Archive
At least six dead in Arizona plane crash www.privateofficer.com
Apache Junction AZ Nov 24 2011 A small plane crashed in the Superstition Mountains east of Apache Junction on Wednesday evening, killing several people, Pinal County authorities reported.
Emergency crews were struggling through rugged terrain to reach the crash site, which appeared be in the peaks’ Flat Iron area.
Johnson said that six people were aboard the plane, and that none was expected to have survived. The plane had broken up on impact, Johnson said.
Allen Kinitzer of the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the plane was a twin-engine Rockwell AC69 that had just departed Mesa’s Falcon Field. The plane was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. of Safford.
Ponderosa declined comment Wednesday night, saying it was not yet prepared to discuss the incident.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, Kinitzer said.
Witnesses reported a fiery mushroom cloud when the plane flew into the side of the mountains.
Carla Machajewski of Apache Junction, who lives at the base of the Superstitions, said she saw two small planes flying around the mountains.
“The one little plane kept going straight and the other one turned and came back and disappeared for a minute. All of a sudden, it hit.”
Source:www.azcentral.com
Memphis police officer arrested for drugs at Tennessee State University www.privateofficer.com
MEMPHIS, TN Nov 24 2011- – A Memphis police officer was arrested Saturday afternoon in Nashville on drug charges.
According to an MPD spokesperson, Officer Tramaine Johnson, 26, was arrested on the campus of Tennessee State University during a traffic stop.
Upon approaching Johnson’s vehicle, the spokesperson said, a campus police officer smelled a strong odor of marijuana. Inside the vehicle, officers found 9.2 grams of marijuana, as well as Johnson’s MPD issued weapon.
Everyone inside the vehicle, including Johnson, was arrested.
Johnson was charged with Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance and Attempted Unlawful Use of Drug Paraphernalia.
According to Memphis police, Johnson has been relieved of duty, with pay, pending an investigation. He has been employed with the Memphis Police Department since 2009, assigned to the Union Station.
Source:WMC-TV
Federal grand jury convicts Detroit man for murder of security officer www.privateofficer.com
After three days of deliberations, the jury convicted Kevin Watson, 41, of killing Total Armored guard Norman Anthony Stephens, a father of six who was shot in the back while delivering money to ATMs on Dec. 14, 2001.
According to trial testimony, it was Watson and co-defendant Timothy O’Reilly who shot Stephens, who died at the scene. Watson faces mandatory life in prison.
O’Reilly, who faced the death penalty, was convicted in 2010, but spared a death sentence because the jury couldn’t conclude who pulled the trigger. O’Reilly also received a life sentence, without the possibility of parole.
During Watson’s trial, prosecutors told jurors that Watson and five cohorts stole $204,000 during the robbery at the credit union outside Fairlane Mall. The crime went unsolved for several years until cooperating witnesses came forward with information.
“For the victim’s family, this verdict cannot remedy the loss of a husband and father,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said. “But we hope that this federal prosecution and the mandatory life sentence that goes with it will deter others from committing such brutal crimes in the future.”
A sentencing date has not been set for Watson. He was convicted of first degree murder with a firearm during a federal crime of violence, conspiracy to commit bank robbery, and bank robbery murder.
Police officer Richard Wong dies of heart attack www.privateofficer.com
Euless TX Nov 24 2011 City police officer Richard Wong died Monday evening after having a heart attack, an official said.
Wong, 52, had the heart attack while playing racquetball with his father at the Hurst Recreation Center, 700 Mary Drive, said Euless Police Capt. Gary Landers.
“It was kind of surreal last night,” Landers said Tuesday. “I’m meeting with the family this morning.”
Landers would not say more until he talked with Wong’s family.
Wong was taken from the recreation center to a hospital, but could not be revived, authorities said.
The city was not aware of any history of health issues, said spokeswoman Betsy Deck.
Wong was a 17-year veteran of the Euless Police Department. He had been a school resource officer at Trinity High School, 500 N. Industrial Blvd., Euless, since 1998, principal Mike Harris said.
Students held an impromptu candlelight vigil at the school Monday evening. Another vigil is scheduled for 7:30 tonight on the front steps of Trinity High.
“He interacted with the kids all day every day,” Harris said. “As a resource officer, his primary job is to build relationships with the students so they feel comfortable talking with him, so they will report information or just feel safe here. He was outstanding at that.”
Harris said that Wong was loved by Trinity students, so the candlelight vigil Monday wasn’t a surprise to him, though he wasn’t aware of it until he got to school Tuesday morning.
“There were some candles on my front step this morning,” he said. “The vigil must have been set up by the students themselves on Facebook. Who all was there and when they did it, I don’t know.”
Harris said that counselors at other district campuses are standing by in case they are needed. Tuesday is the last day before the Thanksgiving break, and Wong’s death was to be part of the morning announcements.
“Counselors from other campuses are always available when one of our campuses needs them,” Harris said. “At this moment, they’re on stand-by. Until all the kids get here, we don’t know how much counseling support they’ll need or want, but we certainly want to be ready.”
By 9 a.m. Tuesday, there were almost 1,000 likes on the R.I.P. Officer Wong page on Facebook.
The Trinity High School football team will honor Wong during the noon Saturday playoff game against Arlington Martin. When they enter Pennington Field, the Trojans will wear stickers on their helmets that look like a police badge and inscriptions of Wong’s name and “In remembrance.”
A biography from the city of Euless states that Wong was a Pinkerton security officer in Fort Worth and also worked security at North East Mall in Hurst before becoming a police officer. He became a senior police officer in 1997.
Wong graduated from Meridian High School in Sanford, Mich., and earned 60 hours in law enforcement from Delta College in University Center, Mich.
Survivors include Wong’s wife, Mary, 50, and daughters Rachael, 16, and Allison, 13.
A funeral service is planned for 1 p.m. Friday in the Trinity High School auditorium. Euless police officers and Wong’s relatives will be among the pallbearers, according to Lucas Funeral Home.
The funeral home said the coffin will be draped with a flag during the service, and there will be a folding-of-the-flag ceremony. Euless Police Chief Michael Brown will present the flag to Wong’s widow.
Source:www.star-telegram.com
Baltimore man gets life in prison for security guard murder www.privateofficer.com
Baltimore MD Nov 24 2011 Michael Hunter, 20, was sentenced to life in prison with all but 50 years suspended on Wednesday for killing a 72-year-old Vietnam veteran, the Baltimore City state’s attorney’s office announced.
Hunter shot and killed Charles Bowman during a robbery of Yau Bros. Chinese Carryout in April 2010. Bowman, who worked as a security guard at the Afro American Newspaper in Charles Village, routinely bought his dinner at the carryout, according to a news release.
A jury convicted Hunter of first-degree murder, three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a crime and armed robbery in September.
Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill also sentenced Hunter to 70 years on top of the life sentence, with all but 20 years suspended.
Troy Taylor, Hunter’s accomplice, pleaded guilty in March to first-degree murder, the use of a handgun in the commission of a crime and armed robbery. Taylor, 19, was sentenced to life in prison with all but 35 years suspended, according to the news release.
The Yau Bros. Chinese Carryout was also the scene of a murder on Halloween night of this year. Freddie Jones Jr., 52, was shot and killed in the restaurant during a robbery. Markell Jones, 17, has been charged with the murder after police said he confessed to the crime.
Neighbors and politicians have pressured the owners of Yau Bros. Chinese Carryout in recent weeks to make the establishment safer or face a “padlock hearing,” which could result in the business being closed for a year by the Baltimore City police.
Kent police arrest teacher for attempted rape of child www.privateofficer.com
Kent Police arrested Daniel Gregory Lum-Lung, 34, of Renton, on Nov. 15 for investigation of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, according to charging papers filed Nov. 16. Lum-Lung is a physical education teacher at Cascade Middle School and the girls volleyball coach at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines, both in the Highline School District.
Lum-Lung is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Nov. 28 at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He posted bail and was released Nov. 17 from the county jail, according to jail records. Bail was set at $50,000.
School district officials placed Lum-Lung on administrative leave as soon as they were contacted by Kent Police, said Catherine Carbone Rogers, district spokeswoman, in a phone interview Tuesday. She said Cascade hired Lum-Lung in 2005. Rogers was unsure how long he had coached the Mount Rainier volleyball team, but he did coach them this fall.
Rogers said the district also is conducting an investigation into Lum-Lung’s activities. She said the girl is not a Highline School District student.
“We want to know if he had any inappropriate activity in the Highline district,” Rogers said. “We don’t know of any but we want to make sure we look at it. He is on leave until the conclusion of our investigation.”
Lum-Lung met the 15-year-old girl on a telephone chat line. They agreed to meet at about 5 p.m. Oct. 22 at Lake Meridian Park on Kent’s East Hill, according to charging papers.
While at the park, Lum-Lung allegedly made several verbal requests of the girl to do certain sexual acts. The girl told him no.
The girl also told police that Lum-Lung asked her to meet him inside the park restroom. She left the park after he entered the restroom. A couple of days later, the girl received an email reportedly from Lum-Lung that referred to “with you in the rain at Lake Meridian.” The email sender also asked if she wanted to see him again. They did not meet again.
The girl and the mother reported the incident to the girl’s school and police were contacted.
Detectives obtained a search warrant and served it on Yahoo to access the Internet account connected with the emails sent to the girl. Detectives served the warrant on Oct. 27 and received Yahoo’s response on Nov. 10. The account showed a name of Black Stevebn. A search of the contact list showed a list of Mount Rainier volleyball players that eventually led detectives to Lum-Lung.
Detectives obtained a state Department of Licensing photograph of Lum-Lung and created a six-photograph lineup including his photo to show to the girl. She positively identified the photo of Lum-Lung as the man who met her at the park.
During an interview with detectives, Lum-Lung admitted he contacted the girl through a telephone chat line and that he met her at Lake Meridian Park. He said their conversation had sexual connotations but he said the girl brought up the subject talking about having a 40-year-old boyfriend. Lum-Lung confessed he did ask twice for a sexual act, but did not remember what words he used.
Lum-Lung said he had engaged in answering personal ads on Craigslist, which he kept secret from his wife, and received pornographic photos of adult women via the Internet and his Yahoo account. He denied having any other communications or contact with any minors other than the girl.
Lum-Lung has no criminal history.
Source:tukwila reporter
Canadian legislation would increase citizen arrest authority www.privateofficer.com
The Harper government has re-introduced legislation that expands the circumstances under which a citizen’s arrest can be made and that also aims to simplify laws related to self-defence and defence of property.
Some legal and security experts have expressed concerns the pro-posed reforms could lead to vigilantism, but the government says there are enough safeguards in place.
Currently, a citizen’s arrest is allowed only if an individual is caught in the act of committing a crime on or in relation to someone’s property.
Under the new law, a citizen’s arrest would be permitted “within a reasonable period of time after” the crime was observed.
But the power of arrest would be allowed only if it was not feasible at that moment for a police officer to make the arrest. The government stressed that a citizen’s arrest carries many risks and that a “per-son is not entitled to use excessive force.” The accused must be handed over to police “without delay.”
The bill would also simplify pro-visions for self-defence and defence of property in the Criminal Code, “so that it would be easier to deter-mine whether individuals who claim to have defended themselves, others or their property should be charged with or convicted of a criminal offence.”
Current provisions have been described as confusing and overly complex by police, prosecutors and the courts, the government said.
“Canadians want to know that they are able to protect themselves from criminal acts and that the justice system is behind them and not against them,” Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said shortly after tabling the bill in the House of Commons. “By introducing these changes to the Criminal Code, we are letting Canadians know that they have the law on their side and that our justice system targets criminals, not victims.”
Nicholson said he was not concerned the legislation would lead to a proliferation of people acting as real-life superheroes. The goal, he said, is really about updating archaic laws that date back to the mid-to-late 1800s. “The laws in this country with respect to defence of property and self-defence are very outdated,” he said.
Source:www.montrealgazette.com
Bank robber commits suicide after being shot by armored car guard www.privateofficer.com
EDISON NJ Nov 24 2011 — After he was shot by a security guard while attempting to rob an Edison bank today, a bleeding bandit fled through a nearby supermarket, shot himself as police closed in and later died.
The bandit, who has not yet been identified, tried to rob the PNC Bank in the Tano Mall on Amboy Avenue at 10:08 a.m., Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said in a statement.
When the armed man announced the robbery, an armored vehicle employee in the bank opened fire, wounding the bandit, Kaplan said in the statement issued jointly with Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan.
The bandit rushed from the bank, went more than 100 yards across the mall parking lot and entered the A&P supermarket, bleeding as he went down an aisle and out a rear door.
“I had my back turned. He must of zipped right behind me,” said store employee Lester Yanvary, 28, of Woodbridge. He recalled seeing blood on the floor in an aisle that police quickly cordoned off.
The bandit ran out the back door ran into a field behind store that backs up against Route 1. Yanvary said people saw the man pacing under a pedestrian bridge that rises over the highway.
Three Edison police — one who was on duty and two who were in uniform working nearby road construction project — approached the suspect, who put a gun to his head and fired, Kaplan said. He said the police did not fire their weapons.
The bandit was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick where he was pronounced dead at 11:38 a.m., the prosecutor said.
He said an autopsy will be done to determined which gunshot wound caused the death.
There were no customers in the bank when the attempted robbery took place, and nobody other the bandit was injured, Kaplan said.
He did not identify the armored car employee.
Police are still investigating with assistance from the FBI, and authorities ask anybody with information about the attempted robbery or subsequent events call Investigator Adrian Villegas of the prosecutor’s office at (732) 745-4428 or Edison police Detective Michael Michalski at (732) 248-7400.
Source:NJ.com
Country duo Sugarland sued by their own fans www.privateofficer.com
Marion County IN Nov 24 2011 Country music duo Sugarland are being taken to the court by their own fans. A lawsuit has been filed against them for their alleged negligence by the 44 casualties of the horrible stage collapse accident that took place in one of their concerts at the Indiana State Fair in August.
The lawsuit has been filed in Indianapolis’ Marion Superior Court and according to the contents of the court papers, Sugarland alongside concert promoter Live Nation, ESG Security, the stagehands’ union, and others have been named as defendants.
The Stuck Like Glue-crooners have been accused of failing to provide a safe atmosphere for the fans, a factor which contributed to the extent of human loss and injuries, according to the plaintiffs.
The incident took place on August 13, when the outdoor stage at the fairgrounds collapsed due to heavy winds triggered by a storm. The stage fell on top of the front rows, resulting in deaths of seven people, while more than 45 were treated for injuries.
Sugarland members Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush escaped the accident as their manager took a prayer break, which eventually proved life-saving for the Grammy-winning group.
They have since issued statements and tweets of condolences in honour of the casualties and they also performed a free show in October but the victims of the seemingly unforeseeable tragedy are still hell-bent at taking the matter to the court.
The 44 accusers, among whom, four deceased fans are also included, claim that Sugarland and company should have paid more attention to the weather report of that day and cancelled the concert.
Although, in such cases, normally the organisers are held responsible for any accident, the plaintiffs have included Sugarland as co-defendants since the final decision of going through with the show was taken by Nettles and Bush.
The accusers’ legal representative Mario Massillamany said, “Unfortunately, this tragedy could have been prevented if the responsible parties had been concerned about the concertgoers that night.”
His co-counsel Scott Starr also chipped in and said, “This is a devastating tragedy that has impacted hundreds of people. It is critical to help the victims pay the medical bills and other financial expenses that they have incurred from this incident.”
The victims are seeking unspecified damages from the defendants.
So far, no official comment has been made by Sugarland or their reps over the situation.
Woodbrook Elementary School teacher exposed self on webcam www.privateofficer.com
Bergen County NJ Nov 24 2011 Police authorities arrested an elementary school teacher Tuesday for engaging in sexually explicit conversations over the Internet with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old child.
Andrew Brown, 38, of South Plainfield, also allegedly exposed himself on a webcam to the “child,” who was actually an undercover investigator, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said in a statement. Brown is a second-grade teacher at Woodbrook Elementary School in Edison.
Brown was charged with two counts each of attempting to endanger the welfare of a minor and attempted criminal sexual contact, Molinelli said. He was being held Tuesday on $25,000 bond at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack.
Richard O’Malley, the superintendent of Edison Township Public Schools, said that Brown was put on administrative leave immediately after the district learned of the charges, though he did not say when that was. O’Malley also did not say how long Brown had worked in the district or at Woodbrook.
Brown, who is married, was not in the classroom Tuesday, O’Malley said.
“The district is taking this very seriously and at this time, there is no allegation that Mr. Brown engaged in any improper conduct with any student in the Edison Township school district,” O’Malley said.
Brown’s administrative leave from the district means that he cannot, among other things, contact students or parents in his capacity as teacher, O’Malley said.
Brown’s arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday morning, Molinelli said.
Source:north jersey.com
Dallas-Fort Worth Airport police arrested workers in theft of electronics www.privateofficer.com
GRAPEVINE TX Nov 24 2011— Dallas-Fort Worth Airport police arrested two contract workers and an American Airlines passenger suspected of stealing consumer electronics, baggage and other items from passengers this month.
Udorn Bo Phichitchaleunsak, Fredrica Williams and Haji Mberwa, are all facing theft charges, although none are in jail.
Phichitchaleunsak, 31, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., faces two counts of theft and was released from jail on a $10,000 bond, according to records with the Tarrant County district clerk’s office.
Tammy Spindle, a DFW Department of Public Safety officer, said she saw Phichitchaleunsak on Sunday roll a woman’s bag toward the exit at Terminal C while the woman was repacking some items at the Transportation Safety Administration check-in table, a police report said.
Spindle had been called to the area on an earlier theft, her report states.
Then a man yelled at Spindle saying, “That is not his bag,” the report states. Spindle asked Phichitchaleunsak if that was his bag and he replied “no,” the report states.
Spindle asked the woman who was repacking her items at the table if the bag was hers and she replied; “Oh my goodness, yes. That is my bag. What’s going on?”
The woman told police she had a Nikon camera, a Sony Camcorder, earrings and clothing inside her luggage, the report states.
Spindle arrested Phichitchaleunsak and then asked him why he took the woman’s bag. He said he just “wanted to look for stuff,” the report states. Spindle said she asked Phichitchaleunsak how many bags he had taken that Sunday and he said about 20.
A man told a police officer that Phichitchaleunsak took a bag off his shoulder after he left a Terminal C restroom and he had to wrestle it away from him, a separate police report states.
Once the man got away, he said that Phichitchaleunsak followed him and tried to take his bag again after he set it down on the ground. The man said he stopped Phichitchaleunsak and called 911.
Williams, 35, of Dallas, is charged with the theft of an iPad. A police report states that Williams was the target of a joint undercover operation involving American Airlines security and DFW DPS officers on Nov. 11.
Williams is a former employee of Prospect Airport Services, a company that provides janitorial services to airlines, said David Magana, airport spokesman.
Mberwa, 34, of Fort Worth, was a former employee of Flagship Airports, another contract janitorial company.
Police recovered a Samsung tablet computer and a Blackberry cellphone from a Cash America Pawn Shop in Fort Worth on Nov. 11 and then traced the pawned items back to their owners and then to Mberwa, a police report states.
The items should have been turned into the airport’s lost and found and were instead taken to the pawn shop, Magana said.
Source:www.star-telegram.com
Oregon man sues Delta Air Lines for $2 million for noisy flight www.privateofficer.com
Portland OR Nov 24 2011 An Oregon man who claims he suffered hearing loss because of a loud flight is suing Delta Air Lines for $2 million, The Oregonian newspaper of Portland reports.
Kent J. Neilson’s suit was filed Friday in Oregon’s Multnomah County Circuit Court. In the suit, he says he suffered “extreme discomfort” during a four-hour fight from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Portland because of an unusually loud noise in the cabin.
The Oregonian writes “the complaint describes Neilson only as an Oregon man” and “alleges that the noise during the April 28, 2010 flight was loudest in the area around his exit row seat, 10B.”
As a result, Neilson claims he suffered partial-but-permanent hearing loss in both ears. He adds he also suffers “disabling and severely aggravating” tinnitus in both ears because of the flight.
In the suit, Neilson says that despite his complaints, flight attendants did not offer him ear plugs or request an unscheduled early landing because of the noise.
Neilson also claims that toward the end of his flight, a Delta attendant acknowledged other passengers had complained about the noise on a previous flight.
Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter tells Today in the Sky the airline cannot comment on pending litigation.
Sanger high school teacher arrested for rape www.privateofficer.com
Fresno CA Nov 24 2011 Rape charges were filed Wednesday against a Sanger High School teacher, who is accused of sexually attacking a 17-year-old girl at a restaurant he owns.
A criminal complaint accuses Sergio Heredia, 48, of forcible rape and sexual penetration by force. He will be arraigned next week in Fresno County Superior Court.
Heredia has been in the Fresno County Jail since his arrest on Tuesday.
Sanger Police Chief Tom Klose said Wednesday that Heredia is accused of raping the girl Monday night at the Sports Bistro in the 600 block of O Street, Klose said.
The teenager and her mother walked into the Police Department shortly after 11 p.m. Monday to report the incident, Klose said. The 17-year-old girl attends school in another district, he said.
After an investigation, Heredia, a Sanger resident, was booked into the Fresno County Jail. He remained in jail Wednesday in lieu of $130,000 bail.
Heredia has taught social studies at Sanger High for about 10 years, said Marc Johnson, Sanger Unified School District superintendent.
Heredia, who has been employed by the district for at least 13 years, previously taught at Washington Academic Middle School, Johnson said.
Johnson said district officials are following legal requirements when an employee is involved in a criminal investigation. He would did not discuss what actions may have been taken since Heredia’s arrest.
However, Johnson said, typically an employee arrested on suspicion of a serious crime is placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a police investigation.
Source:www.fresnobee.com
NYC teacher faces rape charges www,privateofficer.com
Claudia Tillery, 42, was awaiting arraignment in Brooklyn court after she was arrested a day earlier.
Officials at Stephen Decatur Middle School in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood have removed her from the classroom and will reassign her pending the outcome of the case, said Barbara Morgan, a spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Education.
It wasn’t clear whether Tillery had an attorney, and there was no telephone listing or address for her in New York City.
Tillery has taught at the school 1996, Morgan said. The district attorney’s office said it would not identify the alleged victim because of rules protecting minors and victims of sex crimes.
Tillery was also arrested on charges of sexual misconduct, criminal sexual acts and acting in a manner injurious to a child and sexual abuse, the New York Police Department said.
She was also accused of unlawfully dealing with a child in the presence of drugs and alcohol, a charge usually applied to people who give those substances to children or allow them to be in a place where drugs or alcohol are used.
Source:AP
Retired Montgomery police officer added to memorial 37 years later www.privateofficer.com
Tuesday’s ceremony honored Manford E. Furr, who was retired and working security at a downtown Montgomery department store when he was shot to death at close range on Oct. 12, 1974.
The Montgomery Advertiser reports that a group of armed men converged on downtown Montgomery the day Furr was killed.
According to an account of the crime told at Tuesday’s ceremony, Furr confronted the men after hearing that one of them had slashed an elderly man in the face with a machete. Authorities say that after Furr was shot, the suspects went inside downtown radio station WAPX and engaged police in a shootout.
Private security guard Georgia Pecans as thefts increase www.privateofficer.com
SAVANNAH, Ga. Nov 24 2011(AP) — Hired by farmers as a private security guard, Brooks Rucker patrols thousands of acres of Georgia farmland on the lookout for thieves toting 5-gallon buckets.
He rarely comes up empty handed. Since the fall harvest began Oct. 1, Rucker says, he and two other guards have caught more than 160 culprits in the act. Some they let go. Others get handed over to police. Either way, he’s recovered thousands of dollars’ worth of stolen goods: mounds of pecans snatched from his employers’ trees.
“It’s an all-day hassle trying to keep these folks out,” said Rucker. “You’ll pull into a pecan grove and they’ll have a 10-foot extension ladder trying to shake the pecans loose with poles. It’s bad.”
At a time when farmers should be giving thanks for pecans selling at record prices, they’re instead cracking down on thieves. One sheriff in pecan-growing country says his department gets several calls a week reporting pecan snatchers, while the prosecutor in the area anticipates prosecuting dozens of pecan-theft cases.
It’s not just pecan pies and other nutty goodies driving demand so close to the holidays. Prices have soared as China has developed an insatiable appetite for pecans, while withering drought in the southern U.S. has limited supplies.
In Georgia, the nation’s top pecan producer, farmers and authorities say criminals can earn a tidy profit by stealing the nuts – worth $1.50 or more per pound in smaller quantities. Pecan grower Bucky Geer estimates a single 5-gallon bucketful is worth about $38.
“Some of these pecans are approaching a nickel in value apiece,” said Geer, whose neighbor set up surveillance cameras after a theft. “It makes them too tempting to steal.”
Geer and six other farmers in southwest Georgia’s Mitchell County hired Rucker and his friends to watch their combined 7,500 acres of pecan groves during the fall harvest, which runs through December. The farmers pay the men, all of them volunteer firefighters, about $2,100 a week total.
Under Georgia law, it’s a felony to steal more than $500 worth of a crop from a farmer’s land. Joe Mulholland, district attorney for the five-county judicial circuit that includes Mitchell County, anticipates that he’ll prosecute dozens of pecan theft cases after the harvest.
“A significant number of them will be felonies,” he said.
Duke Lane, chairman of the Georgia Pecan Growers Association, said the precautions are worth it. Pecan groves can cover hundreds, even thousands, of rural acres where there often aren’t people around to spot thieves. And stolen nuts are easy to offload.
Roadside stands are buying them to sell to passing motorists, Lane said. Owners of rural businesses from gas stations to hardware stores act as middlemen, buying smaller amounts until they accumulate enough to sell to food processors.
“We’re losing a lot of money,” said Lane, who notes that pecan thieves have been a problem before, but seem more aggressive than ever this year. “You could easily steal $1,000 worth of nuts in one night.”
Virginia volunteer basketball coach arrested on sex charges www.privateofficer.com
HENRICO, VA Nov 24 2011 – A volunteer basketball coach is facing two counts of carnal knowledge of a child after police say he became sexually involved with a female player.
Timothy B. James, 25, of Eastern Henrico was arrested early Tuesday morning.
Henrico Police say on August 1, 2011, officers responded to a Highland Springs address for a reported sex offense. Police say they discovered the now 15-year-old female victim had been having sexual intercourse with James for approximately one year. The relationship began as a result of James being a volunteer basketball coach for the victim’s team, police said.
Authorities, working a half-day in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday, could not immediately confirm the name of the team, but say it was a private organization and not part of the school system.
Henrico Jail records indicate James was released from custody Tuesday afternoon “by court order” and will return to court in January.
Source:WWBT
Stephanie L. Schwab wanted in Virginia crime spree www.privateofficer.com
Fairfax VA Nov 24 2011 Virginia police on Wednesday continued their search for a young mother who they say carjacked a woman at knife point and robbed two banks within the past week.
Stephanie L. Schwab, of Manassas area, is suspected of launching the unusual crime spree by robbing a Prince William County bank on Friday, police said.
A day later, she allegedly posed as a student who had run out of gas, and used the ruse to carjack a driver outside the upscale Tysons Galleria mall in Fairfax county.
Then on Tuesday, authorities said, they think Schwab struck again, this time strolling into a BB&T Bank in Fairfax County bank, suggesting she had a weapon and demanding cash. Surveillance photos show a young woman in a black and white plaid coat, black pants and boots.
Schwab’s mother, Helen Schwab, told WRC (Channel 4) she hasn’t seen her daughter in about two weeks and that she has been caring for Stephanie Schwab’s children.
“The only thing I know is she needs help and she needs a psychiatrist,” Helen Schwab told WRC (Channel 4). “I just want to say, Stephanie I love you and please turn yourself in. And no matter what happens I’ll stand by your side. Please think about the kids, and me and yourself.”
Fairfax County police said they have have issued warrants charging Schwab with carjacking and bank robbery. Prince William police said she also is a suspect in a bank robbery there.
Police said it began Friday at the Commerce Bank at 10830 Balls Ford Rd. in Manassas. A woman walked in at 9:18 a.m, implied that she had a handgun and demanded money, police said. She fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.
On Saturday afternoon, Schwab allegedly approached a 59-year-old woman in the Tysons Galleria parking lot and asked for a ride to a gas station, police said.
Police said the victim invited Schwab into her silver 2003 Acura and they headed off, but soon after the suspect pulled out a knife and ordered the driver out. Authorities said the 59-year-old was left, uninjured, about a half-mile from the mall. Schwab, police said, drove off.
Rochester man tries to drown himself in urinal www.privateofficer.com
Samuel D. Boyd, 23, of 450 Connecticut Ave., is charged with driving under the influence, possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest, making terroristic threats, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.
Rochester officer Cesar Chavez wrote in a criminal complaint that he found Boyd sleeping in his car in the middle of Oregon Avenue around 4:50 a.m. and eventually was able to wake him.
Boyd did not follow field sobriety test directions and refused to have his blood drawn at Heritage Valley Beaver hospital in Brighton Township.
Chavez wrote that Boyd tried to run away after being handcuffed and then started pushing and kicking officers who tried to search him. As he was doing this, Boyd was also threatening to kill Chavez, the officer wrote.
Boyd continued struggling with police, but he was put on the ground after more officers arrived. Police found 64 stamp bags of heroin, straws and about $230 in cash on Boyd, Chavez wrote.
While being taken to the police station, Boyd ripped off a window cage in the back of a Rochester patrol car, causing $750 in damage. A Monaca officer had to ride in the back of the car with Boyd, who continually threatened to kill Chavez, police said.
Even after he was at the station, Boyd refused to exit the car and kicked and pushed several officers. Once inside a cell, police said, Boyd tried to drown himself in a urinal, which forced an officer watch him.
Boyd was arraigned before Brighton District Judge Tim Finn and ordered held in the Beaver County Jail after failing to post $50,000 bond. According to online jail records, Boyd was still in custody Tuesday.
Source:timesonline.com
