Archive
Two employees of local department stores charged in thefts www.privateofficer.com
RARITAN TWP.NJ Dec 4 2011 — Two employees of local department stores were arrested last week on charges of stealing money and jewelry in two separate incidents, police said.
Flemington Department Store employee Tara L. Ryan, 31, of Phillipsburg, was charged with stealing money from the store for the past four months, police said.
She was arrested at around 11:21 a.m. on Nov. 23. The day before, store employees discovered that Ryan had indicated that a customer returned flooring materials for a $106 credit and then allegedly kept the cash for her own use, police said.
Ryan is alleged to have processed 25 similar fraudulent transactions over the past four months, police said.
Kohl’s employee Nicole J. Gallaway, 22, of Erwinna, Pa. was charged with shoplifting jewelry valued at $2,965 from the store, police said.
Police were called to the store at around 4:20 p.m. on Nov. 23 after a manager reported that Gallaway had been stealing jewelry from the store for the past year while she worked in the jewelry department, police said.
Source:nj.com
Bellingham Macy’s employee charged in $17,000 theft www.privateofficer.com
BELLINGHAM WA Dec 4 2011 – An employee of the Macy’s at Bellis Fair mall has been arrested on suspicion of stealing more than $17,000 in gift cards and merchandise from the store.
Victoria Zinkova-Barnhill, 27, was accused of stealing the majority of the property – about $14,000 worth – through a scheme where her mother, Anna Zinkova, would bring in old, unusable items and trade them for a receipt saying she’d brought back new items, according to an affidavit filed by the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office.
Zinkova-Barnhill would then grab new items from the store, scan them as a return and then scan them as a sale at an inflated price, the affidavit says. Her mother would walk out with the new items and the receipt. The old items were discarded as damaged, while the new items were taken to another Macy’s store where they were exchanged for a gift card at the inflated price.
A loss prevention manager at Macy’s found evidence of 45 suspicious exchanges, without a valid proof of purchase, dating back to October 2010. Zinkova-Barnhill had been working at the store for about five years.
She was also accused of making up several thousand dollars worth of gift cards without paying for them and fraudulently overriding prices for some items. She signed a statement confessing to the fraud shortly before she was arrested Nov. 11, according to the affidavit. Prosecutors also allege that security camera footage shows Zinkova-Barnhill making fraudulent transactions.
Macy’s officials declined to comment on the pending case. They also declined to comment on Zinkova-Barnhill’s employment status.
Whatcom County Prosecutor Dave McEachran said he might also bring charges against Anna Zinkova.
In a plea deal in December 2010, Zinkova admitted guilt to embezzling about $5,000 when she worked as a bookkeeper at the Bellingham-based Pacific International Grout Company.
Zinkova, who had originally been charged five years earlier with stealing more than $100,000 from the concrete company, was given a 45-day jail sentence and ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution. Insurance covered the company’s loss.
Source:www.bellinghamherald.com
Middletown City Schools contract employee arrested for theft of 400 laptop computers www.privateofficer.com
A Butler County grand jury will consider charges against him.
Osborne was a computer technician for the district before being dismissed.
The 400 computers were used or non-working. They were insured, and had a value of $123,000. Police have recovered 46 of the laptops.
Police say Osborne has been selling the computers, and has received $62,000 through his PayPal account from sale of the computers.
Source:whio
Shoplifter leaves 1 year old child behind www.privateofficer.com
When police called Brettany Walton, 19, Garfield Heights, she refused to return Nov. 26 to pick her son, according to Westlake police Capt. Guy Turner, and she is still at large. She is wanted for complicity to theft and contributing to the delinquency of minors. She has a prior conviction for child endangering, according to police.
Around 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 26, two 15-year-old girls were arrested for stealing multiple items from several stores, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Buckle, Claire’s and Urban Outfitters, according to Turner.
The two girls were found with the sleeping 1-year-old in a stroller, and eventually told police the child was Walton’s, and she had fled before police arrived. Turner said he did not know if Walton made off with any stolen property.
The boy was taken to St. John Medical Center for a checkup, and was found to be fine. He was released to his grandmother, who police said is attempting to gain custody of the child.
According to Garfield Heights police, a similar incident occurred in May, where Walton was arrested for abandoning the child and was found carrying a gun.
The two 15-year-olds were charged with juvenile delinquency by reason of receiving stolen property, obstructing official business, complicity and child endangering, and were released to their parents.
Attempted armored car robbery reported on Long Island www.privateofficer.com
It happened Tuesday evening at an outdoor Chase Bank ATM in Islandia.
Suffolk County police say the guard drew his weapon after the suspect pointed what appeared to be a gun at him.
The man dropped canisters of money and ran away.
Detectives were asking anyone with information to call the confidential Crime Stoppers line at 1-800-220-TIPS
16,000 Alabama police officers must take mandatory HB 56 training www.privateofficer.com
The AP reviewed the training materials:
Training materials from the course, provided to The Associated Press by Benefield, emphasize that only the federal government has the power to determine whether someone is in the country legally, but that police agencies and administrators can be sued under the state law for failing to enforce either it or federal immigration statutes.
A course handout explains how officers should operate under the state statute — profiling based on race, color or national origin is barred — and says the law “does not authorize state, county and municipal agencies to seek out ‘illegals’ for deportation.”
Enforcement of the new law isn’t supposed to interfere with other police work. “This law doesn’t change the focus or priority of your agency,” the materials state.
The training will continue into January. Benefield told the AP that the training could not happen sooner because the commission had to sort through all of the court rulings regarding the law to understand what they were working with.
Armed man arrested at Madison nightclub www.privateofficer.com
Police said Justin C. Garcia returned a short time later, but was refused entry by the bouncer. Police were called just before 9:30 p.m. after Garcia made threats to the bouncer while displaying a handgun.
Garcia and the bouncer struggled, then Garcia ran away toward the rear of another business, police said.
Officers said they found Garcia in the area. He was taken into custody without incident, police said.
Antigua security companies work toward certification www.privateofficer.com
In October the Ministry of National Security and Labour met with the police commissioner, defence force representatives and officials of the Antigua Association of Private Security Providers. The outcome was that all parties agreed to set February 1, 2012, as the date by which all security guards should be trained and ready for certification, and July 31, 2012, as the date by which all should be certified.
Captain Browne said his firm, at least, is well ahead of the deadline.
“I have definitely taken the step ahead to start preparations because to be honest it is time concussing and what I don’t want is come February or January that I am overwhelmed with training just about 120 officers in such a short time and the quality of the training is watered down,” Browne said.
“I have run a series of courses in keeping with that February deadline so that come January all I am doing is just some refresher for those persons who may not have done so well in training focus on them and the others just have mock tests to focus on the exam for the certification,” Browne added. To date, they have conducted three courses training well over 60 full time officers.
Browne is confident his compatriots in the industry are also fulfilling their obligations to have their employees trained before the deadline.
“Each company is mandated to prepare its officers according to the training standards and to meet the February deadline. I am positive that other companies have taken the initiative also and preparing its officers,” Browne said.
Public confidence in the security industry has decreasing with critics complaining that too many ill equipped people end up in the uniforms. Captain Browne said the formal training has already begun repairing the industry’s image. He is also confident that the training has a real impact on how the officers carry out their duties.
“They benefit from the training tremendously and it also shows in their performance because they are now more confident; in dealing with the public, in dealing with matters of emergency, in how to write a report, how to conduct an investigation, how to look out for things when they are doing their routine checks …with the formal training it definitely gives the staff a renewed effort in their job,” Browne said.
To qualify for certification, guards must complete three stages of training: basic, intermediate and advanced. A training manual is being developed and extensive courses put in place to ready persons to pass both written and practical examinations.
Quantico civilian police officer receives purple heart www.privateofficer.com
QUANTICO, Va Dec 4 2011Michael Rivera, a civilian police officer at the Provost Marshal’s Office on Quantico Marine Corps base was awarded the Purple Heart by Col. Barry C. Neulen, the commanding officer of Security Battalion on Nov. 22 at the PMO.
In 2009 then-Gunnery Sgt. Rivera was wounded in combat while deployed to Afghanistan when a road-side bomb exploded.
“During the ball we all saw the message from the commandant and sergeant major of the Marine Corps talking about the Marine Corps and what it’s all about,” said Neulen. “Marines are saving lives and being heroes and I am proud to award one of those heroes. Rivera is a hero not only for what he did while he was in the Marine Corps but also what he does here. ”
“I have mixed emotions about receiving this award,” said Rivera. “It happened two years ago, and the medal is not for me. It’s for the Marine who died.”
The Los Angeles Times wrote about the explosion that killed Lance Cpl. Justin J. Swanson, 21. Swanson was born in Fountain Valley and was reared in Tustin, Buena Park, Corona and Anaheim.
“Swanson was killed Nov. 10, 2009, when a roadside bomb exploded beneath the Humvee he was driving in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border,” reads the article.
Three others, including Rivera, were injured. Swanson was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.
After the ceremony, Rivera was concerned more about talking about Swanson than his own experience that day. The Los Angeles Times referred to Swanson as Rivera’s right-hand man.
“Rivera was a few feet away,” reads Los Angeles Times. “He saw a spurt of sand and dirt. He limped to the Humvee: his leg was fractured, though he only realized it later. In Rivera’s memory, the scene plays out in silence.”
Rivera spoke to Swanson’s mother a number of times, joking with her that her son would be the one bringing him home.
“When it came down to it,” said Rivera, “him not coming home, it was hard.”
Carjacking suspect caught in Saint Peter’s College dorm www.privateofficer.com
Jersey City NJ Dec 4 2011 A Jersey City man was arrested in a Saint Peter’s College dorm after entering a woman’s room and flopping on her roommate’s bed yesterday, hours after police say he slashed a man during a Greenville carjacking.
Bail was set at $150,000 cash or bond yesterday for Jermaine “Maine” Wright, 22, of Bostwick Avenue, who was arrested at about 12:15 p.m. on the fourth floor of Whalen Hall, located at Kennedy Boulevard and Montgomery Street.
He was charged with carjacking, aggravated assault, burglary, criminal trespass, theft, resisting arrest and weapons offenses related to a knife, reports said.
A 28-year-old Bostwick Avenue man told police that at 9 a.m. he pulled into the underground parking lot of his residence and a man walked up with a knife, saying: “Give me your car keys … I have to go somewhere,” reports said.
The victim managed to walk away with the man following him, reports said, adding that he got into the building and locked the door.
But the victim went back and saw the man inside his car trying to turn the ignition with a knife, reports said, adding that the carjacker then got out and slashed at the victim, cutting two of his fingers. The Bostwick Avenue man identified Wright from photographs, reports said, adding that he lives less than a block away.
Around noon, police went to Saint Peter’s on a call of a burglary in progress and began searching the dorm, reports said. The 18-year-old woman said she was in bed and talking on the phone when a man walked in and jumped into her roommate’s empty bed, reports said.
She was confused because he was friendly and acted familiar, but she soon realized he was not an acquaintance and yelled at him, reports said. The student said she became “very frightened” when the man got up and approached her, but she kicked him and was able to run away, reports said.
While police were talking to the student, Wright walked by heading for an elevator and was arrested after a struggle, reports said, adding that the victim identified him.
When Wright was arrested he was found carrying a duffel bag containing electronics items taken from two dorm rooms and a cellphone taken during the carjacking attempt and was carrying a knife in his pocket.
All dorm doors are equipped with swipe card readers and campus security believes Wright entered through a door used for receiving deliveries, which was open for a short time, college spokeswoman Sarah Malinowski said yesterday.
Malinowski said the director of campus security met with the victims and all are fine and their property has been returned. College officials credited students for acting swiftly and bringing police to the scene quickly.
Wright made his first appearance on the charges yesterday in Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny. Court officials said he has six prior arrests, including two in South Carolina, and has been homeless for two months.
NY man pleads guilty in assault on security officer www.privateofficer.com
David W. Sandburg, 57, of 110 Odyssey Drive, Chester, already had served more than his six-month promised jail sentence before Thursday’s guilty plea to first-degree reckless endangerment in Rockland County Court in New City.
Sandburg had been held in the county jail since his arrest on May 24.
In May, Orangetown police said Sandburg stopped at the security booth and told the guard, “Hold on, I have something for you.”
Sandburg was later found in possession of a .22-caliber pistol that fell out of his pants.
After Sandburg rammed the booth several times and the guard fled, police said, Sandburg, shouted, “Come back here, I’m going to kill you.”
When Orangetown police arrived, they found Sandburg standing outside his car with the pistol.
He was accused of driving after the guard in the parking lot and ramming into another car.
Alcohol played a role in the incident, Sandburg said Thursday during his guilty plea.
During his plea, Sandburg first hesitated to admit the guard was sitting inside the booth when he rammed the structure at 2000 Corporate Drive.
A person being endangered is an element of the charge.
“I don’t know,” the pony-tailed Sandburg, 57, said when asked about a person in the booth by prosecutor Janine Kovacs.
“There was a lot of alcohol involved,” he said. “My recollection is kind of hazy.”
Judge William K. Nelson told Sandburg that he couldn’t accept his plea without an admittance that the guard was in the booth and that this was his last chance.
Sandburg, standing with his lawyer Yvonne Garbett, responded, “Yes he was.”
Garbett also told Nelson there was a video surveillance tape of the incident showing the security guard.
Orangetown police originally charged Sandburg with felony counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree criminal mischief.
Nelson freed Sandburg on Thursday on his promise that he would make an appointment with the Rockland Probation Department to have a pre-sentence report interview.
Nelson scheduled sentencing for Feb. 28.
Garbett asked Nelson to release Sandburg without bail.
She told the judge he already had served seven months, longer than the promised sentence of six months, with five years’ probation.
The court will not likely hold a restitution hearing.
The cost of damage was estimated at less than $250 for the security booth.
Garbett said the costs will be worked out through a lawsuit filed against Sandburgby an insurance company.
Source:lohud.com
Nashville TN security officer shot www.privateofficer.com
The shooting happened at about 1:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the Zion nightclub on Wilhagan Road.
According to Metro police, the club was open and had customers inside when the shooting occurred.
Channel 4 News has learned that the security guard was wearing a bullet-proof vest, but the bullet hit him in an exposed area.
The guard was hospitalized with serious injuries.
Metro police said the shooter left the scene in a dark-colored Chevrolet Impala.
Phony breast exam doctor heading to prison www.privateofficer.com
Miami Fla Dec 4 2011 An 81-year-old man who admitted posing as a doctor and giving free breast exams to women at a Lauderdale Lakes apartment complex in 2006 was sentenced on Friday to serve the next 13 months in prison.
Phillip Winikoff, of Coconut Creek, will also serve three years of community control followed by 15 years of sex offender probation once he gets out of Florida state prison.
By the time he’s done answering for his crimes, he will be 100 years old.
Winikoff pleaded no contest to a total of eight charges related to his actions in April 2006.
Prosecutor Lawren Zann revealed to Broward Circuit Judge Sandra Perlman that Winikoff stood accused of fondling more than the victims’ breasts.Zann said Winikoff went to the 3200 block of Northwest 40 Street carrying a black bag and approached a woman taking out her garbage.
The white-haired man said he was a doctor performing free breast exams in the area.
According to Zann, Winikoff went to the woman’s apartment, with the woman’s significant other in the next room, and began massaging the woman’s breasts. Then he had her remove her pants and penetrated her with his fingers, Zann said.
That’s when the woman stopped the exam and called for her boyfriend. Winikoff fled the apartment, and the victim called 911. But Winikoff wasn’t done, Zann said.
He quickly found another victim and repeated the ruse. Again he talked his way into the woman’s apartment, got her to undress and fondled the woman’s breasts and genitals.He was charged with sexual battery and practicing medicine without a license.
Had he been convicted at trial, he could have been sentenced to 55 years behind bars.Appearing humbled before the judge, Winikoff spoke softly, barely above a whisper. “I know I did wrong,” he said. Most of what he told the judge was inaudible from the audience, but he did appear to be tearful and remorseful.Several family members were in court to offer emotional support, including Winikoff’s wife.
They declined to comment.The victims did not appear in court.Prosecutors and defense lawyer Anthony Alfero announced in October that they had reached a plea deal, but the change of plea hearing was rescheduled twice before it was finally held Friday morning.
After Perlman handed down the sentence, Winikoff was handcuffed and fingerprinted, then led out of the courtroom to begin his prison term.
Source:www.miamiherald.com
Teen looking for job with armored car service lands in jail www.privateofficer.com
Charleston, S.C.Dec 4 2011 A teen identified as Kieon Sharp, 18, tried taking the direct approach to landing a new job. Instead, it landed him in jail, on suspicion of armed robbery.
Sharp was hoping to find a job with Brinks security. He had already applied for a job with the company but decided he wanted more information about the day-to-day details of driving one of the company’s armed trucks. And what better way to gather information than going straight to the source? So he went up to a driver inside one of the company’s vehicles and knocked on the window.
The driver mistakenly thought Sharp was holding a gun and called the police. Charleston Police Sgt. Bobby Eggleton described the situation as “more than just a misunderstanding.” In the aftermath of Sharp’s failed informational interview, police held him behind bars for several hours before releasing him.
“He banged on the window and that scared the driver,” Eggleton said. “You don’t approach those guys very often. They are on high alert because they carry a large amount of cash.”
Of course, when police actually searched Sharp they didn’t find a gun, just copies of the job applications he had filled out that day, including one for a position with Brinks. Eggleton said Sharp was cooperative with police and that they even offered Sharp a job application with the city’s street department after he was released on Thursday.
84-year-old Long Island grandmother says TSA strip searched her www.privateofficer.com
NEW YORK CITY NY Dec 4 2011 – An 84-year-old Long Island grandmother says she was injured and humiliated during a strip search at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
However, TSA said no strip search of Zimmerman was conducted.
Lenore Zimmerman of Long Beach, L.I., said she was on her way to a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., when she was whisked into a private room by security who removed her clothes.
Zimmerman, who is 4’11″, told the New York Daily News she is hunched over, walks with a walker, weighs 110 pounds and is going to be 85 years old in July. “Do I look like a terrorist?” she asked.
Zimmerman says she was searched after she asked to forgo advanced image technology screening equipment because she worried it would interfere with her defibrillator.
The retired receptionist said she normally gets patted down at airline security. But this time, Zimmerman said, two female agents escorted her to a private area.
At one point, Zimmerman said, a metal bar of her walker banged against her leg and blood trickled from a gash. “My sock was soaked with blood. I was bleeding like a pig.”
But, she said, the TSA agents showed no sympathy. Zimmerman said she got no response when she asked them, “Why are you doing this?”
TSA public affairs spokesperson Kristin Lee told CBS News that a review of closed circuit TV indicates that a “private screening was requested by the passenger, and was granted.”
According to TSA sources, there was nothing unusual detected when Zimmerman and the security agents left the private screening area.
Lee told CBS News that “TSA screening procedures are conducted in a manner designed to treat all passengers with dignity, respect and courtesy and that occurred in this instance.
“While we regret that the passenger feels she had an unpleasant screening experience, TSA does not include strip searches as part of our security protocols, and one was not conducted in this case.”
Gateway Regional Medical Center dies while being restrained by security www.privateofficer.com
GRANITE CITY IL Dec 4 2011 – Anthony T. Burkey, 42, died in the emergency room of Gateway Regional Medical Center Friday, Dec. 2, after he became agitated and was restrained by security personnel.
A news release from the Madison County Coroner’s office gave the following account:
Burkey, of the 5100 block of Stephanie Drive, was taken to the hospital by ambulance after sheriff’s deputies responded to a home at 5129 Lakeview Drive in unincorporated Granite City.
Deputies were responding to a complaint that Burkey was beating on the home’s door and framework.
Because Burkey appeared to be hallucinating and because of his irrational and violent behavior, it was determined at the scene that he needed to be hospitalized rather than jailed and an ambulance was summoned.
When Burkey arrived in the emergency room at 8:15 a.m., he was reportedly combative.
He was subsequently given sedative medications and initially restrained by security personnel at the hospital.
After his arrival at the hospital, hospital staff continued efforts to treat him and prepare to move him to a medical floor. He remained in the emergency room until a room was ready for him. As they prepared to transfer him at about 2:45 p.m., he became agitated and started fighting security personnel.
He was being restrained by three guards when he suddenly stopped fighting and became unresponsive.
Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and death was pronounced at 3:35 p.m.
Granite City Police were called to the hospital and have taken over the investigation.
An autopsy was performed Saturday and preliminary results indicate the possible cause of death as excited delirium or suffocation but final results remain pending further laboratory and toxicological testing and the investigation is continuing.
A coroner’s inquest will be convened once the investigation is complete and reports and laboratory tests are completed.
Funeral arrangements are pending at Irwin Funeral Home in Granite City.
Source:www.thetelegraph.com
Florida security officer aids in burglary of auto arrest www.privateofficer.com
Collier County deputies responded to Germain Honda on Davis Boulevard to assist a security officer.
Motta faces two felony charges of auto theft and possession of burglary tools after a security guard identified him to investigators as the man he saw breaking into a vehicle at the dealership.
Motta was under the influence of cocaine and amphetamines at the time, hospital staff told deputies, according to the arrest report
Atlanta man steals Ambulance while EMTs took care of friend www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA Dec 4 2011 — Atlanta police say a man got behind the wheel of an ambulance as emergency medical technicians took care of his drunken friend in the back.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a Grady Memorial Hospital ambulance crew arrived to treat an intoxicated man found lying in the street around 3 a.m. Saturday. Police say 26-year-old Jordan Scott Moore drove off in the ambulance, hitting a pedestrian on the sidewalk and driving a short way until the EMT crew persuaded him to pull over.
Police did not identify the pedestrian but said the person was in stable condition.
Moore faces multiple charges, including kidnapping, interference with government property, theft by taking, hit and run, failure to render aid and reckless driving.
It was not immediately clear whether Moore had a lawyer.
McCracken County Sheriff’s Department arrest school employee for sex crimes www.privateofficer.com
The allegations reported were that Patterson and the student had been exchanging text messages of a sexual nature. Patterson is also believed to have attempted to obtain nude or sexually explicit photos from the student by use of a cell phone.
Patterson was arrested and charged with Unlawful Use of Electronic Means to Induce a Minor to Engage in Sexual or Other Prohibited Activities (Class D Felony) and Attempted Use of a Minor in a Sexual Performance (Class A Misdemeanor.
Philadelphia nightclub security, owner trade gunshots with would be robbers www.privateofficer.com
PHILADELPHIA PA Dec 4 2011 — police are searching for three robbers who traded gunfire with the owner and security guard of a tavern during a robbery, leaving a customer critically wounded.
Police say the incident began about 1:30 a.m. Friday when the owner of Reuben’s Marc bar followed a customer outside who had left without paying his tab.
Police say the robbers accosted the customer before the bar owner could reach him, and the owner told police the robbers shot the man after going through his pockets. The man was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center.
Police say the bar’s owner and a security guard both fired at the robbers, who fired back as they ran away.
Police are still investigating. No bar employees were hurt.
Westport Police recovered thousands of dollars worth of stolen merchandise-arrest 2 men www.privateofficer.com
WESTPORT CT Dec 4 2011– Westport Police recovered thousands of dollars worth of merchandise that had been stolen from area drug stores after arresting two New York City men for shoplifting from CVS on Post Road East, police said.
Jeffrey L. Vaughn, 26, of Jamaica, Queens, N.Y., and 35-year-old Cecil L. Williams, of Brooklyn, N.Y., were charged with third-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny. They were held on $10,000 bond and given a court date of Dec. 8.
Officer Albert Nowinski nabbed Vaughn shortly after receiving a report that a shoplifter had just fled CVS, 397 Post Road East, police said. Vaughn was sitting in a car with a juvenile, and the shoplifted items were found near the car, police said.
While searching the vehicle, officers recovered approximately $5,000 worth of stolen items — including hair regrowth medication, razor blades and teeth whitener — that had been taken from area drug stores, according to police.
Police conducted further investigation and learned that Vaughn was not the man who was seen shoplifting at CVS on Post Road East, police said. After viewing a surveillance tape of the suspected CVS shoplifter, Officer Paul Wargo spotted the suspect — later identified as Williams — in a nearby store, police said.
Salvation Army bell ringer credited for trying to stop NC shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
Lexington NC Dec 4 2011 A bell ringer for The Salvation Army of Davidson County is credited for going above and beyond her duties in front of the Big Lots on Winston Road Thursday morning.
In her first year as a bell ringer, Holly Rouse, 26, was manning a kettle around 10:30 a.m. when she turned toward the store and noticed a man putting items in his back pocket.
“He didn’t go through the line,” she recalled Friday outside the store. “I told him when he got to the door that he needed to go back inside and pay for the merchandise. He told me, ‘You don’t tell me what to do.’”
Rouse said the man then pushed her. In her defense, Rouse tackled the alleged shoplifter before he fled with another man in a vehicle. She received a bruise and a small cut on her lower, right leg during the altercation.
Rouse said the man stole a picture frame and wallet from the store. She was able to get the license plate number, color of the vehicle and description of the two men who fled. Rouse provided that information to Lexington Police on Thursday.
“The (Big Lots) people want me be to be their bell ringer for the rest of the year,” she said. “They think that I should be the bell ringer of the year.”
Rouse has been a bell ringer with The Salvation Army of Davidson County since Nov. 18. The single mother of three children got the job with the nonprofit to provide a Christmas for her youngsters.
Rouse is currently living at The Shepherd’s Inn, Thomasville’s only homeless shelter, until she gets back on her feet after losing her home because of family issues. Her three children, ages 3, 2 and 1, are currently living with her mother until she gets a home.
“I am doing whatever I can to make sure they have a Christmas,” she said.
Rouse said she was a volunteer firefighter with the Fair Grove Fire Department at age 18. She said she isn’t scared of anything.
“I don’t regret any second of it,” she said of Thursday’s altercation with the shoplifter. “He probably has some bumps and bruises, too.”
Les Ashby, corps administrator with The Salvation Army of Davidson County, called Rouse’s efforts to stop the shoplifter “fantastic.” But he advises other bell ringers to not take the same measure and just report such crimes to store managers.
“She is out here watching, collecting money for us and also protecting the Big Lots,” Ashby said. “Holly was courageous. She saw something happening and she took initiative to report what was happening and tackled him in the process. She went over and beyond with what she did. I am proud of her. They (Big Lots) want her here the whole season.”
It was unclear Friday afternoon whether there had been an arrest in connection to the alleged crime.
Source:thedispatch.com
