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Massechussetts Department of Correction Officer Commits Suicide www.privateofficer.com
Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. identified the officer as Kyle Desrosiers, 24, of that address. The state office of the chief medical examiner will examine the body, Mr. Early said in a news release.
State DOC officials confirmed Mr. Desrosiers worked as a correction officer at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on the Lancaster/Shirley line
State police responded to the Elm Street address after receiving a call from Leominster police about 3:50 a.m. reporting a man was barricaded inside his apartment. State police were told the man was possibly armed and had suicidal intentions.
The state police Special Tactical Operations Team arrived at 175 Elm St. along with members of the Leominster barracks, crisis negotiators and local police.
Shortly after 7 a.m., state police entered the apartment and found Mr. Desrosiers inside, dead from what authorities described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. State police decided to enter the apartment after a witness told them she had heard a gunshot earlier in the morning.
Source:news telegram
Police hunt man in deadly California quarry shooting-3 dead-6 shot www.privateofficer.com
CUPERTINO, Calif.Oct 6 2011 –
UPDATE: Sheriff deputies located Allman and shot and killed him during a gunbattle authorities have reported.
Authorities went door to door with guns drawn Wednesday in search of a disgruntled employee they say opened fire at a Northern California limestone quarry, killing three and injuring six before wounding another woman in an attempted carjacking.
Schools were on lockdown in the Silicon Valley city of Cupertino and nearby Los Gatos as SWAT teams sought Shareef Allman, 47, of San Jose.
Allman was at a routine safety meeting at the quarry at about 4:30 a.m. when he became disgruntled and left, authorities said. He then returned with a handgun and rifle and started shooting people, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Lt. Rick Sung said. About 15 workers were at the meeting.
Sheriff Laurie Smith said two people were pronounced dead at Permanente Quarry in Cupertino, and a third person died later at the hospital.
Six others at the quarry were wounded and taken to area hospitals, Smith said. Some of them remained in critical condition, she said.
Authorities located Allman’s vehicle and have seized a shotgun, a handgun and two rifles believed to belong to the suspect, Smith said.
“The challenges are the big geographical area,” she said. “The challenges are that he’s armed.”
Around 7 a.m., authorities received a 911 call that a woman was shot in an attempted carjacking near Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Cupertino campus by a man matching Allman’s description. The shooter then fled on foot.
He used a weapon similar to a gun used in the quarry shooting, authorities said.
The carjacking victim, a Hewlett-Packard contract employee, was listed in fair condition at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, according to hospital spokeswoman Joy Alexiou. Another victim was treated and released from the hospital, while a third remained in fair condition, she said.
Allman was last seen in surveillance footage from a nearby gas station shortly after the shooting outside Hewlett-Packard, Smith said. In the video, he appeared to be armed, she said.
In addition to working at the quarry, Allman has run a nonprofit group for youths and produced and hosted a public access television show for CreaTV in San Jose.
Suzanne St. John-Crane, executive director of CreaTV, said she had spoken with him numerous times but did not know him well.
“Based on what we know now, we’re shocked and devastated and feel for the families of the victims,” St. John-Crane told The Associated Press. “But he didn’t work here. I want to make that clear. We’re very frightened.”
A video posted on YouTube shows Allman interviewing the Rev. Jesse Jackson outside a memorial for the late musician Walter Hawkins for a piece for CreaTV. In the video, Allman talks with Jackson about the positive and transformative messages of gospel music
“I hope what he gave all of us we take out to our community and use it to better ourselves and our community,” Allman said about Hawkins during the interview.
Business records show that in 2004, Allman started a youth development organization called Helping Hands Changing Hearts, which listed its location as Allman’s home address. However, the IRS automatically revoked the organization’s exempt status as a nonprofit for failure to file proper tax forms for three consecutive years, records showed.
The shootings rattled those who know Allman, said Paulette Conner, a neighbor in his San Jose apartment complex. Police were still talking to Allman’s teenage daughter inside their apartment late Wednesday morning, she said.
“He’s always had a smile on his face,” said Conner, 57, who has known Allman for five years. “I’ve never known him to have any violent tendencies. Never. Ever.”
Conner said Allman occasionally griped to her and others over the years about his job, including his various shift changes and some co-workers, but she never imagined that he could do something violent. She said Allman is a local fixture who has been heavily involved in San Jose’s black community.
“He is very kind, sociable person and a really good father,” Conner said. “I’ve never known him to be a mean person.”
The Permanente Quarry is a limestone and aggregate mining operation and cement plant owned by Lehigh Southwest Cement.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” Dan Harrington, president and chief executive of parent company Lehigh Hanson Inc., said in a statement. “I have committed the company’s resources to assist our affected employees during this difficult time.”
The quarry was issued its first permit in May 1939, according to Santa Clara County documents.
The site has been subject to a number of environmental violations over the years, and has been subject to noise and other complaints from residents who live nearby.
Lehigh makes about 1.2 million tons of cement per year, and its products are involved in a number of major construction projects including the seismic upgrades to the Golden Gate Bridge.
Source:USA Today
Detroit police officer charged in death of girl during raid www.privateofficer.com
Officer Joseph Weekley, a member of the Detroit Police Special Response Team, was indicted on an involuntary manslaughter charge after a nearly yearlong Michigan State Police investigation into the May 16, 2010, death of Aiyana Stanley-Jones.
Aiyana was on a sofa on the first floor of a two-family home when Detroit police tossed a flash grenade through a window and burst through the front door. Detroit police have said Weekley’s gun accidentally discharged after he was bumped or jostled by the girl’s grandmother.
A film crew with the A&E Network’s “The First 48″ crime reality cable TV show was shadowing Detroit police on the raid. The TV show tracks murder investigations during the first two days after a slaying, and Aiyana’s death put a spotlight on the growing number of reality shows focusing on law enforcement.
Prosecutors announced Tuesday that the TV show’s principal photographer, Allison Howard, also was indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.
According to the indictment, Howard, of Brooklyn, N.Y., is accused of lying to prosecutors about showing or giving video footage of the raid to “third parties.” It did not specify who the third party was, but after the raid, an attorney for the family told reporters they had seen a few minutes of the video footage.
Further details about the charges against Howard were not immediately available. Assistant prosecutor Robert Moran told a judge on Tuesday that the investigation into the girl’s death was delayed seven months “because of the perjury,” but he did not elaborate. All Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy would say was that “impediments” surfaced during the investigation. She declined to provide more details.
A judge entered a plea of not guilty for Howard on Tuesday at a court hearing. A message seeking comment was left with her Detroit-area attorney, Robert Harrison. A message seeking comment also was left after business hours Tuesday for an A&E spokeswoman.
A judge also entered a plea of not guilty for Weekley at the afternoon court hearing. The involuntary manslaughter charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. He also faces a charge of careless discharge of a firearm causing death.
“He knows he was acting as a police officer in a dangerous mission,” Weekley’s lawyer, Steve Fishman, said of his client.
“I don’t think anybody realizes how their lives change,” Fishman said of police officers involved in shootings. “People think they’re androids and robots, and they’re wrong.”
Soon after Aiyana’s slaying, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing banned reality television crews from tagging along with police. He also admonished then-Police Chief Warren Evans for not telling him that he was permitting TV cameras on raids.
On May 18, 2010, an attorney representing the girl’s family in a civil suit against the city and police department and told reporters that he viewed three to four minutes of video footage of the raid and that it showed a group of black-hooded officers approaching the house before the flash grenade was thrown through the window and the shot being fired.
“We know there’s only one shot,” attorney Geoffrey Fieger said during the press conference last year with Aiyana’s family. “It’s vividly depicted in the videotape … right after the throw and the explosion of the bomb. At that point the officers rush into the home.”
Fieger declined to say what footage he viewed and said he did not retain a copy. A message seeking comment from Fieger was not immediately returned Tuesday.
The focus of the raid was Chauncey Owens, the fiance of Aiyana’s aunt. Owens was wanted in the May 14, 2010, shooting death of 17-year-old Je’rean Blake outside a nearby convenience store. Owens was found in the separate upstairs apartment.
Owens pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder in Blake’s death. On Tuesday, Worthy also announced that Charles Jones, the girl’s father, had been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in Blake’s slaying. Jones did not have an attorney on Tuesday and phone number for him and his family could not immediately be found.
“It is alleged that after an argument, Jones accompanied Owens to the scene of the shooting and aided, abetted, and encouraged Owens during the murder of Blake,” Worthy said in a statement.
Charles Jones was expected to be arraigned Wednesday. A pretrial hearing is scheduled Friday for Weekley and Howard.
Weekley was released on a $100,000 personal recognizance bond. Howard was required to come up with a $5,000 of a $50,000 bond to be released.
“Our condolences remain with all affected by this tragedy. We must use this difficult moment to continue bringing our community and police department together,” Bing said in a statement.
Source:AP
Lesbian couple kicked out of Four Seasons Hotel for kissing www.privateofficer.com
St. Louis IL Oct 6 2011 – Kicked out for kissing?
Two women say they were the victims of discrimination after they were asked to leave St. Louis’ Four Seasons Hotel for kissing.
The lesbian couple tells NewsChannel 5, they were trying to enjoy a day by the rooftop pool at the Four Seasons, when they say they were harassed for openly displaying affection. The hotel tells NewsChannel 5, it wasn’t that simple.
“When we got into the Jacuzzi, and we were sitting close to one another and we were kissing that a member of security came over to us,” said Teresa Folds.
Folds says the hotel security officer told her and her girlfriend, Juleigh Snell, they weren’t allowed to kiss on the hotel property. They asked to speak with a manager.
“He said that they didn’t even allow heterosexual couples to kiss on their property,” said Folds.
“When we were explaining how gay people have rights, he basically insinuated that we were not a normal couple and should not be kissing,” said Snell.
Folds and Snell say the manager stated the couple was acting inappropriately and that the hotel had received complaints.
“They have yet to tell us what that inappropriate activity is. Other than the kissing, that’s all they can say because that’s all we were doing,” said Folds.
The couple says they were left alone, and they continued to kiss. They were approached again.
“Told us that they wanted us to leave, and I mentioned that the pool didn’t close until 8:00,” said Folds.
Folds and Snell say when 8 p.m. rolled around, they were approached by a security guard who showed them the door.
“I was disheartened by the whole experience,” said Snell.
“It was very much understood that they were kicking us out,” said Folds.
NewsChannel 5 reached out to the Four Seasons about the incident.
General Manager Alper Oztok sent this statement to NewsChannel 5:
“Four Seasons respects the behaviors of our guests, except where doing so may be a breach of law or create tensions among people. This was the case on the night in question, as our staff received several complaints about the guest’s behavior. I can assure you that the gender of the couple was never at issue.”
The couple says they’ve reached out to Gay Pride St. Louis and the Human Rights Campaign to make them aware of this incident.
They say all they want is an apology, and for the hotel to be clear about its kissing policy.
Source:KSDK
Alert Vegas casino security officer leads to arrest of kidnapper www.privateofficer.com
Las Vegas NV Oct 6 2011 A 16-year-old girl allegedly abducted this week in California by 37-year-old man has been found in Las Vegas.
Mauricio Maldonado was arrested in connection with the alleged abduction that occurred about noon Monday from a Fontana, Calif., school, according to the Criminal Apprehension Team, which includes members from the FBI, and Henderson and Metro police.
Maldonado and the alleged victim left Fontana and headed to Las Vegas in a gold 2004 Chevrolet Suburban, officials said. According to police, Maldonado had known the victim for two months.
The Fontana Police Department began an investigation after being contacted by the girl’s mother. The Criminal Apprehension Team was asked to assist with the investigation, officials said.
Fliers were distributed to hotels in Las Vegas. An hour later, a security official from a Strip casino called to report a car parked in the property’s garage that matched the suspect’s vehicle, officials said.
Authorities conducted a search of the property, where they detained Maldonado and the alleged victim as they were walking through an arcade.
Maldonado was booked into the Clark County Detention Center as a fugitive and is awaiting extradition proceedings. The girl has been returned to California, officials said.
Source:las vegas sun
Jacksonville Fla police will see lay-offs soon www.privateofficer.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.Oct 6 2011 — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office won’t confirm details until Wednesday, but the Fraternal Order of Police says 48 officers are being laid off and 23 vacant positions are being eliminated.
According to figures obtained by Channel 4, the cuts represent about 4 percent of the 1,651 Jacksonville officers on the force before the layoffs began.
An unknown number of civilian employees were also expected to lose their jobs.
“We’re going back to numbers of three years ago when we were the No. 1 murder capital of Florida,” said FOP President Nelson Cuba.
Sheriff John Rutherford said he had proposed cutting $16.5 million from what he described as an already lean budget, but the City Council cut another $1.2 million. After the budget vote, Rutherford said the budget reduction would require the elimination of about 100 positions — up to 70 of those sworn officers.
Cuba said some officers were called to turn in their badges, guns, patrol cars and other issued equipment on Monday evening, and more were called in Tuesday to do the same.
None of the officers let go would talk about the process because they were hoping to be rehired when positions become available due to retirements or other reasons.
Rutherford had said that officers with the least seniority would be laid off — mostly patrol officers riding the midnight shift — and that other officers would be moved from other shifts and duties to cover.
Cuba said a lot of the layoffs affect officers in Zone 4 on the Westside. City Councilman Jim Love represents a large chunk of that area.
“I’ve talked to the sheriff personally, and the sheriff said he’s going to do his best to infill from other areas, to make sure that we’re covered,” said City Councilman Jim Love. “He did say what would happen is we might have a little slower service if we have a car accident and nobody is hurt, and the community service officer is going to take a little more time to get there because there (are) less of them.”
“If you’re taking officers from one location, one position, wherever they were at to another, then somebody is going to be lacking,” Cuba said.
Channel 4 was told by the FOP that the officers losing their jobs were from the June 2011 and Spring 2010 graduating classes from the police academy.
Cuba said that Orange and Pinellas counties are hiring certified officers, so many of the officers Duval County paid to be train will go to work for other agencies.
Restaurant owner Bobby Kapuschansky said that last week he asked his customers to sign a petition to the city to try and save officers’ jobs.
“Where Jacksonville has come in the last 5-6 years and in improving the area of the city, to lay off cops now is ridiculous. It’s a giant step backwards,” said Kapuschansky, who owns Carmine’s Pie House in Riverside. “Find the money. Find the money. That’s the answer. The money has to be found. As a community, safety is No. 1, period.”
Rutherford is expected to speak publicly on Wednesday, when the layoffs are expected to be complete.
Source:jax4news.com
San Jose police officers charged in embezzlement from Latino Peace Officers Association www.privateofficer.com
San Jose CA Oct 6 2011 A Silicon Valley nonprofit that has given out tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to needy students has been suspended and two of its officials arrested on suspicion of stealing $120,000 for their personal use.
Even more shocking: The organization is the Latino Peace Officers Association and the two board members facing charges are a San Jose police officer and a former police officer.
On Tuesday morning, police arrested former Officer Manuel Villagrana, 37, who was the longtime president of the Latino association, and Officer Marco Ybarra, 37. Both were booked on suspicion of felony grand theft. If convicted, they face a maximum of three years in county jail.
As recently as three years ago, the Latino Peace Officers Association of Santa Clara County had more than 100 members and threw high-powered galas to dole out about a dozen $1,000 to $5,000 scholarships to needy minority college freshmen looking to launch careers in criminal justice.
Now the national organization has suspended the local chapter. The coffers are stripped bare and the scholarship program appears dead.
“It amounts to greed,” said Felipe Ortiz, a spokesman and past president of the National Latino Peace Officers Association. “As law enforcement officers, they should know this right from the start: It’s not your money.”
Mysterious activity
There have now been two high-profile arrests of San Jose officers in recent weeks, further roiling a demoralized department that lost dozens of officers to unprecedented layoffs this year. Last month, Officer Patrick D’Arrigo was charged with having sexual activity with two teenage high school students.
Villagrana, who, as the head of the organization that put on an annual gala that often drew a starry crowd of powerful movers and shakers, is accused of stealing about $80,000. He was fired from the force in recent months. Ybarra, who is still on the force, is suspected of stealing about $40,000 from the association’s coffers.
Court information was not immediately available. Bail was set at $25,000 each.
“I find it very disappointing,” said Lt. Dave Storton, who heads the department’s financial crimes unit. “It angers me anytime anyone in law enforcement violates the public trust like that.”
Police officials would not disclose why Villagrana was fired from the force. But sources said he was terminated for unrelated time card fraud.
Investigators say Villagrana denied he had made cash withdrawals from the association’s account.
Police say Ybarra told them that Villagrana asked him to withdraw money one or two times to pay for DJs or dancers who performed at fundraising events. Ybarra said he was suspicious because the performers were generally Villagrana’s friends and seemed more expensive than they should have been.
The officer said he could not recall depositing a signed $10,000 check into his own account in 2006, according to the affidavit, and he suggested that “his lack of memory was likely due to an accident while serving in the military in Iraq.”
The theft was discovered through an audit by the National Latino Peace Officers Association, launched by a past president who noticed a series of mysterious cash withdrawals by the San Jose chapter.
Audit trail
Retired San Jose police Officer Noe Longoria — a former chapter president — became suspicious two years ago when he tried to call the previously flush nonprofit organization — which raises most of its money through dues and donations — only to discover that the phone had been disconnected.
After some weeks, according to the affidavit, Longoria confronted Villagrana and asked him for bank records. He was shocked by the paltry accounting that he finally received after several fruitless months, the affidavit said, so he asked for an audit.
The audit showed that money began to mysteriously disappear from the organization’s accounts in 2005, soon after Villagrana took over as president, and lasted through 2009, according to a police affidavit.
In contrast, in the last year of Longoria’s tenure as president, in 2004, the association withdrew $300 in cash.
The next year, the first year Villagrana served as president, withdrawals from the account totaled $10,300. In 2008, $50,000 was taken out. There were no receipts, according to officials.
Investigators said they do not know how the money was spent. None of it has been recovered.
Longoria told police that the only need for the organization’s officials to withdraw money was to pay a band or have petty cash on hand at fundraising events. Scholarships and performers at fundraisers were paid by check.
After launching their probe in late February, police investigators say they discovered the two men had been steadily stealing money from the account for years, the affidavit says.
Police say the two used little stealth and simply made cash withdrawals using their own names or sometimes just deposited checks into their personal accounts.
Source:MercuryNews.com
Wilmington NC red light cameras nab 18,000 violators www.privateofficer.com
WILMINGTON, NC Oct 6 2011 – More than 18,000 tickets were given to drivers in the last fiscal year as a result of the Safe Light Program in Wilmington.
Don Bennett, the head engineer for the city, believes this is a positive outcome because the cameras are starting to change the behavior of drivers at these intersections.
The Safe Light Program consists of 13 traffic cameras positioned throughout Wilmington that shoot video when a car runs a red light.
While the 18,000 red light tickets seems high, that’s only a drop in the bucket when you consider these cameras monitor only 13 of the hundreds of intersections in Wilmington.
Bennett hopes by releasing this video, drivers will see what can happen if they run a red light.
Bennett said most of the accidents are caused by distracted drivers.
Source:WECT.com
Lawsuits filed against Big World Vacations for fraud and scams www.privateofficer.com
In separate lawsuits filed on Tuesday, Molly Clark and Harry Whittaker and his wife accuse Big World Vacations, its principals and several affiliates of defrauding them out of thousands of dollars. A Nov. 7 court date has been set in both cases.
The suits are the latest salvos fired against Big World, which has been the target of multiple consumer complaints, leading the local Better Business Bureau to give the company an ‘F’ rating.
“This is an absolute scam operation,” said Brian Manookian, the Nashville attorney handling Clark’s and Whittaker’s cases against Big World. The company has had a storefront in the 2400 block of Music Valley Drive.
In the lawsuits, Clark and Whittaker say Big World offered them free airline tickets and other prizes if they attended a company sales presentation in the Music Valley Drive storefront. At the presentations, Big World promised they’d receive travel discounts if they enrolled in the club, the lawsuits say.
Whittaker paid $5,000 and Clark paid $4,693 for memberships, but say Big World failed to deliver the promised savings or refunds. Instead, all they got were a user name and password for Big World’s website and online reservation system — which actually were Travelocity’s, which Big World rebranded to make them appear as its own, the lawsuits say.
“In truth, Big World Vacations provides no service of value to its members,” the lawsuits say. “It is a classic high-pressure, front-end scam with vague assurances of discounts and no delivery.”
The suits also contend the company’s membership contract violates state consumer protection laws because it does not contain required disclosures, including the buyer’s right to cancel within three business days.
Clark and the Whittakers each are seeking triple damages plus attorneys’ fees from Big World and two of its principals: Peter D. Milana of Westin, Fla., its president; and Tammy Damron, a local real estate agent. Neither responded to emails and voice mails seeking comment on Tuesday.
The suits also name Royal Elite Vacations, a Williamsburg, Va.-based company that also operates as Grand Premier Vacations and Royal Elite Exchanges; Keith Kosco, its CEO; and Tina Williams, its president, as defendants.
They were included because they own and operate the “illusionary travel plan” that Big World was selling in Nashville, the suits say.
“I haven’t seen anything and I have no comment,” Kosco said when contacted Tuesday. Williams did not respond to emails.
BBB gives firm an ‘F’The BBB of Middle Tennessee said it has received 30 complaints about the company in the past 14 months. About half of those complaints were resolved, but BBB gave the company an “F” rating because of a “pattern of complaints” alleging misleading advertising and poor customer service.
Big World also has operated as BTM Distributors, BMV and Cascadia Condominiums in an effort to hide its past, the two lawsuits contend.
Other consumers have filed complaints against Big World with the state Division of Consumer Affairs, which has forwarded those to the state attorney general’s office for review.
Source:the Tennessean
Longtime National Archives employee admits to theft of recordings www.privateofficer.com
Among the audio pilfered by Leslie C. Waffen was an original master copy of a recording of baseball great Babe Ruth hunting on Dec. 10, 1937. Waffen sold it for $34.74, according to court records.
Waffen, 66, who was chief of the Archives’ audiovisual holdings, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt to embezzlement of government property.
It was unclear how many recordings Waffen sold or how much money he made, but federal authorities said he had been stealing for about a decade. Records found in Waffen’s home showed that he had “offered, sold and shipped” items belonging to the Archives since at least August 2001, they said. He sold items on eBay in September and October 2010, they said.
The stolen items include some gems of U.S. entertainment history: episodes of “Gunsmoke,” a western radio drama; “Dragnet,” a crime show about Los Angeles police detectives; and jazz shows broadcast by the American Forces Radio and Television Service to U.S. troops serving in World War II, a source familiar with the case said.
David Ferriero, who became head of the National Archives in 2009, said Waffen went undetected for so long because of lax security. Until a few months ago, when Ferriero demanded a change in policy, no one’s bags were checked when they left an Archives facility, he said.
Now, bags carried by visitors and employees are searched randomly as they exit the D.C. and College Park facilities. The practice will be expanded to other facilities nationwide, officials said.
Waffen “just walked out with everything,” Ferriero said in an interview. “You spend all this time worrying about the collection and making sure it’s safe, then you have an insider who betrays your trust. That’s always the worst.”
Authorities said that a tipster led them to Waffen, who worked at the Archives for 41 years.
Last October, weeks after Waffen retired, federal agents raided his house. Assistant U.S. Attorney Arun G. Rao said in court that the agents seized 6,153 sound recordings and that officials confirmed that 955 of them belonged to the Archives.
U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein called the case “especially egregious, because the defendant was a high-ranking government employee who violated his obligation to protect historical records.”
The only stolen recording described in court papers is the Babe Ruth recording. According to the court papers, it was among about 3,000 that were donated to the archives and processed by Waffen in the mid-1970s. Agents have recovered that recording.
The audiovisual holdings contain more than 90,000 film, sound and video recordings.
The case underscores some of the challenges facing the Archives, which has millions of records donated privately and by government agencies that it does not have the staff to sort through. Although Waffen admitted stealing almost 1,000 recordings from the Archives, the ownership of thousands of other records federal agents recovered from his house was unclear.
Waffen, who declined to comment Tuesday, is scheduled to be sentenced March 5. Under the terms of the plea deal, he can appeal any sentence of more than two years, and federal prosecutors can appeal any sentence of less than 18 months.
Rao said the government will argue at the sentencing that the stolen recordings are worth at least $70,000. Waffen’s defense attorney is expected to argue that they are worth $30,000 to $70,000.
Source:washington post
AT Security Service moves corporate offices to Arizona www.privateofficer.com
The relocation was announced late Monday by the Arizona Commerce Authority, Greater Phoenix Economic Council and city of Scottsdale.
“Relocating our corporate headquarters to Scottsdale will allow AT Security the chance to save on cost and increase its ability to put people and military veterans back to work,” Jacques Davis, AT Security president and CEO said in a news release.
AT Security, with offices in Hawaii, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and New York, provides corporate security, protection for executives and alarm-response services. It has 250 employees nationwide, according to its website.
The company’s average annual salary is expected to be $50,000 and it plans to spend $5.1 million in capital investment as part of the relocation. The company did not specify what types of jobs would be based out of the Scottsdale headquarters.
AT Security opened its office for business on Monday at 8665 E. Hartford Drive, Suite 200, northwest of Bell Road and Loop 101.
Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane said he was pleased with AT Security moving to Scottsdale.
“They are a welcome addition to the diverse mix of innovative businesses, large and small, who are finding success here,” Lane said.
Source:www.azcentral.com
The Wynn Las Vegas casino sues cheaters who won $700,000 www.privateofficer.com
LAS VEGAS NV Oct 6 2011 – The Wynn Las Vegas casino-resort is suing two Argentine nationals accused of cheating at craps to win $700,000. The casino claims the duo used an illegal technique known as “dice sliding.”
Leonardo Fernandez and Veronica Dabul were arrested by Nevada Gaming Control Board agents on July 18. They were accused of cheating the Wynn Las Vegas casino-resort with the help of several unidentified customers who placed bets and distracted craps dealers.
The resort’s lawsuit claimed the two built their winnings in steps beginning in June, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Dice sliding, also called scooting, involves sliding at least one of the dice across the table after positioning it in the hand so the desired number remains face up. State gambling regulators say sliding can’t always deliver exact numbers, but skilled cheaters can considerably improve their odds of winning.
Few sliding cases have been reported to regulators, and few have involved so much money, said Jerry Markling, the gaming board’s enforcement chief.
“It’s not a common form of cheating because it involves a considerable amount of skill and practice,”‘ he told the Review-Journal. “It is unusual for cheaters to be able to win that much.”
Wynn management became suspicious and reviewed tapes when the two won $145,000 on seven slides on July 17. The casino claims the two played different tables and in different teams, with at least one trying to distract dealers during slides. They had been regular customers at the resort.
Dabul was released after spending two days in the county jail. Fernandez, of Buenos Aires, was turned over on July 25 to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service officials, who were unsure of his current status.
Anthony Lucas, a gaming professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the case for sliding is relatively simple.
Two sixes, known by names such as boxcars or midnight, pay out at 30-to-1. But ensuring that just one dice comes up a six considerably improves the chances of the 30-to-1 payout, even if the other dice is tossed at random.
It changes “the expected value of a bet from negative to positive,” Lucas said.
Source:CBS/AP
Thieves lock guard in security booth, loot construction site www.privateofficer.com
The bandits entered the site between Jay and Bridge streets — where luxury developer Toll Brothers is completing a 66-unit condo — around 1:20 am, according to a police report.
They locked the guard in his booth before hunting for the building’s supply of that most precious of not-so-precious metals, a quest for the new gold that has become one of the most-common crimes in the borough.
Thugs have hit construction sites, apartment buildings and even MTA storage facilities for copper, which is used for electrical and plumbing work, among other uses.
The common metal is sought after by thieves as its price has risen steadily in the past decade, from less than $1 per pound to nearly $4 per pound this year. Copper fetches almost $7,000 per ton on the open market.
Best of all (from the thieves’ perspective), unlike precious metals such as gold and silver, copper is rarely secured at construction sites, making it an easy target.
In the case of the Oct. 1 armed robbery, the thieves found a huge stash of copper, but had to settle for stealing two smaller rolls after realizing that they couldn’t carry the 2,000-pound spool out by themselves, said John Gullixson, the site’s project manager,
The haul would have been worth approximately $15,000 on the open market, equaling a successful heist carried out at a Prospect Heights construction project in July.
Gullixson said he wasn’t surprised at the break-in.
“Whenever someone breaks into a construction site they’re always looking for copper,” he said, adding that he will install new security cameras to prevent future break-ins.
“We don’t expect it to happen again,” he said.
Nobody ever does.
Source:Brooklyn Community News
Dayton prison guard steals car, escapes police custody www.privateofficer.com
The man, who was wearing a guard’s uniform but was not armed, is in his 30s and a guard at Dayton Correctional Institution, said German Twp. Police Chief Lew Wilcox. Wilcox declined the identify the man pending charges.
He showed up at the high school around 7:05 a.m. Tuesday after running out of gas driving a car he apparently stole from a property on Little Twin Road not far from the school. Otherwise, he has no connection to the school, officials say.
Someone helped him push the car into the school parking lot. No students or teachers were around because the school was on a one hour delay because of training, said superintendent Sherry Parr. “We were fortunate,” she said.
Two office workers spoke to the man, she said, and he appeared to be very agitated and spoke about people chasing him. He didn’t threaten anyone.
The workers called township police who arrived and escorted him to Sycamore Medical Center for an evaluation. He escaped not long afterwards and an alert was issued to local police agencies. The man was found within an hour in the vicinity of the hospital.
Miamisburg High School was put on lockdown while officials searched for the man.
Chief Wilcox said he expected the man would be charged with car theft.
Source:Dayton Daily News
ROTC teacher arrested for sex assault of student www.privateofficer.com
RIALTO, Calif. Oct 6 2011 — An ROTC teacher at Carter High School in Rialto has been arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 16-year-old girl.
Authorities arrested 49-year-old Thomas Hugh Danielly Jr. of Highland on Tuesday.
He is accused of committing multiple lewd and lascivious acts with a juvenile at the school between 2008 and 2010. His bail was set at $1.25 million.
Officials said there may be other victims. Anyone with information was asked to call Rialto police at (909) 820-2521.
Source:abc7
Home Depot security agent stops suspected felon with guns, drugs www.privateofficer.com
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Oct 6 2011 — Police said a Home Depot security official helped officers arrest a suspected identity thief accused of fraudulently charging $5,600 in store items and possessing methamphetamine and two handguns in his car.
A loss-prevention officer for the Colorado Springs Home Depot at 102 N. Academy Blvd. called police to the store at 4 p.m. Monday.
The security officer had questioned Johnny Gilliland about his purchases, asked to look at his ID card and realized that the ID card was a fake.
The guard detained Gilliland and called police, telling them that Gilliland used a forged identity card to obtain a store credit card and buy $5,600 in items over two weeks.
Officers took Gilliland into custody.
The security officer then led police to Gilliland’s car in the parking lot, where they found the man’s wife. She consented to a search of the vehicle, police said.
Police said they found methamphetamine, two handguns, and materials consistent with identity theft — including identity cards and other documents for about 15 different people. One of the handguns was stolen and Gilliland was determined to be a former convicted felon, police said.
Gilliland was arrested on investigation of multiple charges involving identity theft, drugs and weapons violations, police said.
Source:TheDenverChannel.com
Security shoots at fleeing bank robbers www.privateofficer.com
Sacramento CA Oct 6 2011 A security guard fired at fleeing bank robbers this morning in Elk Grove.
It is not known if the guard hit either the robbers or their car as the suspects sped away about 9:30 a.m. from the Chase Bank in the 8700 block of Elk Grove Boulevard. At least one of the robbers was armed, said Elk Grove police officer Chris Trim.
Upon entering the bank, one robber ordered customers to get on the floor, while the other vaulted the teller counter. A security guard inside the bank confronted the robber who had ordered patrons to the floor and a physical struggle occurred, Trim.
The robbers fled the bank with cash, driving away in a white Honda or Toyota. The guard chased after the vehicle, firing several rounds at the car.
Source:sacbee.com
Tempe high school security guard arrested in theft www.privateofficer.com
Tempe AZ Oct 6 2011 A security guard who worked for 19 years at Tempe High School has been arrested on suspicion of stealing more than $1,000 in ticket sale proceeds from one football game, Tempe police announced Wednesday.
Kimmie Dwayne Baker, 47, was arrested Tuesday evening in a burglary at Tempe High School during which $1,028 in cash was stolen from a locked closet in an administration office of the building at 1730 S. Mill Avenue, police said.
Sometime between about 9 p.m. Sept. 23 and 8 a.m. Sept. 26, Baker entered the administration building and took the money from two different bags in a locked closet, police said.
Only a limited number of employees have keys to the locked closet, police said, and Baker denied having a key to the locked closet where the money was held.
Tempe Police Detectives served a search warrant at Baker’s residence and found a key to the locked closet where the money was stored. The key was located within the leather cover of Baker’s Bible. When confronted, Baker denied involvement in the incident.
This appears to be an isolated incident; however Tempe Police detectives are working with school officials to determine if there were other incidents of theft.
Baker was placed under arrest and was booked into Tempe City Jail on charges of third degree burglary, felony theft and three unrelated outstanding misdemeanor warrants.
Source:www.azcentral.com
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracting officials charged with taking $20 million bribes, kickbbacks
An indictment unsealed today in Washington alleges the government employees, Kerry F. Khan, 53, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Michael A. Alexander, 55, of Woodbridge, Virginia, funneled more than $45 million to the company through a contract they were in charge of. Also charged was Harold Babb, the director of contracts for Eyak Technology LLC in Dulles, Virginia. Kerry Khan’s son, Lee, a consultant, is the fourth defendant.
The four pleaded not guilty in federal court in Washington and are being held without bond until a detention hearing on Oct. 6. Prosecutors said in court they were all a flight risk and that the Khans had threatened a potential witness.
The scheme was “one of the most brazen federal procurement scandals in our nation’s history,” U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said at a news conference in Washington. “This scheme is staggering in scope. I think it surprised all of us.”
In addition to the arrests, the government seized 29 bank accounts, three luxury cars and is seeking forfeiture of 16 properties financed at least in part through the alleged scheme, Machen said in a statement. Federal agents executed search warrants at an Army Corps’s office in Washington this morning, prosecutors said.
Five-Year Contract
The four were involved in a scheme that reaped $20 million through a five-year contract with the Army Corps under the TIGER program, the indictment alleged. Government agencies, including Homeland Security, NASA and the Coast Guard, use the TIGER contract to acquire information-technology services and physical and infrastructure security.
Eyak Technology is a unit of Anchorage, Alaska-based Eyak Corp., which has received more than $1.9 billion in government contracts since the fiscal year that began October 2001, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Government.
Eyak qualifies for preferential treatment through a program that reserves some contracts for small companies owned by disadvantaged minorities.
Hostile Takeover
Melissa Zelinger, a spokeswoman for Eyak, said the company “is cooperating with the investigation.” The company attempted a hostile takeover of GTSI Corp., based in Herndon, Virginia, in September 2010. The deal was terminated last October.
The alleged scheme was made possible by Kerry Khan’s position as a program director in the Army Corps’s directorate of operations, which administers the TIGER contract, prosecutors said. He had authority to place orders through TIGER that don’t require competitive bidding.
EyakTek was the prime contractor, subcontracting many orders from the Army Corps.
Khan, Alexander and Babb allegedly directed orders to a Virginia-based company identified in the indictment as “Company A.” The company’s chief technology officer, an unindicted co- conspirator, submitted fraudulently inflated invoices then paid the $20 million in kickbacks to the three, the indictment alleges.
At the same time, the defendants conspired to steer as much as $780 million in contracts for CORES, a planned replacement for TIGER, to “Company A,” prosecutors said.
Money Laundering
All four defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Kerry Khan and Alexander also were accused of one count of receipt of a bribe by a public official, and Babb was indicted on one count of unlawful kickbacks. If convicted, Kerry Khan and Alexander face as many as 40 years in prison. Babb faces as long as 35 years, and Lee Khan faces a sentence of up to 25 years, according to the statement.
The arrests mark the third time since July that Army Corps employees were linked to allegation of contracting fraud.
Last month, a former Army Corps employee based in Iraq pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from Iraqi contractors. In July, three former employees of the agency and two other men were indicted in Newark, New Jersey in an alleged kickback scheme involving more than $50 million in contracts in Iraq.
Press officers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about the involvement of its employees or the search of its headquarters.
The case is U.S. v. Khan, 1:11-cr-00276, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
–With assistance from Kathleen Miller, Nishad Majmudar and Michael Riley in Washington. Editors: Fred Strasser, Jon Morgan
Source:bloomberg.net
KY State Trooper shoots armed cattle rustler www.privateofficer.com
State police stopped 41-year-old Scotty T. Reece of Glasgow in an area near the Oakland community Tuesday night, the Daily News in Bowling Green reported.
Police say Reece jumped out of the vehicle and pointed a handgun at troopers, and Trooper Matt Cardwell fired his service handgun through the cruiser windshield, hitting Reece. Reece was flown to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville with what police said appear to be non-life-threatening injuries.
Reece is charged in Sumner County, Tenn., with cattle theft and manufacturing marijuana. He faces drug charges in Barren, Cumberland and Metcalfe counties.
Source:wsmv.com
Police investigate death of Iowa officer as possible suicide www.privateofficer.com
Officer David S. Riches, 33, died early Monday morning, but his death is not considered suspicious, Anamosa Police Chief Bob Simonson said in a news release. Officers were releasing few details Monday, but Chief Simonson confirmed the death occurred at the pedestrian bridge by the entrance to Wapsipinicon State Park in Anamosa.
Simonson said Riches worked the overnight shift for Anamosa Police and had just gone on duty at midnight. The chief said Riches did not have a call at the pedestrian bridge which is located just above the dam on the Wapsipinicon River.
Because of Riches’ status as an officer, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation was called in to investigate. DCI agents were on the scene Monday morning. Riches’ patrol car was parked next to the bridge and the chief confirmed he had left the car there and walked out to the middle of the bridge.
Gaye Riches, of Onslow, said the last communication her son had with the family was around midnight when he sent a text message to his brother. She said the family still had many questions.
“He was my son,” Riches said in a brief phone interview. “I loved him.”
Chief Simonson said DCI agents had the text message but he didn’t know what was in it. However, within 15 minutes of that message, another Anamosa officer on duty was sent to the bridge and found Riches’ body.
The chief said there is some evidence Officer Riches took his own life, but that is an official call state agents will make, probably after an autopsy is complete.
According to the chief, Riches is the first Anamosa officer to die while on duty.
Elizabeth City State University student arrested for threats against college www.privateofficer.com
Tuesday evening, Elizabeth City police announced that they arrested 18-year old Margaret White who is an Elizabeth City State University student. She is charged with cyberstalking, according to a warrant.
The warrant also shows that White sent an e-mail to the college president and eight others in which she threatened to harm math professor Frank Hendrick. The message also threatened physical damage to COA’s property.
School officials did not release specifics but they told everyone to get off campus.
Student Tim Jones understandably found his mind racing.
“My first thought was bomb threat or someone’s angry at the school,” Jones said.
Tuesday, students woke up to see an e-mail from college president Kandi Deitemeyer, informing them there’s no real threat on campus.
White is out of jail on bond and is scheduled for a hearing on October 31. Conditions of her release include the prohibition of going onto either ECSU or COA campuses without approval.
Source:WVEC.com
