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Security officer shoots armed man dead at apartment complex www.privateofficer.com
The shooting happened at the parking lot of the Villa Rosa Apartments on South Willow Drive in southwest Houston on Friday night.
Houston police said the victim, Humberto Valasquez, 66, received a call from his son. His son said he was involved in a fight with the security guard.
Valasquez took his gun and left his apartment with two other family members, said police.
Natalie Alvarado, who lives in the apartment above Valasquez, said she heard people yelling downstairs and saw them run outside.
“One person go running, saying, ‘Security, security,’ and another person go,” said Alvarado.
When the the guard and Valasquez saw each other, they exchanged gunfire, said investigators. Alvarado said she heard at least five gunshots.
The guard shot and killed Valasquez. The security guard was also shot. He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Charges against the security guard are pending an investigation.
Source:NBC NEWS
Grandfather’s joke about bomb lands him in jail www.privateofficer.com
A student’s grandfather met with Lake Elementary School Principal Jeff McCann Thursday morning, SRO James McGoney reported. When the grandfather left, he told a secretary, “You may want to leave within the next five minutes. I just planted something in Mr. McCann’s office.”
Students were locked down while McCann and McGoney searched the office thoroughly and did not find any unusual items, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.
SRO Sgt. Bill West, Deputy Anthony Gordon, McGoney and La Vergne Police drove to the grandfather’s house and talked with him.
Grandfather Girard Greenfield III asked why the officers were at his home, then mentioned a joke. When McGoney asked, “What joke?” Greenfield replied he made a comment about a bomb in McCann’s office.
Greenfield said he was upset about an issue at the school and noted he was just kidding and made a bad decision.
McGoney charged Greenfield, 61, of 303 Dick Buchanan Drive in La Vergne with filing a false police report. Greenfield was booked into Rutherford County Adult Detention Center and released on $5,000 bond. A hearing was set Jan. 10 in General Sessions Court.
Sheriff Robert F. Arnold said this case is a good example of why SROs work at elementary schools in Rutherford County.
“In this case, a disgruntled parent who disliked something that happened at school alluded to a bomb in the school,” Arnold said. “Officers were on site. They went right into evacuation mode and locked down the school. The school didn’t have to wait until officers arrived to assess the situation.”
It was the fourth incident during the past two months directly related to elementary schools, including a man walking with a gun outside Stewarts Creek Elementary and Middle schools, a gas leak at Brown’s Chapel School that led to an evacuation and an argument of parents at McFadden.
Source:dnj.com
Palm Bay pulls school resources out of schools www.privateofficer.com
“I’m shocked. I’m dumfounded,” said Mr. Levich. “I didn’t realize they took police out of the schools.”
The school resource officers at Bayside and Heritage high schools, and Southwest Middle school have all been pulled out. The cost to the city and the school district is $180,000 a year. Half paid by the school district, the other half by the city of palm bay.
“That’s certainly the Cadillac model for the School Resource Officer program,” said Susan Hann, city manager of Palm Bay. “I agree that would be a great way to go if we could afford that, but that’s not the position we are in right now.”
Hann says a fifty percent drop in property values over the past few years in Palm Bay forced the city to make deep cuts to several programs, including eliminating it’s half of the SRO money. But she believes the district can still use it’s half of the money to pay off-duty, or part time Palm Bay cops to watch schools, instead of a dedicated full time employee.
“It’s a new way of doing business that I think we all have to look at different options give the financial constraints going forward,” Hann said.
But the director of security at Brevard Public Schools says the city’s options do not fulfill the contract or the state requirements for an SRO program.
“Hiring off duty police officers will not fill the role of a school resource officer.”
Alford says school resource officers have special training, and use student relationships to help prevent crime.
“What have we prevented by having that SRO there?” said Alford.
Bayside school parents were surprised to hear the cops were no longer on campuses in Palm Bay.
“Just having the presence, might deter the bad kids from doing what they wouldn’t otherwise do without someone watching over them all the time,” said Charlene Holcomb, a parent of a Bayside High School student.
City of Palm Bay City Manager Sue Hann says the Palm Bay board hoped the city and the school district would be able to come up with a compromise to keep an officer each campus using only the district’s money and the city’s equipment. Since that hasn’t happened, the two sides will continue to discuss possible alternatives, but there is no definitive date when the cops might return.
Source:www.myfoxorlando.com
Police capture two men wanted in NC armored car robbery www.privateofficer.com
Both men have been charged with the robbery of two armored car guards in North Carolina early Friday.
Authorities say 23-year-old Alex Stephen Loftis of Greenville, S.C., has been charged in connection with the robbery Thursday at an automated teller machine in Canton, N.C.
38-year-old Jerry Bogan of Anderson, S.C. was captured just hours after the robbery.
Canton Police Chief Brian Whitner says the charges against men include conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Nightblub security guard accidentally shoots man www.privateofficer.com
JAMES ISLAND SC Nov 14 2011 — A security guard’s shotgun went off and struck a man in the hip during a disturbance early Saturday outside a nightclub, authorities said.
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office has not identified either man.
Deputies responded to a call of a disturbance and shooting at The Lake House on Mosquito Beach off Sol Legare Road about 3 a.m. when they discovered the victim and several security guards.
Brady said a large crowd had gathered earlier outside around a vehicle and a fight had broken out.
The security guards were clearing the crowd from the parking lot when “they heard what they identified as a gun being racked,” Brady said.
One guard grabbed a shotgun loaded with non-lethal rounds and was bumped into, Brady said. The weapon fired and struck the victim, he said.
EMS transported the man to the hospital. His condition is not known, but Brady said the injury was not life-threatening.
He also said a male fled the area after firing off several rounds during the disturbance.
The Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the incident.
Source:post and courier
NY family victim of 150 phony 911 calls www.privateofficer.com
New York City NY Nov 14 2011 In the midst of celebrating a recent Islamic holiday, an upper Manhattan couple heard a familiar knock at the door.
It was the police — again.
For nearly two years, Mamadou and Assetou Sy have been the targets of an orchestrated campaign of more than 150 false emergency calls to their door at the Dyckman Houses in Inwood.
All of the calls — some came in the middle of the night — were bogus. Fake injuries, fake fires and fake reports of gunfire.
“Every time someone knocks on our door, we say it must be the police,” groaned Assetou Sy, 52. “And most of the time, it is them.”
The couple doesn’t believe they’re being targeted because of their religion, even though last Sunday police arrived as they celebrated Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice. It marks the end of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
In recent months, emergency responders have repeatedly shown up to the Sys’ home — sometimes twice in a day.
“We cannot understand how this could be happening,” said Sy’s husband, Mamadou, 57. “How can people play around with the Fire Department and the police like this?”
The Daily News obtained a list of fire calls from 2010 that shows more than 100 calls for medical assistance, stove fires and other incidents — none of them legitimate. Since April, police have logged more than 55 similar calls.
Earlier this month, police played for the couple an audio tape of some of the 911 calls, but they couldn’t identify the caller.
“We are American citizens and taxpayers like everyone else,” Assetou Sy said. “We don’t need this.”
Originally from Mali, the Sys have lived at the Dyckman Houses for 17 years and said they never had any problems.
Assetou Sy runs the Malian Cultural Center in the Bronx where she teaches West African traditions to local youths from immigrant families. Her husband assists her.
The first time firefighters showed up to their home, the Sys thought it was a fluke.
“Someone had called about a fire,” Mamadou Sy said of the incident in January 2010. “They came inside. They check everything. When they found nothing, then they left.”
Fire officials confirmed the repeated FDNY responses to the fake emergencies and then slammed the caller for endangering lives.
“False alarms draw units and resources from actual emergency calls and put the lives of those responding needlessly at risk,” said Frank Dwyer, an FDNY spokesman.
Police officials agreed, but said they’ll continue responding each time someone calls.
“We can never not go,” said NYPD Deputy Inspector Kim Royster. “We will always go.”
The Inwood address has been flagged by police, meaning a supervisor is dispatched along with patrol.
The Sys complained to elected officials and the city Housing Authority about the harassment. But they balked at an emergency transfer after learning they could end up anywhere in the five boroughs.
In a statement, NYCHA officials said that residents seeking to move expeditiously within public housing must be flexible, because more than 8,000 residents are awaiting transfers and 144,000 people are waiting for apartments.
The Sys said they shouldn’t have to move.
“This is my home,” a defiant Mamadou Sy said. “We have a lot of memories here. We are not going anywhere.”
Source:www.nydailynews.com
Lexington man stabbed numerous times at Wal-Mart www.privateofficer.com
Lexington KY Nov 14 2011 A man stabbed Friday night at the Wal-Mart off Russell Cave Road was in fair condition Saturday.
Anthony G. Peel was taken to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital after he was injured in a fight that broke out in the store.
Peel was stabbed multiple times, including at least once in both arms and in the chest, according to police Lt. J.J. Lombardi. The weapon, a knife, was recovered at the scene. Lombardi said he didn’t know what the argument was about.
An off-duty Lexington police officer who was working security at the Wal-Mart intervened.
One man, Xavimen C. Decquir, 22, was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree assault, a felony. He was being held in the Fayette County Detention Center on Saturday night on $7,500 full cash bond.
Police initially suspected another man of taking part in the stabbing and questioned customers as the store was evacuated. Police decided the man was not involved in the fight and let him go, Lombardi said. Afterward, they determined he was wanted on outstanding warrants out of Illinois.
Source:www.kentucky.com
Kentucky fire department collecting fees for protecting citizens www.privateofficer.com
LYNDON, KY Nov 14 2011 Say your house catches fire…or you’re in a car accident. If you’re in Lyndon, that could cost you. Lyndon Fire and Rescue has been charging to respond to things like structure fires and motor vehicle accidents. What it boils down to, according to a Lyndon Fire and Rescue spokesman. is that the department needs more money. The department is stepping up efforts to collect fees as part of its cost recovery program.
“Well, fees, depending on what the nature of the fire is, or the nature of the fee that we’re trying to recover, it can vary anywhere to a couple hundred dollars to maybe $300, $400 or $500,” Said Captain Rich Bliven, Public Information Officer for Lyndon Fire and Rescue.
It isn’t just structure fire responses that could cost up to $500.
“Motor vehicle accidents where there’s a hazardous material clean up, where vehicles leak fluids or something of that nature,” Said Bliven. “Or where additional medical care would be required.”
Robert Shoemaker has lived in Lyndon about 30 years. He was unaware of the fees.
“Well, it doesn’t make me feel very good, simply because I pay taxes already, to Lyndon, just for that purpose,” Said Shoemaker as he sat on his riding lawn mower. “To have the house burn down, plus pay an additional $300-$500, that wouldn’t go over very well.”
Shoemaker thought of an alternative to the fees.
“Well, I think maybe they need to increase the tax, somewhat. That’s the best way. Have everybody pay the same amount,” Said Shoemaker.
Lyndon Fire and Rescue began a cost recovery program months ago because of a need for more money, in addition to property tax dollars received.
“Well, we need to increase our revenue, and this is a way to do that,” Said Bliven. “We want to stress that we’re not going to send anybody a bill in the mail, individually, unless, like I said, we’re not able to collect their insurance information. The insurance companies are paying the fees.”
“It doesn’t bother me at all,” Said Lyndon Resident Agustin Rosa. “I mean, you know, it’s a service that I think we all need. If that’s the case, somebody’s got to incur it. So, what are you going to do?”
“If anybody out there is upset about what’s going on, we encourage them to call,” Said Bliven. “We also encourage them to contact their politicians and let them know that they need to support their fire districts. They need to look at raising the fire protection tax cap so that we can gain more revenue and do the things that we need to do.”
Captain Bliven said the fees that the department are recovering also include permits, inspections of businesses and occupancy permits. Bliven said the department recently received $80,000 from a property tax mis-calculation. Part of it’ll go toward things like building maintenance, keeping station 2, on Westport Road open, and other things that were cut from the budget. Though he said the department is grateful for the additional money, there is still a financial need and the cost recovery will continue.
Source:WAVE
NJ school bus driver arrested for DUI after taking kids on scary ride www.privateofficer.com
WESTAMPTON, NJ Nov 14 2011 – A New Jersey school bus driver is arrested for a DUI after taking kids on a harrowing ride home.
Police say Carole Crockett was driving while extremely drunk.
They say she was swerving all over the place, almost hitting a jogger, and three other buses. Students on the bus told police Crockett also fell asleep several times.
Fortunately, students were able to use their cell phones to call their parents, who then called police.
Source:WAVE
Niagara Falls shoplifter threatened employees with box cutter www.privateofficer.com
Darrin A. Powell, 44, of Shenk Road, Sanborn, is charged with third-degree robbery, fourth-degree criminal mischief and petit larceny.
Police said Powell shoplifted two wallets and a measuring cup from the Dollar General store on Niagara Falls Boulevard and was confronted outside the store, where the two store employees disarmed him and held him until police arrived.
Rochester pair nabbed for shoplifting www.privateofficer.com
Ayala Awilda, 31, of 799 Norton St., and Ninoscha Figueroa, 24, of 1050 S. Plymouth St., allegedly stole $1,921.79 of property from Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, American Eagle, and Aerie and Justice.
They were sent to Ontario County Jail and were arraigned Nov. 12.
Grass seed company employee sentenced to prison for $194,000 theft www.privateofficer.com
A woman who used her job as a payroll employee to steal from a Canby grass seed company was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to re-pay Rose Agri-Seed more than $194,000.
Forty-nine-year-old Teresa Eulalia Torres of Portland pleaded guilty in to theft charges in a plea agreement in Clackamas County Circuit Court.
The Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/tRPytv ) she created fictional employees to receive paychecks.
She has previous theft convictions in 1992 and 2002 for taking money from companies Multnomah and Washington counties.
Source:AP
Hospital patient pulls knife-demands to be taken to another medical center www.privateofficer.com
PETLAUMA, Calif. Nov 14 2011A woman who had been taken to a Petaluma hospital for treatment of a medical condition Friday evening pulled out a knife and demanded to be taken to another hospital after she had been discharged, police said.
Police responded to Petaluma Valley Hospital, located at 400 N. McDowell Blvd., around 8:20 p.m. after Nicole Roberts-Summers, 42, of Petaluma, had requested fire personnel take her to the hospital. After she was taken and evaluated at the emergency room she was discharged. She then demanded to be taken to the Kaiser Permanente hospital, police said.
As part of her demand she took out a folding knife and held it to her chest and did not allow hospital staff to approach her. Police were called and as they arrived staff were able to remove the knife from her.
She was detained by police without further incident and medically cleared. She was arrested on suspicion of brandishing a knife and booked at Sonoma County Jail, according to police.
No hospital staff or fire personnel were injured, police said.
Source:KTVU.com
Two Lewis County employees charged with misconduct, theft and other felonies www.privateofficer.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn.Nov 14 2011 – Two Lewis County employees have been charged with misconduct, theft and other felonies by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation after a month long investigation.
The TBI began investigating Ronnie Darnell, the Lewis County Road Superintendent and Harold “Pete” Burns, the Lewis County Highway Department Supervisor in October after various allegations of criminal activity associated with the employees began to surface.
The resulting investigation found that in the spring of 2011 used oil contained in 55 gallon drums was buried on county property unlawfully. The investigation also found that between 2006 and 2011 the men used Lewis County personnel and equipment to build a road on private property and that county owned scrap metal and wood was improperly sold.
Darnell, 58, was indicted Wednesday on charges that he stole over $11,000 and was responsible for the unlawful disposal of hazardous waste.
Burns, 61, was also indicted on charges of official misconduct and unlawful disposal of hazardous waste.
Both Darnell and Burns were booked into the Lewis County Jail.
Source:newschannel5.com
Former Seattle school employee charged with theft captured in Florida www.privateofficer.com
SEATTLE WA Nov 14 2011- A former Seattle school employee who failed to appear in court after being charged with stealing more than $250,000 from the school district has been arrested in Florida.
Silas Potter, Jr. was arrested in Tampa Tuesday night, according to Dan Donohoe, spokesman for King County prosecutor’s office.
Potter was scheduled to appear in King County Superior Court on Tuesday to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty on nine counts of theft, but didn’t show. A judge issued a nationwide warrant for his arrest, and set bail at $100,000.
Goodhew said Potter had moved to Florida after the leaving the Seattle school district, but officials had not been able to contact him there this week, and his phone number has been disconnected.
Late Tuesday, the King County Sheriff’s Office received a tip where Potter was in Florida and notified the U.S. Marshal’s office, said sheriff spokeswoman Cindi West.
Donohoe says there is no word yet whether Porter will fight extradition.
Potter and two associates have been charged in the theft of school funds, in a scandal that precipitated the firing of former Seattle district superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson.
Potter is accused of helping himself to cash filtered through two dummy companies doing business with the school district – Emerald City Cleaning and Grace of Mercy – that did little or no work, said King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.
Potter and David Anthony Johnson were each charged with nine counts of theft. Lorrie Kay Sorensen was charged with four counts of theft. Johnson and Sorensen worked for the companies.
If convicted, Potter and Johnson both face up to 43 months in prison and Sorensen could serve up to a year in jail.
Johnson and Sorensen both appeared in court Tuesday for their arraignments.
The prosecutor said the 10-month investigation into the district’s small-business development program found no evidence of involvement by other district employees, although some, like former Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson, were held partially responsible by the school board and lost their jobs.
Before the prosecutor’s office got involved, the development program had been investigated by the state auditor and by an independent auditor hired by the school district. They both found that much of the more than $1.8 million that flowed through the program was misused or just wasted. The school district is independently working to recover some of the money.
Source:KOMONEWS.com
Two Alexandria women arrested for shoplifting incident www.privateofficer.com
Jacqueline Speed, 20, and Domonica Jacobs, 18, each were charged with theft of goods between $500 and $1,500 after authorities were called to Target to investigate a reported shoplifting.
Speed also had a warrant issued for her arrest from 9th Judicial District Court.
Jacobs also was charged with resisting an officer and had a warrant for her arrest issued by Alexandria Police. Both were booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center.
Source:thetowntalk.com
Shoplifter uses stun gun on Home Depot security agent www.privateofficer.com
MANCHESTER, N.H. Nov 14 2011 – Police are looking for a shoplifter who used a stun gun to escape custody from a Manchester, New Hampshire Home Depot back on Oct. 29.
A loss prevention officer at the Home Depot on March Avenue said he saw the suspect hide three lawn mower drive belts under his clothes and attempt to leave the store. The officer chased down the suspect outside the store, and convinced him to come back in.
Once inside, the suspect tried to zap the officer with a stun gun. He missed, but was able to run out of the store and into a waiting Honda Prelude with Massachusetts license plates.
Anyone with information is asked to call Manchester police.
Target employee taken into custody for theft www.privateofficer.com
Springfield Township OH Nov 14 2011
Target security in the Springfield Mall reported to police that they had an employee in custody for allegedly stealing cash from her assigned cash register at the store.
Patrolman Michael Kingsbury responded and took Regina Marchetti, 25, of the 700 block of Grant Road in Folcroft, into custody and transported her to the Springfield Police Station.
Further investigation showed that she had been involved in numerous similar prior thefts totaling in excess of $3,500.
She was charged with Theft By Unlawful Taking, Theft By Deception and Receiving Stolen Property.
The incident is under investigation by Detective James Devaney.
Security officer pinned under San Francisco bus dies www.privateofficer.com
The pedestrian, who was not identified, was wearing a security guard uniform and appeared to be on his way to work when the crash occurred at 12:19 p.m. He crossed in front of the 14L bus as it pulled out of the bus zone, and two sets of tires rolled over his legs. His lunch bag was found next to him.
“I express our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the pedestrian killed in the tragic accident this afternoon involving a Muni bus,” said Ed Reiskin, director of transportation for the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency.
Christopher Wilkow was attending church at the Hub, a co-working space that shares a building with The Chronicle, when he noticed a commotion across the street. He ran out and discovered a man’s legs sticking out from under the bus.
Wilkow said the driver didn’t realize he had struck a pedestrian.
A woman called 911, and Wilkow and another person climbed under the bus. They found the man’s right leg pinned under a tire.
“I just held his hand and kept telling him to breathe,” Wilkow said.
Police and firefighters shut down Fifth and Mission streets for a block while they worked to free the victim. Using wooden planks, they lifted the bus, freed the victim and took him to the hospital, where he died of his injuries.
The death comes less than three months after 23-year-old Emily Dunn was struck and killed in a crosswalk at 18th and Hartford streets in the Castro.
Source:www.sfgate.com
Milwaukee man dies after arm is severed aboard a ship www.privateofficer.com
The SS St. Mary’s Challenger was docked at the lakefront when the accident happened around 9:15 p.m.
According to a preliminary investigation report by the Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office, Ronald L. Hackensmith was working alone by the conveyor belt three decks below the main deck when the accident occurred.
Investigators listed the suggested manner of death as an accident, but they aren’t sure how it happened.
The ship logs show there was a hydraulic oil leak and that Hackensmith had asked other crew members to shut down the engine and restart it. After one round of shutting down and restarting, Hackensmith again requested a shutdown. The log didn’t show him requesting another start-up, but the engine was restarted and was running when the injury occurred, the preliminary report states.
A dishwasher on the ship two decks above the conveyor area first heard Hackensmith screaming and came to help.
Deckhands told investigators that the conveyor belt, which is 782 feet long and moves at 520 feet per minute, would sometimes slip if there was too much concrete on the belt.
“The belt would have to be adjusted if this were the case,” the medical examiner’s report states.
The ship, built in 1905, carried more than 9,000 tons of cement and has 25 crew members, according to the report.
The Milwaukee Police Department, the fire department, U.S. Coast Guard and officers from the Department of Homeland Security responded to the accident. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also was called to the scene.
Milwaukee police are still investigating, and investigators at the medical examiner’s office have yet to conduct an autopsy and finish their report.
Source:JSOnline.com
