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Maryland state delegate arrested for using campaign funds to pay for wedding expenses www.privateofficer.com
Tiffany Alston, 34, was indicted on one count each of felony and misdemeanor theft, misappropriation by a fiduciary and two election law offenses.
Prosecutors say Alston, a Prince George’s County Democrat who took office in January and then played a focal role in the General Assembly’s debate over gay marriage, issued two campaign account checks totaling $3,560 to cover her wedding expenses last year. She also used her campaign account to make payments of $660 to a law firm employee, and also withdrew $1,250 in cash for personal use last December, prosecutors say. The checks for her wedding expenses were returned to the bank for insufficient funds.
“Under these circumstances, there is simply no excuse for candidates or their responsible campaign finance officers to flagrantly and repeatedly violate the requirements of the law in the conduct of their campaign finances,” State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt, whose office brought the charges, said in a written statement.
The office began investigating following a tip from a county government employee, said James Cabezas, the office’s chief investigator.
The indictment was returned Friday by an Anne Arundel County grand jury.
Alston did not immediately return calls left at her Statehouse office or at her law office. It was not immediately clear if she had a lawyer. House Speaker Michael Busch said in a written statement that the General Assembly would not take any action while the court case was pending.
“Once the judicial process has concluded, we will determine the appropriate course of action,” Busch said.
Alston made news in March during the General Assembly’s debate on gay marriage. She sponsored a bill to legalize same-sex marriage but, along with another lawmaker, left the committee room before the measure came up for a vote, temporarily stalling the measure. She later voted against the bill in committee, saying she was having trouble balancing her personal views and pressure from constituents.
Alston faces as many as 18 and a half years in prison if convicted of all five charges in the indictment, though defendants in non-violent cases hardly ever receive the maximum possible sentences.
The charges against Alston are the latest in a series of corruption allegations levied against county officeholders in recent years. Ulysses Currie, a state senator, was charged last year with using his influence to benefit a grocery store chain for which he worked as a consultant. He stepped down from his chairmanship of a powerful spending committee but remains a senator and recently won re-election. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
And former County Executive Jack Johnson recently pleaded guilty to shaking down developers for cash and other favors in exchange for doing business with the county. His wife, Leslie, a former county council member, has pleaded guilty to flushing an illicit $100,000 check down the toilet as FBI agents knocked on the couple’s door.
Darrell Miller, the former mayor of Capitol Heights and a former candidate for the county council, was indicted separately Friday on charges that he used campaign funds for personal expenses. A phone message left at a listing for a Darrell Miller in Capitol Heights was not immediately returned.
Family Dollar Store employee charged with thefts www.privateofficer.com
Laquandra Green, 29, of Pineville, was charged with felony theft more than $500 after authorities investigated a report of an internal theft at Family Dollar Store, 3719 MacArthur Drive, according to the report.
Green, a Family Dollar employee, was arrested after an investigation. The case remains under investigation.
Citi Credit Card Company employee charged in identity theft www.privateofficer.com
Glendale AZ Sept 24 2011 Police arrested a credit card company worker and her boyfriend suspected of identity theft and the use of a stolen credit card, according to a court document.
Las Vegas resident Amanda Shepherd, who works as a customer service representative at Citi Cards, was arrested Tuesday. George Nelson was arrested on Sept. 2.
The court filing said Nelson used a stolen credit card to purchase $14,725 in merchandise from multiple stores in Glendale and around the Valley over a two-day period in August and September. Some of the items included an Apple iPad 2 from a Walmart and a $6,820 diamond ring from Zales at Paradise Valley Mall, the filing said.
The first time the credit card was denied, at a store in Metrocenter Mall, Nelson called Shepherd at work where she unblocked the account and Nelson was again able to use the credit card, the filing said.
When the card was eventually blocked, the document said Nelson began to sell the items in shops and on Craigslist.
Nelson was captured on store surveillance cameras using the stolen credit card, at times accompanied by Shepherd, the document said.
Police found a laptop purchased with the stolen credit card in Shepherd’s SUV, the filing said. They also found a notebook with a list of people’s personal information, the document said.
At Nelson’s apartment, police found another notebook of people’s names, date of birth, social security numbers and other personal information, the filing said.
From the notebook in the car, police found that two of the people on the list had been victims of identity theft, while three of the people listed in the notebook at Nelson’s apartment had been victims of identity theft, the filing said.
Shepherd was on parole for similar charges and Nelson was recently released from prison for similar charges.
Police recommend charging Shepherd with aggravated identity theft. Nelson faces charges of fraudulent schemes, first-degree stolen property, forgery and aggravated identity theft.
Source:www.azcentral.com
Mount Holly woman nabbed with stolen ties at Kohl’s www.privateofficer.com
Gaston County NC Sept 24 2011 A Mount Holly woman tried to swipe $260 worth of men’s ties Wednesday, according to police reports.
Gina Renea Jones was walking through Kohl’s Department Store at Franklin Square with a man. The 33-year-old woman put seven ties into her purse and walked out of the store with the man, police reports say.
When a security guard approached the couple, the man ran.
Jones was arrested and charged with larceny. A warrant has been issued for her male companion, but his name was not listed in the Gastonia Police Department incident report.
Jones was released from jail on a $5,000 secured bond.
Source:www.gastongazette.com
K-Mart shoplifting arrest leads to theft ring www.privateofficer.com
Camden County NJ Sept 24 2011 A man caught trying to steal a TV at a K-Mart in Gloucester Township, Camden County, ended up tussling with store security, and ultimately led police to a “shoplifting ring” he operated, police say.
Police say the ring began unraveling about 9:50 a.m. on Aug. 12 when they were called to the K-Mart on Blackwood-Clementon Road after a shoplifter attempting to steal a 32-inch TV, assaulted a store security officer.
The two struggled, and the shoplifter fled the store into a car.
No one was injured, but the suspect was identified as Frank Zaveckas, who police say is a “vagrant” with an address in Sicklerville. He was suspected of previously stealing two televisions from the store.
A longer investigation traced Zaveckas to what police called a shoplifting ring he ran with two others. The group, police say, also struck stores in Berlin, Cinnaminson, Deptford, and Somerdale. Police in those communities cooperated in the investigation.
Zaveckas, 36, is still being sought by police after being charged with robbery.
Tricia Roscoe, 30, of Allen Ave., Gibbsboro; and Nicole Roscoe, 28, of Evergreen Ave., Woodbury, were both charged with conspiracy.
Police are asking anyone with information on Zaveckas’ whereabouts to call the Gloucester Township Police Department at 856-228-4500 or the Gloucester Township Tip Line at 856-842-5560.
source:philly.com
Five Metro-East police officers -1 dispatcher arrested in round-up www.privateofficer.com
ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. Sept 24 2011 – Five Metro-East officers and one dispatcher were arrested in separate incidents during countywide roundup on Wednesday. The crimes range from theft to forcing a woman to perform a sex act.
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Alorton Police Officer Harry Halter, also known as “Dink”, was arrested around 2 p.m. by Illinois State Police and was charged with misconduct. He owns Town and Country Towing in Alorton, and eyebrows were raised when customers said they were being overcharged when retrieving their vehicles. The City of Alorton sends police tows to Halter’s business, and some called that a conflict of interest to have a tow business tied to a city officer.
The FBI visited Halter’s business on September 1. Halter said the agents were looking for tax-related information.
Halter is also accused of forcing a 30-year-old woman to perform a sex act on New Year’s Eve 2008. At that time, Halter was an officer of the Fairmount City Police Department. Court records say Halter pulled the woman over outside his jurisdiction when he was not on duty. However, he reportedly acted in the capacity of a police officer when he asked for the sex act. In exchange, he would not arrest her for driving on a suspended license. The woman complied.
Halter’s felony charge carries a $30,000 bond.
Statement from Alorton Mayor Randy McCallum regarding Harry Halter.
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Larry Greenlee, 39, was also arrested in the roundup. He was a police officer in East St. Louis when authorities said he collected unemployment benefits from the state of Illinois. Officials allege Greenlee told the state that he was unemployed when he was not. He has been charged with one count of state benefit fraud. Greenlee was also charged with misconduct as a result of the fraud charge. His bond was set at $20,000.
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Shantez Lockett, 35, was another official arrested. She is a dispatcher with the East St. Louis Police Department, and is accused of sending a text message on June 28 to fugitive Maurice Williams to warn him that officers were on their way to apprehend him. She was charged with aiding a fugitive, obstructing justice and obstructing a peace officer after she deleted the text message, destroying evidence. Lockett’s bond is currently set at $20,000.
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Former Fairview Heights Police Officer Tina Presson is also facing charges for official misconduct and theft. She’s accused of stealing a cell phone from an AT&T kiosk in 2008. Her bail is set at $20,000.
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Another officer arrested was Sean Harris with the Belleville Police Department. He allegedly attacked a man during a call on June 14. A Belleville couple was getting threatening phone calls and called police for assistance. They claim Officer Sean Harris came to their home, but refused to file a report. When the couple asked for the name of the Harris’ supervisor, they say he went into a rage and became violent.
The victim’s wife said Officer Harris attacked her husband. The officer “grabbed him by the neck and threw him down on his back on the brick sidewalk,” she said.
The victim, Mark Bush, said he remembers falling and waking up with no feeling. He said the force of getting thrown to the ground caused him to have an epileptic seizure. Bush was rushed to a hospital where he was treated, also for scrapes and bruises. An x-ray was taken, which he says shows two bone chips that broke off his pelvis.
After investigation, Officer Harris was charged with one count battery class A misdemeanor and one count official misconduct class 4 felony stemming from the battery.
Bail was set at $20,000. Officer Harris was processed and posted bond on the warrant. He will remain assigned to inside station duty pending the disposition of the case.
The chief said the complaint was the first formal complaint against the officer. He has been on the force for five years.
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Jeffrey Waters from Washington Park was also arrested in the roundup. More information surrounding his arrest will be provided as it becomes available.
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Beverly Miles, a police officer in East St. Louis, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with Official Misconduct and State Benefits Fraud. Authorities said she collected unemployment benefits from the state when she was employed with the department in 2010.
Miles’ mug shot has not been released and more information regarding her arrest will be provided as it becomes available.
Source:kmov.com
Police decide criminal charges in suicide of teen who was bullied www.privateofficer.com
Buffalo NY Sept 24 2011 Police have opened a criminal investigation in the suicide death of Buffalo, N.Y., 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer, who was bullied online with gay slurs for more than a year.
The teen’s parents, friends and even Lady Gaga, who was his idol, have expressed outrage about what they say was relentless torment on social networking websites.
The Amherst Police Department’s Special Victims Unit has said it will determine whether to charge some students with harassment, cyber-harassment or hate crimes. Police said three students in particular might have been involved. Jamey was a student at Heim Middle School.
Jamey had just started his freshman year at Williamsville North High School. (Both Amherst and Williamsville are just outside Buffalo.) But the bullying had begun during middle school, according to his parents. He had told family and friends that he had endured hateful comments in school and online, mostly related to his sexual orientation.
Jamey was found dead outside his home Sunday morning, but Amherst police would not release any details on how he killed himself.
“The special victims unit is looking into the circumstances prior to his death,” Captain Michael Camilleri said. “We are not sure if there is anything criminal or not.”
No bullying laws exist in New York State, according to Camilleri, so police would have to determine whether aggravated harassment charges fit this case. Whether suspects would be tried in juvenile court would depend on whether the alleged bully was 16 or older, he said.
Police said they had spoken with Williamsville School Superintendent Scott G. Martzloff, who has pledged the district’s cooperation.
“We’ve heard that there were some specific students, an identifiable group of students, that had specifically targeted Jamey, or had been picking on him for a period of time,” Police Chief John C. Askey told the Buffalo News.
Jamey sent out many signals on social networking sites that he was struggling with his sexuality, even though he encouraged others on the It Gets Better project websiteYouTube to fight off the bullies.
He killed himself this weekend after posting an online farewell.
Lady Gaga weighed in on the situation via twitter: “Bullying must become illegal. It is a hate crime,” she tweeted.
“I am meeting with our President. I will not stop fighting. This must end. Our generation has the power to end it. Trend it #MakeALawForJamey,” the singer posted to twitter last night.
“JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND [sic] UGLY. HE MUST DIE!” one post said, according to local reports. Another read, “I wouldn’t care if you died. No one would. So just do it 
It would make everyone WAY more happier!”
Friends reported the bullying to guidance counselors. But everyone, including his mother, thought he had grown stronger.
His death coincides with a national summit this week sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., an effort to stem the toll of bullying school children.
Speaking at the second annual Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit were the parents of Justin Aaberg, a gay 15-year-old from Champlain, Minn., who hanged himself after being bullied. The parents, Tammy and Shawn Aaberg, said that one form of the bullying came from a student religious group whose members told Justin that he was going to hell because he was gay.
“Justin was a smiley, happy boy who loved to play his cello,” said his parents. “School systems need to do more to protect LGBT students from bullying, and not turn their back on them because of their sexual orientation.”
Rodemeyer’s suicide also sets off a somber beginning to LGBT History Month in October.
“Jamey’s suicide is a tragic reminder of the vulnerability of gay teens,” said Malcolm Lazin, founder and executive director of the Equality Forum, which focuses on LGBT civil rights and education.
“They are bullied and marginalized,” he said. “While some may say that Jamey took his life, it is unrelenting homophobia that murdered him.”
Jamey’s mother, Tracy Rodemeyer, who did not return calls from ABCNews.com, told the Buffalo News that her son had been questioning his sexuality and had expressed thoughts of suicide, but had also been encouraged by good friends and was a “happy” and “strong” teen.
Friends described him as caring and friendly, and he had been seeking help from a social worker and therapist.
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, 28 percent of students aged 12 to 18 reported that they were bullied in school during the 2008-2009 school year. Bullying also slows down as children get older from a high of 39 percent of all sixth graders to 20 percent of high school seniors.
The most overwhelming form of bullying is done through ridicule, insult and rumors, rather than physical aggression, according to the report.
The rate of victimization among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students has remained constant between 1999 and 2009, the latest date for which there are statistics, according to the National Climate Survey conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
Parents and educators say they face significant challenges in stemming LGBT bullying, particularly at schools where there are fewer resources and support groups such as gay-straight alliances.
“We have seen some positive signs in available resources and supportive educators and society is moving in a good direction,” GLSEN spokesman Daryl Presgraves said. “But it’s still very difficult to be an LGBT youth in school.”
In May, after coming out to friends, Jamey posted a YouTube video on the new online site, It Gets Better Project, which provides testimony from adults and celebrities to reassure troubled and potentially suicidal LGBT youth that life improves as they get older.
He wrote: “Love yourself and you’re set. … I promise you, it will get better.”
Jamey’s school counselors had advised him not to go on social media sites to talk about his sexuality, according to the Buffalo News.
Some parents urge others to monitor their children’s social networking accounts. And school principals such as Anthony Orsi of Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, N.J., have urged middle-school parents to outright ban the use of social networking to prevent cyberbullying.
Social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook have made it easier for bullies to target their victims, but at the same time they are sometimes the only venue for talking about their pain.
“It’s a very challenging time for parents and for youth,” Presgraves of GLSEN said. “You have a scenario where for a lot of youth, it’s the only support to go online and seek peers to give them support and to feel connected to a community. At the same time, they expose themselves to negative cyberbullying.”
Jamey’s mother told the Buffalo News, “He touched so many hearts, so many people. I didn’t realize how many people he touched. He was the sweetest, kindest kid you’d ever know. He would give all his heart to you before he gave any to himself.”
For months, the teen, who idolized pop singer Lady Gaga, had blogged about being bullied and thoughts of suicide.
Jamey posted on his Facebook page, “I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. … What do I have to do so people will listen to me?
“No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you’re the ones calling me [gay slur] and tearing me down,” he wrote.
But on Sept. 8 he posted lyrics to a song by Hollywood Undead that included the line, “I just wanna say good bye, disappear with no one knowing. … I don’t wanna live this lie, smiling to the world unknowing.”
He posted a lyric this weekend from Lady Gaga’s song “The Queen” on his Facebook page: “Don’t forget me when I come crying to heaven’s door.”
His final message appeared on his Tumblr blog expressing a desire to see his great-grandmother, who had recently died, according to the local newspaper.
His mother said his tears and anger had recently dissipated. “Lately, he’s been blowing them off, or at least we thought he was,” she told the Buffalo News.
When the family went camping last weekend, he seemed happy.
Suicide prevention experts say they are grateful that the media has played down the details about how he killed himself.
“The risk, especially in this case, is potentially causing other young people in their direct vicinity to take their own lives,” said Laura McGinnis, a spokeswoman for the Trevor Project, which runs a national lifeline for people younger than 24, especially LGBT and questioning youth. “The risk for contagion is too high when we share the means and method and how he did it can actually increase the likelihood that others will do it, too.”
Few statistics exist on young people who kill themselves. But overall rates among those aged 10 to 24 declined from 9.24 suicides per 100,000 in 1991 to 7.01 suicides per 100,000 in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Suicide never has one cause, that is something really important to recognize,” McGinnis said. “But [Jamey] had the support of parents and friends and he was planning on going to a homecoming dance and dress like Lady Gaga. How do you know as a parent what signs to looks for? And sometimes, it’s really difficult to know.”
In her work with teens in crisis, McGinnis does not recommend covertly monitoring a child’s social networking accounts, but instead establishing trust and open lines of communication to gain a welcome invitation.
“Parents should pay attention to what’s going on in their kids’ lives and what is important to them,” she said. “They should maybe structure a day to ask detailed questions of the child: What is going on, what are they excited about and what are they afraid about. ‘Who is bugging you and who did you tell?’ Establish trust, listening, accepting everything they say and not judging them. Let them share their story.”
For help, go to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or call 800-273-TALK.
Also call the Trevor Project Lifeline at 866-488-7386.
Source:ABC News
Virginia woman guilty in theft of $500,000 from American Diabetes Associaiton www.privateofficer.com
Adrienne Carrington of Fredericksburg pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 20 before U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton of Alexandria’s federal court.
During a nine-year span ending in September 2010, Carrington used her position as a senior financial analyst and then treasury manager for the diabetes advocacy group to access the association’s bank accounts and to divert funds to her own account. To cover up the theft, she altered internal accounting documents, federal prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said she spent the stolen money — $569,827.48 — on visits to clothing stores, restaurants and casinos.
Grand jury indicts 17 NYPD officers for ticket-fixing www.privateofficer.com
New York City NY Sept 24 2011 Seventeen city cops were indicted Friday by a Bronx grand jury in a massive ticket-fixing scandal that reached all the way to One Police Plaza.
The majority of the officers charged were union delegates, sources told the Daily News after the indictments were handed down.
More than 500 cops were linked to the scandal during a two-year investigation, and it was expected dozens of officers beyond those indicted could face some sort of departmental discipline.
The indicted cops face charges including perjury, bribery, obstruction, grand larceny, official misconduct and other charges, the sources said.
The News had previously reported that at least eight union officials were facing charges from the secret grand jury.
A source close to the probe said the grand jurors were shaking their heads and frowning in disgust at the startling evidence of officers quashing arrests.
“Life is always tough in the Bronx for a cop (facing prosecution, especially when there are (wiretapped conversations),” the source said.
The paperwork will remain sealed until next week, when the accused officers will be arraigned and the details will emerge, the sources said.
The disgraced cops will get the chance to surrender, rather than face humiliating arrests at their homes or precincts, the sources told The News.
Defense attorneys in the case have warned that the scandal could potentially embarrass city officials.
The panel’s proceedings were conducted in extreme secrecy, but the bits of information about the group began to emerge Friday as implicated cops feared indictment votes were nearing.
The jurors’ daily routines became the subject of endless gossip amid prosecutors and defense lawyers, who ruminate on mundane details like where the panel members eat lunch and what jobs they hold.
“It’s like a beauty parlor around here,” joked one lawyer.
At least 12 of the grand jurors – there are between 16 and 23 of them – needed to find “reasonable cause” to indict the 17 cops.
Source:New York Daily News
Utah man arrested for smuggling knife onto airplane www.privateofficer.com
A Utah man held on charges that he smuggled a knife onto an airplane, then threatened to kill a passenger, police and an FBI agent, has been ordered jailed pending a psychiatric evaluation.
David Alan Anderson, 60, was removed from a Delta Airlines plane in Salt Lake City before it left for Las Vegas on Sunday after he threatened to slit the throat of a passenger during an argument over the armrest, according to court records.
Authorities later found a knife in his carry-on bag, and the man was arrested.
A federal judge in Salt Lake City on Thursday ordered Anderson to undergo a mental health evaluation.
He is charged with possessing a dangerous weapon on an aircraft and retaliation against a federal officer by threat of murder.
“I’m going to kill you in front of your children,” Anderson told a police officer, according to authorities.
“It will give me a lot of pleasure to see you again, but you won’t see me, Bucko,” he later told FBI agents.
In court Thursday, Anderson’s attorney told the judge his client was a retired Salt Lake City attorney who wasn’t taking his medication for anxiety and a bipolar disorder.
“What’s important here is none of these threats were acted upon,” attorney Steven Killpack said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kennedy called Anderson a “danger to the community and a danger to himself.” He said Anderson had a string of run-ins with the law over the past year, including assaulting a police officer and attempting to jump off a Salt Lake City hotel balcony.
“We are very concerned that if he is released, he will pose a danger to the community,” Kennedy said.
The officer who was working the X-ray machine when Anderson came through with the knife was sent for further training, said Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lorie Dankers.
Source:www.sfgate.com
Georgia preacher accused of molesting granddaughter repeatedly www.privateofficer.com
Sandy Springs police investigators have obtained warrants for Clarence Caldwell Arquitt Jr., 86, of Sanford, N.C., accusing him of molesting his granddaughter between 1991 and 1999. Arquitt is charged with child molestation, aggravated child molestation and sodomy.
According to information given to investigators, Arquitt was a preacher and worked in several churches in Cobb County, including Olive Street Church of Christ and Piedmont Road Church of Christ in Marietta and North Cobb Church of Christ in Kennesaw.
David Decker, a preacher at Piedmont Road Church of Christ in Marietta, said elders in his church confirmed that Arquitt worked part time for their congregation between 1998 and 2005. Additional information about his employment at Piedmont Road was unavailable.
Phone calls and emails to North Cobb Church of Christ were not returned by press time on Friday.
Arquitt also reportedly worked at Georgia Christian School and Home in Dasher and Woodstock Church of Christ in Woodstock and at churches in Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama.
The victim, now in her 20s, contacted Sandy Springs police and met with an investigator in August.
“From 1996 to 1999, investigators believe that she was molested as his residence in Garden Court in Sandy Springs and prior to 1996, at his residence in Woodstock,” according to police.
The victim told police that Arquitt molested her starting when she was 3 years old up until she was 11. Police are searching for information for other victims, the report stated.
Arquitt was contacted by Sandy Springs police but refused to return to Georgia to be charged. He was booked on child molestation charges in Lee County (N.C.) Sheriff’s Department Jail and was released on a $30,000 bond. Sandy Springs investigators are working with the Fulton County District’s Attorney’s Office to extradite Arquitt, who is fighting extradition, back to Georgia, according to police.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Mike Bailey with the department’s Criminal Investigation Unit at (770) 551-3308, (770) 551-6900 or mbailey@sandyspringsga.gov.
Read more: Cherokee Tribune – Ex preacher accused of molesting granddaughter.
Source:cherokeetribune.com
Wisconsin twin babies die after mother leaves them alone in bathtub www.privateofficer.com
EAST TROY, Wis. Sept 24 2011(AP) — The police chief of a Wisconsin village says twin babies died after their 26-year-old mother left them unattended in a bathtub.
Chief Alan Boyes (BOYZ) says the 11-month-old boy and girl weren’t breathing when officers arrived at an apartment building in East Troy on Thursday. The officers performed CPR on the babies, who were taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. Autopsies were under way Friday.
Boyes says the twins’ father was at work when they were found.
The chief says no one is in custody. He says two other children in the apartment were turned over to Walworth County social services, at least in part because the twins’ mother was so distraught. He didn’t know if those children were hers.
East Troy is about 30 miles southwest of Milwaukee.
Jail or church? Alabama town gives offenders choice www.privateofficer.com
BAY MINETTE, Ala. Sept 24 2011- Authorities say non-violent offenders in southern Alabama will have a new choice: Go to jail, or go to church every Sunday for a year.
CBS News affiliate WKRG-TV in Mobile reports that Operation Restore Our Community begins next week.
The city judge in Bay Minette will let misdemeanor offenders choose to work off their sentences in jail and pay a fine; or go to church every Sunday for a year.
If offenders select church, they’ll be allowed to pick the place of worship but must check in weekly with the pastor and police.
If the one-year church attendance program is completed, the offender’s case will be dismissed.
Bay Minette Police Chief Mike Rowland says the program could change the lives of people heading down the wrong path. So far, 56 churches are participating.
Source: WKRG.com
One man dead, 2 under arrest in armored car robbery shoot-out www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC Sept 24 2011 One man is dead and two face federal charges after trying to rob an armored truck making a cash pickup at a CVS store in Northwest Washington on Wednesday morning, authorities said.
Anthony R. James, 21, and Darnell C. Crews, 26, were arrested Wednesday on charges of interference with interstate commerce, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Authorities said the men, both of the 800 block of Butternut Street NW, pulled guns and tried to rob an armed guard of his cash after he came out of the store.
The third man, identified as Kirk Anthony Dean, 27, of Northwest, found his way to a hospital with gunshot wounds only to die there, according to authorities.
According to a statement of facts filed in court by FBI Special Agent Michael Pinto, the Garda Cash Logistics armored truck had an unarmed driver and an armed guard. They planned several stops in the region to pick up and deliver cash Wednesday, starting their day in Maryland before crossing into the District.
Shortly before 11 a.m., according to court papers, the truck pulled up to the front entrance of the CVS in the 6500 block of Georgia Avenue NW at the corner of Van Buren Street NW. The driver stayed in the car while the guard dropped off and picked up cash, the court papers said.
When the guard came out, three men approached him — two with guns, according to the papers. One demanded that the guard “give up” the money, according to the documents, then the guard drew his weapon and gunfire began. The three men scattered, according to court papers, leaving a trail of blood that led to nearby 13th Place.
Investigators followed the trail and spoke with witnesses, eventually spotting two men in the 900 block of Aspen Street NW who matched witnesses’ descriptions. They stopped the men, and the guard and driver identified them as the men who attempted to rob them, according to court papers.
Meanwhile, miles away, a gold Toyota pulled up in front of the emergency room entrance of Washington Hospital Center. The driver — who was not identified in the court papers — got out and ran, leaving the SUV there, authorities said. Inside, a man with latex gloves on his hands and a chrome revolver in his lap was bleeding from several gunshot wounds, court papers said.
The man left inside, identified by authorities as Dean, died of his injuries shortly before 6 p.m. Investigators searching the 800 block of Butternut Street NW found a car owned by Dean, according to authorities.
Neighbors in the neighborhood near the CVS were still rattled by the incident Thursday. “I don’t like to see it anywhere, but I don’t like it happening here,” said Bob Jackson, 74, a retired Giant grocery worker who said he had lived on 13th Place for 35 years. “This is a quiet neighborhood with a lot of retired people in this block.”
U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola ordered James and Crews to remain in jail until Tuesday, when a preliminary hearing is scheduled.
Source:Washington Post
Former Oconee County teacher gets light sentence for sex with student www.privateofficer.com
Judge Cordell Maddox suspended a five-year prison term and sentenced Robert, 44, to one year of house arrest.
The former science teacher at Tamassee-Salem Middle and High School was also placed on five years’ probation and prohibited from all contact with the teenage boy in the case. Robert will not be placed on the registry of sex offenders because she has no record of previous offenses.
Testimony heard at Thursday’s plea included text messages between Robert and the boy.
Robert said she was sorry for her actions, adding that she did not initiate the relationship, which began with her tutoring the boy after school.
Robert, of Colony Lane, West Union, was arrested in February after an investigation by the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office.
Source:independentmail.com
Chesterfield County woman charged with embezzlement of $40,000 from church www.privateofficer.com
Chesterfield County NC Sept 24 2011 A 60-year-old Chesterfield County woman has been charged with embezzling more than $40,000 from St. Paul’s Baptist Federal Credit Union in Henrico County.
Debra R. Morris, who lives in the 4600 block of Mason Dale Way, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of embezzlement.
According to Henrico police, an audit turned up suspicious financial activity at the credit union between June 2008 and April 2010. A subsequent investigation determined that more than $40,000 had been embezzled.
Additional details were not immediately available. A call to the credit union was not immediately returned.
St. Paul’s Baptist Federal Credit Union operates at 4247 Creighton Road and has 1,217 members with assets of $445,252 and one full-time employee, according to the institution’s website. It has one full-time employee.
Source:richmond times dispatch
