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2011 FOUNDER’S AWARD RECIPIENT NAMED
PRESS RELEASE
DECEMBER 8 2011
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
We are proud today to announce the recipient of the first annual, Private Officer International, Founder’s Award.
Mr. Ken Kingman has been selected for his continual support of the association, personal efforts and dedication to the growth and overall mission of the Private Officer organization.
The 2011 award winner is married and the owner of a security company in Billings Montana, a prior law enforcement officer and fire chief.
Mr. Kingman is a Lifetime Member of POI and has recently been appointed the Montana State Director for the association.
Congratulations Ken and thank you for your positive attitude, forward thinking and all of the can do attitude that you have brought to Private Officer International!
ABOUT PRIVATE OFFICER: A membership based private security-law enforcement association headquartered in Atlanta Georgia USA. POI provides membership, networking, news services and products and services for the private security and public safety industry.
CONTACT INFO: Kyle T Greene- kyletgreene@privateofficer.com
Virginia Tech police officer shot-killed www.privateofficer.com
Blacksburg VA Dec 8 2011 A police officer was shot and killed early this afternoon on Virginia Tech’s campus during a routine traffic stop, putting the campus on lockdown for several hours. The suspect fled the scene, and police later found another body in another part of campus.
NBC is reporting that the second body is believed to be the suspect, and that the recovered weapon was his own, but police wouldn’t comment on that at press conference Thursday evening, saying the investigation is still pending.
“Today tragedy again struck Virginia Tech in a wanton act of violence,” said Charles Steger, president of Virginia Tech. “Our hearts are broken again for the family of our police officer and we extend our deepest sympathy and condolences.” He said counseling will be available to students and staff.
Robert Carpentieri, of the Virginia state police, said the police officer had stopped a driver for a traffic violation when a third party approached the officer and shot him. Gene Deisinger, the Virginia Tech deputy chief of police, said that the police officer was a four-year veteran on the campus force. It was the first time a Virginia Tech university police officer has been killed in the line of duty.
Earlier this afternoon, students were asked to stay indoors as hundreds of police officers searched and secured campus buildings and public areas. Area K-12 schools were on lockdown, but later released students. The university lifted the lockdown at 4:30 p.m.
“We’re looking absolutely everywhere for the person who fits the description,” Mark Owczarski, Virginia Tech spokesman, said at a mid-afternoon press conference. Students are not in class today because exams were set for tomorrow, he said. Those exams are now postponed. “It’s a very tragic day.”
In 2007, a Virginia Tech student killed 32 people and himself during a shooting rampage.
Virginia Tech began the appeals process for a $55,000 federal fine levied for its handling of the 2007 shooting spree this week in Washington. (Tech’s police chief was testifying in the hearing and was not on campus earlier today.) The government says the university did not warn students that a shooter was on the loose in a timely manner, which is in violation of a 1990 safe campus law known as the Clery Act. The parents of two wounded Tech students said their children would have stayed indoors and avoided injury if the school had notified them, according to the Roanake Times. The school argues that it complied with the law.
Tech upgraded its security system after the 2007 shooting. Owczarski said Tech’s alerts system can reach students via text message, email, classroom electronic message boards, campus sirens, and a downloadable application called “desktop alerts.” Students were alerted about the shooting today soon after it happened.
Moore County NC deputy shot-killed-suspect commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
VASS, N.C. Dec 8 2011 – Authorities say a Moore County deputy responding to a trespassing call was shot by a suspect. That suspect then shot and killed himself.
The deputy has been identified as 58-year-old Richard Ryan. He’s been with the Moore County Sheriff’s Department since 2007.
The incident happened around noon in the 700-block of Morrison Bridge Rd. in southeastern Moore County, east of Southern Pines.
Authorities say Ryan confronted two men. A scuffle ensued when Ryan tried to handcuff one of the men. That’s when Ryan was shot and killed. After shooting Ryan, the suspect then shot and killed himself.
Officials say the second man was the brother of the gunman and was just a bystander.
Ryan was the retired police chief of Firefox, N.C.
Source:WTVD
Tour helicopter crashes killing 5 people in Las Vegas www.privateofficer.com
Las Vegas NV Dec 8 2011 A helicopter taking people on a luxury sunset tour of the Las Vegas Strip and Hoover Dam crashed Wednesday, killing the pilot and the four passengers on board, federal authorities said.
The aircraft operated by Sundance Helicopters crashed into the River Mountains surrounding Lake Mead just before 5 p.m., said National Park Service spokesman Andrew Munoz. A security guard from Lake Mead National Recreation Area heard the crash and reported seeing smoke about 4 miles west of the lake’s edge, Munoz said.
The crash site, about 30 miles from the Las Vegas Strip, is not accessible by road.
A spokesman for Sundance Helicopters told The Associated Press that the helicopter had been giving a local tour when it suddenly went missing. He didn’t give his name and declined to answer further questions.
The helicopter was an Aerospatiale AS350, which can hold up to six passengers and are often used for air tours, the spokesman said.
Sundance Helicopters’ website promotes only one local tour that flies over Lake Mead. The 30-minute “Twilight City Tour” spans downtown Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam and the Las Vegas Strip. Packages start at $210 per person.
“Fly in a state of the art luxury air-conditioned 6 passenger jet helicopter,” the website says.
Sundance Helicopters has had accidents previously.
A September 2003 crash east of the Grand Canyon West Airport in Arizona killed a Sundance Helicopters pilot and six passengers. Unsafe flying procedures and misjudgment were cited as the probable cause of that crash.
In August 2009, the pilot of a Sundance tour helicopter returning from the Grand Canyon with six passengers on board was forced to land in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area after his controls indicated he had an electrical problem. No one was injured.
Source:sfgate.com
Virginia Beach Police officer arrested for stealing from precinct www.privateofficer.com
VIRGINIA BEACH VA DEc 8 2011– Master police officer Albert Mills has been suspended without pay from the Virginia Beach Police Department after he was arrested for stealing from his own precinct.
Authorities say he stole personal property from the second precinct. They aren’t saying what items he allegedly stole, however, they add up to less than $200. Still, fellow officer Jimmy Barnes says they couldn’t let it slide.
“It’s a crime, and it’s our policy, any kind of criminal activity – whether it be a citizen or police officer – they’re going to be arrested for it,” said Barnes.
Walmart Loss Prevention Manager federally charged after videotaping child in bathroom www.privateofficer.com
GROVE CITY, Ohio Dec 8 2011- A Columbus man was federally charged Wednesday with one count of receipt of child pornography after allegedly videotaping a 9-year-old boy while he was using the bathroom at a Grove City Walmart.
Okey Belcher could face at least five years and up to 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Belcher, 28, was initially arrested Monday afternoon and was charged with pandering obscenity involving a minor.
The boy’s father told police that he took his son to the restroom at Walmart, located at 1693 Stringtown Rd., and put him in a stall.
About five minutes later, the father said his son came out of the restroom and told him that the person in the next stall was holding his phone under the stall and videotaping him.
According to a police report, the boy said he saw the phone and went out to tell his father, who then called the police.
Belcher denied videotaping him and said he dropped his phone and picked it back up, the report stated.
Officers confiscated his cell phone and iPod, police said.
According to Walmart officials, Belcher, who is the manager of Loss Prevention at the store and is a 9-year employee, was suspended without pay and would be fired if the accusations are substantiated.
Belcher’s bond was set at $100,000, 10TV News reported.
Source:10TV.com
Australia rejects arming hospital security officers www.privateofficer.com
Australia Dec 8 2011 PARLIAMENTARY committee has rejected Victorian Government plans to have armed officers in hospital emergency departments.
The drugs and crime prevention committee’s inquiry into violence and security arrangements in Victoria’s hospitals said deploying armed guards could actually incite violence.
“The overwhelming response to this inquiry has been that under no circumstances should either armed or unarmed Victoria Police protective service officers or any other armed officer be placed in Victorian hospitals or emergency rooms to assist with security,” the committee said in its report tabled today.
“Hospital staff are concerned that the presence of armed guards would increase rather than reduce the potential for violence.”
The Baillieu Government made a pre-election promise to introduce protective services officers (PSOs) in the state’s emergency wards, in an effort to limit disgruntled patients lashing out at staff.
Violence in Victorian hospitals including verbal abuse, threats and physical assault, is mostly directed at health workers who have immediate contact with patients.
Nurses are most at risk, particularly in emergency departments.
But the committee recommended that PSOs should not be employed in Victorian hospitals and health facilities, saying their introduction could cause unintended serious consequences for staff and patient safety should firearms be discharged.
The sight of guns also had potential to intimidate patients or the public unnecessarily.
The committee also opposed hospital security guards carrying or using firearms, capsicum spray or Tasers.
It made 39 recommendations including that it be made an offence to assault, obstruct or delay a hospital or health worker, security guard or emergency worker from doing their duties.
Other recommendations include:
Ensuring all security personnel employed in Victorian hospitals are fully licensed.
That individual hospitals develop ways to manage violent behaviour.
Better communication of likely emergency department waiting times, given it’s a key cause of frustration and aggression.
CCTV footage in emergency departments and other appropriate areas to monitor any aggression.
Duress alarms for staff working in emergency departments and mental health facilities.
Encouragement of staff to report any incidents, given the underreporting is extremely high and a significant barrier to addressing violence in hospitals.
The inquiry was ordered by Deputy Premier Peter Ryan after criticism of the $21 million promise to station PSOs in hospitals.
The Government is in the process of training 940 PSOs to man every metropolitan train station and major regional stations from 6pm until the final train – an arrangement set to be introduced by late 2014.
Source:www.news.com.au
Utah man sentenced to 15 yrs in prison for Walmart robbery www.privateofficer.com
Salt Lake Utah Dec 8 2011 A Davis County man has been sentenced to prison for a Walmart robbery that led to four employees being fired for disarming him.
Trent Allen Longton, 25, was sentenced Monday in 2nd District Court to one to 15 years in prison for the January robbery.
Longton pleaded guilty to the second-degree felony robbery charge in February, but later fought to withdraw his plea, claiming he was illiterate and did not understand the agreement. Judge John Morris denied that motion.
Longton was arrested after he tried to steal a laptop computer from the Layton Walmart. When questioned by security employees, Longton reportedly pulled out a gun and cocked it. Two employees then grabbed Longton and disarmed him, a violation of Walmart policy that led to four employees being fired.
The former employees have since filed a wrongful termination suit against the company.
Source:utah news
Buffalo NY teachers arrested having sex at Buffalo Bills football game www.privateofficer.com
Buffalo NY Dec 8 2011
The Wilson Central School District is investigating charges of public lewdness filed Sunday against two elementary school teachers at the Buffalo Bills game.
Erie County sheriff’s deputies charged Michael France, 38, of Ridge Road, Lockport, and Jennifer Rotella, 35, of Curtis Avenue, Lockport. They were among 26 people arrested on various misdemeanors and violations at the Bills game against the Tennessee Titans.
“I view this as a very serious matter,” Wilson Superintendent Michael Wendt said Tuesday night. “We take these allegations seriously, and we will be undertaking an investigation to look into this matter.”
The district is looking into reports that the two elementary teachers were having sex in one of the bathrooms at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
“Although I’d like to comment, until that investigation is complete, I’m not in a position to comment any further,” Wendt said.
France is a teacher at Thomas Marks Elementary, and Rotella teaches at W.H. Stevenson Elementary. Wendt declined to comment on the status of the teachers and whether they have been removed from the classroom. Neither teacher could be reached to comment.
Under state education law, the superintendent is required to report any teacher who has been “convicted of a crime, or has committed an act which raises a reasonable question as to the individual’s moral character,” to the executive director of the Office of Teaching Initiatives of the state Education Department.
After an investigation and hearing, the state education commissioner could decide to suspend or revoke a teaching certificate if he determines there is cause.
Near riot injures several at Cambridge nightclub www.privateofficer.com
Cambridge MA Dec 8 2011 — A fight during a concert at the Middle East nightclub in Cambridge led to a near-riot and several injuries last week.
According to the police report and a schedule posted on the venue’s website, officers responded around 10:03 p.m. on Nov. 30 to a riot on the stage in the basement level of the building while the band A Loss For Words was playing.
Multiple patrol and traffic units responded to find a large number of patrons leaving the venue and spilling out on Brookline Street. In the basement, police reportedly found 40-50 people “visibly agitated.”
Officers tried to assist security in clearing out the basement level but by then the stage was in disarray with music equipment was toppled over and band members yelling in outrage.
A staffer at the Middle East told police they got a call from a band member who said they needed to call police because “a huge fight had broken out.”
Witnesses reportedly said a security guard was extremely aggressive and pulled someone off the stage leading to members of the band attacking him and causing a fight between security and the crowd. As a result, one woman was reportedly trampled as an unknown person stepped on her head in the stairway leading to hearing issues.
Another person complained that someone struck him as well as other security guards during the gig leading to “a large uncontrollable fight.” During the scuffle, the guard said an unknown person bit his left cheek.
All injured parties involved were offered medical attention. The crowd on Brookline Street was directed towards Mass. Ave. where they dissipated into the square, police said.
Source:Cambridge Chronicle
Amarillo school teacher charged with sexually assaulting 15 yr old boy www.privateofficer.com
Amarillo TX Dec 8 2011 A grade school teacher turned herself in Tuesday on a charge she sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy.
Julie Ann Moore, 34, was released from the Potter County Jail after posting a $7,500 bond. Texas Rangers issued an arrest warrant earlier in the day after a monthlong investigation uncovered a sexual relationship with an Amarillo High School student, according to a complaint filed Tuesday.
Under the conditions of her bond, Moore, a third-grade teacher at Sanborn Elementary School, is prohibited from having contact with minors except her own children.
Moore invited a teenage boy to her car in September or October, when she had sex with him during halftime of an Amarillo High School football game, the complaint said.
Moore asked the boy during the game at Dick Bivins Stadium if he wanted to “see something she had in her car,” according to the complaint. The boy followed her to the vehicle, where she told him to look in the console, the complaint said. There, he saw a box of condoms, the complaint said.
The boy told investigators Moore drove him to the back of a nearby apartment complex, where the two climbed into the back seat, the document said. She began kissing the boy, removing her clothes first and then his before the two had sex for 10 to 15 minutes, according to the complaint.
Moore then drove the boy back to the stadium before the second half began, the complaint said.
In November, Texas Rangers began investigating allegations Moore had exchanged inappropriate text messages and engaged in a sexual relationship with at least one high school student, according to an affidavit filed Friday.
The affidavit mentions three 15-year-old boys, including one Moore was observed with during an Amarillo High football game by a Department of Public Safety official.
On Nov. 11, Rangers seized a Dell laptop computer, two USB flash drives and an AT&T Subscriber Identity Module card, from her Randall County home, according to court records.
The same day, Rangers seized an iPhone 4 from Sanborn Elementary, 700 S. Roberts St., the records said.
On Nov. 14, the following Monday, the AISD placed Moore on paid administrative leave, district spokeswoman Holly Shelton said.
A week before the searches, on Nov. 4, a Texas Ranger met with a 15-year-old student, described as “Juvenile Victim 1.2,” who detailed in an audio interview “three sexual encounters” with Moore, according to affidavits filed Friday.
The student told authorities he and Moore exchanged about 100 text messages — half of them “extremely sexually explicit” — over three months, starting in June and ending in August, the affidavits said.
Moore offered the 15-year-old oral sex in one of the text messages, according to the documents.
The student said Moore kissed him with an open mouth and rubbed the front of his pants, according to the affidavits.
His parents voluntarily surrendered his cellphone, laptop and a desktop computer to investigators so a computer expert could analyze them, the document said.
The affidavits also described a meeting between a DPS official and a Texas Ranger last month.
That official told investigators he observed Moore and a 15-year-old boy at an Amarillo High game “hugging, sitting next to each other during the football game, walking off together and speaking privately together for a lengthy amount of time,” according to the documents.
Moore’s husband, Matthew, 37, declined to comment Tuesday at the couple’s Sleepy Hollow home. Her lawyer, Joe Marr Wilson, could not be reached.
Sexual assault of a child is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
AISD hired Moore in September 2002, and her annual salary is $45,843, according to district records.
Source:amarillo.com
Woman uses Facebook to track down stolen iPhone www.privateofficer.com
SANTA FE, Texas Dec 8 2011 — Quick posts to Facebook helped a Santa Fe woman track the whereabouts of a teenager accused of taking her relative’s brand new iPhone 4S.
Lori Hubbell, 31, said her sister-in-law, Lauren Shields, 27, visited Saturday from The Woodlands to watch the Houston Cougars football game. Shields arrived shortly after 1 p.m. At 1:45 p.m., they noticed the phone missing from Hubbell’s open garage.
Hubbell learned from a neighbor that a teenager acted suspiciously and left in a white van that was delivering phone books. The teen told the neighbor he had to relieve himself behind a house in a nearby field, Hubbell said.
“We walked back in the field, and that’s where we found the cellphone case,” Hubbell said. “I posted on my Facebook, ‘Warning. A white van delivering phone books just stole a cellphone from my house. If you see it, call me and Santa Fe Police Department immediately!’”
Within two minutes, a friend posted a note about spotting the van, and Hubbell, Shields and another friend went looking for it.
Source:The Galveston County Daily News
Three men charged with assaulting security officer www.privateofficer.com
Ventura CA Dec 8 2011
Three men were arrested Tuesday night after allegedly beating a security officer at Good Bar in Ventura, police said.
About 9:20 p.m. the three men and a fourth friend were drinking at the bar, located at 533 East Main Street.
According to police the men became rude and argumentative with the customers and staff. One suspect then moved a security video camera and pointed it at the ceiling, police said.
Security requested the suspects and their friend leave the bar, but they refused. When security attempted to escort them out, the three suspects allegedly rushed an officer and knocked him to the floor, police said.
The suspects, Francisco Evangelista, 26 of Chino, Jeff Attenberger, 30 of Menifee and Christopher Fortuna, 29 of Temecula, punched and wrestled with the officer until other employees helped him, police said. The suspects were eventually pushed out the front door, but remained outside challenging others to a fight, police said.
A sergeant who was passing by detained the suspects, who had intentionally moved the security camera so it didn’t capture most of the attack, police said. The suspects were booked into Ventura County jail on suspicion of battery.
The security officer suffered minor injuries and was able to return to work, police said.
Source: vcstar.com
World’s first privately owned “mock city” for training first-responders being built in Georgia www.privateofficer.com
Perry GA. Dec 8 2011 A 2,200-acre industrial complex in Perry, Ga., will soon be transformed into the world’s first privately owned “mock city” for training first-responder personnel.
The former Northrop Grumman facility — originally built to manufacture missiles — has been vacant since 2002. The government contracts that led Northrop Grumman to build the complex were canceled before manufacturing could begin.
The site was acquired last week by a company called The Guardian Centers of Kennesaw, Ga. President and CEO Geoff Burkart told the Perry City Council on Tuesday that construction is expected to begin in January.
The site will eventually contain a fake interstate, two blocks of demolished buildings, a command center and a helicopter pad — and enough room to train up to 5,000 first responders at a time. “The facility is designed to simulate disasters of all kinds,” including terrorist attacks and natural disasters, Burkart said during the meeting.
Once completed, the fake city is expected to create around 100 real, full-time jobs.
Business owners were excited about the prospects of a boost to the local economy. “With more people, there is more sales, more sales is more profit and more tax money for the county and it just proceeds down the ladder,” thrift store Nu-2-U owner Lorra Baccili told WMAZ.
The site is being funded by anonymous private investors. “There are no taxpayer dollars going to the building of this facility,” company spokesman Jeff Battcher told Homeland Security News Wire last month. Houston County Development Director Morgan Law told WMAZ that Guardian Centers received local tax incentives for creating new jobs in the area. Law also told Homeland Security News Wire that the jobs are important to Perry. “Anytime you can add a hundred or more new jobs to a community, especially when everyone is hurting so desperately, that’s a wonderful thing.”
Retired Gen. H. Steven Blum is one of the business partners behind The Guardian Centers. Last March, Blum and Burkart told National Guard Today that the vision of the training center came following Hurricane Katrina and Sept. 11. Burkart said at the time, “I asked, ‘Why was a nation with unlimited resources stumped at a dramatic event such as this?’”
Blum said their vision for the site was a “joint, interagency, cross-jurisdictional training facility and system that provides a realistic and challenging environment and set of conditions to train the ‘team of teams’ necessary in responding to any high-end or catastrophic emergency, whether man-made or created by nature.”
The Guardian Center had previously tried to establish a site for its training center in nearby Wilkes and Washington counties, but the Perry industrial complex proved to be ideal for their needs. “The Northrop Grumman site just provided so many more opportunities because the facility’s already built,” Battcher told Homeland Security News Wire. “From a timing perspective, it was going to be a little quicker to get everything done. That facility is tremendous, and most of it’s never been used.”
Once construction begins, the facility could be online in as little as nine months.
Silver Spring man arrested after hiding in mall-burglarizing Sears store www.privateofficer.com
Silver Spring MD Dec 8 2011 A Silver Spring man hid in at least two Sears department stores, but his nights of mischief were criminal, police say. Daniel E. Grant, 29, emptied cash registers, then waited for daylight to try to slip out with the holiday shopping crowd, according to Montgomery County police.
Grant faces two charges each for second-degree burglary and theft less than $1,000, along with one charge for malicious destruction of property, according to Montgomery County Circuit Court records.
Police received the first alarm notification around 12:34 a.m. Dec. 5 at the Sears in the White Oak Shopping Center at 11255 New Hampshire Ave., said county police spokeswoman Officer Rebecca Innocenti. When the alarm calls kept coming in, police set up a surveillance on the store’s security cameras for the phantom intruder, she said.
“[Officers] determined that he enters the store Dec. 4 before they close posing as a customer, waits until they’ve closed the store, and then he’s in the store from then until when we apprehended him Dec. 5,” she said.
That night, officers saw Grant on surveillance cameras breaking into cash registers, Innocenti said. Police and mall security used that visual description to arrest Grant as he tried to blend in with the crowd and leave shortly before noon Dec. 5, several hours after the store re-opened, Innocenti said.
“It’s a big store, so it was an extensive search but we were getting various alarms throughout the night so we did believe he was still in the store,” Innocenti said. “He stayed [in the store for] at least 12 hours, maybe more.”
Detectives also believe Grant is responsible for a similar burglary at the Sears in Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg Nov. 23, Innocenti said. Aside from the similar methods used in both burglaries, police reviewed surveillance footage of the men and determined it was Grant, she said.
No attorney information was listed for Grant in an online search of court records Wednesday.
Montgomery County detectives are coordinating with Howard County police to determine if Grant can be further charged with a third burglary of the Sears at the Columbia Mall in Columbia, said Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn. No charges had been filed in Howard County as of Wednesday, Llewellyn said.
As of Wednesday, Grant was in jail on $100,00 bond.
Source:gazette.net
Wauwatosa security officer injured during shoplifting incident www.privateofficer.com
Wauwatosa WI Dec 8 2011 A store security officer was injured and a 21-year-old man arrested for battery using substantial force after he hit the security guard in the head at Sendik’s, 8616 W. North Ave., at 1:27 p.m. Nov. 29.
Police said that the man was accompanied by a woman who put $70 worth of liquor into her purse.
A store security agent grabbed the woman in the parking lot, causing her to fall. Then the man took a swing at the guard, causing a cut that required stitches.
The man ran through yards and was stopped at Swan and Jackson Park Boulevards by respinding officers. Meanwhile the woman took off in a car.
Police have not identified the man arrested.
Indianapolis police officer arrested for having sex at strip club while on duty www.privateofficer.com
Indianapolis IN Dec 8 2011
An officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was arrested Tuesday after police said he was at a strip club while on duty.
Sergeant Michael Forrest was charged with official misconduct and patronizing a prostitute.
Police said the investigation began after a tip was received, stating Forrest went to a strip club on the west side of Indianapolis on November 9. While at the club, police said Forrest purchased drinks for one of the dancers, paid for several lap dances and engaged in sexual activity in a private room with the dancer. Police said the entire incident was captured on the club’s surveillance video.
IMPD said Forrest was on duty and in full uniform outside of his assigned district area.
Sergeant Forrest’s illegal activities tarnishes the IMPD badge, disrespects his fellow police officers, as well as the community he has sworn to protect,” said Public Safety Director Frank Straub. “We will not tolerate such behavior and will be relentless in the pursuit of employees who engage in illegal activity.”
“Sergeant Forrest betrayed our badge and the trust of our community,” said Chief of Police Paul Ciesielski. “He violated the role and responsibility we placed upon him as a supervisor. We will not tolerate this type of action within the IMPD.”
Police said Forrest is a 23-year veteran at IMPD. Forrest is suspended without pay until the internal administrative investigation is complete.
Source:Fox News
Off-duty NJ officer aids in shoplifting arrests www.privateofficer.com
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Fair Lawn NJ Dec 8 2011 Two Paterson men were arrested and charged with robbery Sunday after an off-duty police officer spotted them allegedly swiping deodorant from a local grocery store, according to a police news release.
What began as an alleged shoplifting incident, escalated to alleged robbery when the men — later identified as Luis A. Estrada, 39, and Jose Moya, 35 — attempted to escape police custody by forcing their way past detective Peter Yuskaitis, Sgt. Richard Schultz said.
According to police records, Moya was charged with robbery, resisting arrest and obstruction; and Estrada was charged with armed robbery, resisting arrest and obstruction.
Sgt. Schultz said although Estrada did not have a firearm, he motioned as if one was concealed under his clothing during his attempted escape.
“Under the statute he is therefore charged with Armed Robbery because of the threatening motions that made others believe he had a firearm,” Schultz explained in an email.
The incident happened Sunday afternoon when off-duty detective Yuskaitis saw the two men allegedly removing numerous packages of deodorant from the shelves of the Pathmark on Maple Avenue. Yuskaitis notified a store employee and requested the employee call the police, according to the news release.
With his backup en route, Yuskaitis continued observing the two men until they attempted to leave the store without paying for the items. At that point, police reports indicate that Yuskaitis identified himself to the men and attempted to detain them until patrol units arrived.
However before backup could arrive, Estrada and Moya made a break for it by trying to force themselves past Yuskaitis, police said.
Moya was quickly subdued by Yuskaitis with the help of a store employee, but Estrada continued on foot across the parking lot while motioning like he was about to brandish a weapon. He was eventually corralled by Officers Robert Manning and Edward Egan, the police news release stated.
Both suspects were then transported to police headquarters for processing.
Municipal Court Judge David Lafferty set bail for both men at $100,000 without a 10 percent option. In default of bail, the suspects were taken to Bergen County Jail.
Clark County employee charged with downloading child porn www.privateofficer.com
HENDERSON, Nev.Dec 8 2011 — Charges were filed in the United States District Court against a Henderson man for possession of child pornography.
Erik Muller was arrested in November and charged with sexual exploitation of a child, and advertising, transporting, receipt, and possession of child pornography. Muller is an employee of Clark County.
Henderson Police began investigating Muller after allegedly finding him trading child pornography on the internet. During a search of his house, they found a significant amount of child pornography on a computer.
Police also searched his work computer and found about 100 images of child pornography and several sexually-explicit webcam chats with what appeared to be underage girls.
According to the indictment, Muller’s work computer had come to the attention of law enforcement after finding it was being used to download illegal images on the Clark County network. It is unclear if he ever faced discipline after that incident.
In a statement, a spokesman for Clark County say, “These are very troubling allegations and we extend our sympathies to the victims and their families. After being made aware of the federal investigation initiated by law enforcement and prior to them moving forward with an indictment of Mr. Muller, the County had initiated proceedings to terminate Mr. Mullers’ employment.”
Muller cooperated with police during their investigation. He was arrested and booked into jail and his next court appearance is on January 30, 2012
Source:news8now.com
Georgia man arrested for shooting down mistletoe outside a Decatur shopping mall www.privateofficer.com
DeKalb County GA Dec 8 2011 A Georgia man preparing for the Christmas season spent a night in jail after he was arrested for shooting at mistletoe outside a Decatur shopping mall.
William E. Robinson, 66, was charged with reckless conduct and discharging a firearm on someone else’s property after he opened fire on a tree that held a sprig of the plant, which is commonly used as a Christmas decoration.
Robinson told CBS Atlanta that he was merely following a holiday tradition when he used his double-barrel 12-gauge shotgun to knock the plant out of a tree outside the North DeKalb Mall.
“Every year I go somewhere to get some mistletoe to decorate the house,” Robinson told the station. “I get some for my friends that can’t get mistletoe. The best way to get it is with a shotgun.”
Most people simply purchase mistletoe. But in some parts of the country, it’s a tradition to shoot first and decorate later.
Southerners preparing for Christmas have long used shotguns loaded with birdshot to knock mistletoe from trees, National Geographic wrote in 2001.
It was the place — not the practice — that put Robinson behind bars.
Robinson told CBS Atlanta he wanted to hunt for mistletoe on a friend’s property, but when his acquaintance wasn’t home, he turned his attention to a tree that he claims is on the mall’s “fence line.”
A passing motorist contacted authorities after spotting Robinson firing one shot and collecting his yuletide bounty near an Applebee’s restaurant at 5:30 p.m., The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. The driver trailed the suspect to a Citgo gas station, where police took him into custody.
According to investigators, Robinson was shocked others weren’t aware of his holiday tradition.
“He said he does this every year, but never in the mall parking lot,” a police report, acquired by Decatur’s 11 Alive, notes. “The suspect was surprised he was getting arrested.”
Williams posted bond and was released on Dec. 5, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office website.
Source:huffpost.com
Nearly 100 people accused in New York check fraud ring www.privateofficer.com
NEW YORK NY Dec 8 2011 — Nearly 100 people formed a check fraud ring that systematically exploited a banking loophole to steal more than $450,000 by depositing bogus checks and withdrawing the money before they bounced, prosecutors said Wednesday.
With a handful of bosses recruiting dozens of people to carry out the scheme – and even driving them to out-of-state casinos for part of it – the group methodically overdrew TD Bank accounts, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said as he announced that 94 people had been indicted on various charges.
“What you really have here is a modern version of a check-kiting scheme,” he said, calling it “a very organized, long-term scam that preyed upon the specific weakness of an individual bank.”
TD Bank said it was working with authorities and couldn’t comment on the ongoing investigation or security measures. The bank, based in Cherry Hill, N.J., and Portland, Maine, noted that no customer account data were compromised.
Three main bosses, aided by six other leaders, enlisted people to open savings accounts at various TD Bank locations with nominal sums and then had them deposit worthless checks, Vance said. Prosecutors said they were still looking into the source of the checks.
The savings accounts weren’t subject to policies that prevent money deposited into checking accounts from being available immediately and somehow the ringleaders knew that, prosecutors said.
The suspects quickly transferred the money to TD Bank checking accounts they’d also opened, prosecutors said. Then, they withdrew as much money as they could at cash machines, sometimes getting as much as $5,000 at once by traveling to casinos in Connecticut and Atlantic City, N.J., where the machines had high or no limits on the size of withdrawals, according to prosecutors.
The group’s leaders would escort the complicit account-holders to the casinos one by one on runs so routine that they often stopped at the same gas stations and fast-food eateries en route, said Assistant District Attorney David Szuchman, who heads the DA’s cybercrimes unit.
The account-holders then made themselves scarce when the bank tried to contact them to discuss the overdrawn accounts, which were opened under their real names, prosecutors said.
The recruiters got most of the stolen money, generally paying each account-holder a few hundred dollars, prosecutors said.
“It’s a small group of actors who have an imaginative and profitable criminal idea, who have managed to spread the risk by bringing in scores of individuals who are willing to engage in the conspiracy for relatively low amounts of dollars,” Vance said in a discussion with reporters.
He said prosecutors believe the bank’s losses may be more than $1 million and the investigation is ongoing.
Two people suspected of being ringleaders, Joel Luciano, 30, and Freddie Mercado, 25, were being held without bail after pleading not guilty at arraignments Wednesday. Luciano’s lawyer, Jason A. Martin, said he planned to seek bail for Luciano after getting more time to talk with him, adding that Luciano was suffering serious back pain from a car accident. Mercado’s lawyer, Christine E. Delince, had no immediate comment.
The third person accused of being a boss, Jose M. Cruz, 34, hasn’t been arrested, and his whereabouts and home address are unknown, prosecutors said. It was impossible to find a phone number for him.
Other arraignments were expected to continue Thursday.
The bank spotted the pattern, which dates at least to August 2009, and brought in authorities, prosecutors said. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service aided the 18-month investigation, which involved video and physical surveillance, computer forensics and extensive analysis of credit card, banking and phone records, authorities said.
Prosecutors said they didn’t believe any other banks had been victimized in the same fashion.
Each defendant faces grand larceny or conspiracy charges, or both.
Source:huffpost.com
