Archive
Detroit security officer killed at west side gas station www.privateofficer.com
DETROIT MI Nov 26 2011 – Detroit Police are searching for a suspect, after a security guard is gunned down at a west side gas station.
The victim, in his 40′s, was shot and killed around 8 p.m. Friday at the Sunoco station at Fenkell and Wyoming. Police tell Fox 2 that robbery does not appear to be the motive.
Investigators have yet to release a description of the shooter, but they are looking at the gas station’s surveillance video for clues.
Anyone with information should call Detroit Police.
Source:WJBK
Children’s Medical Center security detain burglary suspect www.privateofficer.com
Dayton OH Nov 26 2011 Security guards patrolling the parking lot at the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton chased and detained a man they believed had just burglarized the CARE House, a child advocacy center across Valley Street from the hospital.
It turns out that someone had just broken into the Dahm Brothers roofing business next door to the CARE House.
A security guard said that around 5 a.m., Nov. 21, he heard an audible alarm that he thought was coming from the CARE House. He pulled his security vehicle into the house’s driveway and walked behind the building. That’s when he said he saw a male carrying a flat screen TV.
When the male saw him, he ran, jumping over a fence and then dropping the TV and running across Valley. Several security officers chased him and were able to get him handcuffed on the ground by the time police arrived.
According to a report, police discovered that there had been no forced entry at the CARE House, but found a broken window at the Dahm Bros. building. The owner arrived and let officers inside where it was discovered that a trailer where the TV had been located was pried open and the business’s safe had been damaged.
The report states that the male in custody, Timothy L. Matheny, 31, claimed he didn’t break into the business, but found the television on the ground.
He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and has been charged with breaking and entering and possession of criminal tools, both felonies.
Matheny has a lengthy history of criminal activity including two convictions for receiving stolen property and two burglary convictions in the late 90s, two burglary and three breaking and entering convictions in the past five years, and a conviction for grand theft auto in 2006.
He is listed on the the Greater Old North Dayton Business Association’s online community watch list, which tracks repeat offenders they consider a nuisance to the neighborhood.
Source:Dayton Daily News
Alabama man sues Indian tribe for refusal to pay $1million won at casino www.privateofficer.com
The Montgomery Advertiser reports that Lee County resident Jerry Rape is suing the Poarch Band of Creek Indians over the dispute.
Rape claims that lights flashed and sirens went off at Creek Casino Montgomery when he won more than $1 million on a 25-cent bet in November 2010. He says workers congratulated him, and one told him not to let the tribe cheat him out of the money.
The suit claims the tribe later claimed the slot machine had malfunctioned, and it refused to pay the jackpot.
Tribal officials declined comment on the lawsuit.
Gunfire rings out at NC mall as holiday shoppers scatter www.privateofficer.com
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.Nov 26 2011 Authorities say gunfire erupted at a North Carolina mall as holiday shoppers gathered, though there are no reports of any injuries. No evacuation was ordered, but several shoppers left the mall and some smaller stores closed.
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office says detectives are looking for two suspects after gunfire rang out at Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville early Friday.
The first shots were fired around 2 a.m. outside the mall near a food court entrance. Investigators say several more shots were fired after one of the suspects ran inside the mall.
Investigators say no one with gunshot wounds has shown up at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
Black Friday kicks off the holiday shopping season, when merchants can make 25 to 40 percent of their annual revenue.
Illinois Medical Center employee charged with murder of woman www.privateofficer.com
Chicago IL Nov 26 2011 Murder charges are pending for a hospital employee wanted for allegedly shooting a woman to death in the University of Illinois Medical Center hospital parking garage early Friday.
A campus police officer recognized him during a traffic stop on the heels of a multi-hour “roof to basement” man hunt at the Near West Side hospital.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office identified the victim as 48-year-old Angela Bonds-Roberts of 3400 block of S. Harlem in North Riverside. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:40 a.m.
About 6:31 a.m., a UIC police officer making a traffic stop at 14th Street and Damen Avenue recognized the occupant of the vehicle as the person of interest in the medical center slaying, UIC Associate Chancellor of Public Affairs Mark Rosati said.
The 47-year-old man was arrested near Hoyne Avenue and 13th Street after a brief foot chase, Rosati said. Police recovered the weapon allegedly used in the shooting in the 2200 block of West 13th Street, he said.
He has not yet been charged and will be taken to the UIC Police headquarters for processing, Rosati said.
Police first responded after a gunman allegedly shot the woman about 11:40 p.m. in the garage 1800 block of West Taylor Street, officials said. Police initially thought he may have headed back into the hospital, prompting police to respond to the incident as a barricade situation.
A source said both the man in custody and the victim worked as maintenance workers at the hospital. As the woman was walking toward the parking garage after her shift had ended, the man approached her and fired shots, striking her in the head and torso.
Fire department crews were able to reach the woman shot, Chicago Police Sgt. Al Stinites said, but she was dead at the scene.
A “massive response” and police search did not turn up any indication that the shooter ever re-entered the hospital, Rosati said in an earlier press conference outside the hospital.
“A very large presence of Chicago and UIC police have conducted a very thorough, room by room, top to bottom, roof to basement search of the hospital going through multiple times and have found no sign that anyone was there who shouldn’t be, Rosati said.
Sources said the woman was in the head with a long-barreled handgun. She was also employed at the hospital, and the shooter was a housekeeper employed by the hospital for 15 years, according to Rosati, who said he had knowledge of the hospital grounds.
Chicago police had earlier recovered the gunman’s car near the hospital campus during the lockdown.
The hospital has resumed normal operations Friday morning, Rosati said. He would not comment on whether security cameras in the garage or the hospital may have captured footage of the shooting or the gunman.
No one else was reported injured and no one was taken hostage in the incident, officials said.
The hours-long search started to wrap up shortly after 5 a.m. Police made multiple sweeps through every room and through a network of tunnels connecting buildings on the hospital campus as a police helicopter beamed down a spotlight from above.
Police remain in the area Friday morning, searching the grounds around a building in the 1200 block of South Damen Avenue Friday morning looking for evidence. Police tape surrounds the side and backyard of the building.
Class is not in session at the nearby University of Illinois at Chicago campus because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but UIC officials kept students and community members updated on the situation through a series of text messages, e-mails and online alerts.
Source:Chicago Sun Times
Black Friday shopper arrested for fighting at Walmart www.privateofficer.com
Kissimmee Fla Nov 26 2011 A man was arrested early today after he became involved in a fight at the jewelry counter of a Kissimmee Walmart, police said.
Oswald Antonio Cruz Marbert was arrested for Resisting Officers without Violence and transported to the Osceola County Jail with a $500 bond. According to the Kissimmee Police Department, officers had to force the man to the ground to place handcuffs on him.
According to a news release, at approximately 1:30 a.m. while officers were working a special detail at the Wal-Mart located at 1471 E. Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee, officers were made aware of a verbal confrontation between two males at the jewelry counter.
As officers approached they could see Marbert, 35, of Kissimmee, yelling at another male. In an attempt to deescalate the situation, officers attempted to remove Marbert from the store.
No one in the store was injured during the altercation.
Woman pepper sprays 20 shoppers during Black Friday sale www.privateofficer.com
Police Lt. Abel Parga says she was trying to keep other shoppers away from the merchandise she wanted.
The incident occurred shortly after 10:20 p.m. Thursday in a crowded Los Angeles area Walmart as shoppers hungry for deals were let inside the store.
Officials said 20 people suffered minor injuries. At least half of those were caused by crowd jostling after the spraying.
Parga says police are still looking for the woman.
The store remained open and those not affected by the pepper spray continued shopping.
Former Florida teacher nabbed for child porn www.privateofficer.com
MANATEE COUNTY Fla Nov 26 2011 - Manatee County sheriff’s deputies arrested a former Hillsborough County high school teacher on 110 counts of child pornography Wednesday.Source:herald-tribune
Texas volunteer firefighter lost her arm in traffic crash www.privateofficer.com
Authorities said there were several accidents after the driver of a semitrailer carrying crude oil fell asleep Thursday morning, causing the tanker to run off the road and burst into flames near Sour Lake, about 75 miles northeast of Houston.
Theresa Wigley of the Hardin County emergency management office says Kimberly Huckabee, a Pinewood volunteer firefighter, had her arm amputated in surgery after she was struck by another semitrailer.
Authorities say the truck driver was hospitalized in stable condition. Traffic on the highway was shut down, and about 6,700 gallons of crude oil in the tanker were allowed to burn out.
Black Friday Violence www.privateofficer.com
Charlotte NC Nov 26 2011 Violence erupted at Black Friday sales across the U.S. with one bargain-hunter left critically injured after being shot during a robbery and 15 other people injured when an angry shopper used pepper spray.
Several of the incidents took place at Wal-Mart stores as millions of Americans loaded up on holiday purchases.
Update 12:17 p.m. ET: A robot removed a suspicious device that led to the evacuation of a Wal-Mart store in Cave Creek, Ariz., Maricopa County, sheriff’s deputies said.
Deputies told KPHO-TV of Phoenix that they had reason to believe the device might have been an explosive and said whoever left it in a refrigerator at the store Thursday could face felony charges. Police dogs swept the store for further possible devices, they said, and the store reopened late Thursday night, KPHO reported.
Update 11:57 a.m. ET: An off-duty police officer used pepper spray on shoppers at a Wal-Mart in Kinston, N.C.
Kinston police Sgt. Roland Davis said an off-duty officer whom the store had hired to help with security used the chemical while trying to make an arrest during a disturbance. Unconfirmed reports said as many as 20 peopl ewer affected.
Updated 10:55 a.m. ET: A Rome, N.Y., man was charged with disorderly conduct after a fight that broke out the moment Black Friday shopping began at midnight, NBC station WSTM of Syracuse, N.Y., reported.
Several shoppers at the electronics department at a Wal-Mart store were pushed to the ground, and several fights broke out, Oneida County sheriff’s deputies said. Two shoppers were taken to a hospital for minor injuries.
Updated 10:39 a.m. ET: Police said they were investigating a possible shooting in the parking lot of Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, Iowa, NBC station WHO reported. There was no immediate report that anyone was injured.
Police got a call of shots fired shortly before 4 a.m., when the mall opened. They wouldn’t say whether they had a suspect, and they reassured shoppers that the mall is safe..
Updated 9:50 a.m. ET: A 55-year-old shopper was shot and wounded during a robbery near a Wal-Mart in Myrtle Beach, S.C., NBC station WMBF reported.
Tonia Robbins, 55, was shot in the foot after two men demanded her purse shortly after 1 a.m. ET Friday as she stood by the trunk of her car with friends.
Updated 9:45 a.m. ET: An explosive device was found at a break room at a Wal-Mart in Cave Creek, Ariz., according to reports Friday.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said a suspicious package was found inside a refrigerator in the store break room on Thursday. The store was evacuated as a precaution while deputies investigated the package.
Updated at 9:40 a.m. ET: A Black Friday shopper was shot and critically injured during a robbery outisde a Wal-Mart in San Leandro, Calif., early Friday, police said.
Police patrolling the parking lot found a victim suffering a gunshot wound and a possible suspect being detained by family members of the victim.
Police said the victims were walking to their car with their purchases and were approached by multiple suspects who demanded the merchandise.
A fight ensued and one suspect pulled out a gun and shot one of the victims. Some of the victims wrestled down one suspect as the other suspect fled the scene.
The victim who was shot is in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. The suspect in custody is an adult male in his mid ’20s, but it is not known if he was the shooter.
Updated at 7.30 a.m. ET: An angry woman used pepper spray when Black Friday bargain-hunters tried to cut in line at a crowded Wal-Mart store in Los Angeles late Thursday, leaving 15 people with minor injuries. The incident occurred shortly after 10:20 p.m. PT (1:20 a.m. ET Friday) in the San Fernando Valley as shoppers looking for deals were let inside the outlet.
Shawn Lenske, a Los Angeles fire department spokesman, said the injuries were due to “rapid crowd movement.”
Pierce County Juvenile Detention Officer Arrested in Gropings www.privateofficer.com
Zane Lensie Nixon, 35, was arrested Wednesday night when Pacific Lutheran University security guards identified him as the man they had seen in a sketch.
He is suspected of assaulting several women in that area from Oct. 30 to Nov. 20. The attacks happened while the women were walking alone.
“He’d go up behind girls, or walk alongside them, and grab them and grab their buttocks or grab their breasts, or run his hand up under their dress,” said Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. “We knew the frequency was becoming more often and he was escalating so we’re happy we got him in custody without anybody being seriously injured or hurt.”
Nixon is being held at the Pierce County Jail on one charge of second-degree rape, two charges of indecent liberties and seven counts of assault with sexual motivation.
Troyer said investigators are looking into his work at the juvenile detention center to determine if any inappropriate behavior happened there.
NC police pepper spray shoppers during Walmart arrest www.privateofficer.com
Kinston NC Nov 26 2011 An off-duty police officer used pepper spray to contain trouble at a North Carolina Walmart store during a Black Friday shopping spree, WITN-TV reported.
The officer, a member of the Kinston police force in eastern North Carolina, had been hired by the store to provide security and was in the process of making an arrest.
One witness told the station that the fracas started when a shopper waiting to buy a cell phone marked down from $200 to $35 fell into a display.
It is not clear yet whether any charges have been filed, the station noted. The incident comes on the heels of one Thursday night when a woman used pepper spray to clear parts of a California Walmart to get better access to discounted merchandise.
Ottawa substitute teacher charged with sex assault www.privateofficer.com
Police said Thursday the victim was an eight-year-old girl who was a Grade 3 pupil at the school where the teacher was working.
Yussef Benabdallah-Chaouni, 51, faces two counts of sexual assault and sexual interference. He was working as a substitute teacher with the board when the alleged incidents occurred between Nov. 1 and Nov. 17.
Police have only found one victim, but they believe there might have been others. They are asking anyone with more information to contact the Ottawa Police Service Sexual Assault Child Abuse Section at 613-236-1222 ext. 5944 or Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477 (TIPS) or toll free at 1-800-222-8477.
In an afternoon news conference, the director of education said the board was cooperating with Ottawa police.
Jennifer Adams said the board had been “advised by the Ottawa Police that charges have been laid against an elementary occasional teacher. This is a very serious matter and we are co-operating fully with the police. As an investigation is under way, we cannot comment on the specific details of the incident.
“Our primary concern in these situations is with those who are directly affected and ensuring that they have access to these resources and supports,” she said. “I want to reassure our community that our staff is committed to providing a safe and caring learning environment. In these situations, we must ensure that we remain focused on the wellbeing of our children.”
The teacher, who has worked at the board for about two years, has been suspended, Adams said. The school where he worked will not be named. She said officials at the elementary school where the alleged incidents occurred alerted the board.
“We want parents to ensure that their children feel comfortable talking to them and those resources on the website will help provide parents with some guidance. It’s really having an open communication with children and helping children feel comfortable about talking about what their feelings are,” Adams said.
She said police were deciding when information about the alleged incidents would be released to parents. She said the board had a stringent policy regarding the hiring of substitute teachers.
“We have an interview process and a hiring process that is followed throughout the school district. All our teachers who are hired have to go through a police check, they have to make an annual declaration for a police check and we follow up with references before doing any hires,” Adams said. She declined to comment on whether those practices were followed in the hiring of the teacher.
“We certainly know this is a very difficult situation for our school district and for the parents. We will have information as soon as the police allow us to release the information,” she added. The board said in a release resources to help parents support their children in difficult situations were available on the board website at: http://www.ocdsb.
Source:www.ottawacitizen.com
One man killed and six others in Maryland Home Depot car crash www.privateofficer.com
Hyattsville MD Nov 26 2011 One man was killed and six others were injured after they were hit by a car in a Home Depot parking lot in Hyattsville on Thursday, authorities said.
Three other men remained hospitalized in serious condition after they were hit in the parking lot on East-West Highway, according to Prince George’s County Fire and Rescue authorities. Two others had minor injuries, authorities said.
The men were hit when a car that was leaving the parking lot swerved out of control.
The driver, an unidentified man in his 60s, suffered a medical emergency and blacked out as he was leaving the parking lot, according to Hyattsville Police spokesman Chris Purvis.
The car veered off the road and onto an island in the parking lot, where a group of seven men were standing, Purvis said.
A passenger in the car grabbed the wheel to try to regain control of the vehicle, and it eventually stopped after hitting a brick wall along the street.
The driver of the car was also taken to a hospital, according to Purvis.
The details of the driver’s medical emergency were not known.
Woman wanted in $300,000 theft arrested at JFK airport www.privateofficer.com
Janet Gitney, 57, of the 700 block of Brian Way, was apprehended Tuesday morning at JFK International Airport in New York and immediately taken into federal custody, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Hatfield Township Police Chief Mark Toomey.
Gitney had arrived at the airport from the Philippines, according to authorities.
On Sept. 26, Gitney was charged with theft by unlawful taking or disposition, securing execution of documents by deception, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and failure to make required disposition of funds received in connection with alleged incidents that occurred between January 2009 and July 2011, according to court papers.
Gitney, authorities alleged, utilized her power of attorney over the victim to unlawfully take control of the man’s bank accounts and even the residence he owned by having it transferred to her name without the man’s consent or authorization. Gitney allegedly fled to the Philippines and Korea while she was under investigation for stealing about $100,000 in retirement funds and $222,334 in property from the disabled Hatfield man.
Gitney’s passport and flight records indicated she was to return to the U.S on Oct. 14 and she failed to do so, prosecutors previously revealed.
Last month, prosecutors obtained an FBI fugitive from justice warrant against Gitney. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey even contacted Filipino officials seeking their assistance in tracking down Gitney so she could be brought back to the U.S. to face the criminal charges.
Ferman said the FBI, the Legal Attache in Manila and the Philippine National Police provided extensive assistance throughout the international investigation.
Details regarding Gitney’s arraignment and preliminary hearing on the charges are pending. Additional details surrounding the circumstances of her apprehension were unavailable Tuesday.
In Gitney’s absence, a judge previously granted authorities permission to temporarily seize a brokerage account, valued at $408,705, of which Gitney is the sole beneficiary, and a related checking account so they can be used for anticipated restitution to the victim of the alleged theft in the event Gitney is convicted of the charges. A full hearing on the matter has yet to be held The Wells Fargo account, a revocable living trust, was arranged by Gitney’s father, who died on Oct. 18 and who listed Gitney as the sole beneficiary, court papers indicate.
Gitney’s father died shortly after Gitney allegedly fled to the Philippines and Korea while she was under investigation for the alleged theft.
Previously, at the request of Assistant District Attorney Tracey Potere, a judge also granted authorities permission to seize a home in the 400 block of South Main Street in Hatfield, which once belonged to the theft victim until Gitney allegedly illegally transferred the home to her name. Prosecutors want to return that home, valued at $222,334, to the alleged theft victim.
Gitney, according to court documents filed by Potere, allegedly “compromised” the victim’s IRA retirement account by withdrawing more than $120,000. Authorities believe the money was used to repair the victim’s Hatfield home, and to pay off the mortgage of the South Main Street property, according to court documents.
On June 10, Gitney transferred the Hatfield property “from the victim to herself for no consideration,” Potere alleged in court papers. At the time of the transfer, the victim was in a Lansdale area hospital after suffering another stroke in early June, court papers alleged.
After the transfer of the property was completed, Gitney, as the victim’s power of attorney, arranged for the victim to be placed in a state run nursing home in Bucks County, authorities alleged.
“The defendant continued to utilize the victim’s funds and accounts for her personal use and enjoyment,” Potere previously alleged in court papers.
Gitney allegedly filed state medical assistance paperwork on behalf of the victim, forms that are utilized for people who have less than $8,000 in assets and are in need of state medical care, according to court documents. In that paperwork, authorities alleged, Gitney made no reference to the property transfer or to any retirement money held by the victim.
The case will be prosecuted by Potere and Deputy District Attorney Steven J. Latzer.
In a bizarre twist, the 57-year-old victim is the same man who previously was duped by his former caretakers, Heather Hall and John Pallante. Hall, 40, of Souderton, and Pallante, 46, of Lansdale, each was convicted of theft-related charges in connection with their roles in the theft of more than $42,000 from the partially paralyzed man while they lived with him in his Hatfield home between March 2006 and February 2007.
Hall and Pallante wrote numerous checks to themselves from the victim’s bank account without permission to do so, authorities said.
Gitney even attended Pallante’s trial as a spectator and at some point in 2007 took on the role of the victim’s power of attorney.
Source:mercury news
Man stabbed at Sacramento Macy’s store www.privateofficer.com
Police were called by mall security just before 2:30 a.m. saying that a person had been stabbed outside the Macy’s store.
Officers arrived to find a victim suffering from a non-life threatening stab wound to his midsection. He was transported to a local hospital.
Mall security reported the victim and his friends has gotten into a verbal fight with another group of shoppers before the stabbing.
No arrests have been made.
Source:CBS13
Target employee charged with retail theft www.privateofficer.com
Martha Perez, 45, of the 600 block of Raymond Street, Elgin, was charged with a misdemeanor count of retail theft Wednesday.
She is accused of taking an iPod, valued at $195, from a shipment to Target, 300 S. Randall Road, and hiding that iPod in her work locker.
She was released on bond and given a Jan. 6 court date.
