didn’t seem to be at that point of rage,” said Wells. “We thought he was depressed but that he would get back on his feet. I never would have thought he’d do something like that.”
Auburn police completed their investigation at the casino early Sunday morning, Sidell said. Detectives now have to talk to a large number of witnesses, he said.
“What I’m hearing is that there were a lot of people there who heard shots and saw people falling. There’s a lot of investigation that needs to be done,” Sidell said
SOURCE Seattle Times
Indiana police officer has sex in public pool while children watch www.privateofficer.com
Connersville IN July 25 2011 Well, to be fair, there has been a heat wave sweeping across the country. And have you ever tried having sex in the sweltering heat? It’s awful. Sticky flesh slapping up against sticky flesh, crevasses you never knew you had oozing a salty, stingy serum that smells faintly like cured bacon and apple cider vinegar. Really, it’s awful.
But when reserve police officer Myron Helms decided to avoid all that and keep cool as he heated things up in Roberts Park Family Pool in Connersville, Indiana last weekend, he gave no regard to his fellow swimmers. In other words, he nonchalantly had sex in the public pool as unassuming little kids swam past. Which resulted in the 39-year-old and, since he obviously wasn’t having sex alone, his 40-year-old partner Victoria Cross being arrested on public indecency charges.
According to reports, the couple allegedly had sex for 30 minutes in the community pool, as swimmers floated by and sun bathers soaked up the sun. Mind you, some of these swimmers and sunbathers were children. So of course people complained to the pool manager, Cindy Schwab, who broke up the couple’s little love-swim. But when Cross moved away from Helms, Schwab got an eyeful of his penis.
Authorities were called and issued Helms and Cross no-trespass orders at the scene.
“We’ve tried to make this a family place and it’s not a family place when you’re coming, doing lewd acts like that,” Connersville Sports and Activies Director Daryl Drew said.
As soon as the couple was out of the pool workers recycled the ‘whole water’ system, and put in fresh chemicals.
Eyewitness Brian Davison called the act ‘disgusting,’ because, well, it was. Two mid-lifers having sex in a public pool. Yep, disgusting. But not as disgusting as doing it in the sweltering heat.
“I’ve seen a lot of things, but this was a little bit more than what we would ever expect,” Davison said.
Helms, who has been a part-time officer with the neighboring Laurel Police Department for several years, has been suspended without pay pending the investigation.
Canada hospital issues nurses panic alarms www.privateofficer.com
Assiniboine RHA CEO Penny Gilson said personal panic alarms for nurses should be installed at the Hamiota health centre as a pilot project by early August — just before the new regulations take effect Aug. 31..
The new rules require health-care employers, and employers in other sectors, to implement measures to prevent violence against employees.
The changes will also require violence-prevention policies with procedures that will allow employees to get immediate help when threatened.
Violence-prevention policies will also be required to protect employees in the policing, corrections, security, crisis counselling, financial, pharmacy, education, public and taxi sectors.
Gilson said the RHA plans to have the panic-alarm systems installed at each of its hospitals and personal-care homes.
However, it will take some time to test the systems. It will be introduced at Hamiota while the RHA seeks vendors to install systems at its other sites.
Gilson said she wants to gauge nurses’ response to the alarm systems before considering the possibility of stationing security guards at its sites.
The RHA is working with a security agency on a plan that will allow staff at its facilities to call for protection on short notice. It will also assess its buildings for potential security improvements, such as improved locks, and ways to secure objects that could be used as weapons. That’s something that’s already done in Hamiota.
For now, staff is encouraged to carry two-way radios and they can ask for a shift partner if they think working alone is too risky.
Calls for increased safety were made after a nurse was attacked at the Hamiota hospital. On March 15, a patient at the Hamiota District Health Centre cornered a pair of nurses.
He stabbed a nurse with a pen, hit her with a piece of wood and also tried to choke her with a wooden board.
When another employee arrived and called 911, the patient fled, stole a car and was Tasered and arrested after a police chase.
A psychiatrist later attributed the man’s behaviour to an epileptic seizure that left him in a state of psychosis.
The man maintains he doesn’t remember the attack. Last week, a provincial court judge found him not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.
His case has been handed over to the Criminal Code Review Board. He remains in custody pending a hearing to be held within the next few months.
The board will decide whether he gets an absolute discharge and is released, receives a conditional discharge — he may live in a group home with conditions — or whether he’ll be detained at a mental-health facility
Chicago man thought to be dead 32 years found alive in Las Vegas www.privateofficer.com
Las Vegas NV July 25 2011 A Chicago man who went missing 32 years ago and was declared legally dead was found in Las Vegas – alive and well.
Arthur Gerald Jones, a Chicago commodities trader, was living in the Windy City until 1979. He allegedly faced gambling debts and even trouble with the mob, his wife of 17 years told investigators.
One day in May, he said was going an errand – and never came home.
Seven years later, the married father of three was declared legally dead by a court, and his family was paid $47,000 by Social Security in survivor benefits.
But Jones wasn’t dead.
He left Chicago with a fake driver’s license and a stolen Social Security card and birth certificate bought for him by a friend, shortly after being forced to sell his seat with the Chicago Board of Trade to pay his gambling debts.
Earlier this week, according to an affidavit, he was arrested on four felony counts related to identity theft after he was found working as a bookie in a Las Vegas casino under the name Joseph Richard Sandelli.
By the time investigators caught up with him after he was busted with a fake Social Security number, he had a whole new life – and girlfriend.
Patricia Baal told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that they had been together for 22 years.
“My feeling is we’ve been together 22 years, and he’s been very loving and respectful to me and my family. And I love him. And everything’s fine,” she said.
It was not clear if she knew that he had been living under a false identification the entire time.
“It’s a little emotional over here,” she added to the paper.
