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OFFICER DOWN William Coleman
OFFICER DOWN Deputy Sheriff William Coleman
Deputy Sheriff
William Coleman
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Arizona
End of Watch: Sunday, January 8, 2012
Incident Details
Age: 50
Tour: 20 years
Badge # 977
Cause: Gunfire
Incident Date: 1/8/2012
Weapon: Rifle
Suspect: Shot and killed
Deputy Sheriff William Coleman was shot and killed while responding to a burglary call in Anthem at approximately 4:15 am.
As he and another deputy arrived at the scene they encountered a male subject inside of a van at a medical building near the intersection of Anthem Way and Gavilan Peak Parkway. As they attempted to make contact with the man he opened fire on them with a rifle, striking Deputy Coleman below his vest. The suspect was killed by return gunfire from other deputies.
Deputy Coleman was transported to John C. Lincoln Deer Valley Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.
Deputy Coleman had served with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for 20 years. He is survived by his wife and several children.
Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office
100 West Washington
Suite 1900
Phoenix, AZ 85003
Phone: (602) 876-1000
TSA takes a lot of heat for doing their jobs www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC Jan 8 2012 The Transportation Security Administration has taken heat from air travelers over its pat-down searches and scanning machines.
The TSA, though, says the security measures helped nab more than 1,200 people packing heat at airports across the country last year.
“Most passengers simply stated they forgot they had a gun in their bag,” said TSA social media analyst and blogger Bob Burns.
Aside from guns, screeners also found concealed animals, land mines, grenades and at least one sword hidden in a cane that surprised even its owner, the agency said.
Created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the TSA recently published online a Top 10 list of “good catches” at airport security lines.
At Pittsburgh International Airport, the 270 TSA screeners last year confiscated seven loaded firearms at checkpoints, said agency spokeswoman Ann Davis. They also found 17 undeclared guns — eight of them loaded — in checked bags.
Passengers are allowed to pack unloaded firearms in checked bags as long as they notify their airline beforehand and place them in a secure, locked box, Davis said. The agency fined the gun-toting passengers and referred the incidents to Allegheny County Police, which did not provide further information.
Davis said TSA collected 2,300 pounds of prohibited items at Pittsburgh checkpoints last year, up from the 1,850 pounds collected in 2010 but down from 2,750 pounds in 2009 and 2,500 pounds in 2008.
“Nothing completely weird or outrageous was discovered at (Pittsburgh’s) checkpoints, but there were some not-so-ordinary items,” Davis said.
Screeners confiscated wrenches, wire cutters, pocketknives, corkscrews, screwdrivers and pairs of scissors, along with several bricks, complete sets of kitchen cutlery and at least one marble rolling pin, Davis said.
Aside from weapons or other illegal items, the TSA gives all surrendered items to the state Department of General Services’ Surplus Property Division.
General Services spokesman Troy Thompson said the agency has made $700,000 from selling items from Pittsburgh and other airports in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and New York since 2004. People can sift through items at a warehouse in Harrisburg; soon they’ll be able to buy them online at http://www.govdeals.com.
Stranger items were nabbed at airports elsewhere, according to the Top 10 list that Burns compiled for TSA.
Miami International Airport screeners found seven snakes and three turtles stowed away in pantyhose on a man going through security in August. Authorities charged him with a federal offense of harboring reptiles in an unnatural habitat. Also that month, a woman was charged with trying to smuggle endangered species out of the United States because Los Angeles International Airport screeners found two birds wrapped in socks taped to her leg and chest.
Somehow those bizarre incidents ranked just 10th on Burns’ list.
At No. 9, authorities shut down the Omaha airport for several hours in August because screeners suspected that a graduate student’s science project might be a bomb. Other seized items on the Top 10 list included inert land mines (No. 7), a stun gun disguised as a cell phone (No. 6) and small chunks of C4 explosives (No. 1).
Seven Florida teenagers arrested for beating 13-year-old girl unconscious www.privateofficer.com
MIAMI Fla Jan 8 2012 (AP) — Seven central Florida teenagers were arrested after authorities said they punched and kicked a 13-year-old until she was unconscious while on a school bus.
The victim told authorities that Friday was her first time riding the bus and no one would let her sit down. About 75 children were riding the bus bound for a middle school in Ocala, a rural city north of Orlando. The victim said someone threw a shoe at her and she threw one back, according to an arrest report.
One girl allegedly asked students if they wanted to hit the victim, then instructed the teens to form a circle and began hitting and kicking the victim. Several witnesses said they saw the girl fall to the floor and “appear to have a seizure and pass out,” according to the arrest report.
The victim, who is not being identified, was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a concussion, severe bruising on her head and muscle spasms.
Seven teens, ranging in age from 12 to 15, were charged with battery and disorderly conduct. The Associated Press is not identifying the suspects because they are minors.
The school’s bus driver said he saw the fight and pulled the bus over to intervene. The fighting ceased, so he continued driving, but he told authorities the fight broke out again and he couldn’t control it so he drove to a nearby school and called officials.
Authorities interviewed all the students on the bus. Ten students said they saw the seven “commit battery upon the victim as a group,” according to the report.
One suspect admitted kicking the victim, but said it was an accident. A few claimed they hit her and several others denied it.
Deputy Shannon Wiles wrote in the report that one 14-year-old girl climbed over several seats filled with students to get to the victim and “advised she punched the defendant repeatedly in the head, approximately 10-15 times because the victim called her a name.”
School officials said it’s unlikely the defendants will be allowed on campus until their cases are resolved.
The Ocala Star-Banner which first reported the fight, said school discipline rules call for the students to be expelled or reassigned to another school, according to Marion County Public Schools spokesman Kevin Christian.
Michigan pastor opens tattoo parlor inside his church www.privateofficer.com
FLINT TOWNSHIP, Mich. Jan 8 2012 — A Michigan pastor has opened a tattoo parlor inside his church.
Rev. Steve Bentley says he’s doing everything he can to reach out to people who have never felt comfortable at a traditional house of worship.
Bentley’s church, The Bridge, occupies 3,000 square feet inside a Flint Township shopping center. Serenity Tattoo is located not far from his office – as well as a galvanized watering trough that he uses for baptisms.
Two tattoo artists work at the county-licensed shop that is open every day except Sunday.
Bentley rejects criticism that a church is the wrong place for a tattoo parlor, calling it a “morally neutral” practice akin to having your ears pierced.
He has two tattoos.
Source:AP
Bond denied for men arrested for killing Chicago officer www.privateofficer.com
Chicago IL Jan 8 2012 Bond has been denied for two men charged in the slaying of an off-duty Chicago police officer.
Forty-one-year-old Clifton Lewis was fatally shot during a Dec. 29 robbery at a convenience store where he was working security. He had been on the police force for eight years and took the part-time security job after the store was robbed Dec. 9.
A spokeswoman for Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez tells the Chicago Tribune that 29-year-old Tyrone Clay and 34-year-old Edgardo Colon were charged early Saturday with murder while in commission of an armed robbery and first degree murder of a peace officer. Sally Daly says both men are from Chicago.
Both have been ordered held without bond.
A third person questioned in the case has been released without charges.
Source:wwwstltimes.com
Union Mine High School teacher arrested for rape www.privateofficer.com
Placerville CA Jan 8 2012 A Union Mine High School teacher was arrested Thursday on suspicion of statutory rape.
David Robert Freeman, 38, was booked into the Placerville jail Thursday on one felony count of unlawful sex with a minor and one felony count of sex acts with a minor.
He was released that same day on $175,000 bail, according to jail records.
El Dorado County Sheriff’s Lt. Bryan Golmitz told the Mountain Democrat that the arrest stemmed from information the department received last month and its subsequent investigation.
The purported victim is a juvenile female, according to Golmitz, who said state laws prohibit the department from releasing further information as to her identity.
Tony DeVille, Union Mine principal, told the Democrat that he was aware of the charges and that Freeman had been placed on administrative leave.
Freeman, in addition to coaching varsity baseball, taught physical education, business and computer classes.
El Dorado Union High School District Superintendent Christopher Hoffman said district would work to investigate the allegations.
“We take these kinds of situations very seriously,” he said.
DK Security hired to protect Michigan National Guard bases www.privateofficer.com
GRAND RAPIDS MI Jan 8 2012 - The state has hired a West Michigan-based private security firm to protect six of its National Guard and Air National Guard bases and facilities.
In a 5-year, $15 million contract, DK Security will provide armed security services at six military installations around the state.
The facilities include Camp Grayling, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, Ft. Custer Training Center, Joint Forces Headquarters and Grand Ledge Army National Guard Base.
DK officials said they have hired more than 100 employees to provide up to 3,000 hours of security a week at the military installations.
“We tend to hire retired military / law enforcement, so the State of Michigan is essentially getting that high quality, well trained officer, but at a security officer rate,” said DK Security Executive Vice President Kathryn Kendall.
Capt. Aaron Jenkins of the Michigan National Guard said the private security force allows their personnel to perform their mission. Only 20 percent of the state’s National Guard personnel is full-time, he said. “The personnel are not there to provide their own security,” he said.
The private security guards, who manage the facilities’ front gates and access points and patrol the facilities, are armed and works with local police forces, Jenkins said. Federal military personnel are not allowed to perform those duties, he said.
Military police are on duty during the annual training sessions when 2,000 reserves are at Camp Grayling, Jenkins said. “The MPs actually supplement those forces,” he said.
Jenkins said the state has used private security forces to guard its facilities since the 9-11 terrorist attacks. The DK contract replaces a contract that expired with an East Lansing company, he said.
“Having these contracts is actually cheaper and it’s actually more fiscally responsible in addition to having more jobs in the community,” Jenkins said.
DK was founded in 1994 by former U.S. Marshal John Kendall and Robert DuHadway, a retired FBI supervisory agent. The firm employs more than 1,100 persons with annual revenues of more than $13 million, according to its website.
“We’re thrilled to add these high profile armed military accounts to our portfolio, and even more pleased that a Michigan-owned, veteran-owned company is now providing these services,” said Kathryn Kendall.
“This work positions us strongly for continued growth and expansion throughout the state.”
Source:mlive.com
Alert Hawaii security officer helps nabs teen who escaped correctional facility www.privateofficer.com
The security officer saw the boy conceal jewelry from a Windward Oahu store and leave without paying on Nov. 11, police said.
The security guard recognized the boy when he returned on Friday and detained him, police said.
Officers arrested the boy for investigation of theft and for second-degree escape.
Police said the boy had received a furlough pass for a day on Oct. 29 and never returned to the correctional facility.
Carnegie Mellon University employee charged in thefts www.privateofficer.com
John Szalajda, 38, of Glenshaw, is an employee of an independent contractor for janitorial services, ISS. He told campus police that he found a set of master keys in a parking lot outside of Roberts Hall on campus several months ago. He then used those keys to open a professor’s office, where he found the keys to some cabinets containing precious metals, according to a criminal complaint filed in court.
Mr. Szalajda told police he stole materials from four floors in Wean Hall and two floors in Roberts Hall, both of which house the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
After cross-referencing his story with theft reports, police charged him with stealing from the university and its students on 10 different days, sometimes stealing multiple items in one day.
Mr. Szalajda was expected to be arraigned early this morning on 13 counts of burglary and 13 counts of theft.
Source:www.post-gazette.com
Illinois liquor wholesaler and distributor employee accused of stealing $1 million www.privateofficer.com
Schaumburg IL Jan 8 2012 A 48-year-old Rockford-area woman is accused of stealing more than $1 million over six years from Schaumburg-based Wirtz Beverage, a liquor wholesaler and distributor run by Chicago Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz.
Linda Bessert of Winnebago was charged with felony counts of theft over $1 million and theft over $500,000, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced Thursday in a statement.
While working as an office manager out of the company’s Rockford office, Bessert processed customer payments and was responsible for sending those deposits to the bank by armored car, according to the statement. She’s used her position to steal $1,058,293 between July 2004 and October 2010, Madigan said.
Bessert is being held on $500,000 bail. If convicted of the more serious theft over $1 million charge, she faces a mandatory prison sentence of six to 30 years.
“These allegations show that the defendant devised and executed a scheme to deceive her employer and steal over $1 million,” Madigan said. “This prosecution will ensure she will be held accountable for these illegal acts.”
Madigan brought the case based on an investigation and referral from the FBI.
Source:daily herald
Florida shoplifter assaults officer, takes Taser www.privateofficer.com
SATELLITE BEACH Fla Jan 8 2012 — A Satellite Beach police officer was punched in the face and lost control of his Taser before a Samaritan helped subdue a shoplifting suspect on Thursday afternoon, according to the police department.
Michael L. Horton, 53, of Satellite Beach was arrested on felony charges of battery on an officer, depriving an officer of means of protection, assault on an officer, resisting arrest with violence and two misdemeanor counts of retail theft, according to police.
Officer Matt Messer responded to a report of shoplifting at the Publix supermarket at 1024 State Road A1A and confronted the suspect in the parking lot at 12:45 p.m.
The man suspected in multiple shoplifting incidents at Publix punched Messer in the face and wrestle away his Taser. It took a nearby storeowner’s help to bring the suspect under control.
Kohl’s employee charged with grand theft in theft of customer’s wallet www.privateofficer.com
Lake Wales Fla Jan 8 2012 A Kohl’s department store worker is accused of stealing a wallet from a woman’s missing purse Tuesday.
Ericka Smith of Lake Wales was caught on video stealing from the purse after a customer found it in a cart at the store at 2803 Ridge Way, police said.
The owner of the purse came to the store to retrieve it and found her wallet gone, police said.
It held about $440 in cash along with credit cards and identification.
Smith admitted to the crime after police found video of her stealing, police said. She was jailed on a charge of grand theft.
Fort Benning soldier charged with murder of son www.privateofficer.com
Columbus GA Jan 8 2012 A Fort Benning soldier has been charged with murder after his son died in an Atlanta hospital on Friday.
According to Columbus police, the 8-month-old baby was brought to Saint Francis Hospital unresponsive on New Year’s Day.
When doctors determined the baby suffered severe brain injuries, he was taken to Egleston Children’s Hospital where he went into surgery.
The child remained in critical condition until Friday night, when police say he died around 10:15 p.m.
Police say the child was with his father, 28-year-old Shane Hinkson, at his apartment on Antietam Drive when he was injured. Hinkson was first arrested and charged with first degree cruelty to children. The charge has now been upgraded to murder. Police believe the baby may have been shaken.
Police say Hinkson waived his right to a preliminary Recorder’s Court hearing on the new charge.
He is being held in the Muscogee County Jail without bond.
The case has been bound over to the District Attorney’s Office.
