Summer Moody injured in Gravine Island shooting has passed away www.privateofficer.com

 

MOBILE, Alabama April 26 2012 – Social media reports indicate that Summer Moody, the teen injured in the Gravine Island shooting, died late Wednesday. She was 17.

According to a post on the Facebook group Team Summer: “Just wanted to tell everyone the good news. Summer has gone to Heaven to be with Jesus. We spent her last hours with her talking to her, singing and listening to hymns, contemporary Christian songs and old childhood songs like Skidamarink a dink a dink.

“I am so proud of my little sister, Brooke, for talking Summer through her last few minutes. Thank you for all the thoughts, prayers, food, drinks, support, etc that everyone has given. We really appreciate it. Please pray for our family as we face the difficult days ahead.”

Moody, 17, was struck in the head by a bullet when two men fired what they described as warning shots after encountering intruders on Gravine Island at about 4 a.m. April 15.

According to statements from her family’s lawyer, Robert Stankoski, Moody has remained in a coma since that time.

Woodland Park Police Officer sent a 12-year-old girl explicit photos of himself in uniform www.privateofficer.com

 

PATERSON, N.J. April 26 2012 (AP) – A New Jersey police officer sent a 12-year-old girl explicit photos of himself in uniform and tried to set up a sexual encounter with her, days after meeting the girl while assisting her family in an unrelated police matter, authorities said Wednesday.

Woodland Park Police Officer Steven Vigorito Jr. pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges ranging from attempted aggravated sexual assault to luring and enticing a child. He was being held on $250,000 bail following his arrest while on duty Tuesday night. A message left after-hours for the public defender who represented him at the arraignment was not returned.

Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said the girl’s mother complained to the police department on Monday that the officer had made inappropriate comments to her daughter, had given her his private cellphone number and had asked her to text him. Woodlawn Park Police Chief Anthony Galietti said they immediately contacted the prosecutor’s office, whose detectives posed as the girl and started exchanging texts with Vigorito.

The texts became increasingly explicit over the course of several days, prosecutors said. Vigorito eventually texted the girl photographs in which he was exposing himself while wearing his police uniform and arranged to meet her for a sexual encounter, prosecutors alleged.

The girl was never in harm’s way, and never exchanged texts with the officer, Valdes said.

“What is so disturbing about this, is the person who was to assist the family, ends up preying on the family,” Valdes said.

The 39-year-old Vigorito has been with the police department for 12 years in Woodland Park, a small suburb about 15 miles from Manhattan. The town, known until a recent voter-approved name change as West Paterson, is a bucolic, leafy borough of neatly landscaped homes adjacent to Paterson, a grittier, more industrialized urban neighbor.

Vigorito, who New York television station WABC-7 reported is a married father of two, was arrested Tuesday night in the police station while on the night shift, according to Galietti, who said the patrolman was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

The arrest of one of the 25 officers on the force has shaken the small department, Galietti said.

“It’s very upsetting, when you have one of your own do something like this. It’s very upsetting,” he said. Galietti added that department officials had acted immediately upon receiving the family’s complaint about the officer, and had no hesitation in alerting the prosecutor’s office.

“When this came to light we went into it head-on. We didn’t care if it was one of our own,” he said. “I’m the father of five kids, and this is wrong. It’s a very inappropriate situation. Unfortunately, he (Vigorito) had a badge at the time.”

Virginia Beach police make quick work at rounding up hotel robbery suspects www.privateofficer.com

 

VIRGINIA BEACH VA April 26 2012 - Four men, three from North Carolina, are charged with robbing a Va. Beach motel.

Police were called to the Sundial Motel on 21st Street around 1:00 a.m. Tuesday after two men wearing masks demanded money from the desk clerk.

Witnesses heard a gunshot and saw two men running towards 20th Street and Arctic Avenue.

An officer in the area noticed a car circling in the area and followed it, making a traffic stop on I-264. The driver and passenger were taken into custody, but the officer didn’t know there were two other men hiding in the back seat, according to investigators.

Those two got into the front and drove off, eventually crashing into a sign at General Booth Boulevard and Rudee Inlet. The men bailed – one went into the water but was found. The fourth suspect was caught by K9 and was treated for minor injuries from the dog bite.

SUSPECTS:
Darius Antonio Casey, 21, from Emporia is charged with Armed Robbery, Use of a Firearm, Wearing a Mask, Conspiracy, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Shooting into an Occupied Dwelling.

Maurice Davon Sneed, 24, of Roanoke Rapids, NC is charged with Armed Robbery, Use of a Firearm, Wearing a Mask, Conspiracy and Felony Eluding Police.

Leroy Harris, 25, of Garysburg, NC is charged with Armed Robbery, Use of a Firearm and Conspiracy.

Jaquan Rashee Cheek, 22,of Roanoke Rapids, NC is charged with Armed Robbery, Use of a Firearm and Conspiracy.

Source:wvec.com

NJ bakery deliveryman charged with secretly taking an inappropriate photo of a 15-year-old girl www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Middlesex County NJ April 26 2012 The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office announced Wednesday that a bakery deliveryman was arrested and charged with secretly taking an inappropriate photo of a 15-year-old girl while she was shopping in the George Street Rite Aid.

Harold Williams, 60, of Eastampton, Burlington County, was arrested and charged on April 20 after allegedly following the girl into the store and angling his cell phone to take photos up her skirt, according to a release from the Prosecutor’s Office.

He was spotted by a security guard, who called police around 12:30 p.m., and held by store staff until the police arrived.

He faces charges of endangering the welfare of the child and invasion of privacy, and is jailed at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick on $75,000 bail.

Williams is a retired corrections officer with Mid-State Correctional Facility and currently works as a deliveryman with The Classic Dessert Co. of Eastampton, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, authorities suspect that Williams may have committed similar acts in other towns and requested anyone with information to call Investigator Andreea Capraru with the Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3600, or Det. William Coleman of the New Brunswick Police Department at (732) 745-5222.

Fleeing Florida shoplifter involved in serious crash www.privateofficer.com

 

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FL April 26 2012- Three women were in a serious car crash while fleeing the scene of an alleged shoplifting incident at the Macy’s in the Town Center Mall, according to Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office reports.

Around 6:33 p.m. Thursday, deputies received a call from Macy’s security about three women stealing 46 pieces of clothing, putting the items in their car and speeding away from the Town Center Mall.

Deputies spotted the car crossing US-41 and SR-776, then pull into a restaurant parking lot.

When deputies attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the car, the driver nearly hit the deputy’s patrol car getting out of the parking lot, reports said.

After the vehicle ran a stop sign and a stop light on US-41, deputies stopped pursuing the vehicle.

Deputies then spotted a large cloud of smoke a short distance away. The car had attempted to pass someone on the grass shoulder, lost control and struck a flatbed truck.

The driver and a passenger fled from the vehicle but were caught by deputies. The third suspect had to be extricated from the damaged car.

The driver, 27-year-old Nina Monic Brown was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital due to the severity of her injuries.

Passenger Linda Ann Watkins, 40, was taken to Tampa General Hospital and 19-year-old Eboni Joyneice Hatcher was taken to PRRMC.

Hatcher was released from the hospital and was arrested for grand theft and resisting arrest by a retail merchant.

Two former Spencer fair employees stole aluminum bleachers for scrap metal www.privateofficer.com

 

SPENCER MA April 26 2012 — Two former Spencer fair employees who allegedly stole aluminum bleachers and other items from the Spencer Fairgrounds recently were arraigned in Western Worcester District Court Tuesday.

Nicholas LaPerriere, 25, of 15 McDonald St. Apt. 1, Spencer, and his cousin, John O’Clair, 27, of 91 Meadow Road, Spencer, were charged with receiving stolen property after a Worcester scrap metal dealer who had been told of the theft recognized the material when the men attempted to sell it.

The alleged theft marks the second time the fair has been victimized by former employees who police said stole valuable aluminum and sold it for scrap.

“It’s really disappointing,” fair president Allan Walker said, adding that Mr. O’Clair had worked for several years as a seasonal employee at the fair.

“He came to me last year and said his cousin had been having a hard time and asked if we would hire him,” he said.

Mr. Walker interviewed Mr. LaPerriere and, even though he noticed the court-ordered electronic anklet Mr. LaPerriere was wearing, decided to give him a chance.

“And he was a good worker,” Mr. Walker said. “But now this.”

In 2008, Nicholas Thibert, of 8 Deer Run, Brookfield, Eric W. Hokenson, of 12 Sherman Drive, Spencer, and David R. Warner, of 15 Kittredge Road, Spencer, were charged after they allegedly stole bleachers valued at $11,450 and sold them for $378. Mr. Hokenson had worked at the fair that year and allegedly came up with the plan to steal the bleachers, slipping them through a fence and into an adjacent cemetery where the trio had parked a truck.

They were ordered to pay restitution.

In the latest case, police believe Mr. LaPerriere and Mr. O’Clair went to the fairgrounds, took the bleacher planks and some wire from under the main stage, then tried to sell it at Starr Scrap Metal Inc., in Worcester.

“I have signs all over warning people that I will help the police prosecute them,” said Michael P. Rivard, who owns Starr Scrap Metal.

When he recognized the bleachers, which had been cut up, he checked out the vehicle they were driving and found it matched information Spencer police had provided. He called Worcester police, who held the men until Spencer officers arrived and took them into custody.

Mr. Walker said fair officials thought the first incident was isolated, but now they will be talking about ways to improve security, something that could be challenging with their limited budget.

Even Police Chief David B. Darrin said there is probably little that can be done to stop such thefts.

“I don’t know that I have any advice,” he said, adding that much of the time large pieces of metal must be stored outside making them, “Prime for the taking.”

He said if people have metal they plan to sell for scrap, they should expedite that process and not leave the items unsecured outside for any length of time. In part he blames the economy. That, coupled with the high price being paid for scrap, makes stealing metal quite tempting.

“It’s lucrative to the point where people are going to take chances,” he said.

Cameras might be a deterrent and could be helpful to police if a theft occurs, he said, though they don’t provide a guarantee.

Mr. Rivard said he is cautious about what he takes in because there’s been a rise in the number of metal thefts. He said some brazen thieves will steal exterior doors from occupied homes and turn them in for scrap.

The aluminum from the bleachers would have netted about $400 if it had been sold. Mr. Rivard said he pays about 55 cents per pound for that type of metal. The bleachers had been cut into pieces and are of no used to the fair anymore.

In a statement contained in his court file, Mr. LaPerriere wrote that he was remorseful.

“I’m not to sure why I did this but I have felt bad . . . and whant to make things better for the trouble I coused for the Spencer Fairgrounds. ” he wrote, adding that he is the only one to blame for the theft and that his cousin was very hesitant about helping him.

He wrote that he wants to, “make it up to the people who I’ve stolen from.”

Mr. Walker said he hadn’t seen the statement or an accounting of the value of what was stolen but he feels sure that Mr. LaPerriere is in serious trouble since he’s already on probation.

“I think he has a pretty good chance of going to the slammer for this,” he said.

source-telegram.com

A Growing Trend: Law Enforcement Partnering with Private Security www.privateofficer.com

Washington DC April 26 2012 Recently FBI Director Robert Mueller spoke at a meeting about the importance of partnerships between Federal law enforcement agencies and the private security sector (read the whole article by professor Tim Hardiman here).

These partnerships were recently made evident when University of Alabama college professor Gary Warner and his student solved a sophisticated cyber-security breach, known as the Trident Breach by a hacker group called “ZeuS.”

This group stole an estimated $70 million from 400 American companies and organizations, using foreign college students as “money mules.” Professor Warner and his students were not only able to locate the ring’s central figures; they went one step further and located many of the “money mules” in foreign countries, which lead to many more arrests.

The professor was also part of a public/private partnership called InfraGard, an FBI-run program with 45,000-plus members in more than 80 cities in the U.S. The majority of this group’s members are private security professionals.

In these days of shrinking budgets, law enforcement agencies are wise to turn to the private security sector that now has more than 1.2 million personnel in the United States and protects over 50% of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

There are many successful examples of private/public partnerships, from the local level to the federal levels. For example, partnerships have been made to fight retail organized crime rings, investigate financial fraud, and even patrol downtown business districts. Police around the nation are quickly finding out that the private sector is a valuable tool to fill in gaps left by a poor economy and increasing responsibilities of law enforcement.

Many of the associations that foster these public/private partnerships may not be known to local law enforcement, but they are well worth getting involved in.

The International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI) links security personnel that work for banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions with law enforcement. They have not only been able to solve financial crimes, but have been able to assist with tracking other criminals based on financial transactions.

The Loss Prevention Foundation, National Retail Federation, and other retail security groups are partnering with police to combat organized retail crime, which is responsible for as much as five times the loss of simple shoplifters.

And the aforementioned InfraGard Program has been a huge success in partnering with law enforcement to combat a variety of criminal elements.

Police who just attend police training are limiting their knowledge.

The old perception that private security is just minimum-wage guards trying to “play” policemen is gone. Even though there are still “guards” out there, the private sector security professional of today are better educated and better trained than many in the law enforcement field. They are specialists with knowledge in areas such as cybersecurity, retail theft, counterfeit goods, financial crimes, as well as security for school campuses, hospitals, corporate offices, and much more.

It is important for local, county and state police to get involved with these private security groups and attend the various trainings that are offered to better understand the extent of the many problems they are facing, what the private sector is doing to combat these problems, and the resources that may be available to them.

Connecticut Senate passes misleading bill on citizens who record police officers www.privateofficer.com

Hartford CT April 26 2012 The Connecticut Senate passed a bill last week that allows citizens to record police officers, so long as the police officers in question don’t object to being recorded.

Bill 245, which passed 24-11 last Thursday in Connecticut’s Democrat-controlled senate, has two distinct parts: Section 1(b) lays out protections and recourse for citizens who want to record police; Section 1(c) gives police several excuses to interfere with citizen photographers without penalty.

Section 1(b) reads:

“A peace officer who interferes with any person taking a photographic or digital still or video image of such peace officer or another peace officer acting in the performance of such peace officer’s duties shall, subject to sections 5-141d, 7-465 and 29-8a of the general statutes, be liable to such person in an action at law, suit in equity or other proper proceeding for redress.”

Section 1(c) reads:

“A peace officer shall not be liable under subsection (b) of this section if the peace officer had reasonable grounds to believe that the peace officer was interfering with the taking of such image in order to (1) lawfully enforce a criminal law of this state or a municipal ordinance, (2) protect the public safety, (3) preserve the integrity of a crime scene or criminal investigation, (4) safeguard the privacy interests of any person, including a victim of a crime, or (5) lawfully enforce court rules and policies of the Judicial Branch with respect to taking a photograph, videotaping or otherwise recording an image in facilities of the Judicial Branch.”

While Republicans who voted against the bill said it would expose Connecticut cops to frivolous lawsuits, this legislation couldn’t be more protective of police if it was written by the cops themselves.

The standard for interference is based on “reasonable grounds to believe” that filming would jeopardize public safety, violate privacy, or conflict with other laws. What are reasonable grounds? The bill doesn’t say. How could recording a police officer beating the snot out of some poor perp jeopardize “public safety”? The bill doesn’t say. When it comes to protecting privacy, who counts among “any person”? The bill doesn’t say.

Because the bill doesn’t exclude police, it’s conceivable that a cop could stop a recording to protect his or her own privacy.
Because the bill doesn’t distinguish between preemptively protecting a person’s privacy versus doing so at a person’s request, it’s conceivable an officer could stop a citizen from recording an arrest on the grounds that the recording would violate a suspect’s privacy.

Security officer, police honored with awards www.privateofficer.com

 

DeWitt, NY April 26 2012– Four citizens and 23 law enforcement officers were honored Monday night by the Central New York Association of Chiefs of Police in a ceremony near Carrier Circle. Murdered Oneida County Sheriff’s deputy Kurt Wyman was also given a “Heroic Action” award.

The four citizens were honored for stopping crimes in progress and helping police make arrests. The police officers were commended for their police work and their heroic action.

According to information provided by the police chiefs:

• Gabriel Grohol, a security guard at Carousel Center, was honored for helping Syracuse police officers subdue a suspect armed with a sawed-off shotgun during a disturbance at the mall in February.

• Jose Garcia and Adam Sutton subdued a man with an assault rifle inside Garcia’s Syracuse apartment in November 2010. The gunman fired as the two tried to restrain him. They held the suspect until police arrived.

• Jessica Wilkerson, a resident advisor at Syracuse University, stopped a forcible touching incident at a resident hall entrance in March. A male student had grabbed a female and Wilkerson pushed him off and helped keep him at bay until campus officers arrived.

The following law enforcement officers were given commendations:

Dryden Police Sgt. Lewis D. Warner and state Trooper William Drake for rescuing a man pinned under a commercial lawn mower in 2011; Liverpool Police Detective Michael Lemm, Manlius Police Detective James Gallup, Camillus Police Detective James Nightingale and state police Investigator Timothy Kelly for investigating an infant homicide in Liverpool in 2011; Camillus Sgt. Joseph Farella for helping a team develop a countywide police report system; Rome Police Patrolman Fredrick J. Carnevale for searching for and catching a man accused in a fatal stabbing in September 2011; SU Peace Officer John Bingham for work with Syracuse police on three felony cases off-campus in October 2011; Cortland Police Officer Kenneth Bush for using CPR to save a man’s life in July 2011; state Attorney General’s Office Special Investigator Norman Doyle for assisting several departments with surveillance; DeWitt Police Officer Chris Fuller for stopping a suicidal man from jumping off a bridge in Februrary 2012; DeWitt Officer Donald Bauman for saving the life of a suicidal person who had hanged himself in his basement; DEA Special Agent Ronald Dadabo and Onondaga County Sheriff’s Detective Shane LaVigne for work dismantling a multi-state drug ring; and Baldwinsville Police Officer Robert Thibault for investigating a violent hammer attack.

The following law enforcement were given heroic action awards:

SU Peace Officer Kevin Haley for entering a burning building, helping people get out and putting out the fire in March 2011; Canastota Police Chief James Zophy, Officer Sean Barton and state police Sgt. Scott Nell for chasing and stopping an armed carjacker in March 2011 (the suspect was fatally shot by police); Trooper Shane Treen for subduing a gunman who fired around Lee Center, Oneida County, in June 2011; Syracuse Officer Scott Henderson for exchanging fire with a man accused of attempting to break into a building in December 2011 (the man died from gunshot wounds); and Oneida County Sheriff’s Deputy Kurt Wyman, who was killed while attempting to subdue a man armed with a shotgun in June 2011.

$175,000 corn theft caper in Alabama being investigated www.privateofficer.com

 

TALLADEGA, Ala. April 26 2012— Talladega police say they are investigating the theft of tons of corn from a feed mill in east Alabama.

Thomas says at least some of the suspects are employees of the company that’s missing the corn.

Capt. Leon Thomas says feed corn worth $175,000 is missing from Koch Foods. He tells The Daily Home of Talladega that enough corn is missing to fill 25 tractor trailer trucks.

A police report says the thefts appear to have taken place between Dec. 1 and this week.

Police are investigating how the corn was stolen and arrests are expected to be made soon.

School security guard, custodian charged with grand theft www.privateofficer.com

 

Miam Fla April 26 2012 Two employees at Miami Palmetto Senior High School have been arrested and charged with grand theft after loading school furniture onto trucks and selling it to a local scrap yard. According to a police report, they admitted to taking the items but claimed they thought they were trash.

The two Miami Palmetto employees, a security guard named Donovan Martin and a custodian named Kirk Smith, have pleaded not guilty. Smith does not have a criminal record in Miami-Dade County. Martin, meanwhile, was charged with grand theft auto in 1989 but the case was dropped.

According to the police report , Miami Palmetto principal Allison Harley called the cops on Friday, April 13 after learning of the missing furniture. She showed police video footage of Martin, Smith, and several other school employees loading dozens of desks, chairs, cabinets, garbage cans, and exercise bikes into the backs of their trucks and driving off earlier that week.

The same thing had happened twice the previous week. All together, a total of $6,127 in school property went missing.

Cops questioned Martin, Smith, and two other custodians. Martin and Smith both said they thought the furniture was just trash and admitted to selling it to a scrap yard on SW 72nd Street.

But both also admitted to never asking the school for permission. Martin told cops that “looking at the incident (he) now understands he made a mistake,” according to the police report.

The two other custodians told cops that they thought they were following school orders by helping to put the equipment onto the trucks. They were not arrested.

Martin and Smith immediately resigned from Miami Palmetto, according to the report.

Principal Harley declined to comment to Riptide, but she told cops that she would have “a discussion with her staff as to the rules of removing any property from the school.”

Roanoke VA man and wife shot during firearms safety class www.privateofficer.com

 

ROANOKE, Va.April 26 2012 – A Roanoke man and his wife are recovering after he accidentally shot himself and her during a firearms safety class.

The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office tells media outlets that Michael L. Deel shot himself in the hand with a .45-caliber handgun. The bullet also struck his wife, Michelle, in the leg as she was sitting beside him.

The incident occurred Saturday during a firearms safety class at a residence. The instructor, Thomas Starke, told police that he had left the room and then heard a shot.

The Deels were taken to a local hospital where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Michael Deel says the shooting was a “stupid accident.”

Oklahoma police captain arrested in shooting death of teen www.privateofficer.com

 

 

DEL CITY, Okla. April 26 2012– A Del City Police Department captain charged with manslaughter in the death of a teen posted bond and was released from jail Friday morning after turning himself in.

Police Capt. Randy Harrison shot and killed Dane Scott Jr. last month after a pursuit and altercation. Harrison shot at 18-year-old Scott four times, according to court documents. Three of the shots missed Scott, but the fourth hit him in the back, killing him.

Harrison is now facing manslaughter charges. His attorney, Irven Box, says the charges are surprising and very disappointing.

“What he did was justified in saving his life, other officers’ lives, citizens’ lives based on the totality of a chase, collision and a gun involvement,” said Box.

According to court documents, Scott was unarmed at the time of the shooting and wasn’t posing a threat to officers. That’s a claim that Box says he is ready to dispute.

“The person who was fleeing committed a felony offense. He had a gun,” said Box.

Harrison is a 24-year veteran of the Del City Police Department. The Del City Police Department is not commenting on the case. The investigation is now in the hands of the district attorney.

Scott’s family told KOCO Eyewitness News 5 that they visit his memorial on a daily basis. The memorial is set up where Scott was shot and killed.

“It’s just one step,” said Scott’s mother, Deloise Dockins. “We still have to go through the whole process.”

“I still cry every night, because like I told you before, it seems unreal that my brother is gone,” said Scott’s sister Sharmella Dockins.

Scott’s father adds that he doesn’t think race played a role in his son’s death.

Del City Police Chief Phil Taylor told Eyewitness News 5 he’s surprised that prosecutors charged Harrison with manslaughter in Scott’s shooting death.

“Yes, quite frankly,” answered Taylor, when asked if he was surprised by the charge. “But, that could be applicable to anyone in law enforcement.”

“It’s certainly a difficult situation; it’s sad,” he added.” It’s something you have to be professional (about) and work through these things.”

Taylor also said that it’s been tough on his department because a lot of officers aren’t familiar with the details.

“Whatever the outcome, I have a strong believe that they (Del City residents) will see that this was conducted from the very beginning, the investigation, in a professional way,” he added.

Source:www.koco.com

Phoenix police arrest man in shooting at ITT College www.privateofficer.com

 

Phoenix AZ April 26 2012 Police took a man into custody Wednesday morning who is suspected of shooting an ITT Technical Institute employee in a parking lot of one of the school’s West Valley campuses.

Carlos L. Webb, 33, was arrested on suspicion of shooting a 30-year-old woman and threatening his ex-girlfriend Tuesday night at the campus near 95th Avenue and McDowell Road, according to Sgt. Trent Crump, spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department.

Police arrested Webb at a home near 37th Street and Janice Way in Phoenix after he surrendered to tactical teams, Crump said.

Police suspect Webb went to confront his 30-year-old ex-girlfriend over a recent break up, Crump said. Webb was suspected of lifting his shirt up during class to show his ex-girlfriend he had a gun.

Police believe Webb tried to force his ex-girlfriend to go outside with him but she refused, Crump said. Webb left the school but then returned and began arguing with a school employee.

The confrontation began inside but was moved outside into the parking lot when the employee was brought into the parking lot against her will, Crump said.

The employee attempted to run from Webb. Police suspect that Webb fired at least one shot and struck the employee, Crump said. The bullet went all the way through the woman’s abdomen, according to Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Jorge Enriquez.

The victim was taken to an area hospital to be treated for the gunshot wound, Crump said. She was in critical but stable condition, Crump said.

Classes were in session on the ITT campus when the shooting occurred and the school immediately went into lock down, Crump said.

Police entered the building and evacuated about 70 students and faculty because police believed the gunman might still have been inside, Crump said.

Previous Story
A woman was shot Tuesday night in a parking lot at the ITT Technical Institute campus in the West Valley, Phoenix police said.

A search of the campus ended overnight, police said.

Police know who the gunman is, according to Sgt. Trent Crump, and they believe he is still in a building on campus.

Police evacuated the school off 95th Avenue and McDowell Road as the victim, a 28-year-old recruitment counselor, was being transferred to St. Joseph’s Trauma Center in Phoenix for immediate gunshot wound treatment, Crump said.

The bullet went all the way through the woman’s abdomen, according to Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Jorge Enriquez.

She is in critical but stable condition, Crump said.

The gunshot was a result of a fight between the suspect and the victim, who happened to be the counselor who initially referred the man to ITT, according to Crump.

The altercation began inside the building, Crump said, and was then brought out to the parking lot, where the woman was shot.

Witnesses said they saw the gunman run back into the building.

Source:tucson citizen/azcentral.com

Nassau County police officer arrested for stealing baby food www.privateofficer.com

 

Nassau County NY April 26 2012 A Nassau County police officer was arrested Tuesday morning after he allegedly stole baby food from a West Hempstead store at an earlier date.

According to investigators, Thomas Welsh, 48, entered the Stop and Shop located at 520 Cherry Valley Lane in West Hempstead and secreted numerous pouches of baby food on his person using plastic bags and a bungee cord. The value of the merchandise was approximately $40.

The Nassau County Internal Affairs Unit arrested Welsh Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. at police headquarters in Mineola.

Welsh was charged with petit larceny and possession of burglary tools. He was released on an appearance ticket and will appear at First District Court in Hempstead on May 17.

A police spokesman told The Associated Press that Welsh, a 25-year veteran of the force assigned to the Records Bureau, has been suspended without pay for 30 days.

Canadian Bill C-26 will expand private security’s arrest authority www.privateofficer.com

 

OTTAWA Canada April 26 2012 — A Conservative bill aiming to clarify laws around citizen’s arrests will grant greater powers to private security agencies, something police and the Canadian Bar Association say will give poorly trained ‘rent-a-cops’ greater latitude to arrest Canadians.

“Such personnel often lack the necessary range of equipment or adequate training to safely and lawfully make arrests in a manner proportionate to the circumstances,” Eric Gottardi, vice chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Criminal Justice Section, told a parliamentary committee recently.

Bill C-26: The Citizen’s Arrest and Self Defence Act, now at third reading in the House of Commons, clarifies and simplifies the rules on when citizens can take the law into their own hands. The bill is intended to repeal around 10 existing Criminal Code provisions dealing with self-defence, defence of property and citizen’s arrest, and collapse them into three easier to understand sections.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May — the only MP to oppose the bill — said C-26 will encourage vigilantism and amounts to a “very big gift to the private security companies.”

“The constitution of this country is governed by the concept of peace, order and good government,” May said. “This stuff goes off in a wacky new direction, and it worries me.”

However, some Tories — including controversial Calgary MP Rob Anders — think the bill does not go far enough and advocate a more robust legal definition of a citizen’s right to self-defence, one that resembles the “stand-your-ground” provisions in force in parts of the United States which many blame for the recent shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Florida.

While testifying before the committee in February, Gottardi said the bill is likely to embolden private security guards — such as mall cops — to make more arrests, which are likely to prove problematic.

“We’re also concerned that the changes will encourage unjustified arrests by private security personnel,” he said. “(They) are not subject to public oversight in the same way that police agencies are.

“The changes to the law of citizen’s arrest are just unnecessary, and in fact may put Canadians at further risk.”

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, also objected to the bill, saying Canadians should leave law enforcement to the professionals. The best and safest thing to do, he said, is to take photos or video of the crime and call the police.

“We should take care that any changes made within this legislation do not have the unintended consequence of broadening the current mandate of private security,” he said.

Citizen’s arrests can become even more dangerous when gangs are involved, he warned.

“In the worst case, gang affiliation can lead to increased personal danger for private security personnel who try to effect an arrest,” Stamatakis said. “We definitely don’t want to see a situation in which a citizen’s arrest is made only to find the suspects’ friends or accomplices returning for a measure of retribution.”

Ross McLeod, president of the Association of Professional Security Agencies, argued in favour of the new law on citizen’s arrest. He said private security guards — such as those who police big box stores like Walmart — already make a stunning number of arrests, and mostly without incident.

“We’ve arrested over 65,000 people over the last 30 years,” he said. “We have basic training regulations, and the next step will be adding more regulations and testing for people who are actually using force.”

The bill has the support of the Liberals and the NDP, in part because a private member’s bill by NDP MP Olivia Chow inspired it. Her so-called “Lucky Moose Bill” was inspired by the case of David Chen, owner of the Lucky Moose convenience store in Toronto, who was charged after making a citizen’s arrest of a thief who stole repeatedly from his shop. Chen was later acquitted.

Chow said the bill was intended simply to give small business owners greater latitude to apprehend thieves, not to give more power to private security firms.

“It’s the small store owners that have no financial capacity to hire private security guards that this bill works for,” she said. “It is to bring them into line with what Walmart or Loblaws or Metro are already doing.”

In a March opinion piece published in the Prince Arthur Herald, a bilingual online student blog based in Montreal, Anders said he wants to see a much more permissive self-defence law put in place, which he dubbed the “castle defence.”

“A man’s home is his castle,” Anders wrote. “If someone breaking into my house has a gun then I support the old common law rule that I can defend my house with equal force.”

During committee testimony on the topic of Bill C-26, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said he thought it would be reasonable in some circumstances to fire warning shots at thieves, a comment that surprised many.

May said the proposed changes to self-defence laws put Canada on a slippery slope, one that could lead to incidents like the recent shooting of an unarmed teen in Florida by a volunteer neighbourhood watch officer.

“I think we’re moving into an area where there is a risk of vigilantism,” she said. “The Trayvon Martin case should give people pause.”

Source:postmedia.com

Concord has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle sexual harrasement lawsuit www.privateofficer.com

Concord CA April 26 2012 The city of Concord has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a civilian community service officer who said she was sexually harassed by the highest-ranking woman in the Police Department, attorneys in the case said Tuesday.

Wendy Schwartzenberger said in her suit that Lt. Robin Heinemann, a 23-year veteran of the department, made unwelcome remarks to her from 2004 to 2009. Heinemann patted Schwartzenberger’s behind, kissed her at least 100 times and made her uncomfortable by referring to her and her partner, including asking whether Schwartzenberger would ever share her sexually, said the suit filed last year in Contra Costa County Superior Court.

Attorneys in the case have agreed not to comment on the merits of the lawsuit, said Mark Coon, acting city attorney. But Coon said settling the case “is in the best interests of all concerned, taking into account the costs of litigation and the disruption to staff that trying this case would entail.”

The settlement will be paid from city funds, officials said.

According to the suit, Heinemann grabbed Schwartzenberger during a photo opportunity and “told her that she wanted to have a threesome with her in the middle.”

At a lunch in April 2009 to welcome a new officer, the suit said, Heinemann opened Schwartzenberger’s fortune cookie and read the message aloud: “You will be giving this year.”

Heinemann added, “in bed,” and suggested to Schwartzenberger that she call her partner to “ask how giving she had been in bed that year,” the suit said.

Last year, Concord paid $150,000 to Heinemann to settle a lawsuit claiming she was harassed and discriminated against because of her gender.

Heinemann was promoted to lieutenant in 2001, two years after the city paid $1.25 million to settle a previous sexual-discrimination lawsuit in which she and other current or former female officers were plaintiffs.

Source:www.sfgate.com

Tulsa school teacher arrested in drug round up www.privateofficer.com

 

Wagnor OkK April 26 2012 A Tulsa school teacher has been arrested on drug possession charges.

27-year-old Jennifer Willis, a Language Arts instructor at East Central Junior High School, was rounded-up in an undercover drug sting in Wagoner.

Investigators with the Wagoner County Sheriffs’ Office executed a warrant Wednesday morning in the 700 block of South Lincoln in Wagoner.

Arrested at the residence were Willis, along with Michael Thomas Jenkins and Sammy Dean McKinney.

Jenkins and Willis were booked on possession of drug and drug paraphernalia charges.

McKinney was booked on those charges plus a complaint of intent to distribute.

A second search warrant was executed in the 1200 block of NE 9th in Wagoner.

Roy Gene Jenkins Jr. was subsequently arrested at his place of business, Keystone Chevrolet, with the assistance of the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.

He was booked into the Wagoner County Jail on a charge of possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute within 1000 feet of a school.

These arrests bring to 18 the number of people caught in the last week during the undercover operation in Wagoner.

Source:krmg.com

Bounty huunter charged with kidnapping in Colorado www.privateofficer.com

 

LOVELAND, Colo. April 26 2012 - A bounty hunter from Michigan is facing kidnapping charges after he was accused of picking up a 29-year-old man who was wanted on a misdemeanor traffic warrant and demanding money and drugs for his release.

Chad Farquhar, a 38-year-old from Jackson, was jailed on $175,000 bond after Loveland police arrested the 38-year-old Saturday night. He is accused of kidnapping Jason Olson, also of Michigan. Olson’s hometown was not available.

Farquhar is a bail enforcement agent with Quick Bail Bonds in Jackson, Mich. The firm’s owner, Charles Davis, denies the allegations and has an attorney working with Farquhar to navigate the judicial process, the Loveland Reporter-Herald reported.

Davis said Farquhar and another agent were on their way to Wyoming to apprehend a fugitive, when they decided to drive through Colorado to pick up Olson.

The two bounty hunters contacted Olson at a Loveland home. Police say the victim’s family later contacted them, saying Farquhar demanded money and drugs in exchange for Olson’s return.

Investigators say Farquhar’s family worked with Loveland police to set up a meeting that he voluntarily attended. Authorities arrested him there on the suspected charges.

Police released the other bounty hunter without charges. Olson wasn’t taken into custody because his misdemeanor traffic warrant is not extraditable.

Farquhar is scheduled to appear later this week in a Colorado courtroom.

Source: WWJ/AP

US Marines discharges sergeant for criticizing President Barack Obama on Facebook www.privateofficer.com

SAN DIEGO CA April 26 2012  (AP) – The Marine Corps has decided to discharge a sergeant for criticizing President Barack Obama on Facebook.

The Corps said Wednesday that Sgt. Gary Stein will be given an other-than-honorable discharge for violating Pentagon policy limiting speech of service members.

The San Diego-area Marine has served nearly 10 years in the Marine Corps. He has said he was exercising his free-speech rights.

The discharge will mean he loses all benefits.

NM shoplifter slashes Hobby Lobby employee www.privateofficer.com

 

LAS CRUCES NM April 26 2012 - Police arrested a man Monday who allegedly slashed a Hobby Lobby employee with a box cutter after he and an unidentified woman tried to leave the Las Cruces store without paying for merchandise.

Three Hobby Lobby employees and an off-duty Border Patrol agent teamed up to detain Michael Gristy, 46, of Organ, N.M., until Las Cruces police officers responded to the store at 2350 E Lohman Ave., just after 5 p.m.

One employee suffered a lacerated elbow from Gristy’s box cutter during a struggle, police said.

Gristy, who was arrested, is being held at the Doña Ana County Detention Center. He is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated assault, shoplifting and conspiracy.

Police are also looking to charge a woman who was seen on surveillance video with Gristy inside Hobby Lobby just before the alleged shoplifting.

The alleged accomplice set off a security sensor when she left the store without paying for merchandise. A store manager followed her outside, but she refused to return to the store and ran away, police said.

The store manager grabbed the woman’s purse, but was immediately struck by Gristy, police said. The woman ran to a car and sped away, leaving Gristy and her purse behind.

Three Hobby Lobby employees followed Gristy as he walked across the parking lot toward a nearby McDonald’s restaurant. Police said Gristy became agitated and pulled out a box cutter to threaten the employees.

When Gristy turned to run away, two employees tackled him to the ground. After allegedly cutting one employee with his box cutter, Gristy got up and continued running to the McDonald’s until an off-duty Border Patrol agent arrived and used his pickup truck to block Gristy’s path, police said.

The agent and store employees were then able to detain Gristy until police arrived. The employee who received the laceration was treated for his injuries at the scene, police said.

NY man arrest in Kohl’s shoplifting incident www.privateofficer.com

 

CORTLANDT, N.Y. April 26 2012– Westchester County Police charged a Bronx man with petty larceny, after Cortlandt Kohl’s department security personnel reported that the man attempted to leave the store with merchandise in a shopping cart.

Store security observed Solomon Venable, 60, of Inwood Avenue, Bronx, filling up his shopping cart and exiting the store without making any attempt to pay for the merchandise.

Venable was charged with petty larceny, a misdemeanor, after loss prevention personnel reported he attempted to leave the store with a cart of $504.62 in merchandise, said county police.
Venable is due in Cortlandt Town Court on May 4. The incident was reported April 21, at 2 p.m.

Philadelphia Home Depot security agent in serious condition after being stabbed www.privateofficer.com

 

Philadelphia PA April 26 2012 Police are investigating a stabbing and robbery at a Home Depot in the Port Richmond section of the city. It happened Wednesday afternoon at the Home Depot on the 2500 block of Castor Avenue.

Police say two men tried to steal copper wire from the store. During the attempted robbery they allegedly stabbed a 39-year-old male security guard in the right abdomen and scratched another guard. One suspect then fled on foot while another drove off in a car, according to investigators.

The 39-year-old guard was taken to the hospital where he is currently in stable condition. No arrests have been made and no weapon has been recovered.

Police arrest Dillard’s shoplifter after high speed chase www.privateofficer.com

 

Alpharetta GA April 26 2012  Police called off a chase down GA 400 on April 17 that reached speeds above 90 mph when they reached Northridge Road because of the risk to other motorists. A suspect was arrested the next day.

Officers responded to a shoplifting call at Dillards in North Point Mall when they spotted the suspect’s vehicle heading south on North Point Parkway and turning west (right) onto Mansell Road. They tried to get the suspect to stop as her vehicle was getting on GA 400 southbound. The driver refused to stop, and the chase was on.

“During this brief chase, the suspect vehicle showed no regard for Georgia traffic laws nro the safety of other motorists on the road,” the incident report stated.

The Dillards’ loss prevention officer told police he first spotted the suspect 30 minutes earlier trying to return a stolen handbag. She then took three handbags worth $1,200 off the display rack and left the store without paying for them, running to her vehicle. The Dillards’ employee followed the suspect’s car down to Mansell Road. When Alpharetta police officers got their patrol cars behind her car, he said he drove back to the store.

Warrants were taken out for a suspect in the shoplifting and chase incident. Siobhan Plichette Sims, 32, was cited for fleeing to elude an officer, reckless driving and felony shoplifting. She was being held in Fulton County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bond.

Mall Store’s Security Cameras Catch Teens Prowling in Parking Lot

Two teens were caught on a store’s security cameras entering an auto in the North Point Mall parking lot on April 15.

Mall security and a Von Maur loss prevention officer were with the pair in the parking lot near Macy’s. The Von Maur employee said the suspets had been seen looking into vehicles before entering an SUV.

The 18 year old from Dawsonville and the 16-year-old juvenile with him were cited for entering auto to commit a theft, a felony, and prowling. The juvenile was released into the custody of his mother.

Von Maur provided a DVD with footage from security cameras showing the teens’ actions in the parking lot.

Virginia nanny runs over infant sitting on ground in carseat www.privateofficer.com

 

HENRICO, Va. April 26 2012 Henrico police and park spokesperson say a nanny hit a 4-month old baby at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden at 2:30 Wednesday afternoon.

Police say the nanny placed the infant into a car seat, but did not put the seat into the car, and proceeded to back into the car seat, which was left on the right back side of the car.

CBS was told that the nanny called 911. The baby has been taken to VCU Medical Center.

The parents are at the hospital now, and the baby is reported to have bruises and scrapes but is otherwise okay.

The baby is a girl and the other child at the scene is a 2-year-old boy.

The Volvo driven by the nanny is owned by the parents of the children. She could face charges for reckless driving, or child neglect although no charges have been made yet.

Source: WTVR

Los Angeles TSA agents indicted on drug conspiracy charges www.privateofficer.com

 

Los Angeles CA April 26 2012 Two former and two current Transportation Security Administration employees have been arrested and indicted on drug conspiracy charges for allegedly allowing large amounts of cocaine and other drugs to pass through security screening at Los Angeles International Airport last year.

Seven people face drug-related charges in a 22-count indictment unsealed Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court. Other charges include paying and receiving bribes by a government official.

The indictment says 30-year-old Naral Richardson orchestrated five incidents where TSA screeners agreed to waive narcotics through security checkpoints. In exchange, some of the screeners were allegedly paid as much as $2,400 for their involvement. The alleged incidents occurred from early February 2011 to July 2011, the release said, citing the indictment.

“This case underscores the unique nature of 21st century drug smuggling,” Briane M. Grey, acting special agent in charge of the DEA in Los Angeles. “Here, the defendants traded on their positions at one the world’s most crucial airport security checkpoints, used their special access for criminal ends, and compromised the safety and security of their fellow citizens for their own profit.”

Randy Parsons, TSA’s security director at LAX, says the agency is disappointed about the arrests but it’s committed to holding its employees to the highest standards.

Source:www.foxnews.com

La Mesa Best Buy robbery suspects arrested www.privateofficer.com

 

La Mesa CA April 26 2012 Two men were arrested Tuesday in connection with what was described as an “armed shoplifting,” at Best Buy on Fletcher Parkway in La Mesa days before Thanksgiving in 2011.

La Mesa Police announced Wednesday that they arrested German Esquer, 19, and David J. Dickson, 24, both of San Diego. They have been booked into county jail on robbery charges.

It was not a great birthday gift for Dickson, who turned 24 on Tuesday.

Esquer was identified as a suspect in the case in March 2011. Dickson was identified as the second suspect on Wednesday, hours before being arrested.

On the date of the incident, the two men entered Best Buy and Esquer allegedly grabbed two laptop computers. The men then headed for the exit without paying for the merchandise. When confronted by a security guard, Esquer allegedly brandished a firearm to the guard, before the men ran out of the store.

From that point, the suspects crossed Fletcher Parkway and got into a two-door red Chevy Camaro, before fleeing the scene, according to police.

“They just walked out, very nonchalantly,” Sgt. Ted Fenn told La Mesa Patch in November. “They told [the store guard] to get out of the way.”

The robbery allegedly occurred while several customers were setting up tents outside the store in preparation for Best Buy’s Black Friday sale, three days away.

Esquer and Dickson area both in custody at San Diego Central Jail. Bail was set at $100,000 each. Arraignments are scheduled for both men on Friday, April 27