Archive
Chief financial officer of a historic Washington church sent to prison for embezzlement www.privateofficer.com
Jason Todd Reynolds, 40, of Bowie, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler to pay $851,298 in restitution to his former employer, the National City Christian Church, as well as $185,435 in taxes.
In August, Reynolds was convicted by a jury in the District’s federal court of 12 charges including aggravated identity theft, tax evasion, wire fraud and bank fraud. Hired in 2001, Reynolds had control over the church’s bank accounts, credit cards and checks, prosecutors said.
He used church funds to pay his mortgage and personal credit card bills. Among his purchase were three cars, including a Lexus and a Range Rover, a $12,000 diamond ring and a projection-screen home theater with leather seating.
The theft forced the church to reduce staffing and to cut back on pay and benefits for employees, according to a letter from Senior Minister Stephen Gentle to the judge.
Gentle added that the church also had to reduce its public ministry and delay needed repairs.
Woman scammed out of $500,000 on Internet dating site www.privateofficer.com
Castle Rock CO Nov 10 2011 A woman who thought she’d struck the jackpot on an online dating site was instead wiped clean of her life savings by an Internet scammer – and now she’s facing bankruptcy, ABC reported.
Esther Ortiz-Rodeghero, 55, was looking for love online, months after her husband died of pancreatic cancer, and thought she’d found it with a man who claimed to be an Army major general named Wayne Jackson.
“I was grieving, and I was lonely, and I wanted someone to share my life with,” she told ABC. “He was romancing me.”
The object of her infatuation presented himself as a military man who had only given in to online dating after insistence from his pleading sister.
“He told me he was a widower and he lost his wife in an automobile accident,” Ortiz-Rodeghero said.
The couple began emailing nearly every day – exchanges that included lines about being in love and spending a future together.
“He would say things like, ‘We’re going to live together. We’re going to be happy together. You’re the woman of my dreams,’” Ortiz-Rodeghero told ABC. “Things that a woman who is hurting for attention and love would want to hear.”
Soon “Wayne” began asking for money – first, a few hundred dollars to help his son, then thousands to launch a business, one he said the two of them would share and run together.
Ortiz-Rodeghero complied, sending money all over the world, she told ABC.
She cleaned out her personal savings, her husband’s life insurance and 401K. When she ran out of cash, she took out loans.
It wasn’t until Ortiz-Rodeghero sent her online companion money for a plane ticket to come see her in Castle Rock, Colo., and he never showed up, that she realized she was the victim of a scam.
“I could just kick myself,” she said, leafing through a stack of wire transfer receipts.
Castle Rock police Lt. Tim Gormon says Ortiz-Rodeghero’s story isn’t an isolated case, and warned online daters to be cautious of so-called “sweetheart scammers.”
“It could be a male, a female, older, younger – you don’t know who you’re speaking to,” Gormon said.
For now, the woman who lost her husband, and then lost everything else, says she’s done looking for a relationship online.
“I will never, ever, give another man another dime,” she said. “This dating website thing is not for me.”
Source:www.nydailynews.com
Nashville airport police officer shot accidentially www.privateofficer.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn.Nov 10 2011 – An airport officer was taken to the hospital after an accidental discharge of a gun.
It happened around 5:15 a.m. Wednesday at the Nashville International Airport. The officer was on duty when it happened.
Airport spokesperson Emily Richards confirmed that there was an accidental discharge of a weapon.
The officer was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
His identity was not released.
Source:newschannel5.com
Missing VA girl found safe-former cop arrested for abduction www.privateofficer.com
Rush KY Nov 9 2011 The 16-year-old Bedford County girl who had been missing since Sunday night has been found safe in Kentucky.
Audrey McCombs was found with former Bedford County Sheriff’s Office deputy E.W. Grubbs this morning. Grubbs was fired recently from his position as a school resource officer at Liberty High School after allegations he had inappropriate relations with a minor.
They were found in Rush, Kentucky, at 9:40 a.m.
That’s near Huntington, West Virginia, about 270 miles northwest of Bedford.
They were driving a Jeep Wrangler that authorities had been looking for.
Investigators tracked the Jeep to a service station on Route 60 in Rush, Kentucky.
As they were getting on Interstate 64, an unmarked Kentucky State Police trooper started following them.
The trooper called for backup, and a marked vehicle started following the Jeep.
They followed the Jeep for less than five minutes, and pulled it over.
We’re told Grubbs did not put up a fight.
Investigators say several sightings led them to the arrest.
“They were able to let us listen to the actual stop and I think my heart was pumping as bad as it had been, times when I’ve been making a felony arrest,” said George Austin, of the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation. “Just out of excitement that she was going to be OK, and there was going to be trouble, and it just turned out, it turned out the best possible turnout it could.”
Grubbs is facing abduction charges.
Police say at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether McCombs went with him willingly — she is underage and can’t give consent.
Investigators say Grubbs picked up McCombs late Sunday night.
They spent the night Monday near Lewisburg, West Virginia.
Investigators aren’t sure where they spent Tuesday night.
McCombs could be back in the area as early as today.
Source:WDBJ7.com
Moore County teacher faces multiple charges of sexual misconduct www.privateofficer.com
WINCHESTER, Tenn.Nov 9 2011 – A former teacher in Moore County was arrested Tuesday on multiple charges of sexual misconduct.
John David Sullivan was arrested at his home in Estill Springs, in neighboring Franklin County, about 85 miles south of Nashville.
Sullivan worked at Moore County High School in Lynchburg where he was the school’s librarian.
He is charged with five counts of sexual contact by an authority figure, three counts each of sexual battery by an authority figure and solicitation of a minor and one count each of solicitation sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor and especially aggravated exploitation of a minor.
In a release, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Chris Guess said Sullivan’s arrest culminates an intense three week investigation by law enforcement in Moore, Franklin and Coffee counties.
Sullivan was booked into the Franklin County jail on a $100,000 bond.
He is scheduled to appear in court November 18.
Source:wkrn.com
Teacher resigns-starts crime spree with teen lover www.privateofficer.com
SHALIMAR, Florida Nov 9 2011 – Florida police say a teacher skipped school to start a crime spree with her student and alleged lover.
Amanda Cooney, 25, left a short note of resignation on the desk of her classroom at Okaloosa Academy Charter School in Crestview before allegedly disappearing with a 16-year-old former student.
Authorities say they blazed a trail of petty theft and credit card fraud all the way to Ohio.
Three Florida law enforcement agencies coordinated charges on the warrants while police in Riverside, Ohio, arrested the two.
Riverside Deputy Chief Mike Brown said an officer was suspicious of Cooney’s green Ford parked in an out-of-the-way location Friday. He scanned the plates and saw notes from Florida warning that they should be considered armed and dangerous.
After calling for backup, police learned Cooney acquired the room under a false name. Cooney opened the door to officers, and the two were arrested without incident.
Police recovered credit cards not belonging to either of them, drug paraphernalia and a stolen, 9mm semiautomatic pistol from under a pillow. It had a round in the chamber and 13 in the magazine.
Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Michele Nicholson said her office has opened an investigation into an allegation of unlawful sexual activity between the two.
In Shalimar, Cooney is accused of aiding and interfering with the 16-year-old.
Lt. Andrew Schneider of the Crestview Police Department said his department has charged Cooney with burglary of a vehicle, petty theft, forgery and fraudulent use of a credit card. The 16-year-old is a person of interest in similar charges.
Terri Roberts, the Rader Group’s COO who oversees Okaloosa Academy Charter School, told the Northwest Florida Daily News that Cooney’s note was found last Thursday. Roberts said Cooney was in her second year as a reading teacher and hadn’t been seen since Tuesday when she left early.
A representative of the Rader Group said Roberts is unavailable for further comment until Thursday.
Both Cooney and the 16-year-old await extradition.
Source:WTSP.com
G4S Security Services armored car guards charged in theft www.privateofficer.com
Guam Nov 10 2011 Police have arrested two security company employees who allegedly stole a bag of cash instead of transferring it to a local bank in an armored car.
Joseph Diego Naputi Duenas and Robert Joseph Hernandez, both 21, have been charged with theft held in trust as a third-degree felony, according to Superior Court of Guam documents.
The two suspects were part of a G4S Security Services armored car crew that transferred seven bags of cash from the Payless Supermarket at Micronesia Mall to the Bank of Guam in September.
However, only six bags were deposited at the bank, and the seventh — containing $15,685 — went missing somewhere in the transfer, court documents state.
To investigate the disappearance, police reviewed transmittal slips, deposited records and surveillance footage from the supermarket, court documents state.
When confronted with the theft allegations, Duenas and Hernandez allegedly said that a Payless employee, Joe Anthony Mantanona, kept the bag of money and split it with them, court documents state.
Despite these allegations, no one by that name has been charged in this court case as of yesterday afternoon.
Phil Law, general manager of G4S, said yesterday that he could not comment on the arrests because the investigation was on-going.
“They are not employees of the company (any more) and we are cooperating fully with police and our customers in the resolution of this,” Law said
Court of Appeals upholds $2 million verdict against Brink’s Armored Car in employee breaks suit www.privateofficer.com
King County WA Nov 10 2011 With all that cash to constantly guard, do Brink’s Armored Car crews get coffee and piss breaks? Well, yes and no. They can take breaks but they better not look like they’re having one. As a company notice says, “The security and operational rules and procedures applicable to Brink’s employees assigned to work on armored vehicle crews and in other positions remain in effect at all times during such break periods.” Furthermore:
Keep in mind the fact that you must not only be alert, you must look alert. Only in this way can you convince the criminal element that it would be foolhardy to attack your crew or premises.
Not only would a guard have to speed pee while watching the guy at the next urinal, he had to note it in his log book.
To Brink’s guard Megan Pellino, doing your job while taking a break didn’t sound like much of a break. So in 2007 she filed a class action lawsuit against Brink’s on behalf of herself and other crew members who worked the armored trucks in Seattle and Tacoma.
By requiring guards to look, and be, alert during rest and meal breaks violated state law, she claimed.
And indeed it did, a judge agreed last year, rejecting Brink’s argument that vigilance during breaks required only a “passive state” of alert.
Noting that a former branch manager said it was the “culture” of Brink’s to not take breaks, King County Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey found that “Even when crew members went to the bathroom, it was a hurried process.”
He awarded 182 messengers and drivers damages in the amount of $874,775.70 in back pay, $422,536.75 in prejudgment interest, and $799,155.98 in attorney fees and costs.
And yesterday the state Court of Appeals upheld that $2 million decision, turning back Brink’s attempt to overturn Trickey’s ruling.
The “trial court’s unchallenged findings in this case establish that Brink’s drivers and messengers were always engaged in work activities,” the appeals court said, “and even if the crews had the opportunity to take breaks, there was insufficient time.”
To which those guard at the urinal can only say, ahhhh.
Source:Seattle Weekly
Loomis armored truck robbers head to prison www.privateofficer.com
A total of nine conspirators were convicted for their role in the armored car robbery; Jackson received the highest sentence.
Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
The remaining defendants, all Dallas residents, were sentenced as follows:
Christopher Peterson, 24, 168 months
Fred Taylor, 22, 96 months (consecutive to a three-year sentence he received earlier this year for another federal offense)
Jeremy Wright, 28, 72 months
Frederick Peterson, 25, 48 months
Troy Wilson, 23, 78 months
Ronald Mcguire, 23, 72 months
Billy Jackson, 23, 48 months
Nicholas Pyburn, 27, 48 months
According to documents filed in the case, these defendants admitted that they, and their accomplices, took $421,000 from a Loomis armored truck at the Bank of America, located at 1400 North Town East Boulevard in Mesquite. While Fred Taylor initiated the idea of the armored truck robbery, these four defendants, along with several co-defendants/accomplices, planned the robbery. According to the defendants, a Bank of America employee advised Taylor what time the armored truck would be at the bank and how much money it would be carrying.
On the day of the robbery, the defendants met at a McDonalds to finalize the details of the robbery. Five different vehicles were used to transport the defendants to the bank. Surveillance was set up at several points to ensure there were no police in the area. When the Loomis truck arrived, the guard entered the bank and left with $421,000. Two defendants jumped out of a car, approached the guard, pointed a gun at his head, and took the money he was carrying. A co-defendant/ accomplice arrived and two of the robbers left with him. Several of the robbers left the scene and later met to divide the money. Two were caught at the scene. Many of the defendants were quickly apprehended. However, months later DNA results led to three additional arrests: Christopher Peterson, Frederick Peterson and Ennis Jackson, who initially fled. The day after the bank robbery they purchased three luxury vehicles and jewelry. One vehicle was a 7 series BMW, with $20,000 in custom upgrades, including alligator embroidered stitching throughout the car.
The case was investigated by the FBI and Mesquite Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon McCarthy and John Kull prosecuted.
Teens using Vodka soaked tampons to get quicker high www.privateofficer.com
PHOENIX AZ Nov 10 2011 – It’s no secret teenagers sometimes experiment with alcohol, even drugs, but new ways they’re finding to get drunk had jaws dropping in our newsroom.
“Quicker high, they think it’s going to last longer, it’s more intense,” said Dr. Dan Quan from Maricopa Medical Center.
“This is not isolated to any school, any city, any financial area,” Officer Chris Thomas, a school resource officer, said. “This is everywhere.”
When we heard how kids are getting drunk these days, we thought no way.
So we hit up the experts to find out if it’s an urban legend or if it’s legit.
“There’s been documented cases of people going to the hospital with alcohol poisoning just from utilizing it that way,” Thomas said.
Thomas spends his days patrolling the halls of a Valley high school. He’s heard first hand how kids are getting tipsy.
“What we’re hearing about is teenagers utilizing tampons, soak them in vodka first before using them,” Thomas said.
“It gets absorbed directly into the bloodstream. There’s no barrier, there’s no stomach acid to prevent it,” Thomas said.
“I would expect it to absorb pretty quickly as well, because it’s a very vascular structure,” Quan told CBS 5.
“This is definitely not just girls,” Thomas said. “Guys will also use it and they’ll insert it into their rectums.”
And that’s not all.
“Using a beer bong rectally is the same concept as a vodka soaked tampon,” Thomas said.
Rather than the traditional beer bong you’d find at a college party, kids are sticking the tube elsewhere to get wasted.
They’re calling it “butt chugging.”
“A lot of people believe it would cover it up, your breath won’t smell like alcohol so you can hide it from the parents, hide it from police,” Thomas said.
But take it from this cop, it won’t work.
It’s not just jail time that might be a problem, these new tricks are really risky and could cause some serious problems.
“It can cause mucosal irritation, meaning the vaginal wall can be irritated,” Quan said.
Plus, what if you over do it? Irritation could be the least of your problems.
“Some of the dangers associated with this is there’s no barrier,” Thomas said.
There’s also no gag reflex, and if it isn’t going down the hatch you won’t have that tell tale sign you’ve had too much to drink, which means you won’t throw up if you’ve got alcohol poisoning, and you’ll pass out before you know there’s a problem.
“It’s problematic because you don’t really know how much you’re going to absorb,” Quan said.
It turns out that a super tampon can hold about a shot of vodka, which is pretty potent when it’s going straight into your system.
“If the person does pass out or lose consciousness, health care professionals won’t necessarily know that they have to look in those areas and that may delay treatment,” Quan said.
If you’re a parent of a teenager, what can you do to make sure tampons are used for the job they’re intended and nothing more?
“Well then you need to get involved,” Thomas said. “Stop being your kid’s friend and be their parent first.”
Another myth is that kids apparently think getting drunk that way means they would pass a breathalyzer test because they didn’t drink the booze, but that’s not true. The test checks out what’s in your blood stream, not what’s on your breath.
Source:KPHO
Robbery at NY PathMark injures security officer www.privateofficer.com
Brooklyn NY Nov 10 2011 Coors beer and food items were among the merchandise stolen from Pathmark grocery store by a man on Oct. 26 around 5 p.m., police said. The man was seen by store security stealing $41 worth of merchandise, police said. When he was confronted by security the man became violent, police said. The man punched a security guard, injuring the guard’s right hand and snapping the chain around the guard’s neck, police said.
Officers arrested Derrick Nelson, 50, in the store Oct. 25 at 5:35 p.m. The same officer had arrested Mr. Nelson on Oct. 18 at the Pathmark store, and again a few days later for a similar incident, police said. With each incident, Mr. Nelson has become increasingly violent, police said. No information on charges against Mr. Nelson were available from the Kings County District Attorney’s office.
Security officer discovers burglary at Washington bank www.privateofficer.com
According to investigators, a man broke the glass entry doors and entered the bank at 6829 NE Highway 99 early Tuesday morning. A security officer called 911 after discovering the broken glass door, investigators said.
The security video shows a white male entering the foyer of the bank, and then throwing an object at the doors to break them, according to deputies.
Investigators said the burglar did not steal any money while inside the bank, and it’s not known if anything was stolen. The burglar, however, did damage some computers and electrical equipment, deputies said.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about this case to call 911.
Source:KPTV
Loss prevention agent charged with multiple sexual assaults www.privateofficer.com
Middle Township NJ Nov 10 2011 A Lower Township man was arrested Tuesday for multiple sexual assault incidents that occurred while he was working as a security guard at two Middle Township stores.
Jose Vargas, 35, of the Villas section of Lower Township, was arrested and charged with sexual assault, sexual contact and impersonating a police officer, Middle Township police said in a news release.
Police allege that Vargas committed the first of three known offenses while working as a loss prevention officer at the Rio Grande ShopRite grocery store in April. The other incidents occurred this month while Vargas was working as a loss prevention officer at Walmart, also in Rio Grande.
All incidents involved separate victims, who all were female customers at the stores.
Vargas was lodged at the Cape May County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 full cash bail.
The Middle Township Police Department and Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office still are investigating the cases and ask that anyone with information or reporting additional incidents to call the Middle Township Police Department at 609-465-8700, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-465-1135 or Cape May County Crime Stoppers at 609-465-2800.
Source:PressofAtlanticCity.com
Austin man gets 10 years in prison for punctured tires www.privateofficer.com
A Travis County jury has assessed a 10-year prison sentence to a homeless man prosecutors believe punctured hundreds of tires over the past several years in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Central Austin.
Tommy Joe Kelley received the maximum after being convicted of unlawful use of a criminal instrument. He remains indicted on four additional counts of the same charge. Prosecutors said they would decide later whether to proceed to trial and seek additional prison time for Kelley on those additional charges.
Update 2:15 p.m A Travis County jury has found a homeless man accused of puncturing hundreds of vehicle tires in Hyde Park guilty of unlawful use of a criminal instrument.
Tommy Joe Kelley faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing, which is scheduled to take place this afternoon.
The jury deliberated for less than a half an hour before rendering its verdict.
Before the verdict was pronounced, Kelley approached Judge Julie Kocurek and the two had a short conversation. After the jury had left the courtroom for a short break, Kocurek said that Kelley wanted to be sentenced by her and not by the jury.
Kocurek said because Kelley had not given the state proper notice, it would be up to prosecutors.
“This is a community justice-type offense and it’s very probable that the community would need to sentence him,” Kocurek said.
Prosecutor Jason English agreed, saying that he would not consent to sentencing by the judge.
Update 2 p.m. A Travis County jury began deliberating this afternoon whether a man accused of puncturing numerous tires in Hyde Park is guilty of unlawful use of a criminal instrument.
“This is the Hyde Park tire slasher,” Prosecutor Jason English said during closing arguments in Tommy Joe Kelley’s trial.
“What he was doing on Dec. 31 (2010) … was making himself another sticker,” English said.
Sticker is the word prosecutors say Kelley used to describe the round metal tool that he used to puncture tires in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Kelley was arrested with the tools on numerous occasions. He faces numerous counts but is only on trial on one count, related to his arrest on Dec. 31, 2010. That day he was caught sharpening the tool on a street curb.
“The case is circumstantial,” Kelley, representing himself, told the jury. “No matter what, leaves a reasonable doubt.”
State District Judge Julie Kocurek instructed jurors that to find Kelley guilty they must find that he used an instrument that was specially designed, made or adapted to aid in committing an offense.
“Mr. Kelley is not … a stupid man,” Prosecutor Rob Drummond said. “He is an angry man, a man with a grievance against the neighborhood he has lived in for 30 years.”
The jury began deliberating at about 1:45 p.m.
Earlier A homeless man accused of slashing and puncturing hundreds of vehicle tires in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Central Austin dating back to 1994 told a Travis County jury today that he has been unfairly targeted by police and neighborhood residents because of a 2006 newspaper article noting an arrest for criminal mischief.
“Ever since that point, I’ve been under real tight scrutiny,” said Tommy Joe Kelley, aka Tommy Joe Adams.
Kelley is on trial for one count of unlawful use of a criminal instrument, which, because of previous convictions, is a third-degree felony punishable up to 10 years in prison. The charge relates to accusations by prosecutors that in 2010 he was arrested with a metal rod sharpened into a tire-puncturing tool.
Closing arguments are scheduled for 1 p.m. today in 390th District Court Judge Julie Kocurek’s court.
In rambling direct testimony that, because Kelley is representing himself, was not interrupted by questions, Kelley did not directly address the accusations against him.
Instead, he told jurors about what he described as numerous assaults on him that went unpunished and improper arrests by police.
At one point, he said, “I don’t walk around carrying a (expletive) knife. I can’t. I get stopped so much. I tell you I get stopped so much I quit buying weed.”
Under cross-examination, Prosecutor Jason English asked Kelley: “Are you damaging people’s property in Hyde Park?”
“No, sir,” Kelley said.
Kelley explained to English that before he was arrested in February he had lived in an alley between Guadalupe Street and Avenue A, near 40th Street.
Kelley admitted that in the past he had stolen copper from air conditioners in the area. English asked Kelley about December 31, 2010, when he was arrested by a police officer who saw Kelley sharpening a metal rod on a curb at 44th Street and Speedway.
English suggested that Kelley was sharpening the rod to puncture tires with it.
“I think I had just started,” Kelley said. “There ain’t no way.”
“How did you know it can’t stick a tire,” English asked. “Have you ever stuck a tire before.”
“That’s what I was just ah, I don’t know,” Kelley said.
Kelley eventually said he had been convicted of puncturing tires in 1995 and 2005. He said one time he did it intending to get arrested for the jail medical care because he had painful hemorrhoids.
Earlier in the morning, Hyde Park Neighborhood Association President Lisa Harris, called as a witness by Kelley, told the defendant: “What I know is that when people have seen you on the streets of our neighborhood, that has been associated with tire damage.”
This had made many many people late to work or class over the years. … it’s not an inexpensive thing to replace a tire.”
Source:www,statesman.com
Rowan Cabarrus Community College dropping law enforcement for private security www.privateofficer.com
SALISBURY NC Nov 10 2011 – Is Rowan Cabarrus Community College about to drop sworn law enforcement officers from providing security on the North Campus in Salisbury and the South Campus in Concord?
A source close to the situation told WBTV that RCCC has asked for proposals for private security firms to take over those duties.
Captain John Sifford of the Rowan Sheriff’s Office confirmed that he had been talking to officials at the campus and that he is very concerned that such a move could put students and staff in danger.
In a letter to Tim Foley of RCCC, Sifford wrote “at present, with armed security, the college has trained officers,” and that after January, “RCCC will have an unarmed security guard to respond to a person armed with an AK-47. They will have no means of protecting the students, staff, or even defending themselves.”
Sifford was pointing to a recent incident where an armed man came on the campus of Elizabeth City State University.
Sifford’s concern is that if there were to be a threat or an incident on the campus, it would take valuable time for an officer to respond. He says an officer on campus “can return fire to protect the lives of the students, staff, and himself, and has a direct communication link, via his portable radio, with all area law enforcement agencies allowing a coordinated response to the shooter to be immediately formed, so that the threat can be neutralized.”
One source told WBTV that the move was being considered as a cost savings. RCCC currently pays officers $20 an hour to patrol the Salisbury campus, $25 an hour in Concord. According to one source, bids from private firms were coming in between $15 and $18 an hour.
Only sworn officers are allowed to carry guns on a North Carolina college campus, and private security officers would not have that ability.
On Wednesday afternoon two students from RCCC told WBTV that they didn’t really think have unarmed security would be a problem.
“I don’t think there’s any violence on campus, ” said Bonnie Jo Stevens. “I don’t think there’s any reason to have a gun.”
“Not really a difference either way,” said Kristen Lingle. “Most of the people that are here, they don’t really start any trouble and I don’t see a reason any weapons.”
WBTV has contacted RCCC to learn more about this situation.
Late Wednesday afternoon RCCC issued the following response:
RCCC conducted an independent security study of its current security services and processes in June 2011. This study was developed in response to the college’s enrollment growth, the addition of two new instructional facilities (North Campus- Building 400 and the NC Research Campus facility in Kannapolis), declining state and local financial resources, the college’s improved technology infrastructure, and the potential impact of the Rowan County bond projects on signage and location of services to students.
The college is mindful of the critical importance of security for its students, faculty, and staff. To date, we have an excellent record of safety on all of our campuses, and the intention going forward is for that record to continue, and more importantly, for everyone on the campuses to feel safe.
RCCC is the primary provider of initial certification and on-going in-service training for our public safety providers (Fire, EMS, and Law Enforcement). Consequently, we believe that our institution should be a model of best practice in providing for security resources on our respective campuses. The results of the study will help us determine the most appropriate and effective coverage for each of our campus sites.
In the past, we have relied heavily on security to manage traffic and parking at peak times during the semester. With the addition of new facilities, we recognize that there may be other needs that we should consider in establishing security measures for the campus. We recently invested in a significant upgrade to our technology infrastructure that will facilitate instant communication with students, faculty, and staff during an emergency – we want to leverage that technology effectively and efficiently.
The study includes recommendations regarding key deployment of personnel, use of cameras, student and employee identification badges, visitor access, and other areas involving safety and security. The college follows state laws, and a recent law empowers community colleges to remove individuals who are considered as dangerous or who pose a potential threat. In order to be compliant with the law and to protect our employees and students, there will be a requirement with our security providers to develop and deliver training to our entire campus staff.
RCCC’s security has historically included a mix of private security and armed security (employing law enforcement personnel from the primary agencies located within the college’s two county service area). We are currently in a bid process for unarmed security. The bid process was advertised in accordance with state requirements, and any agency with an interest in delivering these services was eligible to apply and attend the pre-bid conference. We anticipate that the college will still contract with local law enforcement officers for security needs that extend beyond those services available from a private firm. This initial bid addresses only phase one of our security plan. Changes in the college’s security strategy are expected to be effective at the beginning of the spring semester. The college is committed to enhancing the security and safety of all campus locations, and this initiative represents the first step in that process.
Source:wbtv.com
St. Charles Parish Clerk of Court employee arrested in theft www.privateofficer.com
St Charles LA Nov 10 2011 A longtime St. Charles Parish Clerk of Court employee was arrested Monday after authorities discovered that she accepted two payments for speeding tickets and allegedly pocketed the money.
Tina Bourque, 41, 165 Martin Lane, Des Allemands, was booked with two counts of malfeasance in office, two counts of theft under $500 and injuring public records. Bond was set at $25,000. She was released after posting $2,530.
Authorities say Bourque, an employee of the clerk’s office for more than 20 years, was assigned to process traffic court records. Between January and March of this year, Bourque allegedly took two payments for speeding tickets, each in the amount of $116. One was a cash payment, the other was a check that listed no payee.
Authorities discovered the theft on Nov. 2 after the person who wrote the check and gave it to Bourque for a traffic citation received notification of withdrawal of driving privileges for not paying traffic fines. Investigators later learned that the check was made out to “cash” and that Bourque cashed the check at a local store.
Court records on the cash payment show the charges were not prosecuted, with no record of payment.
St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Pat Yoes said Clerk of Court Charles Oubre and his office have cooperated with the investigation and additional charges are possible.
“There are a lot of records to go through,” Yoes said.
Sheriff Greg Champagne is asking anyone who may have sought assistance from Bourque for traffic citations to contact the Criminal Investigations Division at 985.783.1135 to determine if the the matter was resolved appropriately.
Bourque is the second Clerk of Court employee to be arrested for theft this year. In August, Kerri H. Breaux, 42, of Luling was booked with filing false public records and theft of goods valued between $500 and $1,500.
Breaux, an employee of the clerk of court’s office for more than 16 years, was accused of stealing $649.25 over several months by recording false amounts and keeping the difference. The discrepancies were discovered by another worker when Breaux was out of the office
Source:nola.com
Elderly Kansas City woman found fused to chair www.privateofficer.com
Carol F. Brown’s adult son told a state official he had left his 74-year-old mother in the chair for five days without helping her get up to use the bathroom or bathe because he was honoring her wishes to die in her Independence home, according to court documents that described the woman as a “rotting corpse that was still breathing.” Brown later died.
“It is an incredible story to me,” Independence police spokesman Tom Gentry said Wednesday.
Police were contacted after Brown was taken to a hospital Oct. 27 and found to have a maggot infestation inside an open wound around her ankle, according to the court documents that said Brown’s home was “filthy with a heavy smell of bodily fluids and feces.”
Brown’s son, James Owens, told an official with the Missouri Division of Senior and Disability Services that his mother had been in the chair since Oct. 23 and that he was honoring her wishes to be left to die, the documents said.
Owens, who the documents said had started the application process to gain state aid to be his mother’s caretaker, said he did give the woman tomato and chicken noodle soup.
No working telephone listing for a James Owens could be found Wednesday and a number listed under Brown’s name rang unanswered.
Police who searched Brown’s home took prescription drug bottles and pills, a section of the recliner and a soiled towel, court records show.
Jackson County prosecutor’s office spokesman Mike Mansur said no decision will be made about possible charges until the medical examiner rules on Brown’s cause of death.
“I’ve heard it could take some time,” Mansur said. “I don’t yet know how quickly it will come.”
Source:www.azcentral.com
Nurse-security officer shot at NY hospital www.privateofficer.com
Bronx NY Nov 10 2011 A nurse and a security guard were shot in a hospital emergency room in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx Wednesday night.
The victims were innocent bystanders in a violent scuffle that broke out in the emergency room of the Bronx Lebanon Hospital at about 7:30 p.m., officials said.
Witness Cecilia Belle-Singleton was inside the emergency room getting treated for a hand injury when she saw a man in need of stitches talking about a fight he’d gotten into earlier in the day.
She told NBC New York the man spotted his attackers in the emergency room and called his own family for backup.
“Some lady told me they started fighting over there by the bathroom,” said Belle-Singleton. “Next thing you know, you hear four shots: pop pop pop pop.”
“You had everybody running with their kids,” Belle-Singleton said. “Adults with baby strollers running back there where the doctor’s office is.”
The victims were not badly injured: the 37-year-old male nurse was grazed in the shoulder, and a 42-year-old male security guard was grazed in the groin. They were both being treated.
The gunman and the groups involved in the fight were not shot, and they ran off before police could catch them, but there were several people in handcuffs at the scene.
“This is a place you come to get cured,” said Artavia Walston, a friend of a patient at the hospital. “You don’t come here and expect to get shot.”
A mother of another patient added, “It disgusts me. It is actually the worst that I could ever thought of bringing my child to the hospital,” said Nicole Nixon. “I normally don’t come to this hospital, but this has really set in my mind that I will not be coming back to Bronx Lebanon Hospital.”
When asked how the gun got into the emergency room, hospital spokesperson Errol Schneer said, “The gun did not get in the ER, it was in the waiting area. Our understanding is it was a concealed weapon, and luckily, we have an excellent security system in place that was able to address the problem very quickly.”
Source:NBC NEW YORK
Man sues Maryland mall for excessive force-detention by security www.privateofficer.com
Tracy Wiggs says he was detained by special police security officers hired by the mall.
“I put my hands on top of my head. I was tackled from the back,” he says. “I was on the ground and the officer had his knee in my back.”
Wiggs lawyer, Jimmy Bell, says you only a Maryland state special police officer arrest can someone if a crime is committed in their presence. He says Wiggs didn’t commit a crime.
Wiggs says the incident aggravated back and neck injuries he received while serving as a Marine in Beirut.
“I’m still in pain,” he says. “Absolutely I’m still in pain.”
On Wednesday, Wiggs and his attorney filed a $5 million lawsuit against Gelman Management, the company that runs the Marlow Heights special police force. Wiggs says he went shopping at the mall, and while driving out of the parking lot, he was surrounded by six or seven officers with guns drawn.
“I was wronged – I was mistreated,” he says. “I was abused. These types of things shouldn’t happen to people.”
Gelman did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
He says the officers searched him, his bag, his car and took him into a room in the basement of Macy’s department store. He claims they handcuffed him to a pole and left him.
After two hours, they let him go, he says.
Wiggs says the officers never explained why they stopped him and never called Prince George’s County police.
“I guess they thought they would treat it like it never happened,” he says.
Source:ABC NEWS
