Ohio police force shut down after police use Taser on 9-year-old boy www.privateofficer.com

 

 

MOUNT STERLING, Ohio March 12 2012 – A Mount Sterling police officer apparently Tasered a 9-year-old boy earlier this week, prompting a shut-down of the entire force.

Long-embattled Police Chief Mike McCoy has been suspended, and officers that were being used on a part-time basis are no longer working, Council President Lowell Anderson said.

Village Administrator Joe Johnson refused to release the report on what the village is calling “an incident involving use of force.” Mayor Charlie Neff said in a prepared statement only that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has been asked to investigate what happened.

Madison County Prosecutor Steve Pronai, however, said police were called on Tuesday to an apartment on S. Market Street in the Madison County village. The caller, Michelle Perry, said her son, Jared, refused to go to school. From there, Pronai said he doesn’t know much about it except that the situation escalated and Officer Scott O’Neil used his Taser.

Pronai had little information beyond that, and said BCI will handle it moving forward.

Anderson said that even though the incident happened on Tuesday, village officials didn’t find out about it until late Wednesday night or early Thursday. Neff’s statement said McCoy was suspended for not informing him of the incident.

McCoy’s cell phone has been disconnected so he could not be reached for comment.

With the disbanding of the police force, Madison County Sheriff Jim Sabin said he has been called to temporarily take over patrol of the village. Sabin said Neff has changed the locks at Village Hall and the sheriff has taken the police department’s weapons and computers just to secure them, not because they are part of any investigation.

The council will meet Monday night to decide its next steps, Anderson said.

The police force has been under fire for some time. Council disbanded the department in August, saying the force had been mismanaged and there was not enough money to make payroll.

But they kept McCoy on as chief. Then, private donations allowed some officers to come back part-time in September.

Waikiki security officer stops stabbing at retails store www.privateofficer.com

 

 

WAIKIKI, Hawaii March 12 2012– A 25-year-old man is in serious condition in a stabbing following Waikiki early Saturday morning, police said.

About 4:30 a.m., officers said they responded to a call about a stabbing near a McDonald’s restaurant on Kuhio and Lewers streets.

There’s no word yet on what happened or whether someone was arrested.

Shortly before 3 a.m., police said an assault had them responding to the Waikiki Trade Center.

Police said a 49-year-old man was working at a retail store when a 21-year-old man walked in and suddenly started attacking the victim with a dangerous instrument.

A security officer and a co-worker intervened and disarmed the man, police said.

According to the police report, the co-worker flagged a passing patrol officer as the 21-year-old man ran out of the store. He was arrested about 3:20 a.m., officers said.

The victim suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene, police said.

Police said they don’t think the two incidents are related.

Source:www.kitv.com

Police arrest suspect in shooting of judge, deputy sheriff www.privateofficer.com

 

 

MONTESANO, Wash.March 12 2012 – The suspect in Friday’s attack on a sheriff’s deputy and a judge at the Grays Harbor County Courthouse Friday was arrested at his mother’s home in Olympia on Saturday.

Steven Daniel Kravetz. 34, was arrested without incident, Undersheriff Rick Scott said.

Scott said Kravetz was living in the home with his mother, Roberta. She had no idea what he is suspected of doing until Saturday, and when she found out, she called police.

The deputy’s weapon was found inside the home.

The chain of events began at 12:10 p.m., when sheriff’s deputy Polly Davin confronted a suspicious person in the courthouse building. The man attacked Davin with a sharp object.

Superior Court Judge Dave Edwards saw what was happening and came to Davin’s aid, pushing the attacker against a wall. The attacker then stabbed Edwards.

When Davin attempted to draw her firearm, the attacker knocked her to the ground and took the weapon away from her, then shot her in the shoulder.

Edwards and Davin were taken to the hospital and were released hours later.

The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday that after the attack, Kravetz ran out of the courthouse and over to a nearby attorney’s office. Once there he called his mother. She picked him up, and 24 hours later led police to him.

Scott said the attorney was critical to the investigation and helped identify Kravetz as the suspect.

Deputies have had contact with Kravetz in the past, one in 2005 for a domestic violence offense. He has been in the courthouse before but he was not listed on any court dockets on Friday. Deputies have no idea why he was there or why he attacked.

Kravetz is being held in the Mason County Jail.

Cost-cutting takes a toll on suburban police www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Mesa AZ March 12 2012 Five times a day, Mesa police detention officers drive to downtown Phoenix to book suspects while Maricopa County’s former satellite jail sits shuttered and empty just a few miles from the Mesa police station.

Glendale police take defendants downtown 24 times a week, or 1,248 times a year, while another county jail facility sits idle in nearby Surprise.

In Tempe, city detention officers typically spend two hours on each jail run to Phoenix, including transportation time and time spent waiting for suspects to be booked. They make several runs a day.

It’s a constant shuttle with a hefty price tag, as vans full of misdemeanor suspects from communities as far flung as Gilbert and Wickenburg make the trek to Maricopa County’s Fourth Avenue jail.

During the 2010-11 fiscal year, the Valley’s eight largest suburbs paid more than $16 million to Maricopa County for the cost of booking and housing misdemeanor suspects.

This year, the costs are expected to climb to $20 million because of a recently announced 25 percent rate increase imposed by the county.

Four years ago, Sheriff Joe Arpaio closed the county’s satellite jails as a cost-cutting measure. The move shifted costs from the county to the cities and took police resources away from other vital tasks, the Valley police chiefs say.

Now, the new increase has prompted Valley chiefs, some individually and some collectively, to look for new options, some of which could cut the Sheriff’s Office out of the equation altogether.

A new model?
“We have to find a different business model. This one, we can’t control,” Mesa Police Chief Frank Milstead said.

To reduce daily prisoner costs, Surprise Police Chief Mike Frazier said his agency is having officers cite suspects when possible rather than arresting them, as long as they do not pose a public-safety threat.

“Just looking at dollars and cents, it’s a heck of a lot less expensive to just cite them because the minute you put them in jail you’ve just spent right off the bat well over $300,” he said.

In the East Valley, meanwhile, several plans are ciruculating among police chiefs that include:

Dusting off an old Mesa plan to solicit bids to build and run a private jail.

Renting the closed Mesa jail from the county, renovating it and re-opening it as a regional East Valley booking and detention facility.

Pooling existing jail resources in several East Valley cities to cut the number of defendants transported to Phoenix..

The original request for proposals for a private jail, obtained by The Arizona Republic through a public-records request, listed Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert and Scottsdale as participating partners.

“I think it’s very doable,” Milstead said. “It has a lot of potential.”

The initial plan never got off the ground, partly for political reasons after an inmate escaped from a privately run state prison near Kingman and was charged with killing a couple in New Mexico.

“We did not think it was a good time” to pursue a privately-run booking facility, even if it housed lower-risk suspects, Milstead said.

Evaluating costs
A county consultant is re-evaluating staffing and use of all county facilities, including the closed satellite jails in Mesa, Avondale and Surprise, said Mike Olson, the Sheriff’s Office’s director of detention services.

Olson said it is possible that the closed jails could be reopened, but they would have to be renovated and staffed. Those satellite jails are only holding facilities, and defendants would still need to be taken downtown eventually, a cost the Sheriff’s Office would have to reassume.

“The biggest hurdle would be the staff to put out there,” Olson said, adding that about 15 detention officers would be needed to open the Mesa jail alone. There also are other costs and liability issues , such as providing medical care for defendants, some 60 to 70 percent of whom are under the influence of alcohol or drugs when they are booked.

Among the issues the consultant is expected to address is whether reopening the booking areas of satellite jails would increase the efficiency of Sheriff’s Office operations, said Lee Ann Bohn, the county’s deputy budget director.

Although the county is not required to pay the cost of transporting suspects arrested by city police to the downtown jail, it might improve the justice system’s efficiency, she said.

The satellite jails began opening in the 1980s during a push to decentralize county government and provide services to the Valley’s sprawling population.

Voters approved a $260 million bond issue in 1986 that built the county’s Southeast Regional Complex, which includes a courthouse, a Clerk of Courts Office, a Recorder’s Office, a satellite jail, a juvenile jail and a sheriff’s substation.

The Mesa jail also has two pods that were once capable of housing up to 120 inmates.

Facilities in Avondale and Surprise were built later.

Arpaio closed all of the facilities and reassigned the staff downtown in November 2007 after concluding they were a drain on his budget. At the time, he argued that the move made sense in light of the 2002 voter approval of a jail tax that called for centralization of the Maricopa County Superior Court and financed the Fourth Avenue Jail.

While the move may have helped Arpaio’s budget, Valley chiefs say it’s been a strain on theirs.

Tempe’s Ryff said that beyond jail-fee increases, his city still must pick up the secondary costs, such as gas for transporting defendants, the salaries of detention officers and the time consumed by the booking process.

“There’s not much more I can give up from my operating budget without seriously affecting public safety,” he said.

Source:Tucson Citizen

Escondido shoplifter subdued by force www.privateofficer.com

 

 

ESCONDIDO CA March 12 2012 —- Police used pepper spray to subdue an armed man who resisted officers as they were trying to detain him on suspicion of shoplifting Saturday afternoon, an official said.

Escondido police responded at 3:30 p.m. to a report of shoplifting at a business in the 300 block of West Washington Avenue, Lt. Greg Ellis said.

The man ran from security officials at the business and they gave chase, Ellis said. Police caught up with the man near the intersection of Mission Avenue and Centre City Parkway.

Officers tried to detain the suspected shoplifter and he resisted them, Ellis said. During the struggle, the man appeared to be reaching for a knife he had in his waistband, Ellis said.

Police used pepper spray to subdue the man, then arrested him on suspicion of petty theft and resisting arrest, Ellis said. Authorities took the suspect to a hospital for treatment of scrapes on his face.

No officers were hurt in the scuffle, Ellis said.

Source:www.nctimes.com/

Orlando security officer shot multiple times www.privateofficer.com

 

 

ORLANDO, Fla. March 12 2012– Police were investigating a shooting at Señor Frogs restaurant on International Drive on Sunday.

A security guard for the restaurant was shot while trying to break up a fight between the shooter and another person, investigators said.

Police said the shooter was arrested after a short chase on foot by off-duty deputies working at the restaurant. He was booked into the Orange County Jail.

Officers said 37-year old Terence Lanar Rush of Sanford is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting arrest with violence.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Rush was intoxicated and harassed several servers in the restaurant.

Detectives said a restaurant security officer, whose name has not been released, approached Rush, who allegedly “shot at the male several times in the lower extremities.”

The victim was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center with injuries that are not life threatening, and no one else was injured in the incident.

Officials said Rush will likely face a judge Monday morning at the jail.

Florida Department of Corrections records show that he was in a state prison from 1997 to 2001 for crimes in Seminole County, including aggravated assault on a law officer or firefighter, aggravated fleeing from a law officer, carrying a concealed firearm and possession of cocaine.

Source:www.wesh.com

Off-duty Cleveland police officer kills man in armed incident www.privateofficer.com

 

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio March 12 2012– Cleveland police are investigating the early Saturday fatal shooting downtown of a 20-year-old man by an off-duty Cleveland police officer who said the man was reaching for a handgun.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office and attorney Terry Gilbert identified the dead man as Kenneth Smith, 20, of Euclid. Gilbert said he was contacted by the family to look into the death.

Sgt. Sammy Morris said Third District patrolman Roger Jones, 38, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

At 2:50 a.m., the off-duty policeman saw a fight in the parking lot of Wilbert’s Bar on Bolivar Avenue, Morris said.

“During the incident, the officer observed a male in a gold Saturn discharging a handgun,” Morris said in a news release. “After discharging the weapon the vehicle fled from the parking lot northbound on East Ninth Street.”

Jones, who was hired in October 2007, chased the car on foot and called the police radio room from his cell phone. He had his uniform on underneath a jacket, which he removed as he was running, Morris said.

At East Ninth and Prospect Avenue, other police arrived and stopped the car, which had three men inside. Police ordered the men out. The driver, 19, and rear passenger, 20, obliged.

“The off-duty officer observed a handgun by the male, broke the window out and ordered the male several times to put his hands up,” Morris said, referring to the front seat passenger who remained in the car. “The male did not comply, reached for the handgun and the officer discharged his weapon hitting the male once in the head.”

Smith was taken by EMS to MetroHealth Medical Center, where he died.

The two other people were arrested and placed in the city jail to await charges.

Jones received a minor injury to his leg as a result of breaking out the window of the vehicle.

Gilbert said he wants to see a thorough investigation.

“This calls for a committed investigation by the use of deadly force unit,” he said. “The family hopes they take it seriously and not just accept the police version of events.”

Gilbert said the family told him that Smith was at Wilbert’s and left.

“Security officers at the club will confirm he did not have a gun in the club or when he left,” Gilbert said. “What puzzles me is why an off-duty cop took over the main role in the incident when there were uniformed, on-duty police at the scene.

“Why did this off-duty cop go all Lone Ranger and kick out a window to get the kid out?” Gilbert asked. “It seems odd that a police officer would be so aggressive.”

Gilbert said Smith is an only child and a recent graduate of Euclid High School with no criminal record who was trying to get a job at the post office.

“He had a promising career in music,” Gilbert said. “He was supposed to go to Columbus [Saturday] to record a rap video.”

Sex offender arrested for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy inside a library www.privateofficer.com

 

Santa Ana CA March 12 2012 A registered sex offender was behind bars in Santa Ana today on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy inside a library restroom in Tustin.

Robert Howard Claudio, 23, of Anaheim, allegedly attacked the victim at the Orange County Library, 345 E. Main St., about 3:30 p.m. Friday, Tustin police Lt. Pat Welch said.

The boy left the library and told a security guard what happened, Welch said.

Claudio also approached the guard, Welch said.

“The suspect actually approached the civilian officer and identified himself as a registered sex offender and said that something had just occurred in the library and that he may be involved in it,” Welch told KCAL9.

Police detained Claudio, who was identified by the boy and arrested, Welch said.

Claudio was expected to be booked on suspicion of sodomy of a minor and committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child younger than 14, Welch said.

Source:NBCLA

Sioux City casino fined $20,000 for allowing minor on the gaming floor www.privateofficer.com

 

 

 

SIOUX CITY, Iowa March 12 2012– A slot player who hit a $3,601 jackpot at the Argosy Sioux City last fall never got the chance to collect his winnings.

That’s because when casino officials asked for his identification to process the pay-out, it was discovered the player was underage, according to Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission documents.

The commission on Thursday ratified a settlement with Argosy that requires the floating casino to pay a $20,000 penalty for allowing the minor on the gaming floor.

Iowa law bars anyone under 21 from entering a casino or making a wager.

The minor and an adult companion walked through Argosy’s main entrance at about 11 p.m. on Oct. 8, according to the commission. Security posted at turnstiles didn’t ask for ID.

“Over the next two hours, the minor walked through the gaming floor and played numerous slot machines,” according to the commission. “Surveillance coverage showed he had direct contact with many facility employees, however was not asked for identification.”

After the minor hit the jackpot, the slot attendant discovered the player’s age. The attendant contacted security, which then notified the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. DCI agents escorted the minor out of the casino. The minor is not identified in documents.

Under state law, any jackpot of more than $1,200 requires identification before it can be paid out.

Source:wcfcourier.com

Cook County judge arrested for assaulting deputy sheriff www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Cook County IL March 12 2012 A Cook County judge was free Saturday following her arrest for allegedly shoving a sheriff’s deputy and tossing a set of keys toward another at a security checkpoint in the Daley Center on Friday.

Judge Cynthia Brim — who presides in the county courthouse in Markham — approached deputies about 4:45 p.m. and, without identifying herself, asked if they had found any keys, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesman Frank Bilecki.

Deputies showed her three sets of keys that had been left at the checkpoint and Brim claimed a set and walked away, Bilecki said.

10 minutes later, the judge returned and, without explanation, tossed the keys toward one deputy and shoved another in the chest with both hands, according to Bilecki.

The deputies handcuffed Brim, placed her under arrest and took her to the detention area in the Daley Center, which is a Cook County Circuit Court complex. She was charged with misdemeanor battery and released on bail Friday evening, Bilecki said.

Brim’s arrest followed a Thursday incident in which she apparently went on an extended tirade while on the bench in a Markham courtroom.

Brim, a “floating judge” who fills in for other judges, was hearing traffic cases from South Holland when she began behaving erratically, according to sources.

Markham Acting Presiding Judge Brian Flaherty eventually asked Brim to leave the courtroom and she complied, sources said. Because it happened in traffic court, there was no recording or transcript made of what Brim said.

Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ office later released a statement saying he was looking into the Thursday incident.

In May 2010, Brim was one of four judges Evans reassigned and paired with mentor judges because their judicial conduct had been questioned.

The move came after a Fox Chicago News/Better Government Association investigation showed some Cook County judges were leaving court earlier than they were supposed to.

Evans could not be reached Saturday to comment on Brim’s arrest.

In 2006, the last time Brim was up for retention, she was one of three judges out of 71 on the ballot that the Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Council of Lawyers agreed should not be retained.

Source:tribune.com

Ga. police conduct “Traffic Control Point” on Interstate 85-make 59 arrests www.privateofficer.com

 

 

 

COLUMBUS, Ga. March 12 2012 
Police conducted a traffic control point on I-185 South, Saturday that land dozens in jail.

Just South of the Smiths Road exit on I-185 traffic was moving, but not at normal speed, as police held a traffic control point, checking vehicles for illegal activity.

“If we do stop you, certainly we’d have reason to stop you and the officers just investigate from there,” says Captain Gil Slouchick with the Special Operations Unit of the Columbus Police Department.

About 25 officers from numerous agencies worked most of the day and arrested 59 people on more than 100 charges, like driving without insurance or a suspended license.

“We’ve got probably close to 10 pounds of marijuana, about two or three ounces of crack cocaine, some ecstasy, steroids,” Slouchick said Saturday.

Drug-sniffing dogs were used to sniff out more than $50,000 marijuana, along with other drugs like LSD and mushrooms.

One man, 37-year-old Terrence Clanzy, was arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Last year was the first time in at least 10 years that police held a traffic control point that resulted in 62 arrests.

“We got 85 grams of methamphetamine off of one individual last year, over 55 grams of methamphetamine off another individual last year,” Slouchick says about last year’s efforts.

Columbus Police say after the results of the two recent traffic control points, it’s possible there will be another one next year.

In the meantime, authorities have a message to everyone: “Don’t bring drugs to Columbus. We don’t want them here,” Slouchick says.

Participating agencies were the Columbus Police Department, Harris and Muscogee Counties Sheriff Offices, Georgia State Patrol, Metro Narcotics Task Force and the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Source:wrbl

Columbia County School police chief dies battling cancer www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Evans, Ga.March 12 2012–Columbia County School Safety Chief has died after battling cancer.

68-year-old Robert “Buddy” Hendry died Saturday afternoon.

Funeral services will be held at 4:00 PM on Tuesday, March 13 at West Acres Baptist Church with Dr. John Bryan officiating. Interment with honors to follow in Bellevue Memorial Gardens.

Buddy Hendry worked for 28 years as a Florida State Trooper before retiring to move to Georgia.

Hendry came to Georgia in 1993 and continued his law enforcement career with the Columbia County Board of Education.

According to his obituary at Platt’s Funeral Home, Hendry was a member of the American Association of State Troopers, Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, and Martinez United Methodist Church. Hendry was an avid hunter and enjoyed his time with his hunting friends.

He is survived by his parents, wife, and children.

Pallbearers will be the Columbia County Board of Education School Safety Officers.

Memorials may be made to Martinez United Methodist Church, 3614 Washington Road, Martinez, GA 30907.

The family will receive friends at Platt’s funeral home on Monday evening, March 12, 2012 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.

Baltimore police officer-daughter arrested in theft incident at grocery store www.privateofficer.com

 

 

 

BALTIMORE MD March 12 2012 (AP) – Baltimore police say an officer has been suspended after her daughter, who worked as supermarket cashier, allegedly charged her mother about $100 for more than $400 in groceries.

Police say 41-year-old Darlene Early was charged after a security guard at the Food Depot on Belair Road noticed her daughter, 18-year-old Ciara Anderson, was incorrectly entering prices. A police report said the total bill should have been $401.86 and Early was charged $101.28.

Police say Early has been charged with attempted theft and Anderson has been charged with conspiracy to commit theft. Both charges are misdemeanors.

Police say Early, who joined the force in 1990, was assigned to a detective unit. She has been suspended and an internal affairs investigation is pending.

Myrtle Beach shoplifter tries concealing propane tank in backpack www.privateofficer.com

 

MYRTLE BEACH, SC March 12 2012 One man found himself behind bars Saturday night after he allegedly concealed multiple items from a Myrtle Beach Walmart within a backpack he found in the store.

An incident report obtained by WMBF News states that officers responded to Walmart on Seaboard Street in Myrtle Beach shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday in reference to a reported shoplifting in progress.

A witness told police they observed the suspect selecting a backpack from the display, removing its tags and then concealing other items from the store in the backpack and in his pockets.

Responding officers found the suspect in the sporting goods section of Walmart where most of the concealed items could be found. The officers searched the suspect for weapons and detained him while reviewing surveillance footage that shows the suspect attempting to conceal the items.

All of the items the suspect was attempting to steal on the video were found in the backpack, except for two other items the officers found in his pockets, the report states.

The concealed items include flashlights, propane tanks, fishing line, fishing line cutters and the backpack.

The suspect, 38-year-old Allan William Anderson, was arrested and charged with shoplifting first degree.

Source:wmbf