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Missouri mother shoots-kills son-commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
CABOOL, Mo.Nov 23 2011 — The Cabool Police Department is investigating an apparent murder-suicide. Officers say it appears Tammy Fleming, 43, shot her son, Charles Loftis, 15, and then turned the gun on herself.
A family member went to check on Fleming late Monday and found them dead at their home in the 600 block of Sunset.
Police say Fleming had no criminal history and there were no signs of drugs in the home, only personal despair and desperation. They say there was a suicide note left behind that they believe was written by Fleming that might shed some light as to why she did this.
“The note that was left at the scene indicated there were financial concerns for the family and apparently she saw no other way out. Evidence at the scene indicated that she had shot the son and then took her own life,” said Officer Walter Darter.
The son, Charles Loftis, was in the 8th grade at Cabool Middle School. School administrators called in a crisis team of counselors from area schools to try to help students cope with the death of a classmate. The counselors mostly listen to the students and talk to them to try to help them get through this.
Meanwhile, Counselors at Burrell Behavioral Health are seeing a trend with their clients — overbearing financial concerns causing depression and suicidal thoughts.
“I would say recently especially within the last week with Thanksgiving approaching,” said Brurell Counselor Brandi Noirfalise, “absolutely.”
According to a recently released report from the Centers for Disease Control, the rate of suicides rises during times of economic hardship especially for working adults.
“Sometimes people get so hopeless that they feel that there is absolutely no way that they can get out of the rut that they are in,” said Noirfalise.
While the community of Cabool deals with the loss of two of its own, Noirfalise hopes this is a wake up call to anyone feeling overwhelmed–financially or emotionally, to reach out and get help.
“While I understand at times that suicide seems like it is the only choice,” she said, “and there are some people that feel there is no other way, but there is always hope… there are people out there who are willing to help you.”
For help call Brurell Crisis Hotline: 417-862-6555 or 1-800-494-7355 or visit their website
Source:ky3.com
Virginia mall tracks shoppers via their cell phones www.privateofficer.com
RICHMOND, VA Nov 23 2011 – If you’re planning on doing your holiday shopping at Short Pump Town Center, you might consider turning off your cell phone. Does that sound like odd advice? From Black Friday through New Year’s Day, the mall will use your phone to track your movements.
Short Pump will be using signals from every shopper’s cell phone to track where he or she goes in the mall. The company said the technology is for research purposes. The Town Center is one of only two shopping centers in the entire country using it.
“Attention shoppers: we now know where you’re going in Short Pump Town Center. In fact, we’ll be tracking your movement from store to store through your cell phone.” For many people NBC12 talked to, that sounds like a creepy announcement from a mall.
“I would be disturbed by that,” explained Cherian Abraham.
“I just don’t think it’s any of their business,” added Julie Ross.
There are antennas throughout the mall that capture the unique ID number for each phone. It’s sort of like an IP address for a computer and they track its movement throughout the stores.
A vice president of the management company for Short Pump said, “We won’t be looking at singular shoppers. The system monitors patterns of movement.”
Things like how many shoppers are going from the Gap to Nordstrom or are there any less popular spots in the mall. That revelation made at least one customer less leery.
“If that information is going to use in interest of businesses, what people like, what people don’t like, maybe it’s ok,” said Tatiana Ozrerski.
But the ACLU of Virginia believes there are privacy concerns.
“This is one of those issues where the laws haven’t caught up with technology,” explained Kent Willis. “There should be laws that prevent this and there may be in the near future if enough people complain.”
Short Pump will be putting up signs to notify customers. The only way shoppers can opt out is by turning off their cell phones. Some people on the NBC12 Facebook page were concerned they’d also have to take out the battery in order to avoid tracking. We’ve learned simply turning it off will work.
Source:NBC12
Shoplifter struggles-bites security agents www.privateofficer.com
According to the Wauwatosa police report:
Anthony Harris, 31, grabbed a large stack of clothing valued at nearly $1,300 and tried to make his way out of Boston Store at Mayfair at 1:23 p.m. Nov. 14. Security guards met him at the exit.
Harris violently pushed a door into one of the guards and tried to make a run for it. The guard grabbed him around the waist and they struggled, rolling around on the sidewalk outside the department store. Then Harris bit the guard on the hand several times, drawing blood.
He was able to crawl to a railing, which overlooked a 30-foot drop to the lower parking lot. He attempted to jump, but guards were able to grab him in time, and he hung upside down until they were able to pull him back.
As they retrieved Harris, he bit a second guard in the shoulder causing a visible mark and bit the first guard several more times on the arm.
After his arrest, Harris complained of chest pains, so he was taken to Froedtert Hospital, the same place the guards headed to have the bites checked out.
Harris is in jail with his next court appearance scheduled for Nov. 29.
Students angry over a tuition hike crash CUNY Board of Trustees meeting www.privateofficer.com
NEW YORK CITY NY NOV 23 2011 Students angry over a tuition hike tried to crash a CUNY Board of Trustees meeting Monday and clashed with baton-wielding campus cops at Baruch College.
CUNY security officers battered protesters and forced them out of the lobby of the Flatiron District school, witnesses said.
College public safety officers arrested 15 demonstrators on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to rioting, said CUNY spokesman Michael Arena.
“I felt threatened by the peace officers. I felt attacked,” said Hunter College alum Michelle O’Brien, 33, of Brooklyn, who was among those arrested.
“I was very confused by what happened,” she added. “The officers were attacking us, unprovoked.”
About 150 students showed up at Baruch College just after 5 p.m. and tried to reach a 14th-floor auditorium where the trustees were meeting.
The trustees were holding a public hearing on a proposed tuition hike of $300 a year for each of the next four years. About 95 people had signed up in advance to speak.
The board is set to vote on the tuition hike Monday.
Full-time resident undergraduate students now pay about $5,100 per year in tuition.
“They started pushing us and beating us,” said Brittany Robinson, 21, an undergraduate journalism student at Baruch from Brooklyn. “We didn’t want this to be violent. We just wanted our voices to be heard.”
Hunter College student Josh Godar, 36, said he and about 15 other students were shoved into a room when cops moved in to quash the demonstration.
“I’m an Army veteran. I didn’t serve five years in the military to come here and see civilian people threatened this way,” said Godar. “This is a complete disgrace to the ideology behind this country.”
Source-www.nydailynews.com
Alert off-duty security leads police to drug bust www.privateofficer.com
BELVIDERE IL Nov 23 2011 — An alert off-duty security guard whose wife told him about a suspicious vehicle in front of the apartment complex where they live is being credited for the arrests of four teenagers, three from Chicago, on drug charges Sunday night.
When the security guard checked on the car, he called in Belvidere police, who made the arrests in the 1700 block of Willow Brook Drive.
Juan Gonzalez-Reyes, 19, of Chicago was charged with one count of unlawful possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance (cocaine, a Class 1 felony), unlawful possession of alcohol and unlawful consumption of alcohol.
Juan Pablo Garcia, 17, of Belvidere faces the same charges. Both are in the Boone County Jail with no bond.
Also arrested for unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of alcohol and curfew violation were two female juveniles from Chicago. They were released to their parents.
“The Police Department is extremely grateful for the extra effort that was put in motion by the off-duty security officer, who also stood by as an expert witness,” Chief Jan Noble said. “Because of his initiative, these people aren’t able to deal their illicit drugs tonight.”
A Class 1 felony is punishable by four to 15 years in the Department of Corrections.
The Belvidere Police Department encourages anyone having information on a crime, suspicious activity or narcotic trafficking to call the department at 815-544-2135 or Crime Stoppers at 815-547-7867.
Source:rrstar.com
Former Cessna employee pleads guilty in theft www.privateofficer.com
Diego Alejandro Paz-Teran, 34, Wichita, pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. In his plea, Paz-Teran admitted he stole aircraft parts from Cessna and sold them on eBay.
According to court documents, the investigation began in November 2008 when an employee of a Rockwell Collins Company distributor saw a Collins AHC-3000 Attitude Reference Computer offered for sale on eBay for $9,000. Knowing that the part was valued at more than $45,000, he contacted the seller and asked for serial numbers.
Cessna tracked the serial numbers to a part that was removed from an XLS Plus aircraft while it was being painted. Investigators found other stolen aircraft parts being sold on the same eBay account and followed records on the account to Teran at his home in Wichita.
Sentencing is set for Feb. 6. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, restitution and a fine up to $250,000.
New Jersey police officer accused of shaking down illegal immigrants for cash www.privateofficer.com
Elizabeth NJ Nov 23 2011 A New Jersey police officer has been accused of promising undocumented immigrants that he would not turn them in to authorities in exchange for payments ranging from $30 to $250.
Rocco Malgieri, 43, of the Elizabeth Police Department, is charged with 58 counts, including theft by extortion and official misconduct, for the shakedowns that are alleged to have begun in February.
Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow said Malgieri, while on duty, would pull over Hispanic men without cause, question them about their residency status and threaten to report them to federal immigration officials unless they paid him.
“That’s horrible,” remarked Katura Jerome of Elizabeth, N.J. “If it happened to my parents, I would be very, very upset.”
The 19-year veteran turned himself in to prosecutors in March and was suspended without pay. The charges were announced Monday.
Prosecutors said there are at least 12 victims who have reported the shakedowns, but community activists say the real victim count is likely much higher. Maria DaSilva of the Immigrant Coalition said the alleged corruption by Malgieri was not just an isolated incident.
“They know that they can easily be threatened,” said DaSilva. “That’s why they choose to do that.”
One New Jersey woman who did not want to be identified told NBC New York her own story of abuse by local police: She claimed that while she wasn’t forced to hand over cash, a Newark police officer physically abused her, pulling her hair and punching her in the mouth during a traffic stop, allegedly because she wouldn’t give the officer her car keys.
A woman who answered the phone at Malgieri’s home in Brick, N.J., said she had no comment.
Source:NBC NY
Toronto security officer stabbed by shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
The victim, a man believed to be in his twenties, was stabbed in the back of the neck though authorities say the injuries he sustained are not life threatening.
The stabbing happened on the platform of the Lawrence West Station just before 3 p.m. Police say the victim chased someone from the store into the station.
Authorities are looking for one suspect, described by witnesses as a tall black man (about six-foot-two) with a slim build. The suspect, believed to be in his 30s, was wearing a hoodie and backpack.
Six Pennsylvania prison guards await trial on sexual and physical abuse of prisoners www.privateofficer.com
Tory D. Kelly, 40, of 3173 Bradbury Drive was one of several guards suspended earlier this year after a misconduct investigation, and he already faced charges in connection with allegations that he threatened another guard at that man’s Robinson Township home.
Kelly, who surrendered with five other suspects at Pittsburgh Municipal Court on Tuesday morning, was arraigned on 30 total counts of charges of official oppression, intimidation of a witness, simple assault, criminal conspiracy to commit official oppression and simple assault and stalking. He was ordered held on $100,000 bond.
According to court documents, Kelly is accused of beating a male inmate from Crawford County in December who was convicted of unlawful contact with a minor, and then threatening to harm him further if he reported the incident.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. previously said he expected as many as 11 more arrests in the case that has already resulted in charges against suspended 60-year-old guard Harry Nicoletti of 616 School St., Coraopolis. He was charged in September with raping and otherwise abusing several inmates over the last two years, although Nicoletti called the allegations “made up.”
Nicoletti is charged with 92 criminal counts including several counts each of institutional sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and official oppression, which amounts to covering up the crimes or allegedly threatening others to do so. The criminal charges mirror allegations contained against Nicoletti and officials at the state prison in Pittsburgh in two civil rights lawsuits filed by inmates in recent months.
In addition to Kelly, the guards charged Tuesday are Sean Storey, 26, of Pittsburgh; Kevin Friess, 31, of Bellevue; Jerome Lynch, 35, of Pittsburgh; Brian Olinger, 32, of Washington; and Bruce Lowther, 33, of West Newton.
All but Olinger are accused of at least one instance of physical abuse against inmates. Prosecutors allege Olinger knew about the abuse and did nothing to stop it.
CERTAIN INMATES TARGETED
The criminal complaints indicate inmates targeted for abuse were either serving sentences for child sex crimes or were perceived to be homosexual.
Zappala has said prison administrators aren’t targeted by the criminal investigation and wouldn’t say whether other guards would be arrested. Nicoletti’s criminal complaint identifies several inmates who allegedly participated in the abuse and other guards who allegedly knew about, but didn’t stop or report, the abuse.
The civil lawsuits, one filed in 2010 and another on behalf of an anonymous inmate in September, allege the systematic abuse of inmates by Nicoletti and other inmates at his direction. The lawsuits contend the abuse occurred over the past two years in the prison’s F Block, a reception area where new prisoners are housed for a few days for medical testing and to receive other supplies before they’re moved to permanent cells.
Among other things, Nicoletti is charged with raping inmates, threatening them with other sexual acts, and with having inmates contaminate the food and bedding of his alleged targets with urine and other bodily fluids.
In April, corrections officials suspended eight guards at the prison, including Nicoletti and Kelly, and four top prison officials were removed and have since left the department, although officials have refused to say whether they were fired or resigned.
The Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association has filed grievances over the suspensions, and has denied the sexual abuse allegations in the lawsuits.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Sue Bensinger said she could not comment on the new charges Tuesday because they involve an ongoing investigation.
LAPD seek suspects in Macy’s smash and grab www.privateofficer.com
LOS ANGELES CA Nov 23 2011—Los Angeles police say one man is in custody and three others remain at large after a smash-and-grab robbery at a Macy’s store at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.
LAPD Lt. Al Lopez says the four men entered the store with what appeared to be baseball bats at about 8:45 p.m. Monday and smashed display cases filled with jewelry.
Police say one man was detained by a security guard and turned over to police, but the three others fled with an undisclosed amount of jewelry.
Lopez says a woman in the store suffered a heart attack while witnessing the robbery and was taken to a hospital. Lopez says it’s believed she’s doing OK.
Eighty-eight-year-old’s invention blocked by federal government www.privateofficer.com
Saratoga NY Nov 23 2011 Eighty-eight-year-old retired metallurgist Bob Wallace is a self-described tinkerer, but he hardly thinks of himself as the Thomas Edison of the illegal drug world.
He has nothing to hide. His product is packaged by hand in a cluttered Saratoga garage. It’s stored in a garden shed in the backyard. The whole operation is guarded by an aged, congenial dog named Buddy.
But federal and state drug enforcement agents are coming down hard on Wallace’s humble homemade solution, which he concocted to help backpackers purify water.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and state regulators say druggies can use the single ingredient in his “Polar Pure” water purifier — iodine — to make crystal meth.
Wallace says federal and state agents have effectively put him out of business, because authorities won’t clear the way for him to buy or sell the iodine he needs for his purification bottles. He has been rejected for a state permit by the Department of Justice and is scheduled to appeal his case before an administrative judge in Sacramento next month.
Meanwhile, the exasperated Stanford University-educated engineer and his 85-year-old girlfriend said the government — in its zeal to clamp down on meth labs — has instead stopped hikers, flood victims and others from protecting themselves against a bad case of the runs.
Collateral damage
“This old couple, barely surviving old farts, and we’re supposed to be meth dealers? This is just plain stupid,” Wallace said, as he sat in the nerve center of his not-so-clandestine compound surrounded by contoured hiking maps, periodic tables and the prototypes of metal snowshoes he invented a few years ago. “These are the same knotheads that make you take your shoes off in the airport.”
When asked about Wallace, the DEA — which, in all fairness, does not provide security in airports — responded in an email that some investigations revealed that methamphetamine labs were using Polar Pure.
“Methamphetamine is an insidious drug that causes enormous collateral damage,” wrote Barbara Carreno, a DEA spokeswoman. “If Mr. Wallace is no longer in business he has perhaps become part of that collateral damage, for it was not a result of DEA regulations, but rather the selfish actions of criminal opportunists. Individuals that readily sacrifice human lives for money.”
Wallace and his partner, Marjorie Ottenberg, came up with the idea about 30 years ago as they planned to scale the Popocatépetl volcano in Mexico.
Hoping to avoid Montezuma’s revenge, Ottenberg, a chemist by trade, read an article in Backpacker magazine about two doctors who had been infected with Giardia and recommended treating water with crystalline iodine.
“We knew the water was questionable down there, so we stole their idea,” Wallace said with an unapologetic grin.
So in 1983, the couple began selling their brown bottles with a small sprinkling of iodine crystals — about a quarter of an ounce — in the bottom.
Polar Pure was an instant, if modest, hit among backpackers and world travelers. It was effective, light and never expired, unlike many other products. One bottle can disinfect about 2,000 quarts of water.
But about four years ago, the DEA began to look closely at the product, even citing it in a position paper, and suggested that it was being used by cranksters as well as campers.
In 2007, federal regulations were passed strictly regulating the chemical. Wallace said the new rules mandated that he had to pay a $1,200 regulatory fee, get federal and state permits, keep track of exactly who was buying his product and report anyone suspicious.
Wallace ignored the fee. And if they wanted a list of his customers, he fumed, all they would get would be camping equipment store managers and wholesalers.
There have been two major spikes in demand for Polar Pure: One in 1999 on the eve of Y2K fears and another soon after the Japanese tsunami, when people were afraid that a radiation cloud would float across the Pacific and poison water. Wallace said he sold close to 24,000 bottles in his last few months of business at $6.50 a pop.
Special Agent Richard Camps, a San Jose-based state narcotics task force commander, said he received reports of suspicious buyers.
“Weird-looking people, ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’-types, were coming into camping stores and buying everything they had on the shelves,” Camps said. “Then they would take off into the mountains and try to cook meth with it.” The DEA reported agents found Polar Pure at a meth lab they dismantled in Tennessee two years ago.
Seeking changes
At its height, Polar Pure was bringing in about $100,000 a year, Wallace said during an interview.
“We do?” Ottenberg said in surprise. “Why don’t we go on more vacations?”
“Because we’re too old to do anything any more,” Wallace replied.
In May, his Oklahoma distributor — warned by the DEA — said he could no longer send Wallace iodine.
For Wallace to comply, the state Department of Justice fingerprinted the couple and told Wallace he needed to show them such things as a solid security system for his product. Wallace sent a photograph of Buddy sitting on the front porch.
“These guys don’t go for my humor,” Wallace said. “Cops are the most humorless knotheads on the planet.” Even so, Marco Campagna, Wallace’s lawyer, promised to strengthen security and make other improvements to allay the government’s concerns.
Wallace is not against regulation per se, although he thinks the demand for a customer list is an invasion of privacy and a waste of time. He just feels that the feds should tweak the law to allow distributors to pay a reasonable fee: $10, for example.
Wallace does not live a Pablo Escobar-like life. He putters, invents and drives his 1978 Mercedes-Benz that runs on cooking oil to the De Anza College track, where he jogs a few times a week, barefoot. His “bling” consists of a tumbled collection of obsidian, limestone and mica in the backyard.
“Do I look like a mafia agent?” he said.
It’s not so much the financial hardship, Wallace said. It’s the irritation of being prevented by what he calls an over-restrictive government to do whatever his restless mind wants to do.
“What the (expletive) else am I going to do? I’m 88!” he said. “We have to do something.”
WHAT IS POLAR PURE?
Polar Pure contains a small sprinkling of iodine crystals, which disinfects water tainted with bacteria.
WHY DO DRUG AGENTS CARE ABOUT IT?
Federal drug agents suspected methamphetamine-makers were using the iodine to make drugs, and strict regulations on the chemical were approved.
WHAT does it all mean for WALLACE?
Wallace said the new rules ordered him to pay a fee, get permits, and keep track of buyers. But his iodine distributor — warned by the DEA — won’t sell to him.
Source:Saratoga News
Woman sells Fla condo she didn’t own www.privateofficer.com
Daytona Beach Fla Nov 23 2011 At least eight families fell victim to a 57-year-old woman’s scheme to sell a private condominium as a timeshare, Daytona Beach Shores police said Monday.
The unit, on the third floor of the Peninsula Condominium, was not Sandra King’s to sell, police said. But detectives said she sold it nonetheless and took off with money belonging to eight different families.
“Some of these people (the victims) were so excited about their timeshare that they had already invited people to come over and look at it,” said Daytona Beach Shores Sgt. Mike Fowler.
Investigators said the 57-year-old King sold timeshare rights to the condo between late 2010 and this past summer.
King told her clients the apartment could be purchased through one of her companies, Ambassador Club or VIP Vacations, Fowler said.
Detectives said when vacationers arrived at the unit at Peninsula Condominium, 2545 S. Atlantic Ave., they learned it was not a timeshare property and that King had taken off with their cash, police said.
When the condo manager noticed people coming to the unit for the summer, the manager called the owner of the residence, police said.
Fowler said King had rented a 10th floor apartment at the condominium and her boyfriend had rented a condo on the third floor of the building — the same unit at the center of the timeshare fraud incidents.
“He (the boyfriend) had a key to the unit and that’s when they started showing the unit,” Fowler said. “When the condo manager found out, she told the people to leave because the unit was not a timeshare. The manager also told people to go to police and report the fraud.”
King’s boyfriend’s name is not being released because detectives are looking into his involvement in the case. Investigators said the families lost thousands of dollars to King.
Police also believe there could be more people who were cheated by King other than the eight families who reported the fraud.
King was arrested last week in Bradford County near the Panhandle, Fowler said. She was charged with grand theft and organized scheme to defraud.
While Fowler said the timeshare fraud incident is a “new one” for Daytona Beach Shores, it’s apparently a rampant form of fraud in the state.
“It’s the number one consumer complaint to the Attorney General’s Office,” Fowler said.
Police are interested in speaking with anyone who may have dealt with King, the Ambassador Club or VIP vacations. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Brian Brueggemann, 386-763-5347, or Special Agent Josh Mead of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at 386-274-3829.
Source:daytona beach news journal
Texas man charged with stealing casino chips in Louisiana www.privateofficer.com
CALCASIEU PARISH LA Nov 23 2011 – From Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office – On Sunday, November 20, Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a local casino regarding a theft that had occurred.
When deputies arrived they spoke with casino security personnel who advised surveillance video captured Tu T. Nguyen, 39, 3221 S. Canne Street, Carrollton, Texas, stealing $1,500 worth of casino chips off of a black jack table.
When questioned by deputies, Nguyen confirmed the allegations. He was arrested and booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center and charged with theft $500–$1,500.
Judge Clayton Davis set his bond at $25,000.
CPSO Cpl. Joshua Johnson was the arresting deputy on this case.
Source:www.kfdm.com
Correctional officer arrested for shooting gun in cemetary www.privateofficer.com
JOLIET IL Nov 23 2011 — A correctional officer was arrested after allegedly firing guns in a graveyard Saturday night.
Chief Mike Trafton said police were called when shots were heard around 8:15 p.m. near St. Joe’s Park by Raynor Avenue and Theodore Street.
“Officer Marcus Weiting arrived and heard another shot from the nearby cemetery,” Trafton said. “When he approached he saw a shadow duck behind a tombstone.”
Police report the shadow turned out to be Robert E. Halladay, 56.
Weiting went to investigate and held Halladay at gunpoint.
“When Halladay was ordered to show his hands, he tossed a snub-nose revolver onto a nearby Dumpster before he was taken into custody,” Trafton said.
Police reportedly found another gun on the tombstone Halladay ducked behind.
Halladay, of 818 North St. in Monmouth, was booked into the county jail on charges of reckless discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
Jail records listed his occupation as “prison guard.”
“That information matches our reports,” Trafton confirmed.
Source:herald news
Chattanooga Police officer arrested in road rage www.privateofficer.com
Christopher Smith of 5512 Pearl St. in Ooltewah filed a complaint with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department against the officer in which it is alleged that Officer Chambers went to his home and pulled a taser on him Saturday night.
The Internal Affairs Division of the Chattanooga Police Department is conducting an internal investigation into the matter. However, the investigation will be led by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department.
Officer Chambers has been placed on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Jackson Miss. police officer charged in death of infant www.privateofficer.com
JACKSON, Miss.Nov 23 2011 (AP) — A Jackson Police Department detective faces a capital murder charge in the death of a 1-year-old girl.
Police spokeswoman Colendula Green told The Clarion-Ledger that officers were called to the University of Mississippi Medical Center Sunday where Aubrey Brown of Jackson had injuries to her abdominal area. She was pronounced dead about two hours later.
Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart said the baby died of internal hemorrhage because of severe blunt trauma.
Green said police arrested 36-year-old Natyyo Gray, who is assigned to the department’s vice and narcotics unit. He was initially booked with felony child abuse but the charges were upgraded following the autopsy.
Police have not defined Gray’s relationship to the child. It was unclear whether Gray has an attorney.
Oklahoma nightclub security agent shot to death www.privateofficer.com
Police told a local television station that 43-year-old Kevin Rollins died at a Lawton hospital after being found at Club Excape early Sunday with a gunshot wound.
Police say no arrests have been made and have not released details of the shooting.
Special education teacher arrested for changing grades of 64 students www.privateofficer.com
Antioch IL Nov 23 2011 As reported by the Chicago Tribune and Daily Herald, among other sources, Antioch (Ill.) Community High special education teacher Sara Glashagel has been charged with tampering with computer records after a trail in the school district’s computer system traced inexplicable improvements in the grades of 64 students back to her hand. The teacher could face up to a year in jail and $2,500 in fines for tweaking the grades.
Glashagel was caught after police received a subpoena to discover the owner of a computer with an IP address beyond the school’s network that had electronically changed students’ grades on Sep. 17, 18, 20 and 21 and the IP address was traced directly to her personal computer. The four days of changes followed an initial alteration that another teacher reported to school authorities when she couldn’t remember any reason why she would have improved the prospective student’s grade.
“Our understanding is that some changes were made to make it less obvious, so it wasn’t football players only,” Antioch police chief Craig Somerville told the Tribune.
While the changes improved the academic standing of nearly the entire football team, there is no indication that Glashagel’s husband, Antioch Community football coach Brian Glashagel, had anything to do with the incident. In fact, it’s difficult to see why he would have been involved because the changes apparently didn’t make any of the effected players eligible to play, other than those who were already eligible.
“I was absolutely blindsided by this,” Brian Glashagel told the Daily Herald of his wife’s involvement in the grade tampering scandal. “I had no idea who was involved up until three days ago.
“I am assuring everyone beyond my word that I had no knowledge of this taking place in the past. I have offered to police to take a polygraph, and I am still offering that up today. The administrators of Antioch are handling the situation internally, and I am trying to help out the school district any way I can.”
Here is how School District 117 Co-superintendent Mike Nekritz described how the temporary alterations changed affected students’ academic standing:
Students in the district cannot participate in sports if their grade point average is less than 1.5, Nekritz said. If their GPA is between 1.5 and 2.0, they get three weeks of probation and extra help to pull up their marks.
Nekritz said that during the time the grade changes were made, no varsity football players were on the ineligible list. Three underclassmen were, he said, but the changes didn’t boost their GPAs enough to make them eligible to play.
Because the changes didn’t effect the eligibility status of any players, the Illinois High School Association has indicated that it is unlikely that Antioch Community will receive any significant penalty related to the incident.
Every grade which was altered was quickly changed back to its original level, so the case resulted in no permanent academic fraud. Still, questions remain about what motivated Glashagel to change the grades if she wasn’t improving the eligibility status of any of her husband’s players.
For her part, the special ed teacher has admitted changing the grades, but refused to divulge how she obtained the administrative password or why she improved the students’ grades.
All of that makes for a multitude of questions and very few answers, for school officials, administrators and even the football coach who now has to puzzle out why his wife would have taken an action that so directly impacted students he works with every day.
Airline passenger brings gun to Richmond airport www.privateofficer.com
TSA officers discovered the .45 caliber Ruger firearm and two loaded magazines Monday around 10 a.m. in the ticketed passenger’s carry-in luggage. The magazines were holding seven rounds each.
TSA officers contacted the Capital Region Airport Police.
The name of the passenger has not been released.
TSA officials said more than 1,100 guns have been found in checkpoints across the nation this year alone. Weapons are not allowed to be brought onto the plane. In some instances, when local laws permit, they can be stored carried in checked luggage.
Source:WWBT
Security union says security company did not take safety precautions causing officer death www.privateofficer.com
A union representing security guards says it is concerned a security company did not have enough safety precautions in place before the death of the Charanpreet Dhaliwal.
The 21-year-old was found dead early Friday morning on a West Auckland construction site, where he was working his first shift for CNE Security.
Police have not decided whether the death is a homicide, but the Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) says Mr Dhaliwal should have not have been alone.
“Why was this young man left without support on a construction site that has been described as “deserted”? What protections were in place for a sole charge security guard, given that the police have stated that construction sites such as this are often targeted by thieves for scrap metal?,” says Security Industry Leader Jill Ovens.
“The union is concerned about cowboy operators in security with scant regard for the safety of their staff,” she said.
Police are expected to comment on the death later today.
Security officer prevents gas explosion at Chicago apartments www.privateofficer.com
She was able to make access into the apartment and discovered the stove had been left on with no flame, and she suspected a disgruntled former tenant of leaving it on to cause a fire or explosion in the complex, according to the report.
The tenant had been evicted after police previously discovered narcotics in the apartment, according to police.
Law enforcement are investigating and will determine if any charges will be filed.
Oklahoma City teacher arrested for possession of controlled substance www.privateofficer.com
Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Chrissea Jackson, 33, on Nov. 15. She faces one count of possession of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school.
Paramedics were called to Douglass High School on Oct. 25 after an assistant principal requested treatment for a teacher feeling ill.
Witnesses said Jackson was on the floor in the classroom and incoherent, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Jackson told Principal Brian Staples she was possibly having a diabetic problem, and he said he knew she was taking some type of medication for a different medical purpose, according to the affidavit.
An EMSA paramedic found a small plastic baggie containing a white crystallized substance in Jackson’s purse and gave it to a campus resource officer.
The officer determined the substance to be .37 grams of methamphetamine. A plastic bottle with a white crystal residue also was found in the purse.
Jackson was taken to OU Medical Center for treatment. School officials said she has been a teacher at Douglass High School since July, teaching science.
“The Oklahoma City Public School District does not tolerate drugs on any campus at anytime. The district expects all staff to maintain high morale and respect for the education profession and the students we serve,” Superintendent Karl Springer said.
He said school officials had taken “appropriate administrative steps and continue to work with Oklahoma City Police Department.”
School officials said they could not comment on whether Jackson has been placed on administrative leave. She had not been arrested as of Monday afternoon.
Source:newsok.com
University of Detroit Jesuit High School teacher arrested for sexual assault www.privateofficer.com
Detroit MI Nov 23 2011 A former University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy teacher was arrested in Chicago on charges that he sexually assaulted boy under 18 in Colorado ten years ago.
The Rev. Richard James Kurtz, who was working as a chemistry teacher at U of D at the time of the alleged assault, reportedly assaulted the boy in 2001 in Douglas County. The two knew each other, but it is not known why they were in Colorado at the time.
Kurtz was removed from public ministry by the Society of Jesus Chicago-Detroit Province at the time of the allegation, and was monitored by the organization in the years since. He was arrested without incident at the province.
The age of the boy has not been released. Kurtz, 67, is charged with sexual assault on a child by one in a possession of trust and attempted sexual assault on a child by one in a possession of trust.
Source:mlive.com
Plano high school teacher arrested for sexual assault of a child www.privateofficer.com
Plano TX Nov 23 2011 Police arrested a Plano high school teacher on suspicion of alleged sexual assault of a child.
Addison Colby Green, 26, a teacher at Shepton High School in Plano, is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old.
The victim was not a student at Shepton High. Police said there are no other known victims.
According to the arrest affidavit, Richardson police were called to Methodist Regional Medical Center, where a 16-year-old boy told officers Green inappropriately touched him.
“The victim reported to us there had been some inappropriate touching, and DNA evidence was obtained two days later, corroborating his account,” said Jonathan Wakefield, an investigator with Richardson police.
The incident allegedly happened at Green’s home. The victim told police he had known Green for seven months.
Green was arrested on campus last week. The district placed him on administrative leave and removed his page from the district’s website.
Shepton parents and students received a letter about Green’s arrest. Students said Green was a science teacher and said his classes were split up after his arrest.
“I heard he was a really good teacher, really cool, so for those kids, I’m kind of bummed,” freshman Carson Ford said.
The Rape Crisis Center of Collin County said it is seeing a spike in reports of sexual assaults of young people. A study conducted by the center shows that 40 percent of sexual assault victims in Collin County are younger than 17.
Green is free on a $50,000 bond.
Richardson police said Green doesn’t have a criminal record. No one answered the door at his home on Monday night.
