Archive
Megachurch pastor Zachery Tims found dead in hotel room www.privateofficer.com
New York NY Aug 15 2011 Megachurch pastor Zachery Tims died on August 12 in a New York City hotel room the New York Police Department (NYPD) confirms. He was 42. An NYPD representative says “criminality is not suspected.” Tims was found alone in the W Hotel by hotel security.
Charisma has confirmed with the New York Medical Examiners Office that a man by that same name was brought in on Friday night at 6 p.m. As of Sunday night, Ellen Borakove, director of public affairs at the New York Chief Medical Examiner’s office could not confirm that it was the same Zachery Tims. She said the family was en route to identify the body.
“A man by that name was brought in Friday, August 12 from The W Hotel in Times Square,” Borakove said. “I cannot confirm that it is the same Zachery Tims from Orlando until the body has been identified.”
The cause of death is unknown. Borakove said an autopsy has been ordered.
Tims pastored New Destiny Christian Center in the Orlando area since 1996. The church has grown to more than 7,500 members. He was survived by his four children.
Allegheny County detective reportedly commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
Pittsburgh PA Aug 15 2011 The parents of a Mt. Lebanon teen whose life was saved in 2007 by an off-duty Allegheny County homicide detective mourned the loss of their daughter’s guardian angel.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office wouldn’t identify the man who killed himself on Saturday night after a four-hour police standoff on Adeline Avenue in Mt. Lebanon, but the house is owned by Allegheny County homicide Detective Lawrence Carpico.
“It’s a tragic loss, and our hearts and prayers go out to the family,” Judi McNeil, spokeswoman for Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, said on Sunday.
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt could not be reached for comment.
Neighbors on Adeline Avenue, some still visibly upset, declined comment. Several said they had known Carpico or his wife for years.
Carpico, 49, a 20-year police veteran, worked a string of high-profile cases, including the attempted murder of Sarah DeIuliis by her ex-boyfriend on Oct. 31, 2007. Carpico was walking his dog in a wooded area near Mt. Lebanon High School when he happened upon the two and broke up the attack.
“We loved him like a family member,” Grace DeIuliis said. “He was Sarah’s guardian angel.”
Joseph DeIuliis, now a Mt. Lebanon commissioner, said he learned of Carpico’s suicide when he talked with friends yesterday morning at a local coffee shop.
“At first, I couldn’t even read the article in the newspaper,” he said. “I was looking at the words, but I couldn’t take it in. It was too much.”
His first thought was wondering if there was any way he could have reached out to Carpico.
“He was there when our daughter was at her time of need,” DeIuliis said. “I wish there was some way we could have done something.”
Carpico also helped the family get through the multiple court hearings connected with the prosecution of his daughter’s assailant, he said.
“Larry would come in and it was just like his presence, I know, put me at peace and put my daughter at peace as well,” DeIuliis said.
In December 2007, the Mt. Lebanon commissioners, U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy and state Rep. Matt Smith all cited Carpico for saving Sarah DeIuliis.
The Badge of Life, a national police suicide prevention group, says 145 American police officers committed suicide in 2010, a slight increase over the 2009 number of 143. The suicide rate for police officers is 17 per 100,000 officers compared with the general population rate of 11 per 100,000.
The group is a nonprofit that includes retired police officers, clinicians and researchers.
Cherie Castellano, director of New Jersey’s Cop2Cop suicide prevention hotline program, said the Badge of Life numbers are some of the more reliable figures on suicides by active-duty police officers.
A licensed professional counselor and the wife of a narcotics detective, Castellano heads a program that New Jersey began in 1998 after a rash of police suicides. To date, the program has taken 30,000 calls, including 189 from officers “with guns to their heads,” she said. In all but two of those cases, the retired police officers manning the hotlines were able to talk their fellow officers out of pulling the trigger, she said.
Homicide detectives who are regularly exposed to grisly death scenes are one of the groups at highest risk for suicide, she said.
“It’s about exposure to trauma,” Castellano said.
Ron Clark, a retired Connecticut state police sergeant and spokesman for Badge of Life, said his group advocates that police academies add 30 to 40 hours of training on emotional survival techniques to go along with the officers’ physical survival training.
“A one-hour stress relief program doesn’t cut it,” he said.
For every officer who takes his own life, dozens of others cope with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said. Officers work in a “world of chaos” and also in a culture where the stigma against seeking mental health help is “beyond belief,” he said.
“Suicides are the tip of the iceberg,” Clark said.
Source:www.pittsburghlive.com
Garda Security offers $100,00 for info on heist www.privateofficer.com
SANTA ROSA CA Aug 15 2011– An armored car company is offering a reward of $100,000 for information after a robbery of its Santa Rosa facility.
The Press Democrat reports that the Garda Armored Car Service is offering the reward after the heist of its operational hub Thursday.
Police say two men with guns overpowered and bound two employees after an armored vehicle pulled into the facility around 10:45 p.m. The suspects got away with undisclosed amount of cash.
Santa Rosa police investigators are reviewing surveillance tape from the facility. The FBI is also involved in the investigation.
Men pose as security guards to rob Trader Joes www.privateofficer.com
In the most recent robbery, which occurred Wednesday about 9:45 p.m. at Trader Joe’s at National Boulevard and Midvale Avenue, all three masked individuals entered the store wearing shirts with “Security” written on the back. They were also armed with handguns, according to a police statement.
One man pointed a handgun at the manager, who was counting money behind a podium. The other suspects grabbed money from the cashiers, then all three fled in a dark-colored vehicle parked in the store’s parking lot.
Based on eyewitness accounts, police have described the suspects as three black males, each 18 to 25 years old, weighing between 160 to 180 pounds and 5 feet 10 inches tall.
Another robbery occurred Tuesdayabout 8:50 p.m. at the Overland Liquor Store at Overland Avenue and Charnock Road. One man wore the same outfit as in the Trader Joe’s robbery and was armed with a revolver. A second man is seen on a surveillance video wearing a white jacket, blue jeans and white gloves.
The suspects fled south on Overland Avenue to Charnock Road and got into a white, four-door, unknown model car with a sunroof.
The first robbery occurred Aug. 6 about 8:20 p.m. at Bob’s Market at 1000 National Blvd.
Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call Pacific Area detectives at (310) 482-6392 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. Callers can remain anonymous.
Source:LA NOW
Security confronts man who sets bathrobe on fire www.privateofficer.com
Officers arrived about 10:30 a.m. at the JW Marriott Los Angeles in the L.A. Live entertainment complex after security officers confronted a man who was not a hotel guest and chased him into a third-floor hotel room.
The man, described by police as distraught, started making “incoherent statements” and setting objects in the room on fire, said Los Angeles Police Sgt. David Lopez. At that point, officers forced their way into the room and detained the man, Lopez said.
Firefighters put out the small fire and took two people to the hospital, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott.
The suspect had consumed “an abnormal amount of pills,” LAPD Officer Gregory Baek said.
Source:LA Now
Teens arrested in Las Vegas bomb threats www.privateofficer.com
Las Vegas CA Aug 15 2011 Authorities have accused two Simi Valley males, one of whom is a juvenile, of making false bomb threats to Las Vegas hotels and casinos and attempting extortion.
Zachary Jackson, 18, and a 16-year-old boy allegedly phoned numerous Las Vegas establishments between July 28 and Aug. 8 and threatened to detonate bombs at the properties if their monetary demands were not met, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said.
The counter terrorism arm of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigated the calls, in which the person appeared to be disguising his voice, and traced them to a Ventura County home in the 1500 block of Patricia Avenue, the department said.
On Wednesday, detectives served a search warrant at the residence and recovered several pieces of evidence that may identify other incidents and victims.
Jackson was booked on suspicion of making false bomb threats and attempted extortion. Police did not say what action was taken against the juvenile.
NY man faces charges in assault on security, police and nurse www.privateofficer.com
Wayne Nelson Miers, 25, is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment by physical contact, driving under the influence of alcohol, careless driving and disorderly conduct.
Exeter police Officer Edward Lewko reported he was on duty at 1:39 a.m. when he saw a black Honda sport utility vehicle speed northbound on Wyoming Avenue, swerve to the left with tires screeching, and nearly hit a curb as it entered the Turkey Hill parking lot.
Lewko said he asked Miers, the driver, for his license, registration and proof of insurance, and noticed he smelled strongly of alcohol and had glossy eyes and slurred speech. Miers said he had “two or three beers,” but a breath test administered by West Pittston police Officer Jack Delaney registered 0.21 percent, which is above the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Miers was arrested and taken to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital for blood-alcohol testing. Miers yelled at hospital staff and was asked several times to calm down. During the test, Miers claimed he was assaulted, sexually assaulted and choked while being arrested, and asked to be checked by medical personnel. While waiting for an X-ray on his hand, Miers refused to settle down. Police said he struck Lewko in the upper abdomen, and during the struggle pushed the officer to the ground, giving Lewko a cut on his arm that required medical attention.
Hospital security officer David O’Donnel and registered nurse Kevin Kelly tried to subdue Miers, who kept struggling, kicking O’Donnel on the thigh and spitting on Kelly’s left cheek, police said. It took additional personnel to subdue Miers and put him in restraints. Police said the altercation had caused a major disruption in operations in the emergency room for several minutes.
Miers was cleared of injuries and taken back to Exeter police headquarters, where his aggressive behavior continued, police alleged.
Miers was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Joseph Carmody, who imposed $5,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 17
ReaSource:citizensvoice.com
NY State Troopers 2nd highest paid- NJ is 1st www.privateofficer.com
Albany NY Aug 15 2011 They risk their lives every day in the service of New York’s citizens.
But state troopers — ubiquitous in their blue and gold cruisers on New York’s roadways — are also well-paid for the job, averaging $112,537 for all ranks in 2010, a Poughkeepsie Journal study of state payroll records shows.
When civilian employees are included in the analysis, the average pay for the agency drops to $98,544 but is nonetheless the highest average in the executive branch of state government.
It also eclipses state legislators by 20 percent and state university professors by 10 percent. As a group, only state Supreme Court and New York City judges, with an average salary of $140,000, made more than State Police officers.
The six-figure average includes sergeants, majors and all other ranking officers and officials above the starting salary; the state’s 2,700 front-line troopers themselves earned an average of $101,574.
New York’s force is the second-highest-earning state police entity in the country, according to 2009 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, behind first-placed New Jersey but ahead of California, Alaska and Delaware.
Pay is a sensitive issue — two New York State Police contracts expired March 31 — as demonstrated by the hot-potato response to salary questions. Union representatives demurred to civil service officials, who in turn referred questions to the budget office, which demurred to the State Police, which declined comment.
Through a spokesman, State Police Superintendent Joseph A. D’Amico said it would be inappropriate to discuss the “union issue” of pay — and referred questions back to the union.
In a statement, Thomas H. Mungeer, president of the 3,400-member New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said, “The job of a New York State trooper is one of the most dangerous law enforcement jobs in the United States. … (They) should be compensated accordingly.” Indeed, the hazards are real. Since 2003, 11 troopers have died in the line of duty — including Trooper Andrew Sperr, a town of Greece native who was shot in 2006 by a pair of men who had just robbed a bank in Big Flats, Chemung County. The trooper death toll included two other shootings, six in automobile crashes, and one each from electrocution and a heart attack after a struggle with a suspect.
But given the pay, benefits and wholly state-funded pension of half-salary after 20 years, many are willing to take the risks and put their lives on the line.
About 15,700 applicants passed the last exam in 2008, according to a State Police recruitment website; since then, just 88 troopers have gone through academy training.
“The question is whether these salaries are necessary to attract the right people for these important jobs,” said Robert Ward, deputy director of the Rockefeller Institute, which tracks state fiscal issues. “Most public-sector jobs in New York are highly attractive as evidenced by the number of people applying for them and the rarity of people leaving voluntarily.”
A former State Police investigator from Millerton, Dutchess County, insisted that the salaries were warranted.
“It is important for the State Police to attract the best applicants they can,” said John Crodelle, a 35-year veteran who retired in 1996, noting that many candidates have four-year degrees (though 60 credits, or two years of college, are required).
“The police job is much more dangerous today than in 1961 when I started,” he added. “There are many more high-powered weapons … and the illegal drug problem is much more severe.”
1 in 10 chosen
Ten candidates are processed for every trooper vacancy, with many candidates flunking background checks and tests of their physical and mental competency. If they pass — and, due to fiscal constraints, no one has been hired since December 2008 — the rewards are clear.
Troopers start their 26 weeks of training at $50,374. On academy graduation, their salary jumps to $66,905. And after one year, base pay is $71,261. After five years, it’s $84,739. In addition, salaries for downstate troopers are enhanced by higher base pay and “location compensation” — $5,300 in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island.
Significantly, overtime isn’t the driving factor in high overall State Police pay, the Journal study found, accounting for about 6 percent of trooper salaries, or $5,700 in 2010 on average.
Dennis Hallion, executive director of the National Troopers Council, an advocacy group, had two words when asked to comment on New York’s $112,500 State Police pay: “Not enough.”
“There’s two things you can’t shirk on,” said Hallion, a retired trooper from New Jersey. “Public safety and education.”
But six figures?
“I think it’s too much,” said Jada Smith of the city of Poughkeepsie.
Good benefits, too
Besides the salary, a New York state trooper receives generous benefits. Troopers start with 15 days of vacation — and get up to 28 days after 21 years. They also are entitled to 13 sick days a year that can be accumulated up to 300 days; on retirement, 165 days can go to pay health insurance and a fifth of the rest can be cashed in.
Add to this 12 holidays annually, three to five personal days and a $110 bonus to members who stay fit. The state pays to dry-clean uniforms and gives 15 days of bereavement leave.
And troopers contribute nothing toward retirement, with the state kicking in nearly 19 percent of State Police pay — or $106 million last year.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the annual average pay for New York State Police in 2009 was $96,009; first-placed New Jersey earned $96,890. The Journal’s analysis for 2010 is higher because state troopers received a 3 percent salary increase in 2010 and the Journal’s average included only members who made above the $50,000 base pay; that eliminated troopers who did not work a full year and at least some of those who left service in 2010, as about 125 troopers do annually.
Police and sheriff’s deputies statewide receive average pay of $60,940, according to state Labor Department figures.
A spokeswoman for the New York State Police PBA, Michele Matteson Crisafulli, disputed that the trooper salary was the second-highest nationally because troopers work a 2,184-hour year, compared with about 2,000 hours for other agencies. (That translates to 42 hours a week for 52 weeks versus 38.5 hours per week.)
“By our calculations, since New York state troopers work more hours than any other state police agency in the nation, we rank 24th in pay in the nation for hourly rates,” she said in an email.
She declined to provide the rankings, however, saying they were based on data from the National Troopers Council. But the group’s president, Hallion, said he had no such data, and Crisafulli declined to answer further questions including whether the union calculation took into account that troopers are paid overtime after 2,000 hours.
But she, like others, cited the risks of the job.
“New York State Troopers are set apart from other state employees in the hazards they face every day, … responding to emergencies from one end of the state to the other such as 9/11, prison breaks, riots in cities or on Native American reservations, and the fact that unlike other state employees, our members have a greater chance of not returning home to their families.”
Few dispute the risks, but they do question the cost.
In response to the Journal’s findings, the state’s major business advocacy group, the Business Council, called on the governor “to get concessions from every union” in contract talks.
“Businesses and their employees across the state are having to tighten their belts every day,” said spokesman Robert Lillpop. “We would expect no less from those who serve at the taxpayers’ expense.”
Source:democrat and chronicle news
65 people arrested at Blink 182 Concert www.privateofficer.com
Genesee County NY Aug 15 2011 Sheriff’s deputies filed charges Thursday night against more than 65 people at the Blink 182 Concert at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.
Three Perinton teens were among those arrested; they were charged with trespass, a violation. Deputies said the three teens attempted to re-enter the concert venue after they were escorted out by concert security.
All three were issued appearance tickets and will answer the charge in Darien Town Court on Sept. 6.
Fifty-four people, ages 16 to 20, were charged with possession of alcohol by a person younger than 21 with intent to consume, deputies said. Seven of those young adults are Monroe County residents and two are from Wayne County. Those young adults are expected to answer the charges in court on Sept. 12.
After the concert, two area residents were charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, according to police.
Nicholas W. Higbee, 30, of Gates was arrested after he was stopped just after midnight on Friday on Route 77 in Corfu, Genesee County, by Corfu police. He was also charged with operating a motor vehicle while registration is suspended or revoked, a misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. He is due to answer the charges in Corfu Village Court on Sept. 7.
Ian T. McPhail, 22, of Canandaigua was arrested after he was found in a car parked on the shoulder of Colby Road in Darien, about 1:15 a.m. Friday, deputies said. He is expected to answer the charge in Darien Town Court on Sept. 6.
Charges against the others included trespass, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.
Source:democrat news
TX teacher in hot water over sex with teenaged student www.privateofficer.com
HUGHES SPRINGS TX Aug 15 2011 — A Hughes Springs teacher has been arrested for having an improper relationship with one of her students.
Karrie McKinney, 41, was arrested Friday morning by Hughes Springs authorities on a charge of improper relationship between educator and student. She’s now out of jail, after posting at $25,000 bond.
McKinney was allegedly involved with a 16 year old male student who attended the school at which she taught.
Source:KYTX
Substitute teacher-coach behind bars on sexual assault of teen www.privateofficer.com
La Quinta CA Aug 15 2011 A La Quinta man who served as a substitute teacher and part-time coach is behind bars Friday, accused of sexually assaulting a girl last spring.
Daniel Patrick Armstrong, 29, was arrested around 5:45 p.m. Thursday in connection with a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into a girl’s claims she was sexually assaulted by a family acquaintance in March and April, Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Hignight said.
Armstrong had worked as a substitute teacher and part-time coach for Desert Sands Unified School District, although there is no evidence connecting his school employment with the alleged victim, Hignight said.
The girl contacted the La Quinta Police Department on Aug. 3, Hignight added.
“(She) gave a detailed account of the sexual assaults and named the adult who had committed these crimes,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Indio Investigations Unit began an investigation and conducted multiple interviews with the girl’s family and friends over the next week, Hignight said. Armstrong was arrested as a suspect as he entered his residence Thursday, and investigators served a search warrant there seeking evidence, Hignight said.
The department has declined to release the girl’s age. Armstrong was booked into the Indio Jail, suspected of 25 counts of oral copulation, five counts of lewd acts with a child, one count of sending harmful matter to a child and eight counts of digital penetration. He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 5 at Larson Justice Center in Indio, according to jail records.
Armstrong’s father, Dan Armstrong, is the athletic director and head football coach at La Quinta High School, according to the high school’s website.
Hignight said detectives are asking those with knowledge of any additional inappropriate contact involving Armstrong to contact them at (760) 863-8990 or email IndioStation@riversidesheriff.org. Witnesses can also contact Coachella Valley Crimestoppers at (760) 341-7867. Informants can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward, Hignight said.
Source:KPSP
Police kill active duty soldier in shooting of girlfriend www.privateofficer.com
COLUMBUS OH Aug 15 2011 — An active-duty soldier suspected of killing his girlfriend is dead after Columbus police officers shot and killed him early Friday morning in Northeast Columbus.
Nineteen-year-old Juvon Williams was due to deploy with the U.S. Army Friday. Now, Columbus Division of Police is now sorting through bloodshed and bullets trying to figure out what exactly led to the officer-involved shooting.
Police say Williams shot and killed 18-year-old Leigh Belyn Thursday night on Medalist Drive, put her body into a green car and then drove Belyn’s body to South Spring Road in Westerville.
Williams then led police on a chase to Chillmark and Spectacle drives, where police were forced to shoot and kill him around 3 a.m. Friday.
Officers used a PIT, or Precision Immobilization Technique, maneuver to end the case. The method is by which one car pursuing another can force the pursued vehicle to abruptly turn sideways to the direction of travel, causing the driver to lose control and stop.
Police say the PIT was used to prevent Williams from driving back into the neighborhood where Belyn was killed.
ABC6/Fox28 News’ Mike McCarthy reports that medics arrived at the Chillmark Drive scene just moments after the shooting.
Since the fatal shooting, police say they’ve learned that Williams was near I-270 and Hamilton Road about a half-hour later before the chain of fatal events unfolded. Police say Williams refused to pull over, leading police on the chase.
Why Williams was near I-270 and Hamilton Road has not been confirmed.
What happened immediately after the crash is still being pieced together, police said. One witness said told police that Williams started shooting at officers.
McCarthy confirmed that at least five police officers shot at Williams. Police say no officers were hurt during the shootings.
Police say Williams was on leave from serving in the U.S. Army. He was set to return Friday for deployment to Afghanistan. Police say Williams had spoken to his friends, family and former track coach, as well.
Source:Fox28
Marion teacher charged with drug trafficking www.privateofficer.com
MARION OH Aug 15 2011 — A Marion middle school teacher is in jail Friday after being arrested on drug-trafficking charges.
Police arrested 35-year-old Laura Saylor at her home on Thursday. Officers confiscated marijuana, drug paraphernalia, prescription medication and cash.
The Marion City School Superintendent Dr. James Barney says the arrest — happening 10 days before the start of the school year — caught everyone by surprise.
Saylor is expected to be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the felony charges.
Fox28
Louisville police add computers to mounted patrols www.privateofficer.com
LOUISVILLE, Ky.Aug 15 2011 (AP) — Louisville police have added small, portable computers to the equipment used by mounted officers riding horseback patrols.
The computers, known as Mobile Data Terminals, are fastened to the breast collars and lie on the horses’ backs.
Lt. Dan Assef, who oversees the mounted patrol unit, told The Courier-Journalthe computers give horseback officers access to emergency dispatch and the police department’s records management system instead of having to call in for information.
The terminals are similar to the kind of computers in police cruisers, but run on batteries.
Lt. Robert Schroeder, who oversees technology for the department, says each device costs about $3,300, and police currently have around eight.
Man commits suicide after being stopped by NC State Trooper www.privateofficer.com
EDEN, N.C.Aug 15 2011 — A man shot and killed himself early Sunday morning after he was confronted by a North Carolina state trooper, police said.
Authorities said the trooper was traveling north on Ashley Loop Road south of the Anderson Road at about 3 a.m. when he saw a gray SUV partially in the roadway.
Upon further investigation, the trooper determined the SUV had crashed. Christopher Jordan Fain, 23, of Reidsville, had been the driver and appeared to be intoxicated, troopers said.
Troopers said Fain pulled out a handgun as the trooper engaged him in conversation. He ignored commands given by the officer and turned the weapon on himself, troopers said.
Fain was taken to an area hospital, where he later died as a result of his self-inflicted gunshot, troopers said.
Source:www.wxii12.com
Suspects in rash of GA. Waffle House robberies caught in Alabama www.privateofficer.com
Calera AL Aug 15 2011 Two suspects in a rash of robberies of Waffle House restaurants in metro Atlanta were arrested Saturday by police in Calera, AL, after apparently trying to rob another Waffle House there, according to articles in the Gwinnett Daily Postand Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The arrests occurred after police responded to a Waffle House robbery at 4:15 a.m. in Calera, located south of Birmingham and just west of I-65, according to the newspaper accounts. One of the two suspects was caught after a short foot pursuit, police said. No injuries were reported.
The two men were identified as Edwin Mitchell, 21, and DeAngelo Heard, 19, both of Ellenwood, GA, police said. They were being held in the Shelby County Jail in Alabama.
Norcross Police Department spokesman Sgt. Bill Grogan confirmed they are the same two male suspects wanted in the metro-Atlanta Waffle House robberies. Sgt. Grogan said 18 Waffle House robberies since July 27 were probably committed by the same suspects, according to the articles. The robberies have occurred in six metro Atlanta counties, La Grange, GA., and Auburn, AL, he said.
The latest robbery occurred Friday morning in unincorporated Stone Mountain.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also reported that Cobb County police announced Saturday the arrest of two suspects in a string of robberies that included a Burger King and a Zaxby’s restaurant. The suspects were identified as Rodney B. Lofton, 21, of Marietta and Deontae Conway, 18, of Dallas. They were being held without bond in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.
Movie-goer shot in the head inside theater www.privateofficer.com
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama Aug 15 2011– A man survived a gunshot wound to the head outside the Cobb Hollywood 16 movie theater in Tuscaloosa Saturday night, according to police.
Units responded to the theater at 9:24 p.m. after receiving reports that shots had been fired in the parking lot. They located a young male with a gunshot wound to the head inside the theater lobby.
The man was transported to DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, where he is currently being treated for non-life threatening injuries, what police referred to as a grazing wound to the head. [Name of hospital corrected at 6:32 p.m. on Aug. 14]
The victim, who Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven Anderson said is “alive and well,” is talking to investigators and has given names of suspects involved in the shooting.
Three men are currently in custody, the chief said. One male suspect was seated and in handcuffs on a curb nearby in the theater parking lot.
The shooting took place in the parking lot. The victim ran into the theater and was given first aid.
Police say they do not currently know the motive of the crime. Officers have not yet recovered any weapons at the scene, but Chief Anderson said two kinds of shell casings were found, confirming multiple weapons were used during the shooting.
Chief Anderson said there were Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies working off duty at the scene at time of the shooting.
Multiple theater patrons were in theaters watching movies during the crime before their screenings were interrupted by Cobb employees asking them to leave the area. Some say they heard a man had been shot in the head before they left the area.
Security officer assaulted during grocery store robbery www.privateofficer.com
SOUTH UNION TOWNSHIP, Pa.Aug 15 2011 — Authorities said a grocery store worker was assaulted while trying to prevent a robbery in South Union Township on Wednesday.
Police said Christopher Mills and Amy Agnew tried to steal $170 worth of meat from Adrian’s Market.
When a store security guard confronted Agnew, workers said Mills punched the guard six times in the face.
http://www.wpxi.com/news/28856471/detail.html
Adrian Chesler, the store’s owner, said Agnew made a mistake that helped lead to her arrest.
“During the scuffle, she dropped her cell phone,” Chesler said. “Police confiscated it and it had her picture on it.”
Mills and Agnew were arrested a short time later and are in jail on $100,000 bond, police said.
Source:WPXI
Off-duty Pentagon police officer kills robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
Prince George’s County police said that Thomas pulled into a Mobil gas station in the 9800 block of Piscataway Road about 1:30 p.m. and saw Ronald Delonte Royal beating a man who was on the ground.
As Thomas approached them, he saw Royal pull out a handgun and point it at the man on the ground, police said. Thomas told Royal that he was a police officer and ordered him to drop his weapon, according to police.
Royal refused and turned toward Thomas, police said. Thomas then fired his personal gun, hitting Royal in the upper body. Royal was taken to a hospital, where he died.
The man on the ground, a 57-year-old, was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening, according to Cpl. Erica Johnson, a police spokeswoman.
Thomas was not in uniform at the time and was carrying a weapon that he owned, according to Terry Sutherland, a Pentagon Force Protection Agency spokesman.
Sutherland said Friday that the agency’s internal affairs department will investigate the shooting, as is routine in such cases.
Thomas, who will have served eight years in September, might be given a few days of personal leave, but it would not be punitive, Sutherland said.
Royal was scheduled to appear in Prince George’s County Circuit Court in September in connection with robbery, assault and gun charges stemming from a July 7 incident, according to state court records. A man listed as Royal’s attorney in a different case did not return a call for comment.
Fairgrounds Square Mall security finds dead body under car www.privateofficer.com
Reading PA Aug 15 2011 Authorities are investigating the death of a young man found Saturday night in the back seat of a car parked at the Fairgrounds Square Mall in Muhlenberg Township.
All of the windows were fogged over in the vehicle, which was spotted by a shopper who told a mall worker about it around 7 p.m., investigators said.
Mall security responded and called 9-1-1, and township police and the Berks County coroner’s office were dispatched.
The man was pronounced dead about 8 p.m. by Deputy Joel Bonilla of the coroner’s office.
The man’s name has not yet been released by authorities, who said he resided outside of Berks County.
Investigators believe the man was born outside the country, complicating their attempt to identify him.
They said the car did not appear to have any damage when it was discovered in a parking space near the south end of the mall.
The body was taken by coroner’s investigators to Reading Hospital. An autopsy is scheduled for this morning.
Deputy Wally Woytovich of the coroner’s office said investigators should know more about what happened to the man after the autopsy.
Muhlenberg police impounded the car and took it to a secure location. They said they will likely get a warrant to search it.
Source:readingeagle.com
Police arrest Chalotte man in assault on private police www.privateofficer.com
The incident happened at the Standford Reserve Apartments on Kelston place near Albemarle Road.
Walter Jovon Robinson has been charged with influcting serious injury, robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a stolen firearm. He was arrested late Friday night with that stolen gun in his possession.
Police said security officer Joshua Clark got into a confrontation with Robinson and was either beaten or shot.
Robinson took the officer’s gun and ran away.
Clark was driving his vehicle through the apartment parking lot and was getting ready to meet up with a fellow security guard when he was confronted.
Clark suffered a head injury above his right eye, according to police.
Source:WBTV
Chicago man arrested for using baby in beggers scam www.privateofficer.com
Chicago IL Aug 14 2011 A Chicago man with an extensive criminal record is facing drug and other charges after being arrested while going door-to-door in Riverside using his 3-year-old daughter to beg for money, police said.
About 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Alberto Luis Alvarez, 37, was going door-to-door on the 7200 block of West Ogden Avenue in Riverside, using his 3-year-old girl and claiming to be injured as a ruse to beg money from residents, according to a release from the Riverside Police Department.
When officers questioned Alvarez while he stood next to his child’s stroller, he tossed small plastic bags containing heroin to the ground and tried to run away, police said.
While processing Alvarez, police discovered his record included 98 previous arrests and 23 convictions on charges ranging from robbery, burglary and assault to drug possession and smuggling. He has used nine alias names, 10 dates of birth and five different Social Security numbers, according to police.
“It is simply deplorable that he is still out on the street looking for crimes of opportunity, purchasing drugs and looking for new victims to con by using a 3-year-old as a ruse,” Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said.
Alvarez, of the 2500 block of North Harding Avenue in Chicago, was charged Thursday with felony possession of a controlled substance, felony obstruction of a police officer, resisting arrest and child endangerment.
The girl was turned over to a family member and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services was notified, Weitzel said, and Alvarez was treated at a local hospital for heroin intoxication before being charged today.
Alvarez faces a bond hearing Friday in the Maybrook Courthouse, and already is out on bond on two previous charges in Chicago, Weitzel said.
Source:Chicago Tribune
Police search for killer of security officer 30 years ago www.privateofficer.com
FALLS Pa Aug 14 2011 - The cops crouched behind their patrol cars, gripping shotguns, rifles and the leashes of police dogs.
A killer was on the loose.
Inside the Clover discount department store in Falls, an unarmed security guard was dead. Gilbert Smith, 67, had just started working in security again after years of caring for his sick wife, who was still alive. He was shot in the back.
Burglars had knocked a hole through the store’s concrete wall. They took four TVs. Police scoured the building. Canines ran through nearby woods off West Trenton Avenue and Old Lincoln Highway.
That search began 30 years ago this morning. And yet, Falls police are confident they still can nab the killer.
“This is a homicide that we believe is solvable,” Detective Sgt. Nelson Whitney said this week. “There are people still in this area who have information, and we would like them to come forward.”
Anyone with information can call Whitney at 215-949-9116.
He declined to elaborate too much on what Falls police know about the murder because he doesn’t want to compromise the case.
But, he said, “The burglars could’ve left and gotten away with it without shooting Gilbert Smith. And [one of the burglars] certainly didn’t need to shoot him in the back.”
Husband and wife
Smith and his wife, Mazie, came from Shamokin, an old coal mining town in Northumberland County. They ran a small grocery there after Smith served as a military policeman during World War II.
In 1952, the couple moved to Levittown. Over the next 25 years, Smith worked as a security guard at Kaiser Aircraft, York Pharmacy and Allied Chemical. He also worked at Pomeroy’s department store, where he once reported a store executive for walking out with a golf ball, his daughter Carol Harger told this newspaper a day after the murder.
In 1972, doctors gave Mazie Smith three months to live. They said she was dying of bone cancer. Chemotherapy and cobalt treatments ravaged her body. The doctors sent the 63-year-old woman home to Flower Lane in Levittown’s Farmbrook section.
Smith took over his wife’s care. Refusing to accept the grim prognosis, he turned to vitamins and good nutrition.
Seven years later, Mazie was still keeping house. And Smith, who had retired two years before, grew restless and took the job at Clover for extra money. Three weeks later, he was dead.
The hole
On the day he died, Smith followed the usual routine. He arrived at the store at 5:40 a.m., intentionally set off a silent alarm and called the Philadelphia headquarters to say things were in order. By 6:45 a.m., he let in the store’s six janitors.
About 7:10 a.m., one of those janitors was polishing a floor when he saw a heavy-set man dressed in overalls and wearing a piece of cloth over the bottom half of his face. The man was near the store’s customer service desk, standing next to Smith.
No confrontation followed. No words were spoken, the janitor told police. The burglar simply shot Smith once with a .38 caliber handgun. Smith dropped to the floor face down. A puddle of blood formed next to him.
A massive manhunt followed. The burglars escaped, possibly vanishing into one of two nearby apartment complexes where a getaway car would’ve blended in, Whitney said.
At the back of the building, police found a jagged rectangular hole about two cinderblocks wide and two cinderblocks tall.
The area behind the Clover building was wooded back then. And a tractor-trailer parked adjacent to the wall obscured the view of the spot where the burglars broke through.
They had chiseled into a small room rarely used by employees in Clover. The location led to speculation that the burglary was an inside job, although police never found evidence to support the theory, Whitney said.
Batteries and portable televisions were found moved inside the store. Four 13-inch screen televisions, taken out of their boxes to fit through the hole, were the only missing items. Their value was $260.
Police dogs caught a scent off the boxes. But their search was fruitless.
Neither the gun nor a sledgehammer or chisel were found. Police entered the serial numbers of the televisions into a crime database. Nothing came of it.
One of the case’s mysteries is why the burglar who shot Smith went to the front of the store. The security guard had been in the building for more than an hour. The hole was still unnoticed. The TVs already were gone. The escape didn’t have to include murder.
“The actor thought he was smarter than he was,” is Whitney’s explanation. “He was trying to be street smart and sly by breaking into the back of the building. He thought he had a plan but it didn’t go as anticipated. He panicked.”
A second look
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching Smith’s only child, Harger, who would be 65 this year, for comment on this story.
In 1999, shortly before the 20th anniversary of her father’s death, Harger spoke to this newspaper from her home in Georgia. She said her mother had lost hope before she died.
But Harger said she harbored some faith because of the advances in forensic science.
Ten years ago, the department took a second, deeper look. Several hundred man hours went into the investigation. And Whitney did indeed take evidence to the FBI for forensic tests. Behavioral science also was employed to develop a profile on the killer.
Whitney declined to say what the forensic tests or the profile revealed. But he’s no stranger to solving cold cases using DNA.
Whitney was part of a police team that solved the 1984 murder of 25-year-old Terry Brooks at a Falls fast food restaurant. Using DNA from a cigarette butt, they cracked the case 15 years after the killing.
Three decades after Smith’s murder, the Clover store has been replaced by a self-storage business. But in the back of the building, the neat rows of cinderblocks are interrupted by four awkwardly laid cinderblocks used to patch up the hole.
The marks of the burglars remain.
“The person who did this is on borrowed time,” Whitney said. “And we’re going to get him.”
Source:philyburbs.com
