Alabama game warden given top law enforcement honor www.privateofficer.com

 

MONTGOMERY AL April 16 2012 — A state game warden, Joe Lindsey II, has been awarded the Medal of Honor for Alabama law enforcement officers for rescuing a 7-year-old boy from the burning wreckage of a north Alabama plane crash.

Lindsey received the Legislature’s highest honor given to law enforcement Thursday during a ceremony at the Alabama Statehouse. Top state officials, including Gov. Robert Bentley took part in the ceremony.

He was among 20 officers from across the state nominated for the award. Many of the officers were honored for heroic actions taken to aid and rescue victims of last April’s tornadoes.

Lindsey was at the Guntersville airport on June 18 with his family when he witnessed a plane crash after takeoff. He said he had been talking to members of the family on board the plane earlier and knew there were children on board. He said he drove his wife and child to an area away from the airport, told then to stay in their vehicle and he (asterisk)ran through the woods” to get to the wrecked plane.

Three people were killed in the accident.

Lindsey said he then entered the plane and rescued the young boy, who he said is continuing to recover from injuries received in the crash.

He said he doesn’t consider himself a hero.

“I am just a guy who was in the right place at the right time and I had a job to do,” Lindsey said.

Bentley told Lindsey he was proud of him.

“God put you in the right place at the right time to save this young boy,” Bentley said.

Other officers nominated for the award included:

— Huntsville police officer Mickey Brantley for rescuing a woman and a young child from a burning house.

—Cpl. R.E. Tucker and police dog “Bodi” for entering a shed where a robbery suspect was hiding and attempting to apprehend him. The dog was shot several times and has recovered.

—Officer George William Taylor of Cottonwood Police Department for crawling into a burning building and pulling a resident outside. Taylor was injured in an explosion while he was in the building.

—Sgt. Cassidy Lambert of Arab Police Department for rescuing a young child found in rubble after one of the tornadoes that hit the state on April 27.

—Cpl. Brian P. Faulkner of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation for helping find a missing four-year-old child after a winter storm.

—Chief Johnny Grant, Reserve Deputy Michael Bishop and investigator Josh Morgan of the Etowah County Sheriff’s Department for helping to rescue a family trapped under a home by a tornado.

—Officer Brian Nalley, Officer Tommy Tyler, Officer Deangelo Hall, Officer Robert Stewart, Officer Frank Alexander and Sgt. Kenneth Smith Jr. of the Birmingham Police Department for apprehending a domestic violence suspect who was threatening to kill himself.

—Lt. Beverly Peterson of the Birmingham Police Department for saving a life by performing the “Heimlich Maneuver” on a man who was having trouble breathing.

—Officer Donald Reese of the Birmingham Police Department for helping save his partner who was being attacked by a domestic violence suspect.

—Officer Katherine Snider of the Birmingham Police Department for using first aide to help save the life of a woman injured in a tornado.

—Officer Willie Willis of the Birmingham Police Department for using his “Taser” to stop a woman from jumping off an overpass onto Interstate 20/59.

—Officer Charles Wilson of the Birmingham Police Department who prevented a man from committing suicide.

Source:montgomery advertiser

Undercover casino detectives will patrol Ohio casinos www.privateofficer.com

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio April 16 2012 – To train to catch con artists at the new Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, state investigators first had to learn to play the games. Then they learned to cheat.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission has assigned 13 agents full time to the Horseshoe, which is to open May 14 on Public Square. The agents have just completed a 40-hour gaming course that covered rules — key for some who had never tried their hands at games like poker or craps — and ruses.

Casinos opening later in Toledo, Columbus and Cincinnati will have similar-sized contingents, said Matt Schuler, the commission’s executive director.

Schuler said the agents have sole jurisdiction on the gaming floor, though casino-hired security will handle many routine matters.

The commission launched its unit and other agents borrowed from the state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which typically keeps a low profile assisting local law enforcement.

While all the Cleveland agents are seasoned investigators, working in a casino environment is new to them, said Kurt Shearer, deputy director of enforcement for the casino commission.

He and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who took a private tour of the Horseshoe on Tuesday, said they were confident the investigative skills would transfer to what is essentially a miniature city filled with more than 2,100 slot machines and 65 gaming tables.

To Shearer, it’s no different than picking up the varied specialties he focused on at BCI. He joined the agency as an undercover narcotics investigator in 1985 and later worked on public corruption, serial crimes and child abuse.

“They’ll give us a group of laws,” Shearer said. “We’ll go enforce them.”

Three or four armed agents, plus a supervisor, will be on duty at all times, but the public may have a hard time singling them out.

Shearer said they will keep their guns concealed and usually dress in plain clothes, displaying their badges only when a visible reminder of their presence is needed to quell or discourage trouble.

The Horseshoe holds rich allure for swindlers. The casino will average 13,000 visitors and more than $800,000 in revenue a day, according to estimates from Rock Ohio Caesars, the joint venture that developed the Horseshoe.

George Joseph, a veteran Las Vegas-based casino security consultant, says the first criminals to surface will likely include drug dealers and others seeking to launder money at busy slot machines and gaming tables. He also predicted that professional gambling scam artists from around the country will add Cleveland to their circuit.

“Every organized team that hits every jurisdiction will be coming to Ohio in some fashion,” Joseph said in a telephone interview. “Your money’s green in Ohio. They’ll be coming that way.”

Caesars Entertainment, the Horseshoe’s operator, won’t rely entirely on state agents to protect their interests.

The four-story casino in the old Higbee building will have more than 1,000 surveillance cameras watching the movements of gamblers, as well as employees who might be tempted to skim cash.

Most of the 600 dealers are local and new to the profession, but they have trained for months in detecting cheaters. And they will get layers of backup from supervisors and internal security headed by Rosalind Pennywell, formerly with an MGM casino in Detroit.

“It’s not nearly as dramatic as TV or the movies,” Brad Hirsch, Horseshoe vice president and assistant general manager, said of casino scams. “That doesn’t mean we should ignore it or not make it a priority.”

Joseph helped train the Pennsylvania State Police, whose troopers keep watch at the state’s 11 casinos. The once-aspiring magician says he learned how to cheat at cards and dice from an ex-grifter he met as a teenager.

Scams vary in sophistication, from plucking cash vouchers left protruding from slot machines to surreptitiously marking cards to sliding, rather than rolling, dice, Joseph said.

Modern tech-savvy cheaters sometimes use hidden cameras capable of detecting clear substances they smear on cards. Joseph said some attach an electronic device to slot machines that fools a bill reader into falsely thinking that currency has been inserted.

Joseph said Cleveland will benefit from intelligence shared by a far-flung network of agencies that deal with gambling. Contact among agencies makes it easier to keep up with scammers and their schemes.

“The learning curve for every new jurisdiction becomes shorter and shorter,” Joseph said. “There’s a wealth of information that was not available in the old days.”

Pennsylvania State Police have encountered money laundering and cheating since the state’s first casino opened in 2006, said Maj. Tim Allue, head of gaming enforcement.

In 2009, three men were caught using a software glitch to steal nearly $430,000 over several weeks from a slot machine at the Meadows Racetrack and Casino southwest of Pittsburgh, authorities have said. According to news accounts, one of the men passed himself off as a high roller and had a former policeman pose as his bodyguard.

But most of the crime inside the casinos has tended not to involve the gambling itself, Allue said. Combined figures for the 10 Pennsylvania casinos operating last year show theft, often of items such as wallets and purses, was first with 1,953 confirmed incidents, followed by passing counterfeit money and forgery at 1,178.

Allue portrayed the 2009 slots case as an aberration, saying the modern, automated machines are nearly impossible to rig. Omnipresent surveillance is another deterrent to cheating, he said.

“Casinos are very bad places to commit a crime,” Allue said. “Virtually every move you make is on camera.”

Saranac High School teacher turns himself into police for sex charges www.privateofficer.com

 

IONIA, Mich. April 16 2012 - A Saranac High School teacher who was wanted in connection with having an inappropriate relationship with a student turned himself in to the Ionia County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.

Krag Sanford, 59, was arrested on two felony counts of distributing sexually explicit materials to a minor in Ionia County. He also faces felony charges for soliciting a minor for immoral purposes in Kent County.

According to a release from the Ionia County Sheriff’s Office, the criminal activity between Sanford and the student, who was 16 at the time, began during the summer of 2010. The office received a report of the crime and began its investigation in November of 2010.

During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the relationship was criminal, and that the activity was taking place not only in Ionia County, but also in Kent County. The Ionia County Sheriff’s Office worked with the Kent County Sheriff’s Office in investigating the crime.

An arraignment date has not yet been set.

source:-Lansing State Journal

High School ROTC teacher accused of having sex with a student www.privateofficer.com

 

McDuffie County Ga April 16 2012 A former Harlem High School ROTC teacher accused of having sex with a student was arrested Wednesday.

Mitchell Sivas, 57, was charged with sexual assault against a person in custody after his attorney brought him to the McDuffie County Law Enforcement Center at about 2:30 p.m., said Thomson Police Chief Joe Nelson.

Sivas resigned as Harlem’s Junior ROTC instructor on March 4 when confronted about his relationship with a 17-year-old senior at the school. When asked the previous day by Thomson police whether sexual activity between the two had occurred, he had denied the claim.

However, the student told authorities the two had engaged in sex on more than one occasion, Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris had previously said.

Following Sivas’ resignation, Thomson authorities initially said they would not pursue charges and deferred prosecution to Columbia County. But the alleged sex acts occured out of Columbia County’s jurisdiction at Sivas’ Thomson home.

Nelson asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for help with the case due to the “multi-jurisdictional” nature of the allegations against Sivas.

“The case was thoroughly investigated by the Thomson Police Department in connection with the GBI,” Nelson said Wednesday.

According to Georgia law, sex between a teacher and a student who attend the same school constitutes sexual assault, and the student’s consent cannot be used as a defense.

A person convicted under the law is subject to a minimum of one year in prison and a maximum of 25, and a fine of up to $100,000, or both, with harsher penalties for younger victims.

Sivas was released from the jail Wednesday after posting a $10,000 bond, Nelson said.

“The case has been turned over to the district attorney’s office for further prosecution,” he said

Murder-suicide rocks busy San Jose shopping center www.privateofficer.com

 

San Jose CA April 16 2012 A busy shopping center in South San Jose was rocked Saturday morning when a man walked up to a woman in the parking lot and shot her fatally in the head before turning the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide, police said.

Officers responded to 911 calls at 9:32 a.m. and found a man and a woman both suffering from a single gunshot wound in the parking lot of the Gould Center, a shopping center at McLaughlin Avenue and East Capitol Expressway. Just a few feet away, strapped into a child safety seat in a silver BMW, police found an uninjured 17-month old girl who they believe was related to the man or the woman.

The man and the woman, whose identities were being withheld by authorities Saturday afternoon pending notification of next of kin, were both pronounced dead at the scene, said police Capt. Anthony Ciaburro said.

“There is no threat to public safety. We’re confident at this point that it’s a murder-suicide,” Ciaburro said. “It’s a relationship between the two of them.”

Many people at the shopping center were shocked by the violent deaths in such a public, busy place. A crowd massed for hours to watch as the San Jose police and the Santa Clara County coroner’s office investigated the crime scene, with the two bodies in plain view.

Corey Rentie, 48, of San Jose, was reading his Bible in a nearby McDonald’s at the time of the shooting and was among the first to reach the bodies.

“I heard a pop,” Rentie said. “I jumped up out of my seat to see what happened.”

Rentie said he saw the woman lying face down on the pavement, about 20 yards apart from the body of the man. Both had been shot once in the head, Rentie said. He checked the couple, who are both Asian, to see if they were breathing. They were not.

“It must have been a small-caliber bullet because there was no splatter,” he said.

The female, who Rentie said appeared to still be dressed in pajamas, was lying on asphalt between a Nissan Versa and a white SUV. The man’s body was crumpled under a tree next to the silver BMW, which Ciaburro said police believe belonged to him. An orange shopping cart sat a few feet away.

The toddler was placed under the care of Santa Clara County Child Protective Services, authorities said.

Police cordoned off a large area of the shopping center parking lot, as homicide investigators photographed the bodies and picked over the scene.

For some long-term residents, the shootings were deeply disturbing. Patrons at a Taco Bell in the Gould Center could look out the window as they ate lunch and easily see the two bodies lying on the asphalt nearby.

“Normally, nothing goes on around here,” said James Griffin, a resident of the neighborhood for more than 30 years, who stopped at the scene to try to figure out what had drawn the large crowd and more than a dozen police cruisers.

A number of stores in the shopping center, whose tenants include fast-food restaurants and a supermarket specializing in Asian food, were closed and were not expected to reopen until late Saturday, police said.

Anyone with information about the fatal shooting can call police at 408-277-5283 or 408-277-8900.

Death of Alabama minister found in quarry now a homicide www.privateofficer.com

 

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama April 16 2012– The body found in a vehicle recovered from a quarry in Leeds has been positively identified as that of Carrie Elaine Gentry, and authorities now consider the case a homicide, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said today.

Gentry, a 64-year-old minister from Chelsea, was found in her submerged 2002 Lexus RX300.

“Her death was not an accident and what was initially a missing person’s case is now a homicide investigation,” the sheriff’s office said in a written statement.

Investigators are examing the vehicle for evidence that will help prosecutors, and blood and DNA evidence already has been submitted for testing. The woman had been missing since March 28.

Sheriff Chris Curry said he was saddened by the case.

“This is not the resolution we had all hoped for and it saddens me that someone would take a life and then discard it this way. I have every belief that we will make an arrest in this case and bring Ms. Gentry’s killer to justice,” he said.

A statement issued on behalf of Gentry’s family and ministry called for forgiveness.

“We are sad that this crime was committed and this is not the story wewould have written for our friend,” the statement said. “We are, however, well aware that weare not The Author. Our prayer is that the person or persons who did this would quickly take responsibility for their actions, tell the truth, and let the healing process begin.”

source-al.com

Albuquerque police under fire for frequent officer involved shootings www.privateofficer.com

 

ALBUQUERQUE NM April 16 2012 — Mike Gomez was in Las Vegas on business last May when an early-morning phone call delivered terrible news: His son Alan had been shot dead by an Albuquerque police marksman.

The 22-year-old construction worker had been acting erratically while in the throes of drug-induced hallucinations, said police. They mistakenly believed he had a gun and was holding two people hostage.

The shooting was one of 23 officer-involved shootings, 17 of them fatal, since January 2010, a string that has given Albuquerque one of the highest police shooting rates in the country. Critics charge the Police Department is out of control and are calling for the police chief to step down.

Wrongful-death lawsuits have mounted. In July 2011, the city agreed to pay $950,000 to the family of Roderick Jones, an unarmed security guard who in 2009 was shot in the back by an officer. That officer was later fired.

In March, officers fatally shot two suspects, and the Albuquerque Journal disclosed that the police union had been giving officers involved in shootings up to $500 so they could leave town amid the intense media coverage that typically follows an incident.

Gomez and other relatives of police shooting victims called the payments a “bounty” for killing civilians. “That’s like a reward system,” said Gomez, who is among those suing the department. “When they give them a $500 check, they can do anything with it — buy beer, buy a TV.”

Mayor Richard Berry and Police Chief Ray Schultz disavowed the practice, which made national headlines, and two union leaders resigned. Interim police union president Greg Weber said that from now on, officers would simply be reimbursed for their travel expenses.

“It was never about paying somebody to shoot a citizen,” he said. “It was about supporting the officer in their time of need.”

The department’s reputation took another hit last year when it was found that a detective who had shot a man during a traffic stop had listed his occupation on his Facebook page as “human waste disposal,” while another detective had posted politically and racially charged remarks on his Twitter and MySpace pages.

Relatives like Gomez and civil rights groups, such as the League of United Latin American Citizens, have staged rallies and protested at City Council meetings while calling for the Justice Department to launch a civil rights investigation.

Schultz, who has led the department since 2005, said that episodes of officer-on-citizen violence “seem to go in cycles,” and that such incidents appeared to be on the rise nationally, due in part to a growing number of people with untreated mental health problems.

TheWashington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum, meanwhile, reviewed the department’s practices and made nearly two dozen recommendations, most of which have been implemented, according to Schultz.

Where recruits once needed only high school diplomas, they now must have 60 hours of college credit, he says, plus the police academy is de-emphasizing its “paramilitary” culture.

Uniformed officers now carry Tasers, Schultz says, and all have lapel-mounted video cameras to record citizen encounters. Dispatchers and officers are taught how to identify people with signs of mental illness, and supervisors are automatically routed to scenes where someone is reported to have a weapon.

Schultz acknowledges the shootings have caused family members pain and drawn unflattering attention to the department. “Our goal has always been to try to minimize that force situation,” he says. “A lot of people are watching us to see how successful we are.”

Transient shoplifter pulls knife on Rite-Aid security www.privateofficer.com

 

Santa Monica CA April 16 2012 Officers responded to the 2400 block of Pico Boulevard — Rite Aid — regarding a report of a robbery that just occurred.
When officers arrived, they spoke with a security guard who told them that he was working undercover when he saw the suspect take several small bottles of wine and place them into his backpack before walking out of the store.
The guard followed the suspect, who allegedly took a fighting stance and proceeded to threaten the guard with bodily harm.
The guard retreated into the store and called police. Officers conducted a search of the area. They eventually detained the suspect, who was positively identified by security, and placed him under arrest for robbery and a probation violation.
 He was identified as George Valdovinos, 21, a transient. His bail was set at $50,000.

source-smdp.com

Canton Ohio shoplifter pulls knife on security www.privateofficer.com

 

NORTH CANTON, Ohio April 16 2012- A North Canton Giant Eagle needed extra security on Saturday when dealing with a shoplifter.

Giant Eagle employees called North Canton police when 21-year-old Ronald Keen III threatened a store employee with a pocket knife.

Keen was caught in a yard on Bellview Street after running through the store’s parking lot.

He was taken by police to Mercy Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries.

Officers found that Keen had heroin in his possession.

After he was released from the hospital, he was booked into Stark County Jail and charged with aggravated robbery and possession of heroin.
Two other males were identified as having come into the store with Keen. Their involvement is under investigation. There were no injuries reported by any of the store employees involved in the incident.

Source:www.newsnet5.com

Father-son security officers face jury trial for pepper spraying man www.privateofficer.com

 

TAMPA Fla April 16 2012 

A pair of security guards who were charged with misdemeanor battery for pepper-spraying a man twice at a Salem’s Gyros restaurant parking lot in Tampa last July will face a jury trial on Monday.

The security guards are a father-and-son team. The father, Merril Prince, 63, and his son, Michael Prince, 30, said they plan to use the controversial ‘stand your ground’ law as part of their defense.

“I was protecting myself, protecting the property and protecting the people that was inside,” Michael Prince said. “It just went south from there.”

“We do not feel that that we did anything wrong,” Merril Prince said. “We were doing were told to do, asked to do by the owners of the property.”

The victim, Willie Bass, 25, said he did nothing to provoke the pepper spray incidents.

“Trying to leave Gyros and got maced for no reason,” Bass said.

The first incident was caught on surveillance video at 3:54 a.m. at the restaurant located at 4006 E. Hillsborough Ave. The video shows Merril Prince spraying Mace into the window as Bass is drives a grey car through the parking lot.

“No warning, nothing. He didn’t say nothing to me,” said Bass. “He just Maced me and I’m, like, shocked. My homeboy grabbed the wheel and parked my car.”

Prince said he had told Bass numerous times to turn down his music and leave the property. The guard said he feared Bass was going to hit him with the car and that’s why he used his pepper spray.

“Drive thru lane’s behind me, I’m afraid if I back up I may get hit by a car back there,” Prince said. “I stood there, he came close, I reached out and I could have literally just touched him. I shot him with Mace.”

Bass said he went inside the restaurant to wash off his face. When he came out, Bass said he decided to record cell phone video of the guard to capture his identity.

“I pulled my phone out to try and record him saying his name, his badge number, so I could go over his head and go to his supervisor,” Bass said.

That cell phone video is now evidence in the criminal case.

The video shows Bass approach Merril and Michael, who can be heard telling him to leave.

Michael: “Oh, you want to take pictures? You can’t take pictures man. You know what? You need to go on.”

Willie: “(laughs).”

Michael: “I’m telling you right now you need to go the (expletive) home.”

Willie: “I’m telling you.”

Michael: “I’m going to mace your ass again.”

Merill: “That’ll be the best picture he’s had all night.”

As Bass goes back to his car the cell phone video captures more of the confrontation.

Michael: “Go on take pictures, man. You can take all the video you want because you know what? It’s illegal and I’ve already got your tag number. That’s illegal you have to ask my permission (expletive).”

Willie: “Go ahead and call me a (expletive) again, sir. Please do.”

Michael: “(expletive).”

Bass said after he got into his car and started it up, he was maced a second time when Michael Prince sprayed it through the driver’s side window. You can hear Bass coughing on the cell phone video.

Willie: “(coughs) He be spraying me again, dog (coughs).”

Passenger: “He just sprayed you? Want me to drive, bro?”

Willie: “Believe me they just sprayed me again.”

“Shut my door and I got maced again for no reason,” Bass told Bay News 9.

Michael Prince said he deployed his pepper spray because he saw Bass reaching for a weapon beneath his car seat.

“He was reaching under his seat, I saw the butt end of a knife,” Michael said. “So, I Maced him across the chest. He wasn’t wearing a shirt at that time. He was actually able to close the door, start his vehicle up, but then stopped, turned his vehicle off, got out and started throwing up.”

Bass said he had no weapons in the car and disputes Michael’s version of events.

“No reach under my seat. No reaching, my car’s on, I’m trying to leave,” said Bass. “My door’s shut and no threatening move and he’s going to mace me again?”

Tampa police were behind the restaurant at the time investigating a large fight that had occurred. Bass complained to the officers and showed them his cell phone video.

After police looked at the cell phone and surveillance videos, the security guards were arrested for battery.

According to a report, Sgt. Randy Peters said, “This was inappropriate and no legal justification existed for him to utilize pepper spray under these circumstances.”

Attorney Raul Cabrera is representing the security guards. Cabrera said he plans to use the ‘stand your ground’ law and a security guard statute as a defense.

That Florida statute states: “Non-deadly force may be used by a security officer to… terminate trespass or “interference” with property the security officer has a legal duty to protect.”

“It is our belief that they had a right to protect themselves, to protect the individuals that were here and they did nothing wrong when they chose to do that,” Cabrera said.

According the report, Sgt. Peters was skeptical of that security guard statute, stating that he was going to check with “our legal staff,” but was not going to stand by and let them Mace innocent bystanders.

The attorney said his clients were offered a plea deal that would have dropped the charge in exchange for probation and community service but they turned it down because the security guards are adamant about their innocence.

“It is their belief and it is my belief as their attorney that they stood their ground as they were entitled to and as they should,” said Cabrera.

If found guilty of battery, the maximum penalty is one-year in jail.

Soon a Hillsborough County jury will decide whether their use of force was justified.

The security guards said at the time they worked for Certified Protective Services but the company was later sold to Protective Consulting Group.

source-baynews9

Male employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation sues for gender discrimination www.privateofficer.com

 

Chicago, IL April 16 2012– A male employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is suing the agency for gender discrimination, claiming that a physical fitness test to become an FBI agent is biased against men.

Jay Bauer, a Ph.D. graduate of Northwestern University from Mount Prospect, Ill., said he missed the fitness test by one-push up, completing only 29 push-ups instead of the minimum 30 required for male trainees, which disqualified him from becoming a special agent. The test, administered at the FBI academy in Quantico, Va., has different physical minimum requirements for female and male trainees.

Bauer argues in the complaint that the FBI violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also alleges a trainee who failed to pass the female standards of the physical test was given a second chance.

The suit states “desiring to use his skills and experience for the public good, [Bauer] left an academic position at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to join the FBI as a Special Agent.” During New Agent Training at Quantico, which he joined around March 2009, he relocated his wife and two children, ages 3 and 5 at the time, to Cook County, Ill., after receiving his first office assignment to the FBI’s Chicago Division. He is currently an intelligence analyst there.

Bauer said female new agent trainees became special agents despite completing fewer than half the number of push-ups and scoring fewer overall points than he did on even the female version of the physical fitness test (PFT).

One particular female trainee was “at or near the bottom of the class in performance” in firearms training, “struggled” in academics training, and appeared “to lack the dedication and mental-toughness” for the special agent position. The suit states Bauer was at or near the top of the class in performance in all other areas “and, in fact, was voted by his peers during the [New Agent Training Program] as the class leader, designating him to speak on their behalf at graduation.”

Bauer and Michelle Reese Andrew, his attorney, declined to comment for the story.

The suit was filed last week in an Illinois district court against Eric Holder, Attorney General. The Department of Justice oversees the FBI.

Bill Carter, FBI spokesperson, said “it has long been [FBI's policy] to not comment on pending lawsuits,” and declined to respond to the details listed in the suit.

Bauer claims the FBI “arbitrarily” selected a different minimum standard based on sex “that does not measure in any way the minimum physical ability required to do the job of a Special Agent.”

To pass the PFT, male trainees must complete a minimum of 38 sit-ups and females a minimum of 35 to score one point in the sit-up event. Males must complete a minimum of 30 push-ups, females a minimum of 14, to score one point in the push-up event. Times required for 300 meter-sprints and 1.5 milers also vary.

Bauer alleges the FBI ignored data suggesting the different physical standards are not equally difficult, pointing to the Cooper Institute’s “large database of fitness norms.” Despite the fact that 14 push-ups for females correspond to between 27 and 29 push-ups for males, Bauer said the FBI “failed to adjust the arbitrarily selected standard of 14 for females and 30 for males.”

Brad Garrett, ABC News consultant and former FBI agent, said there are reasons for different minimum scores for men and women.

“Women do not have the upper body strength that men do,” he said. A “different number of pull-ups have been in place for a number of years.”

Garett said he would be “surprised” if the FBI arbitrarily allowed someone to re-take a test at training. He said there could be logical reasons to explain why an agent, such as the unnamed female agent in the suit, is given a second change at the fitness test.

“I remember that people got hurt during training. If they got hurt, they might let them rest and retake the test,” he said, adding that the majority of trainees he knew passed the test to become field agents.

Garrett said the responsibility is on the trainee to pass the test and “go beyond the minimum requirements.”

“That’s why they initiate pre-testing to assess your physical fitness and whether you would be able to sustain the multiple weeks at Quantico and pass all the tests there,” Garrett said.

Bauer’s suit states that he “exceeded all proficiency standards, scoring between 86 percent and 100 percent on each of the firearms qualifications and between 95 and 100 on each of the academic tests during the [New Agent Training Program].”

“It’s your job to get beyond the minimum whatever it takes,” Garrett said. “I’ve seen new agents training in the gym at nights to get beyond a passing level on all components on the physical.”

Garrett said while many people come to the FBI to become field agents, as Bauer did, it is no more prestigious than an analyst’s job, whose job can take place in a lab, field office or FBI headquarters.

“An analyst has an extremely important, relevant job. They make recommendations for very sensitive national security cases,” he said. “The FBI could not function without the non-agents.”

The suit is an “interesting twist” on a body of law that usually affects women and physical tests, said Elvia Arriola, law profesor at the Northern Illinois University.

“Though in some ways, having a male as a plaintiff is not that different than a lot of other cases of gender discrimination with women as plaintiffs,” said Arriola.

In defending the test, the FBI will probably have to show there is a rational basis for it, Arriola said. She said tests are common standard procedures used by employers.

“They become problematic when it’s unclear what the test calls for and how it relates to the job,” she said. “There has to be a reason that is obviously connected to what they will do as agents that will make sense,” she said.

She said an employer’s assessment test could have a discriminatory effect if it gave one female employee “a break” and not a male employee. If the test was taken under the same circumstances, such as with the same judges on the same day, with varying results that have no reason other than bias, then Bauer may prove there was “disparate treatment.”

If the varying treatment is a regular practice and is because of gender-based attitudes, Bauer could show there is a flaw in the way the FBI administers the physical fitness test, Arriola said.

“If that’s the case, you’re basing the whole idea on that women are not going to do well and not compete equally with men,” she said. “He has the opportunity to question how and why they administer the test.”

Garrett said he has seen a “number of heartbroken people over the years” who had trouble with the physical fitness or academic sides tests and were released.

“It’s heartwrenching for the person,” he said. “It’s still your responsibility to meet those minimum standards.”

Rialto police officer arrested for possessing an explosive device and threatening two high-ranking officers www.privateofficer.com

 

RIALTO CA April 16 2012 - A Rialto police officer, who was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly accepting a bribe, has been arrested on suspicion of possessing an explosive device and threatening two high-ranking Rialto police officers.
Aaron Scott Vigil, 41, of Highland, was arrested Saturday at his home by San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputies following a complaint from the Rialto Police Department about threatening phone calls, said Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Cindy Bachman.

Rialto police officials said they were concerned about Vigil’s welfare, Bachman said.

During a search of Vigil’s house, deputies allegedly found an explosive device. Details about the nature of the device were not released, she said.

On Thursday, Vigil was still being held in the department’s Central Detention Facility on $50,000 bail for the threat complaint charges and $400,000 for the explosive device charge, Bachman said.

Vigil was on unpaid administrative leave from a federal indictment served about a year ago, which charged him with allegedly accepting a $2,500 bribe in 2009 in exchange for falsely telling the Orange County District Attorney’s Office that a criminal defendant was a cooperator who had provided information to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Vigil had served as a task force officer with the DEA.

An Orange County defense attorney was also arrested as part of the same federal indictment that named Vigil.
Rialto Police Chief Tony Farrar said Wednesday night that a second internal investigation will be opened on the new charges as the previous investigation continues.

Farrar said that the allegation that Vigil accepted a bribe has not been decided by a court.

He declined to disclose details about the threats to members of his department.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s complaint says that Vigil “did willfully and unlawfully threaten to commit a crime, which would result in death and great bodily injury to” Rialto Police Capt. Randy DeAnda and Lt. Andy Karol.

“It is further alleged that the threatened crime, on its face and under the circumstances in which it was made, was so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate and specific as to convey … a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution,” the complaint says.

Source:-The Sun

Memphis security officer in critical condition after being shot www.privateofficer.com

 

MEMPHIS TN April 16 2012 An apartment security officer was shot multiple times while investigating the sound of gunfire at a Memphis apartment complex Saturday night, according to Memphis police.

Police reported that at about 11:45 p.m., the 54-year-old security officer heard gunshots at Stonehenge Park apartments, located south of Winchester Road off Durrand Drive.

As the guard walked around a corner to investigate, he was shot several times by an unknown male suspect and struck.

He was taken to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis in critical condition.

The suspect fled the scene, and no arrests have been made, police reported. An investigation is ongoing.

Philadelphia woman sent to prison for assaulting Target store security during theft www.privateofficer.com

 

Montgomery Township PA April 16 2012 A Philadelphia woman is headed to jail for shoplifting and then punching a security officer who tried to stop her from leaving the store.

Kimberly A. Lingham, 30, on Tuesday was sentenced up to 23 months in county lockup after pleading guilty to retail theft and assault charges for a shoplifting incident on Oct. 24, 2010, at the Target department store in Montgomery Township.

A security officer became suspicious of Lingham after watching her stack item after item into her shopping cart. Overall, there were 91 items in the cart having a total value of $1,647.

When Lingham pushed the cart out of the store without paying, the security officer tried to stop her. Lingham threatened him saying she would “sock him in the face” if he touched her, according to the complaint.

The security officer tried grabbing the shopping cart but Lingham began throwing punches.

Lingham, who is almost 6 feet tall and weighs 270 pounds, escaped to her car and drove away. The security officer, who sustained a cut ring finger in the altercation, managed to jot down the type of vehicle she was driving and the license plate number.

The security officer later identified Lingham in a photo lineup.

In addition to the jail and probation sentences she received, Lingham will have to perform 60 hours of community service.

Mother-two daughters charged in Kohl’s shoplifting incident www.privateofficer.com

 

Easton PA April 16 2012 An Easton woman and her two daughters were cited for retail theft after they allegedly concealed about $200 in merchandise from Kohl’s Department Store in their purses, according to Colonial Regional Police.

On April 3 around 5:39 p.m., police were called to the Kohl’s in Lower Nazareth Township for three women being held for retail theft.

According to police:

•Patricia Newton, 36, of S. 6th Street — the girls’ mother — allegedly concealed two bottles of perfume, a tank top and a pair of sweat pants in her purse. The merchandise totaled $138.93.

•Lashonna Newton, 18, same address, allegedly concealed a pair of Levi’s jeans in her purse. The jeans totaled $39.99.

•Ariana Hinds, 21, same address, allegedly concealed three tank tops in her purse. The merchandise totaled $20.97.

All three were cited for retail theft and released. The citations were filed through District Judge Joseph Barner’s office

NC man posed as paramedic-molested 7-year-old boy www.privateofficer.com

 

ELIZABETHTOWN NC April 16 2012– A Bladen County man is accused of trying to pass himself as a paramedic and, in a separate incident, molesting a 7-year-old boy, authorities said.

Daniel Trey Horne, 24, of Rosemont Lane in Clarkton, is charged with impersonating an EMS worker and taking indecent liberties with a minor, according to Capt. Rodney Hester of the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office.

Horne, a registered sex offender, was charged Monday with forcing the boy to touch him inappropriately during the weekend of March 30, Hester said.

Horne has a conviction in Sampson County of taking indecent liberties with a child, Hester said.

Horne was charged Monday with the impersonation violation, Hester said.

Bladen County EMS workers were dispatched on March 17 to a call on Mitchell Ford Road in Clarkton, Hester said.

When workers arrived, they found Horne wearing a gray shirt and blue pants, similar to the uniforms worn by paramedics with the Bladen County EMS.

“Horne told telecommunicators when he was talking to them on 911 that he was a paramedic and told the EMS employees on the scene that he was a paramedic in Sampson County,” Hester said.

Horne told authorities he presented himself as a paramedic because he had always wanted to pursue a career in that field, Hester said.

Total bail for Horne was set at $10,000.

Source:fayetteville observer  

Charlotte NC teacher run over by Fla lifeguard truck www.privateofficer.com

 

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -April 16 2012 - A Charlotte teacher says she was run over by a lifeguard truck while sunbathing on the beach Tuesday.

Rinda Mizelle is back in Charlotte recovering from her injuries, including cuts and burns.

The driver of the lifeguard truck was reportedly talking to someone when she hopped in the truck and drove directly over Mizelle.

“You’re thinking, this is how I’m going to die,” said Mizelle. “I started screaming and then everything goes dark because the SUV was blocking the sun.”

Two lifeguards were able to pull Mizelle out from under the SUV by digging trenches in the sand.

Mizelle described the experience as terrifying and said there are tire marks on her shirt.

Her lawyer said several women have had similar experiences in the last two years on Florida beaches.

The driver of the vehicle is on administrative leave.

Source:  WBTV

Shorelands Program at the Washington Department of Ecology employee charged with embezzlement www.privateofficer.com

Olympia WA April 16 2012 A former secretary with the Shorelands Program at the Washington Department of Ecology is accused of stealing almost $8,000 from her employers.

Peta Crites, 33, of Olympia, is suspected of making unauthorized expenditures using state-issued procurement cards to purchase alcohol, gift cards and other items, court papers state.

She is charged with one count of first-degree theft in Thurston County Superior Court. Her arraignment is scheduled for April 24.

According to court papers:

A detective with the Washington State Patrol began investigating unauthorized expenditures from DOE’s Shorelands Program in March 2011, after a supervisor discovered itemized receipts for items DOE does not typically pay for, including beer, wine and gift cards.

As the former senior secretary for the Shorelands Program, Crites was in charge of verifying and coding receipts for procurement cards used by Conservation Corps crews to purchase food during jobs across the state.

The supervisor at DOE discovered that Crites kept numerous procurement cards locked in the cabinet above her desk.

The WSP detective found that unauthorized DOE procurement card purchases were made at Macy’s, Toys R Us, the Outback Restaurant, Starbucks, a Shell station, Target, Applebee’s, Sears, Forever 21, Cabela’s and Home Depot, totalling $950.

The detective found that Crites had used a Target gift card that had been purchased using a state procurement card. The detective also found a cashier at a Safeway who identified Crites as the person who had made unauthorized purchases using a DOE procurement card in February 2011.

The investigation revealed a total loss amount to DOE between June 2010 and March 2011 totaling $7,960.

Source:www.thenewstribune.com

Concerned citizen helps police nab three shopifters www.privateofficer.com

 

SHELTON CT April 16 2012 — A concerned citizen Thursday helped police track down three Brooklyn, N.Y., suspects in an attempted shoplifting.
The citizen was in the parking lot of Staples, 3 Armstrong Road, at about 2:45 p.m. and saw the trio running from guards, said Detective Sgt. Kevin Ahern.

The three had allegedly tried to shoplift 12 ink toner cartridges worth about $1,400, Ahern said.

The three left in a white Toyota passenger van, with the citizen following. Police stopped the van on Huntington Street and arrested the trio.

In the van, police found a GPS, which had been loaded with the addresses of several Fairfield County area Staples stores, Ahern said. “It appears to us that they were in the Fairfield store and the Bridgeport store,” he said. Police don’t know if anything was taken from those stores.

Geshaun Hutson, 29, and Alonzo Hutson, 53, both of 921 Lafayette Ave.; and Shamala Michael, 22, of 165 Covert St., were all charged with conspiracy to commit larceny and criminal attempt at larceny, both in the fourth degree, Ahern said.

Geshaun Hutson posted $10,000 bail and was released for an appearance April 27 in Superior Court, Derby, Ahern said.

The other two were held overnight in lieu of $10,000 bail and arraigned Friday, he said.

Jury awards former New Orleans paramedic more than $1.5 million for injuries www.privateofficer.com

 

New Orleans LA April 16 2012 A federal jury has awarded a former New Orleans paramedic more than $1.5 million for injuries sustained while working in the back of an ambulance, the Times-Picayune reported this week.

Paramedic Ryan Earls was treating a gunshot victim in the rear of a Medtec Ambulance Corp. ambulance in December 2010, when the vehicle reportedly hit a bump and the bench seat collapsed.

Earls injured his back and had to be removed from the ambulance at the hospital, according to his attorney, and sustained bulging discs in his back and nerve damage.

The jury determined that the ambulance manufacturer knowingly designed a dangerous bench seat. The award amount was designated to cover $200,000 for loss of future wages and benefits, $600,000 for medical expenses and $700,000 for pain and suffering.
Medtec and New Orleans EMS did not comment for the Times-Picayune report.

Kentucky Fire Chief Dies Following Response www.privateofficer.com

 

Jefferson County KY April 16 2012 The Lake Dreamland Fire Department is mourning the loss of their fire chief who died at his home early Friday morning, only a few hours after responding to a call.

Fire Chief John Wilkinson Jr., 44, responded to a tree fire Thursday night and died after his own firefighters responded to his residence for a medial call, according to The Courier-Journal.

Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Sam Weakley told the newspaper that an official cause of death is still pending, but could be related to heart disease.

Since Wilkinson’s death occurred less than 24 hours following a response it is considered an on-duty death under the Hometown Heroes Act.

Wilkinson joined the department in 1985 and became chief in 2010, replacing his father, John Wilkinson Sr., who had served as chief since 1994.

He leaves behind his wife and their child.

Funeral arrangements are pending

GPS helps police track down computer thieves www.privateofficer.com

 

HAVELOCK NC April 16 2012 — Quick police work and a little help from technology helped Havelock police catch three suspects in connection with the theft of three computers from the Havelock Walmart on Tuesday.

Havelock police Lt. Brian Woods said Walmart security noticed three individuals each pushing a separate shopping cart containing a computer. The three left the store around 10:30 a.m. and loaded the unpaid merchandise into a red SUV.

Walmart security was able to get a license plate number from the vehicle and relayed that information to police.

“It was obviously instrumental in us solving this crime,” Havelock police Sgt. James Fahnestock said of the work of Walmart security.

Fahnestock said information from the license plate indicated that the vehicle, a red Mitsubishi Montero Sport, was a rental from H and J Auto Sales in Rocky Mount. He contacted the rental company and learned the SUV was equipped with a GPS system that would permit the company to disable the vehicle.

Using the GPS coordinates, police located the SUV, with its hood up, in front of a room at the Hostess House just before 11 a.m.

“They were trying to figure out why it wouldn’t start,” Fahnestock said of the suspects.

Havelock police recovered all three boxed Hewlett Packard desktop computers and other property, including several fishing rods apparently stolen from another store.

Woods said police were trying to find out from which store the items had been stolen. The red getaway vehicle was confiscated.

“The investigation is ongoing,” he said. “We were able to recover the three stolen computers as well as other stolen property. It’s still undetermined where it came from, whether it was the Walmart in Havelock or maybe New Bern or Morehead City.”

Woods said three people were taken into custody, two men and a male juvenile.

Matthew Randall, 24, of Rocky Mount, was arrested and charged with felony larceny and misdemeanor possession of stolen property.

Randall has an extensive record including felony second-degree sexual offense and multiple misdemeanors, according to the Department of Corrections. He was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and spent five months in jail, his fifth time in jail. He was released in September of 2011.

Tommy Hairston, 32, of Rocky Mount, was arrested on three warrants from Rocky Mount for failure to appear.

The name of the juvenile was not released. Police report the total value of the computers at $1,500.

PA man was arrested after he was caught drinking vanilla extract www.privateofficer.com

 

South Heidelberg PA April 16 2012 A Cumberland County man was arrested after he was caught shoplifting several bottles of vanilla extract in a South Heidelberg Township supermarket and admitted to drinking some of the flavor additive in the store, authorities said Wednesday.

Police charged Michael D. Loy, 35, of Mechanicsburg with retail theft, public drunkenness and disorderly conduct after the incident in Redner’s Market, 4870 Penn Ave., about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Loy remained free awaiting further court action following arraignment early Wednesday before Senior District Judge Richard A. Gatti in Reading Central Court.

According to court records:

A store employee was stocking shelves and noticed five empty vanilla extract boxes on the floor. He saw Loy had several boxes of the extract in his pants pockets. The employee took Loy to the store office, and the manager called police.

Officer Kyle D. Patton found a bottle of extract in one of Loy’s socks and put the bottle on a desk while he continued to search Loy.

Loy grabbed the bottle and said, “I’m just going to drink this quick.”

The officer took the bottle and ordered Loy to sit down.

Patton had to restrain Loy when he tried a second time to grab the bottle while emergency medical personnel were evaluating Loy.

source-readingeagle.com