Archive
Three arrested in Atlanta area armored car robbery www.privateofficer.com
HALL COUNTY, Ga. Jan 12 2012- Three people are in custody and police are looking for a possible fourth suspect following an armored car robbery late Wednesday morning.
Hall County authorities say the incident happened at the Walmart in Oakwood off of Mundy Mill Road at around 11:00 a.m.
Police say several masked suspects approached a courier from the armored car and snatched a money bag from her.
They say the suspects then got into a getaway vehicle and that’s when police gave chase. The suspects crashed the vehicle in a ditch off of Woodward Mill Road and Roxwood Park in Gwinnett County. The suspects bailed out of the car and fled on foot, according to police.
After a foot chase, authorities apprehended three suspects in a wooded area between subdivisions, according to Major Woodrow Tripp of the Hall County Sheriff’s Department.
Surveillance footage from Wal-Mart indicated there were four suspects. Police said footprints show that the fourth suspect is a woman.
Police closed off the Roxwood Park subdivision in Gwinnett County in search of the suspect. Police canvassed the area using helicopters and K-9′s and by going door to door to question residents.
Police say that no shots were fired and that there were no injuries.
Police have the three suspects in custody at the Hall County Jail. Their names have not been released. The FBI is interviewing the suspects for a possible connection to another armed car robbery.
Source:FOX NEWS
OFFICER DOWN Andrew F. Faggio
Detective
Andrew F. Faggio
New Haven Police Department, Connecticut
End of Watch: Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Age: 46
Tour: 14 years
Badge # Not available
Cause: Automobile accident
Incident Date: 1/31/2003
Weapon: Not available
Suspect: Not available
Detective Andrew Faggio succumbed to injuries sustained in an automobile accident on January 31, 2003, while en route to a stakeout assignment at approximately 4:00 am.
He was cresting a hill on Durham Road, in Madison, when he encountered an oncoming vehicle in his travel lane. He swerved to avoid striking the vehicle, but his car spun around and struck a tree. Detective Faggio suffered severe head injuries and slipped into a coma, from which he never emerged.
Detective Faggio had served with the New Haven Police Department for 14 years at the time of the crash. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:
Chief Dean M. Esserman
New Haven Police Department
1 Union Avenue
New Haven, CT 06519
Phone: (203) 946-6316
Heavily armed men storm-rob Houston Walmart store www.privateofficer.com
HOUSTON TX Jan 12 2012—Two suspects who robbed a Walmart in northeast Harris County Tuesday night may have had some help from the inside, according to authorities.
Deputies said the suspects were armed with AK-47s when they walked into the store on FM 1960 at Atascocita at 11 p.m. They held up the store, then fled with an unknown amount of cash.
Investigators said the heist appears to be an inside job. All the money was picked up at the registers at 10:55 p.m. and taken to the back, just minutes before the robbers came in. This time differs each night.
The armed men walked into the store and went directly where the money was being counted. They quietly put the money in a grocery cart and pushed it out to their car.
The suspects then fled in a 1995 or 1996 white Ford Taurus.
The car had tape over the license plate and a blue handicapped sticker hanging from the visor.
Many of the customers did not even know the store was being robbed, but a few of them called 911 after seeing the men enter with guns. Investigators said one customer tailed the suspects to a nearby neighborhood, but lost sight of them.
Harris County Sheriff’s deputies and Precinct 4 deputy constables searched the area, but also could not locate the suspects.
Airline passengers leave about $400,000 a year in coins behind www.privateofficer.com
WASHINGTON DC Jan 12 2012 - Change is coming. Just check the plastic tubs at airport security checkpoints.
Airline passengers leave about $400,000 a year in coins they forget to — or choose not to — take with them as they scramble to catch flights, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
In 2010, that loose change amounted to $409,085.56. That’s $376,480.39 in dollar coins, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies, plus foreign currency worth $32,605.17.
At Southwest Florida International Airport, travelers left behind $2,126.86.
People who leave behind money may be rushing through a checkpoint for a variety of reasons, and travelers heading to foreign countries may simply feel they have no use for U.S. change, said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association.
Then there’s the jingle factor: Coins just aren’t that appealing in an increasingly cashless society.
“Many people aren’t carrying change these days anyway,” Stempler said. “It just weighs down in their pockets and purses. I know in the city I see a lot of people giving it to homeless people just to get rid of the change.”
The TSA “makes every effort to reunite passengers with items left at the checkpoint,” agency spokesman Greg Soule said. Money that can’t be returned to its owner is used to finance agency operations.
Republican Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida wants to change that.
Legislation he’s proposing would give the money to the United Service Organizations to help operate their welcome centers for U.S. military personnel around the globe.
“Allowing TSA to keep unclaimed taxpayer money for any and all purposes is an egregious breach of its duty to the public that it serves,” Miller wrote in a recent letter to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y. “This money should be put to good use, and there is no better organization to use this money wisely than the USO.”
Passengers at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York left the most change in 2010 ($46,918.06), followed by Los Angeles International ($19,110.83), Hartsfield Atlanta International ($16,523.83), San Francisco International ($15,908.02), and Miami International ($15,844.83), according to the TSA.
Source:Florida Today
Another Metro Nashville Police officer fired after being arrested www.privateofficer.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Jan 12 2012– A previously decommissioned officer with the Metro Nashville Police Department has been fired after failing to show up for a hearing with the chief.
Jeffrey Poole was decommissioned in May 2012 after being accused of committing sex crimes against three female victims while on duty. He was formally charged in August 2010.
In November, a Nashville jury found Poole not guilty of official misconduct in connection with the arrest of an 18-year-old woman in 2009.
A judge withdrew a sexual battery charge against Poole the day before, citing a lack of evidence.
Just days later, Poole was arrested after his teenage son said he was struck several times with a trophy during an argument.
Poole was charged with aggravated child abuse and booked into jail. He was released on $10,000 bond.
He was formally charged in December with violating a number of police department regulations – including arrests on sex crimes and aggravated child abuse charges.
Poole was scheduled for a hearing with Chief Steve Anderson on January 3. Police said they had not heard from him since then, so they sent him a letter saying he has been fired.
He has 15 days to appeal.
Source:www.newschannel5.com
Security guard is accused of sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled patient www.privateofficer.com
OTTAWA Canada Jan 12 2012 — A 42-year-old security guard is accused of sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled patient at the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus.
Police were notified after the alleged assault on the woman in her 20s on Dec. 23. around 5:30 p.m.
Clinton Russell, 42, was charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation against a person with a disability.
Russell stood with his hands crossed in front of him as he was released from custody by a justice of the peace Wednesday on a $4,000 bond. His wife will act as his surety.
Crown prosecutor Anne Fitzpatrick told Justice of the Peace Paulina Brecher that the developmentally delayed woman Russell is accused of sexually assaulting had the mental capacity of a seven- or eight-year-old child.
Russell is on paid administrative leave from his job at the hospital, Fitzpatrick said.
His release conditions include not going within 250 metres of the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus. He was also ordered not to attend parks, playgrounds, swimming pools or other areas where children under 16 may be present.
He may not hold any employment or volunteer work that would put him in a position of trust or authority over children under the age of 16 or persons with physical, mental or developmental disabilities.
Russell may not have contact with five people, including the alleged victim and some of his co-workers.
Russell will remain under house arrest until his trial. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 26.
Police believe there could be other victims who haven’t come forward.
Anyone with information can call Det. Lisa Briggs at 613-236-1222, extension 4417.
Source:ottawacitizen.com
Handcuffed drug suspect steals police car-radios for key www.privateofficer.com
INDIANAPOLIS IN Jan 12 2012 (AP) — A handcuffed drug suspect who stole and wrecked a police cruiser in northwest Indiana is still on the loose, but he did not take any loaded weapons from the car, authorities said Wednesday.
William Francis Blankenship stole the car Tuesday from a local officer in the Porter County town of Kouts and then used the police radio to ask where to find the car’s cigarette lighter – and a key to unlock himself, police said.
“There was a conversation between him and one of our officers,” Porter County Sheriff’s Sgt. Larry LaFlower said. The sheriff’s deputy did not tell Blankenship how to remove the handcuffs or use the cigarette lighter, and instead tried to talk Blankenship into pulling over and giving himself up, LaFlower said.
Police found the town cruiser Wednesday morning “wrecked and submerged in water” in a drainage ditch in nearby LaPorte County, but Blankenship, 22, was no longer with the vehicle, LaFlower said. Police say no other vehicles were involved and they are investigating how the cruiser got there.
LaFlower said loaded weapons – a handgun, shotgun and a rifle – that had been left in the vehicle were still there when the wreck was discovered. Police had reported earlier that Blankenship should be considered armed and dangerous.
The sole police officer on duty Tuesday evening in Kouts arrested Blankenship on drug charges. The officer pulled Blankenship over in a convenience store parking lot in the town about 50 miles southeast of Chicago, and then placed the handcuffed suspect in the back of the patrol car while he went to search the man’s car, LaFlower said.
“He was doing an inventory search when his car was taken,” LaFlower said.
Authorities are trying to determine how Blankenship got out of the back seat of the patrol car. It’s not clear if he had been locked inside the car. The officer did leave the car keys in the ignition, LaFlower said.
LaFlower said he doesn’t know exactly when the officer knew Blankenship was fleeing, but said the officer used his portable radio immediately to let the Porter County Sheriff’s Department know what happened and asked for assistance. The officer, who wasn’t injured, had his service revolver with him.
LaFlower didn’t explain the nature of the drug allegations. “That’s still under investigation,” he said.
Kouts Town Marshal David Freeland declined comment and referred questions to the sheriff’s department.
The search for Blankenship has focused on the town of Knox, about 20 miles east of Kouts, where he has family and friends. The Porter County prosecutor’s office obtained an arrest warrant Wednesday charging Blankenship with car theft, Chief Deputy Matt Frost said.
LaFlower said the sheriff’s department planned to seek help in the search from the U.S. Marshal Service.
Nevada bank robber kills himself at the Virgin River Gorge www.privateofficer.com
ST. GEORGE UTAH Jan 12 2012 — The Virgin River Gorge remains closed tonight as the St. George Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit and the Arizona Department of Public Safety Hazmat Team responds to the vehicle of a man who shot and killed himself in the gorge earlier in the day after reportedly robbing a Mesquite bank and threatening to have a bomb.
Arizona DPS Sgt. John Bottoms said he ordered the closure of the gorge after receiving corroborating information from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Mesquite Police that the suspect had hazardous materials in his car. It is unclear how long the gorge would be closed while the vehicle is being investigated.
Bottoms said the EOD Unit arrived after investigators received more information about the bomb threat and other possible hazardous material that could be in the car. The Arizona Hazmat team is expected to arrive at the St. George Airport at 10:30 p.m. and be transported to the scene to begin an assessment, Bottoms said.
Mesquite Police Public Information Officer Jeffrey Smith said Troy Eugene Williams, 43, of Florida, reportedly held up the Nevada Bank and Trust at 599 W. Mesquite Blvd. at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Bank employees told police the robber announced he had a gun and bomb but didn’t brandish any weapons, Smith said.
Williams reportedly left the bank with $2,800 and was seen getting into a white sedan in the Mesquite Bluffs Apartments parking lot, Smith said.
Mesquite Police dispatchers quickly sent out a bulletin to all surrounding law enforcement agencies in an attempt to catch the suspect, Smith said.
At approximately 1 p.m., Bottoms and another officer saw a vehicle fitting the description heading north on Interstate 15 and pulled the vehicle over at approximately mile marker 20 in the gorge, Bottoms said.
As Bottoms and the officer approached the driver, they heard him make some comments, then watched as he placed a handgun to the side of his head and shot himself, Bottoms said. The officers were not injured.
Beaver Dam Fire and Rescue pronounced the driver dead at the scene, Smith said. Mesquite Police officers arrived at the scene and confirmed using bank surveillance photos that the driver was the same individual who robbed the bank, Smith said.
All southbound I-15 traffic heading toward the gorge is being rerouted to Old Highway 91 through Ivins and to exit 8 in Arizona, Bottoms said.
Smith said Williams had been living in Las Vegas and was recently reported as a missing/endangered person considered armed and dangerous by Las Vegas Metro Police.
Seventeen Haitian men suing Fairfield University over sexual abuse www.privateofficer.com
NEW HAVEN, Conn. Jan 12 2012 (AP) — Seventeen Haitian men are suing Fairfield University in Connecticut, the Society of Jesus and others alleging they failed to protect them from a man who sexually abused them when they were poor children or young adults attending a school he founded in Haiti.
The lawsuits bring to 21 the number of alleged victims suing Douglas Perlitz and the others. Perlitz was sentenced in 2010 to nearly 20 years in prison for sexually abusing children at Project Pierre Toussaint.
The victims ranged from ages 9 to 21 at the time of the abuse and are now 18 to 29.
The lawsuits seek $20 million for each victim. They contend Perlitz’s supervisors disregarded warning signs of inappropriate behavior with boys.
The Rev. Paul Carrier, a Jesuit priest who was Fairfield University’s chaplain, saw Perlitz show a student a pornographic video and saw boys in his bedroom, according to the lawsuits. A school board member, Hope Carter, flew to Haiti in 2008 and removed Perlitz’s computer, according to the lawsuits.
“It appears that Carter removed the computer or computers to prevent investigators, including, ultimately, federal law enforcement personnel, from discovering pornographic material, which may have included pornography relating to young boys, stored on the computer or computers,” the lawsuit states.
Carter delivered the computer to Perlitz in the United States, according to the lawsuit. Authorities later seized the computer, which Perlitz had used to access websites focusing on sexual material relating to boys.
Federal authorities say an investigation is continuing.
The lawsuits say none of the defendants took any steps to protect the children in Perlitz’s care.
“On the contrary, they facilitated Perlitz’s crimes by continuing to provide him money and facilities to run PPT in the face of evidence that Perlitz was maintaining inappropriate relationships with boys in his care,” the lawsuit states.
The Society of Jesus called the crimes “deeply disturbing” but said the school wasn’t a mission of the society, also known as the Jesuits. Telephone messages were left Thursday for the other defendants.
The defendants have sought dismissals of the first lawsuits filed last year.
Fairfield University said it did not retain or employ Perlitz and that Carrier was a volunteer officer of the Haitian school, which is separate from the university. Carrier also called himself a volunteer and argued he’s immune from liability and that there was no evidence he knew of the abuse. Carter’s attorney said there was no allegation that Carter knew of any sexual misconduct by Perlitz or that Carter “consciously assisted” Perlitz’s abuse.
The lawsuits argue that Fairfield University, which is operated by the Jesuits, raised more than $600,000 for the school and hired Perlitz in connection with the Haitian school and was negligent in its duty to supervise him. The suits say the Society of Jesus had the same responsibilities with Carrier, who served as chairman of a fund that ran the school.
Those who were abused by Perlitz told school staff, according to the lawsuit. Carrier and Carter failed to speak to the victims in a setting where they could feel safe about reporting what had happened, the suits say.
The school conducted an investigation after learning of the abuse claims in 2007 and 2008, but that probe was designed to discredit the claims and exonerate Perlitz, according to the lawsuits. Carrier and Carter prevented other school board members from questioning independent witnesses, the lawsuit alleges.
Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for the victims, said the abuse shows rules put into place by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002 were either ignored or ineffective.
Two TSA screeners sent to jail in theft of $40,000 from luggage www.privateofficer.com
NEW YORK NY Jan 12 2012 — Two Transportation Security Administration officers who admitted stealing $40,000 from luggage at a New York City airport are going to jail.
The Queens district attorney’s office says 44-year-old Coumar Persad and 31-year-old Davon Webb were sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail and five years’ probation. Both had pleaded guilty to grand larceny, obstructing governmental administration and official misconduct.
The two TSA officers were based at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Authorities say they swiped the cash after spotting it in a piece of luggage while it was being X-rayed in January 2011. The cash was recovered from their homes.
Persad’s attorney has said his client understands he made a mistake and wishes to move on with his life.
Source:AP
TSA screener returns $5000 found on floor www.privateofficer.com
Newark NJ Jan 12 2012 A Transportation Security Administration agent is being lauded for returning $5,000 in cash that he found on the floor at Newark Liberty International Airport.
John Deschamp tells The Star-Ledger of Newark that he found the cash on Dec. 27 in Newark’s Terminal C. The Star-Ledger writes the cash appeared “as if it had been stuffed in a pocket.”
The Associated Press adds “officials say no security cameras were focused on the area.”
Nonetheless, Deschamp — a “supervisory screening officer” — turned in the cash in the hopes it could be reunited with its owner, according to the Star-Ledger.
“Basically I was just doing my job and I would hope that anybody else would do the same,” Deschamp tells the Star-Ledger. The newspaper writes he “worked with senior citizens and emotionally troubled youth before joining the TSA in 2002.”
Deschamp says he was reluctant to go public with the story, but agreed to do so because of the string of negative stories involving the TSA in recent years.
“It is upsetting,” he says to the Star-Ledger. “It just gets a little tiring, people constantly saying something. ‘You guys are always in the paper for something bad.’ But hopefully, some of the positive things will start getting out. Like my situation.”
As for the cash, it was turned over to United Airlines since it was found near a check-in desk for United’s elite-level customers.
United spokeswoman Mary Ryan tells the Star-Ledger that no one had come forward to identify the cash as of Tuesday. If no one does, the airline says it will use the money for charity.
United States Coast Guard exempting a number of mariners from having to obtain a Transportation Worker Identification Credential www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC Jan 12 2012 Last month, the United States Coast Guard announced that it would be exempting a number of mariners from having to obtain a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) when renewing or obtaining a USCG-issued merchant mariner credential (MMC).
In a policy letter, the Coast Guard said that the exemption will apply to mariners who work on ships that are not required to have a vessel security plan or are not actively sailing on their MMC.
According to the letter, these vessels include:
- Uninspected passenger vessels of less than 100 gross register tons (GRT)
- Vessels inspected under subchapter T of Title 46 Code of Federal Regulations, except those on international voyages
- Towing vessels not involved in towing barges inspected under CFR subchapters D, I or O
- Towing vessels involved in fleeting, docking or ship assist as excepted in Title 33 CFR, Section 104.105(a) (11).
Mariners who are being issued an initial MMC or who have never held a TWIC will still have to enroll for a TWIC at a TWIC enrollment center under the policy.
In a statement, USCG Capt. Eric Christensen said the policy is expected to impact an estimated 60,000 sailors.
The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 allows the Coast Guard to exempt any mariner not requiring unescorted access to a secure area of a vessel from having to hold a TWIC as a precondition of receiving a MMC.
San Jose teacher charged with aggravated sexual assault of child www.privateofficer.com
San Jose CA Jan 12 2012 An elementary school teacher in San Jose was behind bars Tuesday night after police arrested him earlier in the day on suspicion of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
San Jose police arrested Craig Richard Chandler, who teaches a combined class of second and third graders at O.B. Whaley Elementary School on Alvin Avenue in the southeastern part of the city.
Chandler, a 35-year-old San Jose resident, has taught at the school for the past nine years. He was booked into county jail, where he is being held without bail.
Police did not release the age or gender of the alleged victim. Also not revealed is whether the child attended the school where Chandler taught.
He is suspected of committing the felony sexual assault between August and October of last year.
Investigators also are asking that anyone who believes they or their child may also have been victimized by the suspect, or who has information about the case, to contact Detective Sean Pierce in the San Jose Police Department’s Sexual Assaults Unit at 408-537-1395. Anonymous tips can be made by calling 408-947-7867.
Source:sfchronicle.com.
Salmon Run Mall security assaulted by violent intoxicated man www.privateofficer.com
WATERTOWN, N.Y.Jan 12 2012 — A city man is accused of attempting to punch and kick Salmon Run Mall security personnel Tuesday evening, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.
Anthony F. Reid, 21, of 526 Morrison St., was charged with, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and two counts of second-degree harassment.
Deputies said they responded to the mall at 8:13 p.m. after a report of an intoxicated male becoming violent toward security.
Mr. Reid allegedly attempted to kick Eli W. Nutter III in his face and attempted to punch Chad Schermerhorn during the incident, according to court documents.
When deputies arrived, he allegedly struggled by kicking and pulling away as they placed him under arrest, they said.
He was processed at the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building and released with a Jan. 26 appearance ticket in town of Watertown Court.
NC man who looks like Santa Claus arrested on child pornography charges www.privateofficer.com
RALEIGH NC Jan 12 2012 – A local man who looks like Santa Claus, and often plays him, has been arrested on child pornography charges.
Police say 70-year-old John Peters, of Cary, is charged with first degree sexual exploitation of a minor, solicitation by computer and disseminating obscene material to a minor under 16.
The charges stem from incidents earlier this month up until Wednesday.
Court documents show Peters allegedly set up a meeting with a minor at the McDonald’s restaurant on U.S. Highway 64 in Apex Wednesday. That’s where he was arrested around noon by undercover police.
A website devoted to local Santas indicated that Peters often performed as Santa during home and corporate visits. He even drives a Mazda Miata with the personalized license plate of “SANTACAR.”
He’s currently being held on a $1 million bond. He’s been ordered to have no contact with children if he is released on bond.
Source: WTVD
Couple married more than six decades dies 12 hours apart www.privateofficer.com
HANOVER, Pa. Jan 12 2012– Family members say a couple married for more than six decades died 12 hours apart in central Pennsylvania over the weekend.
Eighty-one-year-old Richard Trimmer had been hospitalized after a fall when his children told him Sunday that his wife of 61-years, Nancy, had died in her sleep. Richard Trimmer was dead a few hours later, succumbing to lung cancer.
The couple’s daughter, Missy Smith, tells The York Dispatch that her father seemed to know what had happened the moment his children arrived to deliver the news.
Daughter-in-law Sue Trimmer tells The (Hanover) Evening Sun that the family had recently gathered with Nancy Trimmer, remembering the couple’s courtship and marriage to give her comfort during her husband’s illness.
Sue Trimmer says her mother-in-law didn’t want to be at the home without her husband. She says “God took care of it.”
Fourteen year old boy arrested for breaking into Georgia bank www.privateofficer.com
SMYRNA, Ga., Jan. 12 2012 – A 14-year-old boy was held Wednesday after he broke into a Smyrna, Ga., bank through a window in the middle of the night, drawing a SWAT team, police said.
Police responded just after 2 a.m. to motion-sensing alarms and a camera that showed someone inside the Wells Fargo bank, Cobb County police spokesman Mike Bowman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Officers set up a perimeter outside the bank and brought in a SWAT team. A bomb squad robot helped check the building.
Police saw the teen climbing out of the same back window through which he broke in, Bowman said.
The boy was arrested and charged with burglary. He was being held at the Marietta Regional Youth Detention Center, Bowman said.
Source:www.upi.com
Stop and Shop security officer stabbed www.privateofficer.com
FALL RIVER, Mass.Jan 12 2012 - When a supermarket security officer tried to stop a man from stealing a backpack filled with groceries, the suspect stabbed him, said Fall River Police.
Workers at Stop and Shop on Rodman St. called police Friday night at 9:20 p.m., according to the Fall River Herald News. The loss prevention officer, a 38-year-old man, had just been stabbed in his stomach and left arm.
He’d seen a man putting items in a backpack he was carrying and left the store without paying for the items, Det. J.D. Costa told the Herald News.
When he followed the man out of the store, stopped him and asked him to pay for the items, the suspect shoved him and pulled out a knife, stabbing the loss-prevention officer several times.
The suspect was in his thirties, thin, about 5′ 7″ tall, wearing a dark brown jacket over a black hooded sweatshirt, and a black baseball cap.
Police are now reviewing surveillance video to identify him and find him.
Source: WPRI
Off-duty Ohio police officer helps security nab shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
JACKSON TWP. OH Jan 12 2012 — An off-duty township police officer shopping at the Target store helped store security nab a woman accused of trying to steal DVDs.
Linda J. Farkas, 26, of 3322 37th St. SW, was arrested at 3:18 p.m. Tuesday at the department store at 5584 Dressler Rd. NW, Stark County Jail records said.
Jail records said closed-circuit store security cameras caught her at 2:24 p.m. selecting six DVDs and placing them under clothing in her shopping cart. She was seen going into another aisle, where she then placed the DVDs in her purse.
Jail records said she passed the checkout lanes and, as the store security officer began to approach her, she headed for the restrooms near the exit.
The security officer identified himself.
She responded by shoving him as she tried to escape, the jail records said. He tried to stop her, but she struggled, causing both of them to fall to the ground.
Off-duty Officer Todd Morris, who had been shopping in the store, ran to the security officer’s aid.
Morris helped the security officer detain Farkas until more police officers arrived.
Farkas was booked into the jail on a robbery charge and arrested on a warrant charging her with possession of drug abuse instruments.
She was taken to the jail, where she was arrested on other warrants. She had been wanted on two more counts of possession of drug abuse instruments and on a petty theft warrant.
Source:cantonrep.com
Police charge man with drugs during disturbance at Minneapolis restaurant www/privateofficer.com
Minneapolis MN Jan 12 2012 An Edina man has been charged with possession of cocaine after police say he harassed customers at a downtown Minneapolis restaurant.
Twenty-nine-year-old Angel Ameth Gonzalez-Graves is charged with one count of fifth degree drug possession.
According to the criminal complaint, officers were called to the Seven restaurant on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis just before midnight on Friday, Dec. 30. Witnesses told police that Gonzalez-Graves had been shouting and threatening customers. Security employees escorted him to an elevator, where he began shoving and fighting with them.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found Gonzalez-Graves restrained on the ground by security at the building’s rear entrance, according to the complaint.
Officers arrested the Edina man and searched him, finding a glass vial containing a white substance. Lab tests determined the substance to be 1.4 grams of cocaine.
Gonzalez-Graves was booked into the Hennepin County Jail but was released Monday on bond.
If convicted of the drug charge, Gonzalez-Graves faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Source:kstp
Kohl’s Department Store shoplifter was armed with gun www.privateofficer.com
Lower Nazareth Township PA Jan 12 2012 A Bethlehem man is in Northampton County Prison after he admitted to having a handgun — he did not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon — when he was detained by loss prevention staff at Kohl’s Department Store for shoplifting, according to Colonial Regional Police.
On Jan. 9, police say, Jabiel Tirado, 23, of the 800 block of Ontario Street allegedly tried to steal $52 worth of jewelry from the Kohl’s in Lower Nazareth Township.
When loss prevention staff brought Tirado to a back office, according to police, he admitted to having a handgun. The gun was then secured by Kohl’s staff.
Tirado was arriagned before District Judge Joseph Barner and charged with retail theft and possession of a firearm without a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $5,000 bail.
Chandler AZ men took Target stores for $30,000 in check scam ww.privateofficer.com
Chandler AZ Jan 12 2012 Two men have been arrested in connection with a string of 27 check fraud incidents where they allegedly stole more than $30,000 from Target stores in the East Valley, Chandler police said.
Demetri Novakovich and Ricardo Valle, 35, of Laveen, were arrested Friday at a Target in the 2000 block of N. Arizona Avenue after Novakovich allegedly used a forged check to purchase four Visa gift cards totaling $275, according to a Chandler police report.
The arrest came after two store security guards stopped the pair as they left the store. The guards recognized both suspects when they came into the store from an internal fraud bulletin that had their photos. Novakovich struck one of the guards in the face, police said.
Police said they also found marijuana on Novakovich, as well as two drivers licenses, including one that was illegally altered. He also had 10 Visa Gift cards and another forged check, according to police. Novakovich also had an outstanding out-of-state warrant for theft and fraudulent use of debit devices, police said.
Novakovich and Valle were both booked into the Maricopa County Jail on forgery and conspiracy charges, police said.
Boise trio charged in felony theft scheme www.privateofficer.com
Boise ID Jan 12 2012 Police responded to a report of a theft at a retail store on the 300 block of North Milwaukee yesterday afternoon. Store employees tell police that they witnessed Kenneth Whitehorn enter the store and conduct a price tag switch and return, in order to obtain a gift card.
During the investigation, officers obtained evidence that all three suspects had been involved in similar schemes at at least three different stores in Boise. Using fraudulent means the suspects have obtained, over the last few days, a least $700.00 in gift cards from local merchants. Officers have evidence that indicates the suspects entered the stores with the intent to commit the thefts resulting in the burglary charges.
The investigation into this case continues and officers have evidence that indicates this was an ongoing fraud scheme taking place in the region. Additional charges may be added at a later time and there may be other victims.
Community mourns passing of popular Ada County Sheriff’s officer www.privateofficer.com
Ada County ID Jan 12 2012 The community is mourning the loss of a popular Ada County Sheriff’s officer and longtime school resource officer at Kuna High School.
James Femrite died this weekend of natural causes.
“He was a tall, gentle giant,” said Ron Emry, building administrator at Kuna High. “He looked intimidating but he was really quiet, reserved, laid-back and unassuming. He had a real good way of working with kids. He did a great job for us, a great human being, a great guy.”
Femrite was assigned to be a school resource officer at Kuna in 1987. He spent the remainder of his career as a detective and never tested for sergeant, saying that he was happy doing what he was doing. Femrite worked as the Kuna school resource officer until about 2001.
A celebration of Femrite’s life will be at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 13, at the Boise City Police Association Clubhouse, 7311 West Potomac Drive, Boise.
Source: Kuna Melba News
