Archive
Norfolk Public Schools security uses pepper spray to break up food fight www.privateofficer.com
The incident happened during lunch Tuesday at the cafeteria of Lafayette-Winona Middle School.
Norfolk Public Schools spokesperson Elizabeth Mather said that the officer used pepper spray to break up the fight.
A concerned parent wrote 10 On Your Side saying the spray caused some of the kids with asthma to get sick.
Mather said the students who complained of physical symptoms following the pepper spray were examined by the school nurse, and their parents were contacted.
Source:WAVY
Off duty deputy sheriff with gun confronted during President Obama’s Virginia visit www.privateofficer.com
Sheriffs and police officers providing security when the president visits their towns are often armed, but Secret Service Spokesman Edwin Donovan says the deputy sheriff in this instance was not part of that security detail. She was in uniform and presumed to be working but then joined the crowd as an attendee.
Normally, attending as a civilian would be fine, but when you have a gun in your holster among a crowd just before the president arrives, that’s not a good situation.
The Secret Service spotted the woman and pulled her aside, telling her she needed to secure her weapon. She did so and was allowed to return to the event unarmed.
It should be noted, that the Secret Service also does intense security sweeps prior to any presidential event and then screens each person individually beforehand.
One person dies in crash with Idaho deputy sheriff www.privateofficer.com
BOISE ID Oct 20 2011 — One person is dead after an accident Tuesday night on Highway 30 one mile west of New Plymouth.
Idaho State Police say a Payette County sheriff’s deputy was driving with his lights and sirens on responding to a report of an intruder in a New Plymouth home around 5:30 p.m. when he tried to pass a jeep driven by Barry Johnson, 65, of New Plymouth.
Johnson turned left in front of the deputy and the deputy’s vehicle struck the driver’s side of Johnson’s Jeep. Johnson was not wearing his seatbelt. He was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.
The deputy was taken to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Ontario, Ore., where he was treated and released.
The accident was cleared around 10:11 p.m. Tuesday and the highway is open to traffic.
Alcohol is believed to be a factor in this crash.
Source:ktvb.com
North Richland Hill teacher arrested in teen relationship www.privateofficer.com
Tiffanie Bedinger, 44, was charged for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student.
Police and Birdville Independent School District officials were made aware of the possible offense last April by the victim’s family.
Bedinger was arrested on Tuesday and released on a $30,000 bond.
Source:wfaa.com
Foley MN uses private security for non-emergency services www.privateofficer.com
FOLEY MN Oct 20 2011 — Foley residents will call a private security company when they need nonemergency help, starting in January.
On Tuesday, Foley City Council members unanimously approved hiring a private security company to provide 24-hour service to the city. The city will enter a six-month contract with General Security Services Corp. for $98,500.
Mayor Gary Gruba said Foley is the first city he’s heard of that has used a private security company. But he said he has heard other cities are looking at the option to save costs.
Since 2003, the city has paid Benton County to have three deputies patrol the city for 17.1 hours a day. The council voted earlier this month to reject a new contract from the county to provide police services for 2012.
The county had proposed a contract for 2012 that would cost $23,426 a month for three deputies. This year the city is paying $24,694 a month.
Cuts in Local Government Aid mean the city has to look at all areas to make cuts, council member Dean Weber said.
The company will start providing staffing eight hours a day in December and full time in January. The county’s contract expires at the end of December.
Council members and staff will work on a plan to educate the public about the change. Emergency calls should still be made to 911 and a deputy will respond.
The security company guards will patrol the area and can make citizen arrests. They cannot investigate crimes or do traffic stops.
In September, Foley had 162 calls for service. A majority of those were traffic stops, Benton County Capt. Paul Olmanson said at the meeting.
Source:AP
Who stole President Obama’s stuff? www.privateofficer.com
A Henrico, Va., television station, WWBT-NBC12, is reporting that a truck carrying $200,000 worth of equipment — including several lecterns with the presidential seal, teleprompters and portable audio equipment — for Obama’s appearance in Chesterfield on Wednesday was stolen outside a Marriott hotel.
The truck, with the gear still inside, was later discovered outside a Holiday Inn Express around 12:30 p.m. Monday, the station reported. It quoted a spokesperson for the Defense Information Systems Agency as saying: “No classified or sensitive information was in the vehicle. We take incidents such as this very seriously, and a formal investigation is continuing.”
Alabama corrections officer charged with murder of inmate www.privateofficer.com
Auburn AL Oct 20 2011 An Auburn man is behind bars charged with murder in connection with the August 4, 2010 beating death of an inmate in an Alabama correctional facility.
Auburn police and agents with the Alabama Attorney General’s Investigations Division arrested Michael Anthony Smith, 37, just before noon Tuesday at an apartment complex on Gatewood Drive, Auburn Police Division Chief Tommy Dawson said.
Smith’s arrest comes as a result of an Oct. 17 indictment returned by a Barbour County grand jury charging the former correctional lieutenant with the beating death of 24-year-old Rocrast Donnell Mack.
At the time of the alleged beating, Smith was employed at the Ventress Correctional Facility in Barbour County. Mack was taken to a Montgomery hospital, where he died of his injuries the following day.
The indictment charges Smith with intentionally causing Mack’s death by beating him with his hands, feet and or a baton, according to a release from the attorney general’s office.
An autopsy report from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences cites the cause of death as “multiple blunt force injuries” including contusions to his face and neck.
Information released by the Department of Corrections stated that the Alabama Bureau of Investigation found possible criminal conduct by correctional officers, resulting in the firing of two officers and the resignation of four others. The names of those officers were not released.
Smith will be arraigned in Barbour County in Clayton on Nov. 3, according to Don Valeska, assistant attorney general.
Mack was serving a 20-year sentence on a drug conviction out of Montgomery County, according to a court document.
Smith was transported to the Lee County Detention Facility where his bond has been set at $500,000. If convicted, Smith faces a sentence of 99 years to life in prison.
Smith was an employee with the Alabama Department of Corrections from March 1997 to October 2010, according to Brian Corbett, Alabama DOC Public Information Manager.
Source:oanow.com
Alabama police charge woman for bank robbery www.privateofficer.com
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama Oct 20 2011– Police arrested a woman in connection with a credit union robbery on University Boulevard Tuesday.
Heather Marshall Marroquin, 29, has been charged with first-degree robbery and third-degree robbery of the Alabama Credit Union at 4239 University Boulevard.
Witnesses told investigators that a female robber told a cashier she had a weapon and demanded money, Tuscaloosa Police spokesman Sgt. Brent Blankley said. She then fled the scene in a silver vehicle with an unknown amount of money.
According to a statement from police today, officers located the unoccupied vehicle at the entrance to the VA Medical Center off of Woodland Road. They were told the suspect got into another vehicle, which was later stopped by police.
Marroquin was taken into custody and then arrested by investigators.
The driver of the vehicle told police Marroquin jumped into the passenger seat of her vehicle and asked for help. Officers were told that Marroquin threatened another driver in an attempt to get the victim to leave her vehicle, Blankley said.
Marroquin is in the Tuscaloosa County Jail with a $75,000 bond.
Source:al.com
Wal-Mart customer fight closes store after chemicals are spilled www.privateofficer.com
Baltimore County MD Oct 20 2011 A woman poured bleach and Pine-Sol on a Walmart customer in southern Baltimore County, police said, in an incident that closed down the store for several hours Saturday and sent 19 to area hospitals.
The suspect, Theresa Monique Jefferson, 33, followed another woman into the store and assaulted her, county police spokesman Shawn Vinson said in an email. She later turned herself in and was arrested.
The two women knew each other and were involved in a continuing dispute, Vinson said.
The victim’s boyfriend has a child with Jefferson, who is from the Lansdowne-Baltimore Highlands community of Baltimore County, police said.
Jefferson has been charged with first- and second-degree assault, theft of items worth less than $100 and malicious destruction of property, police said. She is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $350,000 bail.
Victim information was still being determined Saturday evening, Vinson said.
The Baltimore County Fire Department’s fire and medic units, who arrived on the scene just after 11 a.m., requested the hazardous materials team a short time later because of complaints about watery eyes and other injuries, said spokesman Glenn Blackwell.
One person was taken to the Wilmer Eye Institute for a potentially serious injury, while 18 others were taken to area hospitals, including Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Harbor Hospital, Northwest Hospital Center and St. Agnes Hospital, Blackwell said.
The store at the Lansdowne Station shopping center was evacuated and closed. The store reopened at 2 p.m. after employees cleaned up and ventilated the area, said Walmart spokeswoman Dianna Gee. Three employees suffered minor respiratory problems, she said.
“This is obviously not the type of behavior that we would expect from people at our stores,” Gee said. “And we want to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused other customers.”
Baltimore County officials said ammonia had been thrown as well. Mixing ammonia and bleach can create a toxic gas that could lead to choking or other breathing problems.
Source:the baltimore sun
Federal jury convicts Virginia attorney for $400,000 theft from client www.privateofficer.com
Fifty-two-year-old Brian Gay was convicted Monday. According to evidence at trial, Gay was the executor of the estate of Daniel Woodside, who died in 2006, and Gay used some of Woodside’s life insurance proceeds to buy himself a home in Naples, Fla., and two Harley Davidson motorcycles.
The Virginian-Pilot reports that Woodside’s family spent years trying to retrieve the money Gay took. They filed complaints with the state bar and a civil suit in Virginia Beach before turning to federal authorities.
The bar revoked Gay’s license.
Gay faces up to 125 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 23.
His attorney refused to comment.
Source:Washington Post
L.A. jewelry store robbery nets $350,000 and guard’s gun www.privateofficer.com
LOS ANGELES CA OCT 20 2011 – Los Angeles Police detectives are investigating a weekend smash-and-grab robbery at a Chinatown jewelry store, where five men broke display counters and grabbed more $350,000 worth of high-end watches.
Just before 4 p.m., the suspects used pepper spray to stun the employees of Chong Hing Jewelry, on the 900 block of North Hill Street. The robbers used hammers to smash glass display cases. One suspect disarmed a security guard, taking his .45 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun.
The “smash and grab” heist marks the first since a rash of similar robberies plagued the Jewelry District in June and July.
“It appears the word got out that the Jewelry District was too hot, so now the crews have hit a store in Chinatown,” said Lt. Paul Vernon in a statement. “In this case, their MO was a little different in that they were after expensive watches, not gold chains.”
The suspects drove away in a black car, described as either a KIA or a Toyota Tercel, with paper plates.
All five suspects were black men who wore some kind of mask over their faces or red hooded sweatshirts that shielded their faces from view. Detectives are working with the business to recover video of the robbery.
Pawnshops and jewelry stores should be on the lookout for persons trying to sell or pawn new Omega and TAG Heuer watches, police said.
Anyone with information on this crime is urged to call Central Detectives at (213) 972-1251. Anonymous tips can be called into Crimestoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477), or by texting 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S) with a cell phone.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer arrested in drugs chase www.privateofficer.com
The deportation officer, identified as Jason Alistair Lowery, 34, had been under surveillance for more than month after a known smuggler who had been arrested gave authorities a tip about the officer in an effort to get lenient treatment, Department of Public Safety Officer Carrick Cook told The Associated Press.
Lowery, who lives in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, does not yet have an attorney.
DPS and federal agents tried to pull Lowery over Tuesday after he picked up a load of marijuana in the desert with his unmarked ICE pickup truck, Cook said. The officer fled, leading agents on a 45-minute chase at speeds of up to 110 mph as he threw 10 of the 14 bundles of pot that he had in the truck out of the window, he said.
“He got pretty desperate,” Cook said.
The chase began in the Vekol Valley about 45 miles south of Phoenix and ended just south of Sacaton, about 20 miles as the crow flies northwest from where the chase began. It ended when Lowery’s truck rolled over and he gave himself up.
DPS believes Lowery was taking the marijuana to a man working for a drug cartel whose house served as the nexus of the drug distribution.
Lowery was booked into Pima County jail on charges of smuggling and felony flight. The sheriff’s office also booked the man who was to receive the marijuana, identified as 33-year-old Joshua Duane Powell of Arizona City.
At Powell’s home, police found 14 rifles and guns in the trunk of his car, seven of which had been reported stolen, according to a DPS document.
The document also said that Powell had been out on a $25,000 bond stemming from a separate investigation last month in which multiple bulletproof vests, weapons, stolen night-vision equipment, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and various drugs were found in his home.
“Since his release only a few weeks ago, (Powell) has amassed a small arsenal of weapons and has proven to continue involvement in the illicit drug trade,” the document said.
Powell does not yet have an attorney.
ICE spokesman Vinnie Picard declined to say how long that Lowery had worked for the agency or other details about him or the case.
“ICE is cooperating with federal and state authorities in this matter,” Picard said in a statement. “We hold our officers and agents to the highest levels of responsibility and are committed to supporting the agencies investigating this incident.”
Source:www.azcentral.com
Melbourne Magistrates’ Court prepare for strike www.privateofficer.com
About 85 guards from the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, Victorian County Court and the Children’s Court, who are employed by security contractor G4S, will walk off the job.
The guards’ union, United Voice, said 95 per cent of guards polled in an Australian Electoral Commission Ballot earlier this month backed industrial action.
Victorian Secretary of United Voice Jess Walsh said guards were in a constant cost-of-living battle.
“Court guards have done everything they can to avoid strike action, but they are risking great danger for poverty wages, which continue to shrivel in the face of the rising cost of living,” she said.
“G4S says it cannot afford to pay guards fairly and be competitive, but rival ISS Security has agreed to a four per cent annual pay rise – demolishing G4S’s argument.
“By refusing to back fair pay for the people who protect judges, witnesses, victims of crime, legal staff and the public, G4S have left guards with no option but stage a strike that will severely disrupt courts on Monday.’’
The strike is the latest in a raft of industrial action, including Qantas’ battle with its engineers, ground crew and pilots’ unions.
And last week it was revealed that Victoria’s hospital crisis could deepen with hundreds of doctors on the brink of industrial action.
It came after a report revealed bed shortages were forcing women to give birth in emergency departments, and a nurses’ strike threatened to close hospital beds and cancel elective surgeries.
Western Health doctors have been granted the right by Fair Work Australia to vote by November 2 on whether to proceed with industrial
Source:herald sun
Atlanta police jail wrong woman for almost 2 months www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta GA Oct 20 2011 Atlanta police are launching an internal investigation into the case of a woman who was arrested by mistake and held in jail for nearly two months, Channel 2 Action News reports.
Police are seeking to determine what happened and if any policies or procedures were violated in the arrest of Teresa Culpepper, who spent 53 days wrongfully incarcerated in Fulton County Jail because she had the same name, Teresa, as a woman wanted by authorities.
“I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to get out this situation,” Culpepper told Channel 2.
The woman’s nightmare began Aug. 21, when she called police to report her truck had been taken from in front of her Hawkins Street home. She ended up being arrested for an aggravated assault allegedly committed by another woman named Teresa.
“Her birth date didn’t match. Her address didn’t match. Her description didn’t match. Other than the name Teresa, nothing matched,” said Culpepper’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant.
Channel 2 tracked down the Teresa actually wanted by police, and the woman told the TV station she had never been arrested for the alleged offense.
Culpepper finally was released Oct. 12 after her public defender got the crime victim to come to court and say the woman in custody was not the attacker.
“I was like real rejoiceful, glad and happy that it came to an end and that somebody was out there, out there trying to help me,” Culpepper said.
Ashleigh said the city now must either settle with her client or face legal action.
Source:ajc.com
Alabama assistant school principal found not guilty on sex charges www.privateofficer.com
Eason was charged with two counts of sodomy and one count of sexual abuse against a former student.
The victim testified the abuse started in the fall of 2006. The defense argued the victim is an attention seeker.
Eason’s attorney said his client is looking forward to putting this all behind him.
“He’s elated. I’m elated. I think the jury saw this case for what it was,” said Bruce Gardner, Eason’s Defense Attorney.
“I have faith in the jury system. The fact of the matter is the jury had a tough case to deal with. The state had to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury decided we simply didn’t do that,” said Prosecutor Jason Scully-Clemmons
Eason has been on paid administrative leave since 2007 because of the allegations.
Source:WAFF
Former security guard Jason Dickey set free by SC Supreme Court www.privateofficer.com
Columbia SC Oct 20 2011 Former security guard Jason Dickey, who has served five years of a 16-year prison sentence for shooting and killing a man on a Columbia sidewalk, will leave prison today 11 years ahead of schedule.
“He is to be released,” said S.C. Department of Corrections spokesman Clark Newsom. “His attorney is on the way to prison right now to pick him up.”
The State Supreme Court cleared the way for Dickey’s release late Tuesday when it denied a petition by Attorney General Alan Wilson to reconsider its decision last month that overturned a 2006 Richland County jury finding of guilty.
A high court spokesman this morning confirmed the decision, although nothing formal has been announced or posted on the high court’s Internet site.
Dickey’s case has attracted widespread attention from gun rights and self defense groups. Dickey’s attorney, Lourie Salley of Lexington, was retained by a gun rights group to represent Dickey’s appeal to the State Supreme Court.
In late September, the Supreme Court overturned not only Dickey’s 2006 jury verdict of guilty, but a S.C. Court of Appeals decision that upheld the verdict.
In 2004, Dickey was a security guard at the Cornell Arms apartments when he shot and killed Josh Boot, 24, whom Dickey said was threatening him on a sidewalk on Pendleton Street in front of the building. Testimony in the case said Boot had caused a disturbance and Dickey evicted him, then followed him outside.
A key dispute in the case was whether Dickey helped cause the final deadly confrontation since Dickey followed Boot outside.
Boot had a bottle that could have been used as a weapon; Dickey was armed with a pistol that he carried concealed. He had a permit to carry the weapon.
Dickey is being held at Evans correctional facility near Bennettsville in Marlboro County.
Source:www.thestate.com
US Veteran dies after slitting throat-crashing into guard shack www.privateofficer.com
ALBANY NY Oct 20 2011 — The 39-year-old veteran who cut his own throat and drove into a guard shack about 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center has died. Officials have not released the man’s name.
Police found two cooking knives in the man’s SUV, according to Peter Potter, spokesman for the Stratton VA. It does not appear the man had been inside the VA facility on Monday night, but had driven into the hospital parking lot and, as he was exiting the lot, ran into the guard shack.
Prior to the incident, Potter said, there was no indication that the man was in danger of harming himself. No one else was injured.
VA Police are investigating and have not released any other information about the incident.
Source:www.timesunion.com
