Archive
Nevada County man had a pocket full of badges that belonged to his dog www.privateofficer.com
But the badge was apparently one of several in his possession, which he claimed belonged to his dog, said Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal.
The couple called 911 at about 1:40 p.m. Monday to report that a man driving behind them at about 45 mph had been swerving back and forth over the double yellow lines and flashing his lights near Union Hill School, Royal said.
“He nearly ran them off the road,” Royal said. “They started to pull over and he accelerated past them in the oncoming lane. As he passed them at a high rate of speed, he showed them what they believed to be a police badge through his window.”
The couple continued on Highway 174 toward Colfax and stopped a Placer County Sheriff’s deputy to report the incident, Royal said. They then saw the man’s vehicle parked in the parking lot of the marijuana dispensary and notified the deputy.
The driver, identified as Daniel Locke Krummenacher, 48, allegedly had three different badges in his possession. He allegedly had a gold-colored concealed weapons permit badge in his wallet, as well as a Los Angeles County Coroner badge that he said “belonged to his dog,” Royal said.
“He said he owned a retired scent dog, that it was retired because it developed nose cancer from smelling cadavers,” Royal said.
Deputies also allegedly found a security officer badge attached to a backpack that Krummenacher said also belonged to his dog.
He was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving and impersonating a peace officer. He was booked into Wayne Brown Correctional Facility and released on $10,534 bail.
Source:union.com
Two small planes collide in mid-air over Oregon www.privateofficer.com
NEWBERG, Ore.Oct 27 2011 — Two small planes collided in mid-air over the Newberg area late Tuesday afternoon, sending one crashing to the ground. One person was confirmed dead, the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office said.
The pilot of the second plane managed to make an emergency landing near Champoeg State Park, according to Capt. Ken Summers with the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office.
Summers said there were two survivors in the Hillsboro Aviation plane that made the emergency landing but it did not appear that anyone survived the other crash.
It was unknown how many people were onboard the crashed plane, which came down along Wilsonville Road.
“The plane in Yamhill County is absolutely, totally destroyed. It’s just a burned patch in the woods,” Summers said.
An eyewitness told the Oregonian that the plane spiraled out of the sky without a tail. He told the newspaper that debris was scattered throughout the park.
He said the crash scene was in a heavily wooded area between the Willamette River and the highway. The plane crash also ignited a fire, but it has been extinguished, Summers said.
Witnesses reported an explosion and a huge column of thick, black smoke just after 4 p.m., Tuesday on a tree farm located at 35150 Wilsonville Road. Others reported seeing a plane spiraling to the ground and debris flying into Champoeg State Park.
The National Transportation Safety Board was at the scene investigating the collision.
The Newberg Fire Department, Yamhill County sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State Police responded to the scene.
Champoeg State Park closed for a time.
“In the great expansive sky it’s hard to imagine two planes would try to occupy the same spot and come together like that,” said Summers. “Fortunately it’s extremely rare, but it happened today.”
Source:nwcn.com
Former community college security guard on trial for criminal impersonation www.privateofficer.com
Defense testimony was expected to begin Wednesday in the Allegheny County trial of 46-year-old Robbie Henderson, who headed security at a Community College of Allegheny College campus when he was charged in May. He no longer works for the school.
Witnesses said Henderson claimed to be transporting a prisoner for the prosecutor’s office when he rented a motel room in Green Tree in June 2010. Prosecutors said Henderson requested a room with a Jacuzzi and a discount from $189 to $129 by claiming to be a law officer.
He was refused a refund when he left about three hours later.
Source:wpxi.com
Postal police arrest Florida man for robbery of postal workers www.privateofficer.com
NORTH MIAMI, Fla. Oct 27 2011 — Postal police have announced the arrest of two men in a string of robberies targeting mail carriers throughout Miami-Dade County.
“We are here today to announce some initiatives and arrests that we’ve done based on the robberies of letter carriers in the last recent history,” said Henry Gutierrez with the Postal Inspection Service. “One juvenile, which I’ll refrain from giving you his name, and one adult named Steven Daniels have been charged with robbery with a weapon.”
According to authorities, in October there was at least three different robberies of mail carriers where the thieves took off with the postal carrier’s keys. One robbery took place in Miami Gardens and two in Miami Gardens.
“From the federal level, I will tell you that thousands of man hours were used. There is nothing more important to the postal service than the protection of its letter carriers and employees in the streets,” Gutierrez said.
In December of 2010, a postal carrier was murdered while doing his job. “We are in the process of changing our system and the way we lock these boxes throughout the country, and South Florida is in the process of doing that right now,” said Gutierrez. “So those of you that think this is a very good idea, you will be prosecuted, you will be investigated. We’ve shown that with these arrests in the last several days, and we’re showing you that we’re doing something to prevent this from reoccurring.”
Authorities will not go into details of the procedures they are changing because of security reasons. Police said one suspect is still at large.
If you have any information on these robberies, call Postal Inspection Service Hotline at 1-877-876-2455. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.
Source:www.wsvn.com
Man lives at airport for 80 days www.privateofficer.com
Vancover Canada Oct 27 2011 It’s like the movie “The Terminal,” only it’s real.
A man has been living in the Vancouver airport since Aug. 17 — at the airport’s invitation.
“I can’t leave. I’m stuck here,” Jaeger Mah explained to an airport volunteer who invited him to a party outside the airport Nov. 3. Since the party happens to fall on the last of Mah’s 80 days at the airport, he added, “Perhaps I could come after midnight.” Mah, 29, embarked on his unusual sojourn as the winner of a contest sponsored by the airport to mark its 80th year.
The airport invited anyone willing to live there to submit a video application, and five of the 160 entries were posted online for a public vote. Mah, an entrepreneur with a video company and a background in entertainment marketing, dubbed himself “the Anderson Cooper of YVR” and won with 4,128 votes out of thousands cast.
The gig doesn’t involve anything close to the discomfort suffered by passengers who’ve tried to nap in airport seating during a layover. Mah spends his nights at the airport hotel — though he admits to occasional naps in secret terminal spots — and he’s got no complaints about the food, either. He’s figured out which VIP lounges will feed him and which have the best snacks.
“I’m not sleeping on the benches,” Mah says, “but I’m meeting some incredible people.”
As he strolls through the terminals in a Hawaiian shirt, shorts and worn hiking boots, it’s clear he’s become a fixture. Employees wave or shout hello. One stops him at the bottom of the escalators by the domestic baggage carousels and asks why he didn’t show up for samosa snacks one day. “I forgot,” he says sheepishly with a boyish grin. All is forgiven.
Airport spokeswoman Rebecca Catley says the goal of the project is to show people what happens behind the check-in counters and security screenings at a big airport.
“A lot of people don’t realize what goes on at an airport,” she says. “We get a lot of requests for behind-the-scenes tours. We can’t do that from a security perspective.”
That’s where Mah comes in. Armed with a digital video camera, he documents the airport’s stories and posts them online. “My process consists of Facebook, tweets and blogs,” he said. “You’re constantly engaging with your fans. You have to give them what they want to see. I’m pimping myself out big time.”
For his 14-hour days as contest winner and late nights spent editing video, he is being paid a per diem rate and a $15,000 fee. “I want to devote my life to telling stories,” he says. “You could call it some kind of journalism.”
Mah’s adventure brings to mind the 2004 film “The Terminal” where Tom Hanks’ character found himself stranded at New York’s JFK airport, denied entry to the U.S. but unable to return to his revolution-bound country. The film may have been inspired by the real-life drama of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian expat who could not gain entry to other countries and spent years at France’s Charles de Gaulle International Airport. Unlike either Hanks’ character or Nasseri, Mah’s stay has a definite end date.
Still, he says, there were nay-sayers. “People said ‘Don’t do it,’” he chuckles. “My dad said, ‘If you want to do it, do it.’”
When The Associated Press caught up with Mah on Day 64, he was touring the airport’s wildlife control operations. Standing at the edge of a runway with planes taking off, wildlife officer Nick de Jongh taught Mah about the various guns and noisemakers used to scare birds away from planes. Hoisting a pump-action shotgun to his shoulder, Mah fired off a round. And grinned. As the wildlife truck rolled past landing jets, Mah got a tweet from a follower who saw pictures of him in the old airport sheriff’s cells he described as like being at Alcatraz.
“What are you doing in jail?” the tweet said. Mah laughed. He’s spent nights loading fresh produce into the holds of Europe-bound 747s, helped sling baggage, and hung out in the control tower, which he describes as like being inside a video game. He sat in on a cockpit pre-flight check with Air Canada pilots, then watched the door close and sank back into a wheelchair on the skybridge as the plane pushed back against a “brilliant sunrise.”
Mah’s social life has not stopped completely: His girlfriend brings him goodies and sometimes takes his laundry, and he takes the occasional night off for drinks and dancing at The Flying Beaver Pub next to the airport’s float-plane base. But he does admit to getting lonely.
“I haven’t seen my friends in about a month,” he says. Catley says Mah has brought the airport community together. “I think he’s going to miss this place,” she says. “He’s leaving a whole new set of friends.”
Edith Balslev, the airport volunteer who invited him to the Nov. 3 party, hopes he’ll stay in touch when he’s done. “I think he’s wonderful,” she says.
Source:www.foxnews.com
Montgomery County police evidence technician accused of thefts www.privateofficer.com
Yun, a civilian employee at the department for a little more than a year, was placed on administrative leave as the investigation continues, police officials said Tuesday.
“It’s always disappointing when we have to do a criminal investigation on a department employee,” Montgomery Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said. “I’m glad this was caught by a routine audit before it got worse.”
Reached Tuesday evening, Yun, 38, of Rockville, said he was in the process of hiring a lawyer and declined to comment.
Arrest records in the case, filed in Montgomery District Court, paint a picture of Yun trying to cover his tracks during and after the audit.
According to those records, signed by Montgomery Police Officer Bruce Cole, the department’s Policy and Planning Division notified the evidence manager of a pending audit. On Sept. 26, the manager indicated to his staff, including Yun, that an audit was approaching.
Two days later, Cole and Officer Maryann Magnelli went to the evidence unit, in Gaithersburg, and asked Yun for a printed inventory of cash exhibits in the safe, according to court papers.(Police routinely seize cash during drug and robbery investigations.)
But the two officers, joined by Yun, couldn’t find bags of cash that should have been there, court papers say.The officers told the evidence manager.
“Yun then offered to stay behind on his own, despite offers to assist him, and attempt to locate the missing evidence bags with currency in other locations” of the evidence unit, according to the papers. That evening, he sent an e-mail saying he had found the missing items and placed them back into the safe, the arrest records state.
That led to a more in-depth audit, including electronic inventory transactions.
In all, according to the arrest documents, Yun was charged with stealing $28,630.32.
Old Navy shoplifter nabbed by security www.privateofficer.com
Robert Hallett, 41, of New Haven, was charged with third-degree robbery, assault on a police officer, fifth-degree larceny and interfering with a police officer.
Police said Hallett walked out of the store around 3:15 p.m. Monday with two bags of merchandise. He allegedly pushed an employee on his way out, police said.
Hallett then went to a nearby Stop & Shop, where Officer Michael Pantera approached him.
After leaving the supermarket, Hallett pushed Pantera and attempted to run away. Pantera was able to subdue Hallett after a physical struggle in front of the store, police said. A security guard from a nearby store helped Pantera, police said.
Ohio apartment security assaulted www.privateofficer.com
A Marsol Road resident called police at 3:30 a.m. Oct. 21 and said a man wanted him to to buy drugs and he refused, to which the man responded by becoming out of control. The caller held the man down until police arrived and took him to Hillcrest Hospital.
The city’s service director said he made two attempts on Oct. 20 to contact West Miner Road resident about complaints she made about high water. Police checked and no one was home.
A woman said she found a hook in a flat tire at 2:48 p.m. Oct. 20 at CVS on SOM Center Road. Police checked and said the woman ran over a piece of metal.
Someone cut off the catalytic converter on a 1999 Chevrolet Monte Carlo parked Oct. 20 at a Marsol Road apartment building.
A suspicious man was approaching people at 11:54 a.m. Oct. 19 in a Mayfield Road parking lot. The man said he was asking for a ride to Marymount Hospital because he was having chest pains. He didn’t want to rescue squad to take him the hospital, however.
Bathtub drops through floor while man is taking a shower www.privateofficer.com
Officials say the 25-year-old man was standing in his bathtub when the floor beneath him gave way. The man and bathtub dropped approximately ten feet into the concrete basement below.
The man suffered minor injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital to be checked out. The cause of the floor collapse is under investigation.
Ga police hunt for man who firebombed Taco Bell over lack of meat in chalupa www.privateofficer.com
Albany GA Oct 27 2011 Georgia police are hunting for the aggrieved Taco Bell customer who threw a Molotov cocktail at the restaurant’s drive-thru window after phoning in a complaint that there was not enough meat in the chalupas he had purchased.
The bizarre incident occurred around 5 AM Sunday at a Taco Bell on North Slappey Boulevard in Albany. The small blaze did not cause injuries or damage to the building.
According to a police report, Taco Bell manager Cynthia Thompson told cops that, shortly before the firebombing, a man called the restaurant to complain about a reported meat shortage in his “two XL Chalupas.” The caller told Thompson that “after getting home realized that there was not enough stuffing inside of his chalupas, and demanded his order be corrected.”
When Thompson explained that she “could not accommodate him because the business was closing,” the man replied, “You must be one of them niggers up there.” He added, “That’s alright, I’ll just come and redecorate the place.”
Thompson said that shortly after the call she and other Taco Bell employees “could smell gasoline but was unaware of where it was coming from. They then realized the fire outside of the drive thru window.”
Investigators found the makeshift incendiary device–a “melting plastic bottle with a liquid substance still inside”–outside the Taco Bell, where a large sign beckons patrons to “Come Try The New XXL Chalupa. Bigger Is Better.”
The search for the firebomb suspect has been hampered since the video feed from the drive-thru window was of poor quality, cops reported.
Clark County teacher faces drugs, theft charges www.privateofficer.com
LAS VEGAS NV Oct 27 2011 — The Clark County School District Police have arrested a middle school teacher for allegedly stealing electronics and possession of drugs on school grounds.
Jessica Gendall was arrested Monday after police concluded an investigation into theft at Mack Middle School. Police say during a search, they found cocaine on Gendall at the school.
She was taken into custody for theft of electronic equipment at the school and drug possession.
Gendall is a first year teacher.
Source:8NewsNow
Inmate who killed prison guard asks judge for death penalty because he will kill again
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. Oct 27 2011- A South Dakota inmate who acknowledged killing a state penitentiary guard in a failed escape attempt asked a judge on Wednesday to sentence him to death, saying his one regret is that he did not kill another officer and that he will kill again.
Eric Robert pleaded guilty in September to killing Ronald “R.J.” Johnson on April 12 – Johnson’s birthday – in an attempt to sneak past other security. Robert waived his right to a jury trial and said he wanted to be put to death, but Second Circuit Judge Bradley Zell said the state still had to prove the death penalty is warranted. Robert had been serving an 80-year-sentence on a kidnapping conviction when he attempted to escape with Rodney Berget, 49.
Robert told Zell during his pre-sentencing hearing that he was so full of anger and hungry for freedom on April 12 that he would have killed anyone who stood in his way.
“Brad Zell, if you stood between me and the door of freedom, I would kill you,” Robert said.
Robert said the one regret he has from April 12 is that he did not bring the pipe with him to the gate to kill the officer who stopped him. Once he realized his plan was going to fail, Robert said he began climbing up the wall of the prison – not to escape but to try to reach for the rifle of an officer on the lookout.
“I would have shot that weapon until it was empty,” he said.
Zell told Robert that wanting to die is not reason enough for the death penalty.
“There are many people who want to die,” Zell said, adding that doesn’t count as an aggravating factor.
The judge must find at least one aggravating factor was present during the killing to sentence Robert to death. The state presented five factors during the three-day pre-sentencing hearing: the death of a correctional officer, the manner of death, where and why it occurred, and the defendants’ criminal background. Zell must find only one was present to sentence Robert to death.
Lynette Johnson, Ronald Johnson’s widow, broke down in tears and had to be escorted off the witness stand as she testified about how her life has been ruined because of Robert’s actions on April 12. In their 34 years together, they spent a total of six nights apart, she said.
“We weren’t done,” she said. “We weren’t done living. He wasn’t done living with me.”
Berget, who has pleaded not guilty to the slaying, also faces the death penalty. His trial is scheduled to start Jan. 30. A third inmate, Michael J. Nordman, 47, was charged with supplying some of the items used in the killing. Prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty for Nordman.
Source:www.azcentral.com
Disgruntled bar patron shoots at bouncer www.privateofficer.com
Galveston TX Oct 27 2011 Bond for James Lawrence Brasfield, 61, was set at $40,000 on two felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Galveston police Capt. Jeff Heyse said.
Brasfield was released on bond from the county jail after his Sunday booking, Capt. Barry Cook, a Galveston County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said.
Officers were called at 7:25 p.m. Saturday to Woody’s, 11149 FM 3005, where they learned a patron was asked to leave but returned with a gun, Heyse said.
“He was escorted out of the bar and got to the exit ramp,” Heyse said. “He turned back and pulled a handgun out of his left pocket.”
Police accused Brasfield of walking back toward the bar’s owner and bouncer while squeezing the trigger in an attempt to shoot them, Heyse said.
“The handgun was not firing,” Heyse said. “The bouncer grabbed pepper spray and struck him with his fists to retrieve the handgun.”
The gun, a .32-caliber, double-action, semi-automatic, was loaded, Heyse said.
“The best we can tell is the gun malfunctioned,” Heyse said, noting the firearm would be tested.
Source:chron.com
Fort Myers Police employee killed in crash www.privateofficer.com
Crystal M. Ruiz, 25, of Fort Myers, was on her way to work as a community service aide when she was killed at the corner of Lee Boulevard and Westgate Boulevard.
She was attempting to turn left onto Lee Boulevard when another vehicle going straight hit the left side of her car. Ruiz’s car spun out onto the shoulder, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.
The other car, driven by Richard Mauro Jr., 42 of Cape Coral, overturned onto its roof. Mauro was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.
FHP is investigating whether Mauro was under the influence of alcohol.
The agency does not know who had right of way, as the color of the traffic signal at the time of the crash is unknown.
FHP responded to the scene just after noon.
Ruiz had worked at the Police Department as a community service aid since fall 2008.
Community service aides are full-time, paid members of police staff who respond to nonviolent calls such as traffic crashes.
“Our thoughts and prayers obviously immediately go out to her family. It’s got to be difficult,” Chief Doug Baker said.
“We’ll pull together, work together and help ourselves and help the family get through with our services.”
The death comes on the 8-year anniversary of the day Fort Myers Police Officer Daniel Starks was killed in a car crash while on duty.
Source:news-press.com
NC sanitation worker killed in garbage truck accident www.privateofficer.com
Fayetteville NC Oct 27 2011 A sanitation worker was killed Tuesday when he fell off the back of a garbage truck and was run over by the driver, the Highway Patrol said.
Twenty-year-old Jordan Nanney, an employee of Cumberland Garbage and Trash Service, was killed about 8:25 a.m., Sgt. D.L. Mobley said.
The accident happened on Bardolino Drive in the Woods at Birch Creek neighborhood off Lakewood Road, Mobley said.
Nanney was riding on the back of a garbage truck that was backing up when he fell off, Mobley said. The truck, driven by 64-year-old Wilbert Gardner, ran over Nanney, Mobley said.
“The truck was going at a very low speed,” Mobley said. “It was a freak accident.”
Nanney apparently lost his grip on truck’s handles or his footing, Trooper B.M. Tyler said.
He fell to the pavement and Gardner was unaware of that, Mobley said.
Another worker riding on the back of the truck, Ronald Virgil, 40, of Parkton, unsuccessfully tried to get Gardner’s attention after Nanney fell, Mobley said.
Gardner, who was shaken up after the accident, was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center as a precaution, Tyler said.
No charges will be filed, Tyler said.
This is the second time in three months the business has had to deal with the death of an employee.
Business owner Ronald Waits Forbes, 61, and the former owner, Bennie Dalton Williams, 78, were killed July 20 in a plane crash in Harnett County.
Williams, who sold the business to Forbes in 1974, was piloting a Cessna aircraft when it went down in woods about a half-mile from the Harnett Regional Jetport in Erwin, according to a preliminary report filed with the National Transportation Safety Board.
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
Melbourne law firm may sue casino security over excessive use of force www.privateofficer.com
Melbourne AU Oct 27 2011 A Melbourne law firm says it is exploring pursing civil claims arising from up to 20 complaints of excessive force applied by security guards against patrons in separate incidents at the Crown entertainment complex and casino in the past three years.
”We’ve been inundated with cases,” Michel Margalit, from the firm Arnold Thomas and Becker, said. In a draft statement of claim, allegations are detailed of one incident where a man was leaving the food court early on October 3 last year when he was ”unlawfully and maliciously assaulted by numerous crowd controllers”.
Ms Margalit said she expected to file a civil claim for damages in the County Court against the casino and security firm MSS Security.
Wanted fugitive shot-killed by police after security spots him at apartments www.privateofficer.com
Antioch CA Oct 27 2011 A confrontation in an Antioch carport Monday evening ended in a hail of bullets when officers shot and killed a fugitive who emerged from a closet with a gun in his hand, police and neighborhood residents said.
Joshua Petersen, 33, of Antioch, was identified as the man who died in the carport behind a small apartment complex on Lemontree Court, in the crime-plagued Sycamore Avenue area.
About 5:50 p.m., security guards at one of the neighborhood’s apartments spotted Petersen, who had warrants out for his arrest for burglary and violating probation on drug charges, riding a bicycle and called police, acting Capt. Leonard Orman said.
Five patrol officers, accompanied by two police dogs, cornered Petersen at the carport and saw a woman run away after bursting from a closet. Moments later, Petersen came out holding a semi-automatic handgun, Orman said.
A 38-year-old man who lives above the carport heard the conflict through his apartment floor.
“There was a whole bunch of yelling,” said the man, who did not want to be named because of safety concerns. “They kept saying, ‘Drop the gun!’ “
Orman said Petersen held the gun throughout the brief standoff and, at one point, directed it at two officers, prompting all five to open fire. It was not immediately known whether the suspect fired.
The officers, none of whom was injured, were placed on paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation led by the
District Attorney’s Office, which is routine with officer-involved shootings.
Police are trying to identify the woman who was in the closet with Petersen. Orman said it doesn’t appear that she was being held against her will, and he urges her to contact police.
“We really want to talk to her and find out things like (Petersen’s) state of mind,” Orman said. “She’s not in trouble with us.”
Katherine Eagle, 56, an Antioch native who just moved into a house around the corner from the shooting site, decried the officers’ use of force.
“This breaks my heart. They didn’t have to kill him,” she said. “I don’t care if he was selling dope. We could have helped him out.”
Eagle also disputed the tough reputation of the neighborhood whose residential streets are bound by Sycamore Avenue. It’s one of the most heavily patrolled areas in the city, housing just 3 percent of the population but accounting for 15 percent of the city’s violent crime, according to police.
“It’s not a bad place. It’s a community,” she said. “It’s our home.”
Perhaps not much longer for the man who lives above the carport.
“My mom told me not to move over here,” he said. “Now I know why.”
Police ask anyone with information about Monday’s shooting to contact Detective Mike Mellone at 925-779-6930.
Source:mercurynews.com
Ocala Florida police officer arrested by FBI for income tax fraud www.privateofficer.com
Ocala Fla Oct 27 2011 An Ocala police officer was arrested Tuesday after an investigation that the FBI says exposed a fraudulent scheme to obtain federal income-tax refunds.
Dana Brown, 37, was suspended without pay following his arrest at 7:10 a.m. as he began his shift for the day, authorities said.
According to federal court documents, Brown illegally accessed the Florida driver-information database to help two accomplices file fraudulent income taxes in other people’s names and receive government refunds.
Two of the payees were dead when the checks were issued. Sixteen others told FBI agents that the addresses and signatures on the checks were not theirs.
One of the accomplices, Howayda Hamdan, who worked at Regions Bank in Land O’ Lakes, was arrested in May on state charges of scheming to defraud and criminal use of personal identification. Hamdan opened 184 bank accounts using names and Social Security numbers of 149 people at the direction of another accomplice, court records show.
Brown looked up all the names in the drivers’ database, prosecutors allege. He received 15 percent of each check, documents state. The dollar amount isn’t clear, but court papers indicate that checks totaling in the tens of thousands of dollars — and possibly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — checks were involved.
An anonymous caller in July told Ocala police that Brown had tried to recruit the caller to cash checks. The caller said Brown promised to have an identification card made for the caller in the name of a person who legitimately was supposed to receive a check, according to court papers. The caller was to receive a percentage of the check.
Investigators used phone records, email and Facebook in their investigation, documents show.
Brown was arrested on charges of conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and fraud, and related activity in connection with computers. He posted bail at the courthouse and was not taken to jail, an FBI spokesman said.
Ocala.com reported in 2009 that Brown was suspended for 60 hours and placed on probation for a year for ignoring underage drinking at a party. He told internal investigators that he didn’t see anyone drinking, the website reported. At the time, Brown had been on the job for about three years, according to ocala.com.
Source:tribune.com
Wisconsin’s malls to prohibit concealed weapons on property www.privateofficer.com
MILWAUKEE WI Oct 27 2011 - While malls want your holiday business, they want you to leave your gun at home. Wisconsin’s new conceal carry law takes effect next Monday. Even though it allows concealed weapons in public places, businesses have the right to say no.
Bayshore Town Center plans to post additional signs Monday that read ‘no firearms or weapons allowed on this property.’
“We have always been proactive in implementing and enforcing policies that will promote a welcoming and safe environment for all of our guests,” general manager Chris Jaeger said in a statement. “That will continue to be a guiding priority.”
Gun rights advocate Nik Clark argues people who cause trouble at malls are usually not owners with permits.
“It’s unfortunate the business owners are choosing to keep the law abiding people who have a permit to carry, have passed a background check, from carrying in their mall,” Clark told TODAY’S TMJ4 reporter Tom Murray.
Concealed guns are hidden, tucked in a bag or covered by clothes. So while every major Milwaukee area mall plans to ban concealed guns, finding them will be a challenge. And, consequences at some malls may not be much of a deterrent.
A shopper stopped with a gun at The Shops of Grand Avenue will just be asked to leave.
The same policy will be in place at Bayshore, meaning a gun owner can essentially carry until they get caught.
But at Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa, security guards will be instructed to call police if someone’s caught with a gun.
“As a private business, we have the right to prohibit weapons of any kind,” Mayfair senior general manager Stephen Smith said in an emailed statement. “In the event our public safety officer or a member of the management team believes that an individual is in possession of a concealed weapon, local law enforcement will be contacted to handle the situation accordingly.”
Carriers who choose to ignore the law could face fines.
“If someone violates the policy and, after given notice, carries a weapon onto a premises, they are guilty of the trespass statute and can be fined by law enforcement,” said attorney Frank Gumina of the Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek law firm.
Regency Mall in Racine and Brookfield Square are both operated by CBL & Associates Properties. A spokesperson said concealed guns will not be allowed at either location.
A spokesperson for Premium Outlets in Johnson Creek and Pleasant Prairie said their company would not participate in this story.
Source:tmj4
Two people charged with robbery threatens security agent www.privateofficer.com
Luis Quintana and Amanda M. Drake, no ages or addresses available, were initially detained for shoplifting, but the charge was later upgraded to robbery, according to police Capt. Steve Henry of the township department.
Bail for Quintana and Drake was set at $75,000 each and they remained in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River on Wednesday, police said.
Officers were dispatched at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to the Sears store at the Ocean County Mall after getting a report of a shoplifting and assault, he said.
A store security officer reported that the two had shoplifted electronics and then ran away when they were approached.
The security officer was able to detain Drake, but she began to assault him. As the security officer was walking with Drake back to the store, police said a man identified as Quintana returned, repeatedly swung his fists, and threatened to kill the security officer, police said.
The security officer backed away to avoid the attack and the two ran away, police said.
Quintana and Drake were located by Detective Randy Petrick and Officer Travis Seaman using video surveillance, Henry said.
Police declined to provide photographs of the suspects.
Source:njoressmedia.com
Woman charged with felonies in Target store thefts www.privateofficer.com
According to a criminal complaint filed in Dakota County, Kyia Marie Hee Thomson, 23, was seen by store security last Wednesday placing items into her cart, which also contained a 66-quart tote and a 34-gallon tote that were both full of merchandise. After shopping, she waited at the front doors for a few minutes before leaving the building with the cart full of merchandise.
Thomson began to flee when store security workers approached her, but she was caught. The merchandise in the cart totaled $1,890.83, according to the complaint.
Thomson admitted to police that she took a shopping cart full of items without paying for it and was caught by security. The complaint says she told police “she is addicted to prescription pain killers and that is why she steals.”
Later, police learned that before they arrived at the store, Thomson told security workers that she was involved with another theft from the same store involving a KitchenAid mixer valued at $250, according to the complaint. That theft happened May 19. Store security found surveillance video showing Thomson taking the mixer without paying for it.
Source:news5
Trio of women charged in Salem NH shoplifting spree www.privateofficer.com
A police K-9 tracked down the women near Hillcrest Avenue, after the trio bailed out of their car and fled on foot, police said.
Police said they arrested Eni Rondon, 36, of Lawrence, Mass.; Kristin Hawthorne, 29, of Wakefield, NH and Sarah Currier, 27, of Manchester shortly after 4 p.m. after they fled from the Marshall’s department store in a car that took off south on Route 28.
Currier was charged with simple assault for striking a store clerk, police said. A man who was also riding in the car was released and not charged, police said.
Rondon and Hawthorne were no strangers to getting in trouble at the store.
They were charged and convicted last year doing a similar type heist from the Route 28 retailer last March 25, court records show.
On Friday, police were called to the store, located at 265 S. Broadway, for a report of several shoplifters who took off in a vehicle, according to Deputy police Chief Shawn Patten.
A police officer spotted the vehicle that the women were traveling in before it took off south on Route 28, Patten said.
The car turned off on Hillcrest Avenue, a dead end, and the people inside the car scattered on foot, police said.
After dispatching a police K-9, the suspects were apprehended a short time later, police said.
Police said drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in the vehicle. Roughly $100 worth of merchandise was taken from the store.
Last March, Rondon and Hawthorne were involved in a theft from the same store and fled in a vehicle. Police said they followed their car, which turned off onto Cluff Crossing Road into an apartment complex, where they were arrested for stealing 15 packages of perfume and a purse, valued in total at $582. Rondon received a 9 month jail sentence in that case.
She was held on bail on charges of felon in possession of a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest following her arrest on Friday. Rondon also had several active arrest warrants in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, police said.
Hawthorne was charged with false report to law enforcement, resisting arrest and also had warrants for her arrest.
Currier was charged with simple assault, resisting arrest, theft and disobeying a police officer. All three women were arraigned in 11th Circuit Court in Salem on Monday.
Source:unionleader.com
Man shot to death outside Florida Home Depot www.privateofficer.com
Boynton Beach Fla Oct 27 2011 A Deerfield Beach man shot to death outside a Home Depot store Wednesday morning was a commercial construction worker who likely stopped to pick up supplies, a relative said.
Lawrence William Modena Jr., 41, was shot in the right side of the head and multiple times in the upper body and died at Delray Medical Center, Boynton Beach police said.
The suspected gunman, William Paul Dabbs, 54, of Delray Beach, led police on a high-speed chase up Interstate 95. It ended with a police officer shooting at the armed man, who was also taken to the hospital. It’s unclear if Dabbs shot himself or if he was wounded by the officer, police said.
Modena had no known enemies and never caused trouble, said his mother-in-law, Jeanne Durr, of Coraopolis, Pa.
“I’m devastated,” Durr said. “I don’t know why someone would do that.”
Modena. leaves behind a wife, who, Durr said, was the “man of her dreams.”
Police responded to the shooting about 10 a.m. at Home Depot, 1500 Southwest Eighth St., at Woolbright Road and I-95. With police in pursuit, Dabbs took off in a white van north on I-95 at more than 100 mph, police said.
“I was getting into my car and hear pop, pop, pop,” witness Elaine Mitchell said. “I thought someone was holding up a store, and then I saw a van drive off really fast.”
Modena’s body was found in a black Lexus SC 430, parked between Staples and some smaller stores that face Southeast Eighth.
Mitchell, of Boynton Beach, said she was shopping at Bravo supermarket, just north of Home Depot, when the shooting happened.
She said shoppers from Home Depot ran to the parked Lexus.
Inside the car, she said, she saw Modena who had been shot in the neck, and was bleeding from the nose and mouth.
“I tried looking for the van, but the van moved so fast that I couldn’t even get the license plate,” Mitchell said.
“I was so scared,” she said. “These people were shooting in broad daylight. I was praying for police to catch the guy who did this.”
Northbound on I-95, Dabbs hit a car near Hypoluxo Road before taking the Lantana Road exit and heading east, still at high speeds. No one was injured in the crash, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Witnesses said they saw the van ripping down Federal Highway with a flat tire, followed by a several police cruisers.
“That van was blazing with a flat tire,” said witness David Henry, 50. “I thought it was going to roll over.”
Dabbs headed south on Federal Highway before police caught up with the van and pulled him over just north of Hypoluxo Road.
As the first officer approached the van, police said, he saw that the driver was armed.
“I heard three shots: ‘Pop, pop, pop,’” said witness Roy Gonzales, 58.
The officer fired, but it’s unclear if he hit Dabbs or the suspect shot himself, police said.
Dabbs was shot multiple times in the upper body and was being treated at Delray Medical Center for non-life-threatening wounds, police said. He faces felony charges including homicide, felony fleeing and eluding and aggravated assault on a police officer.
Maggie DaSilva, who works at SportsClips, said she heard the shots, but didn’t know what had happened. But she would not be standing outside in the back for breaks any more.
“It doesn’t make us feel safe,” she said.
Source:orlando sentinel
Man rescued after being stuck in hollow tree www.privateofficer.com
LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. Oct 17 2011 (AP) — Authorities in Southern California say they rescued a man stuck inside a hollow tree trunk by following the sounds of his screams down into a creek bed.
The Orange County Register reports that Orange County sheriff’s deputies found the man stuck up to his chest inside a narrow hole in the trunk, which extended about four or five feet underground.
The newspaper says firefighters took about 90 minutes to free him once they found him Tuesday morning.
Lt. Roland Chacon says it’s unknown why the man climbed into the hole near the base of the tree.
