Wingate University student invents smart phone breathalyzer www.privateofficer.com

 

 

CHARLOTTE, NC March 18 2012 - Wingate University student Ben Biron has just invented what could very well be The Next Big Thing, and he is only 23 years old.

“To you, it might sound fast with the business, but for me, I feel like I’m behind,” Biron says, deadpan.

Here’s betting he won’t feel like that for long. He says he’s invented the world’s first smartphone breathalyzer.

He calls it the Alcohoot, and a video at http://www.alcohoot.com shows how it works.

“The Alcohoot connects to your smartphone using Bluetooth, and the Alcohoot app processes your blood alcohol content,” the video voice-over explains. Then the app uses your gender, weight, age and height to determine whether you’ve had too much to drink.

“Once you have the hardware, there are so many things you can do with the application that can really, really save people’s lives,” Biron says. “We have everything we need ready, we’re waiting for the investors, and there are a lot of offers right now.”

But this is about more than getting rich young. Every day in the U.S., dozens of people die in alcohol-related crashes. If Biron can help change that…well, that’s when he’ll feel he’s on the fast-track.

Source:wbtv.com

Man wearing bra and wig arrested at Everett Community College www.privateofficer.com

 

 

EVERETT, Wash.March 18 2012 - A man wearing a bra and wig was arrested Friday after he was spotted in a women’s bathroom at Everett Community College, police said.

Officers responded to the scene at about 1:30 p.m. after a college staff member said she saw the man go into the women’s rest room and alerted security personnel.

An investigation found that the suspect had gone into the rest room while two women were inside, according to a police report. The women were later interviewed and said they had no idea that the man was there.

When police interviewed the man, he claimed that he had gone into the bathroom to use the facilities.

But the investigating officer noted that the man was wearing a wig and bra. A search also turned up a pair of woman’s panties in his front pocket, according to the police report.

The man, later identified as Taylor J. Buehler, 18, of Lake Stevens, was placed under arrest.

He admitted to officers that he was the suspect in an earlier voyeurism incident at Everett Community College on Monday, police said.

In the earlier incident, he said he took a shower in the girls’ locker room for sexual gratification, acccording to the police report.

Source:www.seattlepi.com

Two people arrested in Dothan AL Lowe’s store robbery www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Dothan AL March 18 2012 Two people have been charged in connection with a strong armed robbery which occurred on Jan. 16 at the Lowe’s located at 2671 Ross Clark Circle.

Tasha Leigh Miller, 35, of Montgomery Highway, and Richard Allan Brannon, 44, also of Montgomery Highway, are both charged with first-degree robbery and have had their bails set at $60,000.

They were arrested after an investigation into the armed robbery incident, which occurred after Lowe’s security members saw a man and woman take a drill out of packaging and put it into a purse, along with a knife which the male put in his pocket.

When confronted by security, the male punched a Lowe’s employee in the face and then pulled out the knife before fleeing, possibly in a white, two door Mitsubishi.

According to the Dothan City Jail docket both Brannon and Miller were also charged with felony manufacture of a controlled substance and felony unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

Source:dothaneagle.com

Edmonton mall group fight leads to stabbing www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Edmonton Ca March 18 2012 A stabbing at a busy food court in a southside mall Saturday morning has left an Edmonton man in hospital.

Police say around 11:15 a.m. a man was stabbed during an altercation near the food court in Mill Woods Town Centre.

He was rushed to hospital with what police are calling serious injuries.

A man with a knife sticking out of his side, staggered through Mill Woods Town Centre Saturday morning, to the shock of onlookers.

Witnesses say the man had been stabbed after a scuffle between two groups of youths in the food court of the busy southside mall around 11:15 a.m.

Cops say the victim was rushed to the University of Alberta hospital where he is in serious but stable condition.

Dennis Stewart says he was having a coffee in the food court when the victim walked past him with a knife in his side.

He described the weapon as having four finger holes on the handle.

“I saw the guy with the knife in his side. He had his shirt up and this thing was sticking out of his ribs,” he said.

“It all happened so fast, I was so upset. I couldn’t even tell you what he was wearing.”

Stewart said the man walked down the mall over to the security desk, with the knife still sticking out of his side.

An elderly couple, who didn’t want to be named, was sitting just two tables away from where the brutal brawl broke out.

The man said two groups of “kids” started yelling at each other, and the dispute quickly escalated into pushing and shoving.

The couple got up to leave, and that’s when they said they heard one guy scream and saw everyone else scatter.

The pair, like many seniors in the area, often come to the mall to do some walking, get some coffee and talk to friends.

But the experience had left them feeling nervous.

“These are just kids,” said the man. “Where are their parents?”

Most of the food court was blocked off by police for several hours as investigators looked over the scene and talked to witnesses.

Dozens of toddlers played on an indoor playground, just metres from where the stabbing occurred, seemingly unaware that anything sinister had occurred.

A pool of blood could be seen beside the information booth, where the man collapsed.

A woman working at a jewellery store just steps from where the victim fell said word of the stabbing spread quickly around the mall.

She declined to give her name, but said that speculation among those working in the mall was that two groups of males got into an argument, and it quickly escalated.

One group started it, but the other one finished it, she said.

Security guards later intently stared at the video monitors, going over the surveillance footage of the attack.

Although a youth was seen being escorted from the mall later, police said only they had suspect information.

They did not confirm they had somebody in custody.

After the knifing, Stewart continued to sip on his coffee, but it was clear the morning’s events had rattled him.

He says it’s a usual ritual that he enjoys, coming to the mall for a cup of coffee, and to chat with friends.

“I am upset, and really shook up. If you can’t feel safe having a cup of coffee in the mall, where can you?”

Source:sunmedia.ca

Myrtle Beach security officer assaulted www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Myrtle Beach SC Mar 18 2012 A security guard at Broadway at the Beach was punched early Saturday morning, according to a police report.
Just before 3 a.m. the security guard told Myrtle Beach police a man had been standing on the wall and asked him to get down. According to the police report, the man told the guard no because he was drinking and could do what he wanted. The 21-year-old from Manchester, Mass. came down and the security guard told him to get in a cab and leave, but he didn’t listen.
Michael Leo Loesher was told he would be detained for public intoxication. Police said that’s when he turned around and punched the security guard in the right side of his face. The guard sprayed Loesher with pepper spray and detained him until police arrive.

Once on scene, Loesher told police he didn’t know the man he hit was a security guard.
Loesher was charged with assault and battery in the third degree.
The 23-year-old guard did not have any visible injuries and there was no video surveillance of the incident.

Bayside State Prison officer arrested for smuggling drugs into facility www.privateofficer.com

 

 

MAURICE RIVER NJ March 18 2012 — A corrections officer was charged Friday with bringing drugs into Bayside State Prison, ending a seven-month investigation involving several law enforcement organizations.

Nazair Bey, 36, of Pittsgrove was placed on unpaid leave after the arrest, according to the state Department of Corrections. He was being held on bail late Friday in Cumberland County Jail.
Bey was bringing controlled dangerous substances into the Leesburg prison for distribution among inmates, according to a news release from the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office. Authorities did not disclose the type of drugs or how the alleged smuggling was discovered.
The charges against Bey are drug possession, distribution, conspiracy to distribute and official misconduct. Official misconduct is a second-degree offense, while the drug-related charges are third-degree offenses.
State Superior Court Judge Robert P. Becker Jr. initially set bail at $150,000 cash, then lowered it to 10 percent of $50,000, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Corrections Department spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer said Bey was hired in January 2001 and assigned to South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, until he was transferred to Bayside in 2006.
He was earning $74,940 a year as a senior corrections officer, public records show.
Detectives from the Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime Bureau and members of the Corrections department’s Special Investigation Division arrested Bey. The county Sheriff’s Department, New Jersey State Police, Bridgeton police and Millville police took part in the investigation.

Source:the daily journal

Colorado State Patrol promotes woman to lieutenant colonel www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Denver CO March 18 2012 A female trooper made history today at the Colorado State Patrol.

The department announced today that Major Brenda Leffler is being promoted to lieutenant colonel — a rank no other woman has reached during the 76 year history of the department.

Before joining the State Patrol, Leffler was a noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Army and the National Guard between 1987 and 1997.

She joined the department in 1993, starting her career as a trooper in Golden.

In 2002 Leffler was promoted to sergeant in Gilpin County. Just three years later she became a captain and then served as commander and major for the homeland security section of the patrol.

Most recently, Leffler was a liaison to the executive command

Trooper Michael R. K. “Piney” Harris’ Purple Heart Award with Chief James Wolfinbarger(right), Chief of the Colorado State Patrol (Photo provided by the Colorado State Patrol)staff and the Office of the Chief.

“Lt. Colonel Leffler becomes an integral part of accomplishing our Strategic Plan, Intelligence-Led Policing plans and other pressing challenges facing the patrol today,” said Colonel James Wolfinbarger, Chief of the CSP.

Leffler replaces Lt. Colonel Anthony Padilla — the first Latino in that position — who retires in April.

During the same ceremony, another trooper, Michael R. K. “Piney” Harris received the department’s purple heart award for overcoming injuries sustained on-duty in late 2009.

The award has been presented previously to only five other Colorado State Patrol members.

Harris was injured in October 2009 while conducting a traffic stop on U.S. 6 west of Golden.

The man who Harris pulled over assaulted him and as he drove away dragged Harris for an unspecified distance.

The man already had two warrants, and was later arrested, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.

Harris underwent surgeries and a year of physical therapy and was only recently able to return to full duty in November.

“Trooper Harris’ dedication to duty and his willingness to sacrifice his safety and well-being in the performance of his duties on behalf of the people of the State of Colorado is commendable,” read todays announcement.

Source:www.denverpost.com

Former Alabama state trooper charged with felony theft and ethics charges www.privateofficer.com

 

 

MOBILE, Alabama –March 18 2012
Attorney General Luther Strange announced the arrest today of another former state trooper for felony theft and ethics charges. Terry Stallworth, 49, of Mobile, surrendered today at the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office. His arrest comes a month after the arrests of two other former state troopers and a former custodian for a trooper post.

Stallworth had been assigned to the Mobile office of the Department of Public Safety, as had been one of the troopers arrested last month. The other trooper and the custodian had been assigned to the Tuscaloosa State Trooper Post.

Attorney General Strange’s Office presented evidence to a Mobile County grand jury on March 1, 2012, resulting in the indictment of Stallworth. Specifically, the indictment charges Stallworth with:

Second-degree theft of gasoline valued at more than $500, occurring and continuing between the approximate dates of December 1, 2010 and March 8, 2011; and
Use of his official public position as an Alabama State Trooper for unlawful personal gain to himself or a family member, the gain being gasoline.
No further information about the investigation or about Stallworth’s alleged crimes other than that stated in the indictment may be released at this time.

Second-degree theft is a class C felony, punishable by one year and a day, to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $15,000. Use of official position for personal gain, a violation of the state ethics law, is a class B felony, punishable by two to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $30,000.

Attorney General Strange commended those involved in the case, noting the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, Assistant Attorney General Pete Smyczek and Deputy Attorney General Mike Duffy of the Attorney General’s Public Corruption and White Collar Crime Division.

Source:AL.com

Mobile County District Attorney wants to arm school security officers www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Mobile AL March 18 2012

Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich wants to arm all 12 of Mobile County’s school resource officers. School resource officers provide law enforcement and police services to schools, school grounds, and areas adjacent to schools. Before 2006, Mobile County’s school resource officers did carry guns. The state administrative code does not allow for armed resource officers, and a shooting in Birmingham led the state Board of Education to force Mobile to comply.

The reason the District Attorney is pushing this idea now is that there were shots fired yesterday at Leflore High School. Around 11:00 AM 3 suspects opened fire on two Leflore students. Luckily the targeted students were unharmed, but the suspects go away. The three suspects have since been identified and charges are pending. DA Rich wants some form of protect for students who become sitting ducks anytime someone decides to attack a school.

Gun violence at schools has become all to common in the past decade. A number of high profile school attacks have occurred in the past few years, including the attacks on Columbine High School and the incident at Virginia Tech. Could a similar attack be thwarted by armed school resource officers?

Student safety is obviously the number one priority in play, but we must be careful not to over react and take security to far. We do not want our schools to be run like a police state. However, arming school resource officers seems like a good start towards securing the safety of our children. The number of problems that could arise from doing so is minimal. The Director of Security Service for Mobile County Public Schools, Bill Duffy, claims to only hire those with strong military and law enforcement backgrounds to become school resource officers. Duffy supports the measure as well.

In order for this idea to become a reality the state administrative code must be amended. Attempts have been made in the past to do just that, but thus far to no avail. The school shooting at Leflore and the threat of one at Fairhope High School may be enough publicity to get the state school board to change its mind.

Iowa woman points gun at Staples office supply employees www.privateofficer.com

 

 

BOISE IAMarch 18 2012 – Police arrested a woman who reportedly walked into a Staples office supply store and threatened employees with a gun.

Employees at the store on Eagle Road and Chinden Boulevard say they called police when 58-year-old Cynthia Clinkingbeard made strange, threatening comments to three workers and pulled out a handgun.

They were able to give police a description of the vehicle the woman drove away in. An Ada County sheriff’s deputy spotted the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop.

Because they assumed Clinkingbeard was armed, officers shut down traffic in both directions on Eagle Road as a safety precaution.

Two other adults were inside the vehicle. Police say they were unaware of what had happened in the Staples store.

Clinkingbeard faces an aggravated assault charge. She was booked into the Ada County Jail.

Capital Crossroads and the Discovery Security Network helps keep Columbus safe www.privateofficer.com

 

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio March 18 2012- A block away from the downtown campus of Miami-Jacobs Career College where four people were stabbed Wednesday, a security organization is in place to help supplement law enforcement, CrimeTracker 10’s Jeff Hogan reported Friday.

The headquarters of the non-profit Capital Crossroads and the Discovery Security Network are located on Third Street and serve as an electronic communications link between private security and public safety officials downtown.

“We’re at their fingertips, and we can respond within seconds most of the time,” said Lisa Defendiefer of Capital Crossroads.

The network covers 80 square blocks with funding from about 750 businesses and four downtown college campuses, including the Columbus College of Art and Design.

To participate in the Security Network, members must supply some level of security-related services downtown.

When the news of the stabbings spread on Wednesday, college administrators downtown said that their phones lit up because people heard the word “college” but did not know what college was involved, Hogan reported.

“How things rolled out (Wednesday) was good reassurance to me of the value of these kinds of partnerships and these kinds of cooperative relationships,” Dwayne Todd of CCAD said.

CCAD has its own security force, but with state-of-the-art technology, the supplemental security network connected them instantly with the events taking place at Miami-Jacobs, Hogan reported.

“We had details of that incident right away instead of having to call around to police, ‘Can you tell me is the subject apprehended? How many people were injured? What was the weapon?’” Todd said.

The information from the network allowed students to continue with classes uninterrupted, Hogan reported.

“I don’t know that any neighborhood in the city or the region that has the resources that we have down here,” Defendiefer said.

On a typical day, there could be up to a dozen network “ambassadors” on duty for the safety network, Hogan reported.

Former Modesto police officer arrested for sex crimes www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Modesto CA March 18 2012 A former Modesto police officer was arrested Thursday after detectives say he “committed criminal sexual violations against an adult female” while on duty in early January.
Lee Freddie Gaines II was arrested at his Modesto home and, after a brief court appearance, was booked at the Stanislaus County Jail, according to police Lt. Rick Armendariz. Gaines had worked for the department for five years before he was “separated from employment” with the department Feb. 10.
The arrest was made after the Stanislaus County district attorney’s office obtained an indictment from a criminal grand jury.

Gaines faces felony charges of oral copulation by force, violence, duress or fear of bodily injury; being armed with a firearm in the commission of a sexual offense, and a felony sex offense enhancement.
“I apologize to every citizen of Modesto,” Police Chief Mike Harden said. “There are no excuses for the conduct of this officer. The message is clear that no one is above the law.”
The woman first described the incident in a phone conversation several weeks ago with The Bee. Her name is not being published because of the nature of the alleged crime.
“Today was a good day,” she said late Thursday night before referring all questions about the case to her Fresno-based attorney.
The 37-year-old woman said she works as a massage therapist out of a local motel and advertises her services on a Web site.
She described the incident as follows:
About 10 p.m. on Jan. 5, she received a “call for service.” She said she had been working out of that motel for a couple of years.
About 45 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. When she answered, she said she could tell by his voice that it was the same man who had called her.
She said he identified himself as a Modesto police officer. She said his name was Lee Gaines.
She said he told her to walk outside because he was going to arrest her for solicitation. She said she wasn’t soliciting.
He stepped inside, shut the door and asked her to turn around and put her hands behind her back. She said he then put handcuffs on her, forced her to her knees and demanded oral copulation.
About 20 minutes later, he took the handcuffs off and left. At no time did he use a weapon to threaten her, she said.
She said that after the incident, she called a friend and stayed with that person for the night.
She said on or about Jan. 7, she got in touch with a parole officer who knew a friend of hers who was staying at the motel. The woman told the parole officer what happened. The officer put her in touch with someone at the Modesto Police Department.
In talking to The Bee, the woman said: “I want people to know what this cop is doing. I want them to know who he is, what his face is like, that he used his badge and his uniform to sexually assault a female. No matter what brought him there, that’s not right. Even if they do prosecute him, the city of Modesto and the females have a right to know. I’m sure I’m not his first victim, but I’ll do everything I can to make sure I’m his last.”
Armendariz confirmed that the alleged incident took place Jan. 5 and that the case began Jan. 8 after someone made the department aware that Gaines may have committed possible criminal misconduct while in the performance of his law enforcement duties.
The case was forwarded to the Internal Affairs Unit, which launched criminal and administrative investigations, Armendariz said.
Gaines was placed on administrative leave and stripped of his law enforcement powers after the allegations came to light, Armendariz said.
“Those who are sworn to enforce the law have a special obligation to obey it,” Harden said. “I’m disappointed and disgusted at this former officer’s conduct.
“His actions were abhorrent and not representative of the dedicated staff who work tirelessly to serve the community.”
Gaines made headlines in January 2010 after the patrol car he was driving at high speed on Scenic Drive spun out of control, collided with an sports utility vehicle and sheared off the back end of the car.
Modesto police concluded Gaines was at fault.
Both he and the driver of the SUV were hospitalized.

Source:modbee.com

Mom and kids arrested after stripping naked outside Pennsylvania high school www.privateofficer.com

 

 

 

UPPER DARBY, Pa.March 18 2012 – A mother and her three children were arrested after stripping off and running stark naked around a Pennsylvania high school parking lot, while chanting and praying to Jesus, WTXF reported.

Sarah Butler, 44, daughters Joanne, 23, and Bessie, 22, and her 14-year-old son were taken into custody Friday afternoon after the bizarre incident unfolded in front of shocked students at Upper Darby High School, just outside Philadelphia.

The incident was sparked after Sarah Butler repeatedly tried to take another one of her sons out of the school but was refused. The boy is her biological son, but she does not have legal rights to him, sources told the TV station.

After the mother was turned away three times, the Butlers were filmed by students taking off their clothes, chanting and scuffling with security guards.

Upper Darby Police Department superintendent Michael Chitwood said that the family members were screaming, “Praise the Lord, Jesus Christ is good,” while they ran around nude.

Cell phone videos and pictures of the incident flooded Twitter and other social-networking sites.

“We were all shocked and taking videos. We didn’t know what to do, so we just kept watching,” student Derek Owens said. “[The Butlers] were screaming and running around the car trying to get away, and then they [police] just forced them into a paddy wagon.”

“It’s pretty crazy. You don’t see that every day, like, especially out the window at Upper Darby High School,” fellow student Meagan Massey added.

The family faces charges of indecent exposure, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.

The mother and one daughter were later admitted to a psychiatric hospital for assessment.

Source:www.foxnews.com

Broward County school teacher sentenced to four years in federal prison for child porn www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Broward County Fla March 18 2012 A Broward County school teacher who had more than 1,500 child porn images on his laptop computer was sentenced to four years in federal prison on Friday.

Jerome Pearson, 44, of Hialeah, was a math teacher at Everglades High in Miramar until he resigned shortly after he was arrested in July.

In many computer child porn prosecutions, the victims’ voices are never heard because it is not always possible to trace the abused children who appear in the photographs and videos that men and women download from the Internet.

But prosecutors read aloud a letter in court Friday from a female victim, who wrote of the trauma and problems she continues to battle knowing that Pearson, and other people like him, are still looking at photographs of her being sexually abused as a child by her biological father.

Investigators said there was no evidence that Pearson ever sexually abused any child, but he admitted that he had been downloading inappropriate images of children for 10 years.

Pearson said he had been fighting what he called an “addiction” for a long time. He said he had tried to kill himself in the past and also ran a software program to try to erase the pornography from his computer so he would no longer be tempted to look at it. The program erased many images but left behind the hundreds of photographs that investigators later found.

Before he pleaded guilty in October, Pearson wrote a letter of apology to the unnamed victims who appeared in the disturbing images that he coveted.

“Dear Child, I ask you to forgive me. Although we have never met and you have never seen me, I have seen you. I have seen you naked, unprotected and sometimes scared,” Pearson wrote in the three-page letter. “If I had been present with you, I know I would have covered you and led you to safety. I can say this because I have held and guided many children to safety in my life … never thinking of harming them.”

“In reality, you may have been hurt long ago but in viewing this, I may have hurt you all over again. I left you unprotected. I did not see you as a person, just an image. Many times I thought little of the misery behind the image,” he wrote.

On Friday, Pearson got to hear about the misery behind one of the images found on his computer. The girl who was photographed being raped by her father wrote that she feels victimized over and over again because she knows that random men are looking at “the most terrifying moments of my life and taking pleasure in it.”

“They are being entertained by my shame and pain,” wrote the girl, who is now attending college classes. Her father is in prison for what he did to her, but she said she is still trying to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder and has difficulty sleeping and concentrating.

Pearson’s wife, Jair, had asked U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga to sentence her husband to time served and let him return home on house arrest or probation. At a court hearing earlier this month, she told the judge that her husband was a wonderful, supportive spouse and father to their four young children. She and several family friends testified that Pearson is deeply religious, confessed to them after his arrest and was working diligently to overcome his problems.

Agents from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division testified that Pearson immediately admitted that he downloaded and possessed child porn when they went to his home in July. The teacher turned over his laptop computer and other old hard drives that were in his house.

Italian authorities had notified federal investigators about a website containing child pornography and agents were able to trace the IP addresses of people, including Pearson, who had used the website.

Pearson was released Aug. 22 on $500,000 bond with warnings that he was not to access porn of any kind on the only remaining computer in the home, which was also used by one of his children, who is home schooled. Federal authorities installed monitoring software on Aug. 28 and by Sept. 4, investigators were notified that the computer had been used to view adult porn, which someone had then tried to delete. A judge ruled there was evidence to believe it was Pearson and revoked his bond in September. He has been locked up since then.

Pearson apologized for his conduct in court during both days of the sentencing hearing, earlier this month and again on Friday.

“It was just the pictures to me,” Pearson said. “It took me a long time to see the suffering in the pictures.”

“I am truly sorry … I take full responsibility for it and it’s my fault,” he told the judge. “I’m not asking for a second chance so much as a new beginning.”

Judge Altonaga said she gave a great deal of consideration to what would be an appropriate sentence for Pearson. In addition to the four years in prison, she sentenced him to 15 years of supervised release, the federal version of probation, and ordered him to register as a sex offender. She ordered him to receive sex offender treatment, a mental health evaluation, and barred him from having unsupervised access to children. He is also forbidden from having unmonitored access to computers.

Four Indiana high school teens hit by lightning on softball field www.privateofficer.com

 

 

 

Seymour, IN March 18 2012 - Four Indiana teens were hurt Thursday when lightning hit a high school softball field. One of the girls was seriously injured and remains hospitalized.

Carlee Westfall is out of the hospital and driving to Indianapolis to visit teammate Emily Bobb.

“It wasn’t just one strike,” Westfall said. “We were all freaking out last night. I mean, we wanted to see her.”

The Lady Owls were at practice Thursday afternoon.

“It was sunny outside and not raining. It was hot. Nice wind. Nothing was wrong and all of a sudden,” said Westfall.

Carlee was in front of Emily who was on second base. She was throwing the ball when she was struck by lightning.

“I saw it and thought it had hit her head, but they said it hit her around the belly button and it came out of the bottom of her left shoe,” Westfall said.

Her shoes and socks were ripped.

“I turned around. I grabbed my head for a second and I was going to run off and then I decided to turn around and run back to Emily.”

The coach ran toward Emily too.

“And a lightning struck right in front of me as I was running towards her and that’s when I stopped and fell and my legs were numb and I got carried off,” Westfall said.

A chiropractor across the street saw Emily collapse and went to help.

“He jumped the fence right there. He was right there. When he got to her she wasn’t breathing. Not moving anything at all,” Westfall said.

Emily began to breathe and her pulse was low. She was taken to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health. Two other teammates complained they had headaches and were taken to a hospital in the area.

“They took her off the ventilator. She was talking and she has short term memory loss right now, but doctors say because of medicine, her muscles are very achy,” Westfall said. “She didn’t sleep very well. She is awake.”

Carlee is thankful her teammate is doing so well.

“I’m glad she’s still here and just keep praying for her,” she said.

WXIN

Indiana Gaming Commission issues $150,000 fine to Indiana Live casino www.privateofficer.com

 

Shelbyville IN March 18 2012 Indiana Live has been fined more than $150,000 by state regulators for violating several gaming rules, including sending electronic promotions to dozens of people who had voluntarily excluded themselves from receiving casino solicitations.

The Indiana Gaming Commission announced the penalties at a Thursday meeting after reaching a settlement with the Shelbyville horsetrack and casino that is attempting to reorganize under the protection of bankruptcy.

The commission has doled out larger fines but not very often, said Ernest Yelton, IGC executive director.

“Yes, that’s larger than normal,” he said.

The commission handed down fines to eight other casinos at the meeting, the largest being $15,000.

Indiana Live did not return phone calls from IBJ seeking comment.

IGC fined Indiana Live $75,000 for a September incident in which a participant of the state’s voluntary exclusion program notified the commission that she had received a promotional e-mail from the casino.

A marketing and advertising firm Indiana Live uses to blast e-mails to patrons mistakenly deleted the most current list of e-mail addresses sent to it by the casino, the settlement agreement said.

Indiana Live also was fined $40,000 for various alcohol violations. They include an August 2011 incident at the on-site Rumors bar in which a security officer found Indiana Live’s interim general manager and chief financial officer, as well as two other managers, drinking alcohol well past the 3 a.m. cutoff time for serving liquor.

During an investigation, the interim general manager admitted he was intoxicated when he left the casino in his vehicle.

“Due to the significance of the position held by the interim general manager/CFO, the commission has determined that his presence and participation in these events encouraged the non-compliant behavior of the subordinate employees,” the settlement agreement said.

In addition, Indiana Live was fined $30,000 for hiring a non-licensed vendor to analyze its slot machines and payouts.

Other fines included a $6,000 penalty for allowing a minor on the casino floor, $4,000 for allowing certain employees to perform job duties they weren’t licensed to do, and $1,500 for failing to secure a slot machine’s open “belly door.”

Meanwhile, Indiana Live’s parent company, Indianapolis Downs LLC, wants lenders to grant a one-year extension of financing for the Chapter 11 reorganization that otherwise would expire in April.

If the extension is approved at a requested hearing on March 22, the new maturity date would be April 10, 2013.

Indiana Live has received overtures from potential buyers, including the owner of local competitor Hoosier Park & Casino in Anderson. A written offer came from Indianapolis-based Centaur Holdings LLC, which owns Hoosier Park.

Indianapolis Downs missed an interest payment on $375 million in second-lien notes in November 2010 and filed for reorganization on April 7. The reorganization that began in April 2011 is being financed with a $103.1 million loan from existing first-lien lenders.

NC volunteer firefighter pistol-whipped and robbed returning from fire call www.privateofficer.com

 

Craven County NCMarch 18 2012 A volunteer firefighter was pistol-whipped and robbed at gunpoint as he was returning from a call.

Craven County Captain Joe Heckman tells WITN News that it happened Tuesday night around 9:00 p.m. at a substation for Vanceboro Volunteer Fire Department on Oak Grove Road.

Heckman says Nidal Tokhli had backed the fire truck into the station when two men robbed him. The victim says one of them pistol-whipped him, hitting him in the head with the handgun.

The robbers took cash from the firefighter and then left.

Anyone with information on this robbery should call the Craven County Sheriff’s Office at (252) 636-6620.

Snake-Hunting Labradors Rid Everglades of Invasive Pythons www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Everglades Fla March 18 2012 Sometimes when man creates a huge problem that destroys the balance of the ecosystem, man’s best friend must come in and sort it out.

Oanow reports that Jake and Ivy, two Labradors from Alabama’s Auburn University, were recently called to the swamps of Florida to find a formidable non-native species: the Burmese Python.

Brought to Florida by the exotic pet trade, and set free in the Everglades, the Southeast Asian snakes are normally about 12 feet long but can reach lengths of up to 19 feet.

Opportunistic eaters, pythons have all but wiped out marsh rabbits, opossums, and raccoons in the southern region of Everglades National Park, according to a nine-year study.

Terry Fischer and Craig Angle of Auburn’s EcoDog program traveled to Florida to pick up samples of the species’ scent and then imprinted the dogs with the essence of Burmese python.

“We found the use of detection dogs to be a valuable addition to the current tools used to manage and control pythons,” said Christina Romagosa, of AU’s School of Forestry and Wildlife, in a press release. The dogs can detect pythons from a distance and when they spot one they stop in their tracks and crouch. The pythons’ reaction is strangely poignant. Rather than striking when discovered, they curl up and hide.

“It’s their first line of defense,” said Melissa Miller, biological sciences doctoral student who handled the snakes. “People think when you catch a snake it’s going to come back biting at you…but they see us as a predator even though they’re a large snake.”

So far Jake and Ivy have located 19 pythons, one of which had 19 eggs.

Three North Carolina men indicted for armored car robbery www.privateofficer.com

 

 

 

RALEIGH NC March 18 2012—United States Attorney Thomas G Walker announced that this week, a federal grand jury returned a criminal indictment charging two defendants in an armored car robbery.

CHARLES RICHARD MOORE, JR ., 29, and LENARD CORNELITH, 33, both of Timberlake, North Carolina, were each charged with Hobbs Act Robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951, and using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence or possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A). Today, both men appeared before United States Magistrate Judge William A Webb for their initial appearances.

According to the indictment, on June 23, 2011, MOORE and SMITH, wielding a firearm, took approximately $1,210,440 from a Garda armored vehicle when it was located adjacent to the Washington, North Carolina Bank of America automated teller machine.

A third person, Emmanuel Wallace, III, of Hurdle Mills, North Carolina, was charged in a separate indictment on February 15, 2012. He was arrested on February 17, 2012 and is currently being detained.

His arraignment is currently set for the April 23, 2012 term of court.

“Today’s arrests would not be possible without the close working relationship between local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Criminals who target armored cars think they will get a quick payoff, but end up serving lengthy prison sentences instead,” said Chris Briese, Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the FBI.

This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative, which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort” against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Raleigh-Durham Safe Streets Task Force, the Greenville Police Department, the Roxboro Police Department, and the Washington Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney John Bennett is prosecuting the case.

Gwinnett County investigators uncover elaborate operation involving fraudulent debit and prepaid gift cards www.privateofficer.com

 

 

 

DULUTH, Ga. March 18 2012
Gwinnett County investigators say they have uncovered an elaborate operation involving hundreds of fraudulent debit and prepaid gift cards encoded with stolen account information.

Channel 2′s Kerry Kavanaugh talked with the detectives Friday who told her one of the suspects was visiting several Kroger locations on a daily basis to buy cigarettes and gift cards, but he was paying with stolen accounts.

The catch was he always swiped his own Kroger Plus card, police said.

Gwinnett Detective Larry Fazenbaker said he’s seized close to 1,000 fraudulent gift cards and prepaid debit cards.

The debit cards are tied to stolen accounts, and the gift cards were purchased with those stolen accounts, police said.

Fazenbaker said the investigation began when he got a call from Kroger about a regular customer.

Police identified the man from surveillance photo as Sulton Ali.

“He would come in almost on a daily basis, usually one or two locations in Gwinnett County,” Fazenbaker said.

Police said Ali frequented several DeKalb County Krogers as well as always buying a carton of cigarettes and gift cards on someone else’s dime.

Officers said the Ali investigation led them to Nikunj Patel.

They believe Ali was working for him, and they said all of their evidence was discovered in their two homes.

“They would actually use these machines, hook ‘em up to a computer,” Fazenbaker said.

Fazenbaker showed Kavanaugh devices he said both erase and re-encode cards with the stolen account information.

The big question, police said, is how Ali and Patel obtain the stolenaccounts. Police said that is still under investigation.

But Fazenbaker told Kavanaugh many of the accounts came from customers at the same bank.

“The majority of the last month or two has been Bank of America,” Fazenbaker said.

Police said the total loss just on the cigarettes is $42,000.

Investigators believe Ali may have been selling up north where cigarettes cost more.

Fazenbaker said they are still estimating the total loss from the cards.

Police are scanning each card and reading the information to try to identify who the accounts belong to.

Source:wsbtv.com

CT man files lawsuit against police, ambulance claiming they kidnapped him www.privateofficer.com

 

 

MANCHESTER CT March 18 2012 – In his lawsuit against the towns of Manchester and South Windsor, a 53-year-old man contends that police and other emergency responders “kidnapped” him from his home and took him to the hospital against his will.

He filed Wednesday in the Manchester town clerk’s office, the civil suit in Hartford Superior Court contends that Arthur Schofield was forcibly removed from his South Windsor home in 2010 because police and medical personnel mistakenly believed he was in danger of having a heart attack. Schofield contends that officers slammed him to the floor of his home, handcuffed him and transported him by ambulance to Manchester Memorial Hospital.

Schofield claims violations of his rights to due process and privacy and against unreasonable seizure and “forced medical treatment” under the U.S. and state constitutions. The suit contends that Schofield and his wife, Nancy Matthews, have suffered personal injury, economic loss, humiliation, mortification and anxiety, among other injuries.

The complaint, which also names Manchester Memorial Hospital and Ambulance Service of Manchester as defendants, seeks unspecified money damages and mandatory training in detention and use of force for the towns’ police officers.

The tale unfolded in November 2010 when Schofield, a smoker for 40 years, felt an ache in his lungs. He set up an initial appointment with Dr. Michael Underwood in Manchester on Dec. 23, according to the suit. After examining Schofield, Underwood recommended that he go to Hartford Hospital for a chest X-ray to rule out any heart problems, the suit says.

Without telling Schofield, Underwood had called 911 for an ambulance, the suit says. Schofield refused to go, saying he knew he was not having any heart problems, the suit says. He signed an “against medical advice” release that Underwood provided, the suit says. Outside in the parking lot, Schofield told ambulance personnel that he was not going with them, got in his car and drove home, the suit says.

Manchester and South Windsor police were informed about Schofield’s refusal. A South Windsor police report, which was attached to the suit, says Manchester police Officer Michael Magrey advised a South Windsor officer that Underwood had ordered Schofield to go to the hospital and that if he refused to go voluntarily, he would be committed “per a Police Emergency Examination request,” the suit says. Magrey wrote in his report, which also was attached to the lawsuit, that Underwood’s assistant told him that Schofield was under doctor’s orders to receive medical treatment “and that it was extremely dangerous for him to be driving.”

South Windsor and Manchester officers went to Schofield’s Kelly Road home, where he again refused to go to the hospital, the suit says. Suddenly, Magrey “violently grabbed” Schofield’s right arm and told him, “You are going to the hospital and this is not up for discussion,” the suit says. Magrey slammed Schofield to the floor and handcuffed him, according to the complaint.

Magrey wrote in his report that he could smell alcohol on Schofield, who became agitated and angry as Magrey tried to persuade him to go to the hospital. As Schofield began to walk away, Magrey wrote that he grabbed his arm “as I did not want him to lock himself in a room, or go for a weapon as he was very angry.” When Schofield resisted, according to the police report, he was “taken to the ground to more effectively control his arms. I could see that Schofield’s head hit the floor when he was taken to the ground.”

Schofield was taken to Manchester Memorial Hospital, where he was examined and tests were run.

“Finally the plaintiff was released and discharged when all the testing revealed what the plaintiff knew all along — that he was not having a heart attack,” the suit says.

Representatives of the defendant agencies either could not be reached for or would not comment on the pending litigation.

Texas Boy Who Vanished Eight Years Ago Found www.privateofficer.com

 

 

HOUSTON TX March 18 2012 – Long after tiny Miguel Morin disappeared in late 2004, the infant’s family still paused to mark the milestones of his life, holding a celebration every year on his birthday and praying for his safe, swift return.

Now that wished-for reunion may be only days away after police arrested the boy’s former baby sitter on charges she abducted him and began raising Miguel as her own.

“It’s kind of hard to believe,” the child’s mother, Auboni Champion-Morin, said Thursday. “Some of these cases take years and years, and sometimes they don’t come back. It was overwhelming.”

Miguel, now 8 years old, is in foster care in the Houston area while investigators sort out his complicated story. At a court hearing Thursday, a child-welfare investigator testified that he was healthy physically and emotionally but had apparently not attended school.

Lisa Rose, an investigator for child-protective services, said the boy is a normal height and weight and that he’s well-mannered but cannot read or name the school he attends. He believed he was 6 years old and identified a photo of the kidnapping suspect as his mother.

Miguel’s parents agreed in court to provide DNA to confirm that the child is theirs. The whole family is eager to have him back, including the couple’s five other kids ranging from 7 to 14, the mother said.

“They’re anxious,” Champion-Morin said. “They’re ready to see him.”

The former baby sitter, Krystle Rochelle Tanner, had been a friend of Champion-Morin’s and she was Miguel’s godmother. She lived in the same apartment complex.

Police identified her as a suspect shortly after the boy disappeared, but investigators soon lost track of her. Relatives said she had vanished too.

When the boy was reported missing, Houston police declined to issue any sort of alert that might have drawn tips from the public. Champion-Morin said officers told her she would have to pay $500 for that step, and she didn’t have enough money.

Instead, she put up fliers and constructed a website about her son’s disappearance.

In San Augustine, a community about 140 miles northeast of Houston where Tanner was jailed, police said evidence against Tanner had been presented to Houston prosecutors in February 2005, but no charges were filed because authorities could not verify the exact date the boy was reported missing.

Further complicating matters were unconfirmed claims by Tanner’s relatives that Champion-Morin asked Tanner to keep Miguel indefinitely and may even have had a written agreement to that effect.

With no charges filed, Houston police closed the case in 2006.

Gary Cunningham, chief deputy of the San Augustine Sheriff’s Department, did not know why the case was abandoned.

“I will add, however, that I truly think they did the best they could do with the information that they had,” he said.

The boy’s parents were frustrated that the case was not more aggressively pursued.

Police “kept changing the person who was supposed to be handling this case,” Champion-Morin said.

Victor Senties, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department, said the case was handled as a suspected kidnapping and was therefore assigned to homicide detectives. He said the department is now investigating why the matter was closed, but he would not elaborate.

The case got new life last summer, when Tanner took the boy to the hospital for some kind of leg injury. She could not provide his name or Social Security number, which raised doubts among the hospital staff, who contacted child welfare investigators.

Tanner told authorities different stories about the child: He went by different names and she had been asked to keep him for an extended period of time for a woman that she had met in a park. She told investigators she did not know the women’s last name and had only been given a cellphone to contact her but that the number had since been disconnected, Cunningham said.

In January, sheriff’s deputies began investigating the matter as a missing child’s case. Neither Child Protective Services nor law enforcement knew about the 2004 Houston kidnapping case because the boy had been removed from a national database of missing children.

Caseworkers kept digging and told police on March 7 that Tanner’s older child may have been reported missing in Houston years earlier.

On Monday, officers arrested Tanner, who admitted she was keeping the boy “off the radar” by not sending him to school. Authorities located Miguel a day later, when Tanner’s sister called to say she had seen reports of the arrest and offered to turn over the boy, whom she believed was her sister’s stepchild, Cunningham said.

Tanner was expected to appear in court next week. She does not yet have an attorney, and jailers were not making her available for interviews.

Miguel’s mother, a stock clerk at a clothing store, has not seen a recent photo of the boy and does not know for sure when she will be permitted to see him. She plans to get a lawyer to pursue legal action against Tanner.

“This is my child, not her child,” she said. “It’s hard for me to hear that he’s had no type of education, that he didn’t know his age. I want to tell him that I love him.”

Source:AP

Texas EMS provider killed responding to emergency call www.privateofficer.com

 

 

North Hudspeth County TX March 18 2012 A Texas EMS provider was killed March 12 while responding to a call in his personal vehicle.

Mike Steffen, an emergency care attendant with North Hudspeth County EMS, was killed when his vehicle rolled over on a dirt road, according to a colleague, William H. Brown, EMS program coordinator.

Steffen was the president of the board of directors of NHCEMS, and was one of the key individuals in organizing last year’s successful vote to form an Emergency Services District in Northern Hudspeth County, Brown noted.

He also was a Texas Ambulance Strike Team leader, and active with BorderRAC activities.

“Our most heartfelt condolences go out to Mike’s family and to the Hudspeth County responders who we know will miss his enthusiasm and dedication,” Brown said.

Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 18 at Wallace Town.

The City of Hope Ministry is going to provide refreshments. Please e-mail the number attending to susan@borderrac.org.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to your favorite charity in Mike’s name or The Mike Steffen Memorial Fund, c/o Northern Hudspeth County EMS, P. O. Box 594, Dell City, TX 79837,