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TN fire chief-deputy sheriff killed fighting blaze www.privateofficer.com
DECATURVILLE, Tenn April 8 2012- Flags were flying at half-staff Saturday night in Decatur County after an early morning blaze killed a fire chief and injured two other firefighters.
The scene was Highway 412, right outside Parsons, at the Oak Hill Cafe. The Decatur County sheriff told NewsChannel 5 the fire started just after 4 Saturday morning, and while fighting the fire, the ceiling of the business collapsed, killing fire Chief Kenny Fox. Also, firefighters Randy and Jeremy Inman were hurt, and rushed to Vanderbilt. Both of them are expected to be okay.
Chief Fox was also a sergeant in the Decatur County Sheriff’s Department. He was 39-years-old and leaves behind a wife and three sons.
The fatal fire is being investigated by local authorities and the ATF. They have not eliminated suspicions surrounding the fire.
Man killed outside nightclub after running over security officer www.privateofficer.com
Deputies responded to a “shots fired” call and found the man dead in his vehicle at 11:45 p.m. outside Club Elements, at 201 Columbia Mall Blvd.
Deputies said the man had struck several vehicles in the parking lot of the club near Columbia Place Mall and then ran over a club security officer after the officer attempted to gain control of the car.
Other security officers from the club fired at the vehicle, striking and killing the man. The security officer was transported to Providence Hospital. His condition is unknown.
Source:www.thestate.com
Nebraska teacher charged with sexual assault on students www.privateofficer.com
Police say 58-year-old Nicholas Richter is charged with three counts of third-degree sexual assault of a child. Police Chief Ronald Murtaugh says the students were part of an elementary program with Richter, who works at Seymour Elementary School.
Police say a call to a child abuse hotline prompted the investigation. Richter was arrested on Thursday and booked in the Douglas County jail.
School superintendent Jerald Riibe says an internal investigation is under way and the district is cooperating with police.
Richter’s case is not listed on the online court system, and it’s not known if he has an attorney.
Source:AP
Austin police charge man in murder of police officer www.privateofficer.com
Austn TX April 8 2012 A man charged with fatally shooting an Austin police officer had talked of robbing a store and told investigators he intentionally shot the officer because he was trying to stop him from fleeing, according to court documents released late Friday.
A four-page arrest affidavit for Brandon Montgomery Daniel, 24, provided new details on a day that brought the city’s first line-of-duty death of an officer in more than seven years.
Senior police officer Jaime Padron, a 40-year-old former Marine and father of 10-year-old and 6-year-old daughters and who had been with the department for about three years, died just inside a North Austin Wal-Mart after an encounter with Daniel, authorities said.
Daniel, 24, opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol about 2:30 a.m., officials said.
After Daniel was taken into custody, he said, “I killed a cop,” while being walked through the police parking garage, according to the affidavit, which police made public shortly before 10 p.m. Friday.
A call to 911 from store employee had been the kind that officers working the overnight patrol shift considered routine: A man inside the store off Interstate 35 near Parmer Lane appeared drunk, and employees wanted police to check on him.
But the burst of violence minutes later left the Police Department and city grieving.
In what he described as acts of heroism, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said several Wal-Mart employees, whom he declined to identify, then tackled Daniel, wrestling him to the ground and pinning him to the floor as nearby officers heard Padron’s cry for help on police radios and raced to him.
Acevedo said Daniel fired another shot after the employees had overpowered him.
“Even in this tragedy, I am heartened by two brave souls who took action,” said Acevedo, who became tearful during a late-afternoon news conference Friday.
Police have charged Daniel with capital murder, and he remained in the Travis County Jail late Friday. Officials said most of the incident — including the struggle between Daniel and Padron — was captured on numerous security cameras inside the store, providing critical evidence in the case.
A software engineer, Daniel lived in an apartment on West Parmer Lane, a few miles from the Wal-Mart.
Daniel, who moved to Austin from Colorado, was charged with drunken driving in February after an officer said he was swerving and ran a stop sign on a North Austin street. Daniel’s roommate told the American-Statesman that he left the apartment Thursday night after saying he was going to find some Xanax, a prescription anti-anxiety medication.
In two rare back-to-back confrontations between officers and suspects, the shooting came eight hours after an officer fatally shot a man after a foot chase in East Austin. Police emphasized that the incidents were not related, but even so, city officials called for Austin residents to remain calm.
“Obviously, we have had two very tragic incidents involving loss of life,” Mayor Lee Leffingwell said. “My sympathies and heartfelt condolences go out to families of both of those who lost their lives.”
Leffingwell added: “Austin is still a very safe city. Nothing has changed about that, and we will continue to work to make sure this is a very safe city for everybody who lives here.”
Numerous Central Texas government and law enforcement officials gathered at the shooting scene before dawn Friday, hugging one another, expressing condolences and offering support to officers who worked with Padron.
“It’s a tough day for all of us,” said City Manager Marc Ott. “We lost a family member. But with all other situations, we will get through this as well.”
Across the city Friday, flags were lowered to half-staff, and police and other first responders began wearing black mourning ribbons across their badges in honor of Padron within hours of the shooting.
Padron’s death also prompted an immediate outpouring of sympathy and support at Austin police headquarters. The department received calls from more than 100 residents and others from across the state and nation, including Gov. Rick Perry, who called Acevedo.
“When the people that you are paid to keep safe turn around and support you and try to keep you safe, it makes you realize that is why you became a police officer,” Assistant Police Chief Patti Robinson said.
The death was the first involving an Austin officer since October 2004, when officer Amy Donovan was struck and killed by a patrol car as she chased a suspect in a drug case on foot.
The last officer felled by a bullet was in May 2000, when Austin park police officer William Jones was shot and killed during a traffic stop near Zilker Park.
His assailant killed himself a few hours later as police closed in on him in the Houston suburb of Katy.
During a Friday’s afternoon news conference, Acevedo said that when Padron entered the store, loss prevention officers pointed out the suspect, later identified as Daniel. He attempted to flee, and when Padron pursued him, a struggle ensued, Acevedo said.
Both men fell to the ground, and Daniel pulled out a semi-automatic pistol and fired it at Padron. One bullet struck the officer’s body armor, but another struck him in the neck area, inflicting a mortal wound, Acevedo said.
Immediately, two Wal-Mart employees rushed Daniel and took him to the ground, Acevedo said. Daniel fired one shot at them but missed, he said. The employees were able to subdue Daniel until backup officers arrested him.
“We’ve seen video of members of the Wal-Mart team, after our officer was shot, immediately without hesitancy, taking action to take that suspect and detain him,” Acevedo said.
Detectives spoke to Dante Davis, Daniel’s roommate, who told them that the night before the shooting Daniel suggested they “hit a store,” the affidavit said. Davis thought that meant getting some food, but Daniel spoke as though he wanted to rob a convenience store, the affidavit said.
Davis said he warned his roommate about breaking the law, the affidavit said.
Daniel, who owns a motorcycle, responded, “Dude, I’ve gotten away with worse … than that. I run from the cops on my bike almost daily,” the document stated.
Officials said few shoppers were inside the store — which Acevedo said likely saved lives and prevented injuries — but the few who were in the area reported hearing the sound of shots.
Pflugerville resident Pedro Garcia and his roommate, Sapna Sharma, said they went grocery shopping about 1:30 a.m. and were in the back of the store when they heard a loud noise. They stayed inside, but as they were leaving, they said, more than a dozen officers swarmed in. They said it appeared as though someone was administering CPR on a victim.
Garcia said: “You’re at Wal-Mart. You think you’re safe.”
Michelle Pearson was on her way home from work and stopped at the store with a friend to buy milk and bread. She said she was in the parking lot, about to go inside, when she saw an officer walk to the front door and begin talking to a store employee.
Seconds later, “We heard a gunshot, but we didn’t know what it was,” she said. “It sounded like a firecracker or something.”
As she decided to leave the parking lot and pulled away, Pearson said, she could see through the front door of the store that an officer was on the floor.
“I just hope that people are praying for his family,” she said.
Acevedo became particularly tearful in discussing Padron’s daughters and the department’s efforts to help plan Padron’s funeral in coming days.
“Those little girls are going to have evidence when they grow up that their dad was a hero,” he said.
Spource:statessman
Garda truck left teetering off bridge after crash www.privateofficer.com
LOS ANGELES CA April 8 2012 —
An armored truck dangled over the side of a freeway overpass Friday afternoon near where the 101, 5 and 10 freeways meet, officials said.
The driver reportedly lost control of the truck, which typically transports cash, and smashed through the concrete guardrail shortly before 4 p.m., when that armored truck was sent teetering over the bridge near 7th and Soto Bridge in Boyle Heights, according to CHP incident information
The front end of the truck went over the guardrail.
The driver escaped from the vehicle, and was transported to the hospital with minor injuries, according to LA City Fire officials.
The incident prompted officials to shut down portions of the southbound 5 and westbound 10 freeways around 4:30 p.m. Those closures were lifted about an hour later, double the initial estimate.
Surrounding streets were also closed for another hour, while the armored truck was towed away.
CHP officials described the scene as an “extreme hazard,” citing concrete that was also hanging over the freeway below, according to the agency’s incident information page.
Three arrested for assaulting restaurant security guard www.privateofficer.com
At approximately 12:52 a.m. early Friday morning, Milpitas Police responded to a report of a fight taking place at Dave and Buster’s. Reportedly, a fight between 10-15 people had broken out inside the business. Security guards had broken up the fight, and were attempting to escort those involved outside.
Once outside, a suspect identified as Adrian Christian de Guzman Jacob, a 22-year-old San Jose resident, reportedly pushed a 42-year-old security guard and then punched him in the face.
At that time, Milpitas Police said another suspect, identified as Marko Severo, a 23-year-old San Jose resident, then approached the same security guard, punched him in the face, and then ran away. Other security guards chased Severo into the parking lot, subdued him, and handcuffed him.
A third suspect, Arthur Caesar Corpuz Pagaduan Jr., a 31-year-old San Jose resident, kicked the same security guard in the head.
All three suspects were taken into custody by Milpitas Police when they arrived at the scene.
Pagaduan was arrested and charged with felony assault, and booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail. The other two suspects, Severo and Jacob, were cited for misdemeanor assault and battery and were released at the scene.
Anyone with information about this case or any other crime are asked to call the Milpitas Police Department at 408-586-2400. Information can also be given anonymously by calling the crime tip hotline at 408-586-2500 or online at the Milpitas Police Department’s website.
Easter Bunny high on drugs arrested at VA mall www.privateofficer.com
Danville VA April 8 2012 It wasn’t exactly the scene parents picture when taking their children to see the Easter Bunny.
Instead of hopping down the bunny trail, a man dressed as the Easter Bunny was escorted away by police Friday at Piedmont Mall.
Joshua Lee Bolling, 24, donning the costume of the cuddly critter, was charged with illegally possessing prescription narcotics, according to a news release from the Danville Police Department.
Bolling was arrested while working as the costumed Easter character at Danville’s Piedmont Mall.
The police investigation began after complaints were received from mall businesses and management of behavior suggestive of “possible criminal drug activity,” the release stated.
“His suspicious behavior took place while he was on breaks and not during his contact with children,” the release stated.
Bolling was a contract worker for an outside company providing the Easter activities and was not employed by Piedmont Mall, according to police.
Mall management and security worked with the Danville Police Department Street Crimes Unit to observe the suspect’s activities, which eventually led to the seizure of pills for which Bolling did not have a valid prescription.
Bolling was asked to accompany officers away from the public area where he was working and he was escorted to a private changing area where he removed his costume and subsequently was arrested.
Source:richmond times daily
Former Santa Fe police officer admits to stalking and harassing three women www.privateofficer.com
ALBUQUERQUE NM April 8 2012 – A former Santa Fe police officer admitted Thursday to stalking and harassing three women while on duty, as well as stealing marijuana from a man he stopped for a traffic violation.
Former Sgt. Michael Eiskant, 41, also pleaded no contest to two charges of attempted false imprisonment related to a traffic stop he made in March 2011 in Albuquerque, which was a long way from his jurisdiction. Finally, Eiskant, who resigned from the Santa Fe Police Department in January, admitted to misusing a law enforcement database to gain information about two citizens.
“I just want to do the best I can from here on out,” Eiskant said after entering the pleas in Albuquerque District Court.
News 13 first told viewers about Eiskant back in January, when On Special Assignment reporter Dean Staley detailed numerous complaints filed by citizens over the years. One man complained of Eiskant’s “bullying nature” and said he was “very upset and highly volatile. ” Another said Eiskant pointed a gun at him while off-duty and said, “I can’t wait to get you when I’m on duty.”
However, the most serious allegations against the former officer concerned a pattern of using his authority to harass women.
In 2004, a woman claimed Eiskant pulled her over five times in two years and repeatedly demanded sex. Another woman who spoke anonymously to News 13 said she briefly dated Eiskant in 2002 and that he allegedly stalked her even after she married another man.
“He uses his resources with his law enforcement authority to take advantage of the information that he can get on these people so he can stalk them and harass them,” the woman said.
Another woman who spoke to News 13 was so afraid of Eiskant after he allegedly stalked and harassed her, she wouldn’t even file a complaint. Finally, a female Santa Fe Police officer filed a complaint two years ago saying Eiskant followed her and another female officer while they were on patrol. The other female officer said Eiskant was acting like “a creeper and stalking” her, according to the complaint.
Sources also told News 13 that a state police officer complained in August that Eiskant used a restricted law enforcement only database to find out details about his wife.
Eiskant repeatedly refused to talk to News 13.
However, his boss, Police Chief Raymond Rael, said at the time, “Any time an officer amasses this number and this type of complaint, yes it concerns me.”
The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office investigated many of these claims and on Thursday came to court with what is called a pre-indictment plea. Eiskant pleaded no contest to 10 misdemeanor charges and District Judge Reed Sheppard sentenced him to one year of supervised probation. However, if he completes the mandatory counseling required under the stalking statute, he can ask for that probation to be downgraded to unsupervised probation, the judge said.
“This case was about stopping someone who shouldn’t be a police officer anymore,” said Chris Lackmann, assistant attorney general.
Eiskant and his lawyer both declined to comment after Thursday’s hearing.
As part of the plea deal, Eiskant agreed to relinquish is New Mexico law enforcement certification and never attempt to become a police officer in New Mexico or any other state, according to court documents.
The attempted false imprisonment charges relate to a traffic stop of a man and woman Eiskant made in March 2011, according to court documents. The stalking charge relates to a woman who was stalked between November 2009 and March 13, 2010, according to court documents. That woman never filed a formal complaint against Eiskant.
The harassment charges relate to two women who were harassed between Oct. 1, 2007 and Oct. 17, 2011, the documents state. One of the women is a Santa Fe police officer. The unauthorized use of the law enforcement database took place between March 29, 2011 and August 2011 and dealt with what is called the “LEADS system,” the documents state.
Eiskant also admitted to stealing less than an ounce of marijuana from a man he stopped on Oct. 5, 2011. He also pleaded no contest to marijuana possession. The former officer also pleaded no contest to attempted contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Source:krqe
Hartford postal carrier jailed for scheme in federal tax refund checks www.privateofficer.com
Officials said a group of people had been stealing Social Security numbers from people in Puerto Rico and filing false federal tax returns and some of the refunds were sent through the U.S. mail.
Manuel Quiles, 41, worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 12 years and had a postal route in Hartford, according to federal officials.
Officials said he watched out for checks made out to fictitious names on his route. Instead of delivering the tax refund checks to the addresses, he would bring them to one of three people involved in the scheme and collect $300 for each check he delivered.
On Feb. 22, 2011, he was not at work and the carrier filling in could not verify addresses for 26 checks. Per policy, the carrier left them for the regular carrier to verify addresses.
The manager photocopied the envelopes and an investigation began.
After he was spotted delivering the checks to someone outside of the route, investigators approached Quiles, who told investigators that he had been working with three people, according to court documents.
On June 1, 2011, he pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement of mail by an employee of the U.S. Postal Service.
Quiles was sentenced on Thursday in Bridgeport to 12 months and one day imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a federal tax refund check theft ring.
He has also been ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $70,000.
Federal officials said Josue Mercado acted as a courier between Quiles,
He pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of stolen mail and was sentenced in September to three months in prison.
Westminster police officer fired over sexting incident www.privateofficer.com
According to Westminster Police, the video was recorded while a group of Standley Lake High School students involved with the baseball team headed from Westminster to Fort Collins for a game.
In the car, a female student performed a sex act on the driver and another boy in the car recorded it on his cellphone.
He later shared that video with someone else. That person did the same, and so on. 9NEWS has learned that the video is still being sent around.
The student who made the video is facing charges for producing and sharing child pornography.
Westminster Police got involved after the school resource officer found out and called the department.
A detective was assigned to the case on March 20.
What happened beyond that point in the investigation prompted a personnel investigation and an officer to be fired.
“There was a detective who was hired by the City of Westminster in 2007 and as of April 4 that employee is no longer employed by the City of Westminster,” Westminster Police spokesman Trevor Materasso said. “We are not able to detail what the detectives involved in the case were doing that initiated this personnel investigation.”
The Standley Lake students involved in the sexting incident are part of a case that has been filed with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office.
There has not been a decision made about what charges they may face.
Westminster Police say students apparently do not understand the criminal implications of sexting.
“The student doesn’t have to be the one to actually take the picture or the video. The student doesn’t have to be the one performing in one of those sexually graphic poses or pictures. By just viewing it or having it on their cellphone, by passing it along to a fellow friend or fellow student, they are potentially committing a felony,” Materasso said.
He says they could also be classified as a sex offender for the rest of their lives.
Westminster Police would not release the name of the officer who was fired or anyone else involved in the investigation regarding how the case was handled.
Jefferson County Schools told 9NEWS, “This is an unfortunate situation and we continue to educate our students about the terrible consequences of sexting.”
Jeffco Schools says they gave the kids “the appropriate discipline,” but wouldn’t elaborate.
The boy in the car who took the video has been suspended from playing on the baseball team.
Source:9news.com
Orlando security officer finds rape victim-suspect arrested www.privateofficer.com
Orlando Fla April 8 2012 An encounter in a Universal CityWalk bar led to the rape of a woman who told police she can’t remember what happened and a man’s arrest, investigators said.
A security guard said she found the woman face down about 3:30 a.m. Friday with her skirt around her waist, her underwear on the ground and “fresh red marks” on the back of her leg, according to an Orlando police report.
The woman’s pulse was faint, the guard told officers. Interviewed later at Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, the woman told authorities she didn’t remember how she ended up where she was found.
The woman met Joshua Gilliard, 23, at the groove dance club late Thursday or early Friday, where he introduced himself as a professional golfer, the report states.
Gilliard, who lives in Davenport in Polk County, told officers he bought drinks for the woman and three of her friends, the report shows.
Gilliard told investigators he kissed the woman and performed a sex act on her on the dance floor at her request, according to the report.
But the woman said she is a lesbian and would not willingly have sex with a man, the report states.
Three employees of the movie theater at Universal CityWalk saw the woman passed out on an air conditioner when they arrived at work and notified the security guard.
The workers told officers they saw Gilliard fastening his pants and hurrying away, the report shows.
Gilliard, a former Michigan resident, told detectives he was drunk when he and the woman went outside to have sex, they said.
Gilliard was arrested Friday at 9:30 a.m. on a charge of sexual battery on a physically incapacitated person.
Source:orlandosentinel.com
Colorado college student tries paying speeding ticket with bucket of change www.privateofficer.com
FORT COLLINS, CO April 8 2012 - A Colorado college student says he was short-changed by the city of Fort Collins when it refused to accept his bucket of change.
Ted Nischan tried to use his nearly 50 pound bucket of loose change to pay a $160 speeding ticket.
Strapped for cash and two days from losing his license, he first tried to pay by credit card, but the municipal court didn’t have a working credit card machine.
“So I went back home, grabbed my savings, my change here, went back in and tried to pay it. They would not accept it,” he said.
The court told him it would be a waste of taxpayer money to count it all, even though his bank already confirmed it was the right amount.
“It’s a large amount of coin and so what we would have to do is count it by hand not once, but twice, to assure we had the right amount there,” said Kim Newcomer with the city of Fort Collins.
He looked at other options like a coin machines, but they take a percentage. His bank told him it would take a week to cash his change.
“I didn’t have a week to wait. I would have had a suspended license,” Nischan said.
He was forced to dip into his college financial aid to pay the ticket.
“I was trying to pay the fine. It’s their job to accept the fine,” he said
Source: KDVR/CNN
Intoxicated Nashville apartment security guard arrested for aggravated assault
NASHVILLE, Tenn.April 8 2012- A security guard ended up being the one in handcuffs after police say he threatened someone at the apartment complex he was guarding.
Police say Sean Carter, 39, was working as a security guard Friday night in Madison at the Spring Branch Apartments when he heard loud music coming from a vehicle. Carter asked the driver to turn down his music and leave, but the driver refused.
That’s when investigators say Carter crossed the line.
“The security guard went back inside, retrieved a weapon that he had, came back out, and ordered the suspect out of the vehicle and on to the ground at gunpoint,” said Captain Kenneth Walburn with Metro Police.
Carter admitted to police he’d had a few drinks. He was arrested for possession of a weapon while impaired and aggravated assault.
Source:newschannel5.com
Four people found dead at Bay St Louis MS home www.privateofficer.com
Bay St Louis, MS April 8 2012 - Four people are dead tonight in Hancock County after what police believe to be a domestic dispute.
Three people were found dead inside a home at the corner of Citizen Street and Old Spanish Trail in Bay St Louis, and a man fell to his death from a cell phone tower in Waveland.
Officials tell WLOX, officers arrived in Waveland at the cell tower behind the Knock Knock Bar on Baltic Street to try and talk a man down.
As officers were attempting to talk the man down, witnesses say that is when he apparently slipped and fell 300 feet to his death.
Police believe the man is responsible for killing the three people found dead inside a Bay St. Louis home.
Mayor Les Fillingame told WLOX News that Bay St. Louis Police Officers were called out to the murder scene at some point Saturday evening.
Officials believe this is a domestic case and believe the suspect knew the three victims.
Hancock County Coroner Jim Faulk is at to the scene.
At this time no identities have been released.
