Line of Duty Death Deputy Sheriff David Wargo

 

Deputy Sheriff

David Wargo

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Arizona

End of Watch: Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Bio & Incident Details

Age: 39

Tour: Not available

Badge # Not available

Cause: Vehicular assault

Incident Date: 5/23/2003

Weapon: Automobile

Suspect: Sentenced to 15 years

Deputy Sheriff David Wargo succumbed to severe head injuries sustained nine years earlier when he was dragged by a vehicle in a supermarket parking lot at the intersection of 83rd Avenue and Camelback Road.

Deputy Wargo was working an off duty detail at the supermarket when he encountered a man parking in a prohibited area and instructed him to move. The subject attempted to flee the scene while Deputy Wargo held onto the truck. The driver reached speeds of up to 50 mph before Deputy Wargo fell from the truck and struck his head on the pavement.

He suffered severe head injuries as a result and was left in a vegetative state until passing away nine years later.

The driver of the vehicle was convicted of several charges after the initial incident and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Deputy Wargo is survived by his wife and two children.

Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

100 West Washington

Suite 1900

Phoenix, AZ 85003

Phone: (602) 876-1000

Federal ICE agent killed by own son, 14 www.privateofficer.com

 

CARSON, Calif.  May 3 2012 (AP) — The 14-year-old son of a federal agent was arrested Thursday in the shooting death of his father in their Southern California home, authorities said.

The boy was arrested at his home in Carson, 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Deputy Guillermina Saldana said. No motive for the shooting was released.

The boy called 911 shortly before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and reported that his father had been shot in the back of the head by a bullet fired into their home from the backyard, Sgt. Dana Ellison said.

The 40-year-old agent was found in the television room of the two-story home on a tidy street near a school. He had been shot with a handgun and was dead when deputies arrived, Saldana said.

It was unclear whether anyone else was in the home at the time of the shooting, she added.

The agent’s name was not immediately released but he had worked for ICE for four years, Saldana said.

He worked on homeland security investigations, the federal agency said.

“This is a difficult time for ICE, especially for the family and loved ones of the agent. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers,’ ICE Director John Morton said in a statement.

The body was removed at Thursday morning. A KTTV news helicopter showed ICE agents lining the driveway salute as the body, covered by an American flag, was wheeled to a coroner’s van.

U.S. Department of Justice investigating Missoula MT for failing to aggressively investigate 80 rapes www.privateofficer.com

 

MISSOULA, Montana May 3 2012 – The U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a broad probe on Tuesday into complaints that authorities were failing to aggressively investigate sexual assault reports in Missoula, Montana, citing more than 80 reported rapes there during the past three years.

The investigation includes a review of the handling of sexual assault and harassment reports at the University of Montana at Missoula, where at least 11 student-related sex assault cases have surfaced in recent months.

At least two members of the university’s Big Sky Conference champion football team, the Grizzlies, have been accused of rape, leading to the recent dismissal of the football coach and the school’s athletic director.

A central thrust of the federal investigation will focus on complaints that local law enforcement has failed to properly investigate and prosecute sexual assaults on women in Missoula due to gender discrimination, the justice department said.

“The allegations that the University of Montana, the local police department and the county attorney’s office failed to adequately address sexual assaults are very disturbing,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

Local authorities said the incidence of rape in Missoula, a western Montana city of 86,000 people, is on par with similarly sized college towns, and the county’s chief prosecutor questioned the justice department’s rationale for its inquiry.

The investigation comes in the midst of an election year in which women’s issues have moved to the forefront as candidates seek to burnish their credentials among female voters.

The justice department probe will examine the inner workings of the university’s public safety office, the Missoula Police Department and the Missoula County Attorney’s Office.

Additionally, the department will review whether the university is complying with federal laws specifically barring sex discrimination, defined as including sexual assault and sexual harassment, in education programs, officials said.

Details of the investigation were announced at a news conference in Missoula, whose economy and identity are closely entwined with the state’s flagship research institution.

“There are a lot of women in the community who have strong concerns about the manner in which sexual assaults have been handled,” said Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, head of the justice department’s civil rights division.

Missoula Police Chief Mark Muir acknowledged his department had received roughly 80 rape reports in the past three years. But he said that on a per-capita basis, that figure was at or below the average level of reported rapes for U.S. college towns of similar size and makeup.

Muir, who said his department would cooperate with the inquiry, said he did not know how many of those reports had resulted in criminal charges being filed. Justice department officials said they will be delving into that very question.

Missoula County’s chief prosecutor, Fred Van Valkenburg, fiercely defended his office and the local police, calling the justice department probe an “overreach by the federal government.”

“I have no reason to believe (police) violated anyone’s rights,” he said, adding that his office had no choice but to cooperate given “the heavy hand of a federal government that refuses to tell us what we supposedly have done wrong.”

However, for Missoula business and university boosters the investigation is an unwelcome development.

Administrators and business leaders say they worry about fallout from the justice department probe and six months of news about sex assault investigations tied to the university. From the fall of 2010 to fall of 2011, full-time student enrollment dropped by two percent

Source:NBC NEWS

Dallas polce officer arrested for shooting at cars www.privateofficer.com

 

DALLAS TX May 3 2012  - New information has been released about the Dallas police officer arrested and charged with aggravated assault after allegedly shooting at drivers.

Police said Officer Raphael Mendoza was driving erratically down Interstate 30 near Big Town Boulevard on Saturday night, waiving a gun out the window and pointing it at several cars.

Two witnesses called police including one who said Mendoza put a bullet in his trunk. According to court documents, that bullet went through the trunk, into the back seat and lodged itself in the front, right passenger seat.

Police followed Mendoza as he exited at Northwest Drive and they said he ran a red light. Then he turned off his lights as he passed a Jack in the Box restaurant and pulled around the corner to Morningside Court, where police said he tossed his gun out the window.

Court documents showed police found Mendoza’s 9 millimeter handgun on the curb next to some mailboxes. They also found a small bag of marijuana in his patrol bag and he told officers he had six drinks.

Officer Mendoza’s behavior is no surprise to his neighbor, David Leon. Although, he said he was shocked to see the 34-year-old roughing up his girlfriend last July.

“He had his hands on her shoulders, shaking her. And she was screaming and stuff,” he said. “Her hair was waiving and stuff and I was like, man.”

According to Dallas police reports, Mendoza was accused of shoving the woman to the ground and handcuffing her outside his Bryan Place Apartments. He allegedly left her sitting there for an hour.

“He’s a police officer. He’s not supposed to be doing that. I was trying to figure out should I call the police on a police officer. I don’t know how that works,” Leon said.

The woman didn’t prosecute and the charges were dropped, but Mendoza was put on administration leave and suspended from work for five days.

Leon said it has been quiet around the apartments since then but he still can’t say he’s surprised to hear about his neighbor’s alleged behavior over the weekend.

“Just to know he’s a police officer and he’s done that,” he said.

In addition to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Mendoza was booked for DWI and possession of marijuana. His bond for the three offenses was set at $51,000. And he’s back on administrative lead for this latest incident.

source:myfoxdfw

Men Arrested in Toco Hill Armored Car Killing Also Charged in Strip Club Homicide www.privateofficer.com

 

Atlanta GA May 3 2012 Two men charged in last year’s killing of an armored car guard in Toco Hill Shopping Center were also charged last week in the 2010 killing of a Decatur strip club owner.

A DeKalb County grand jury charged Stacey Lamont Dooley, 35, and Ashley Antwan Henderson, 28, with the Sept. 7 fatal shooting of Terry Stephenson, owner of Pin Up’s strip club on East Ponce de Leon Avenue, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The club’s manager, Charles Edward Daniels, was charged in the killing.

Daniels and Dooley had been in “constant phone communication” during the week leading up to the Sept. 7 shooting, prosecutors said. But they adjusted on the fly after Daniels learned he wouldn’t be taking the club’s proceeds from the Labor Day weekend to the bank.

According to the DeKalb District Attorney’s Office, Daniels told his cohorts to target Stephenson, who was carrying more than $55,000 in cash. They took the money after firing six shots at the 49-year-old former firefighter outside the Pin Ups entrance.

Dooley of Snellville and Henderson of Atlanta were charged in the March 15, 2011, killing of 32-year-old Gary Castillo, an armored car guard from Lawrenceville who was leaving Kroger in the shopping center with a cash pick-up when he was gunned down in the middle of the day.

The killing was one of several brazen attacks across the metro Atlanta area involving armored car guards. The case was investigated by the FBI, and several others were implicated in the crimes.

Former ICE employee pleads guilty to theft and fraud www.privateofficer.com

 

WASHINGTON DC May 3 2012  - On the heels of the government’s embarrassing scandal in Las Vegas involving the General Services Administration, or GSA, comes word that a high-ranking Homeland Security official has pleaded guilty in a travel fraud ring that defrauded taxpayers out of at least $600,000.

Forty-eight-year old James Woosley headed Intelligence for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Homeland Security (DHS). Justice Department officials say that, among other crimes, Woosley faked expense reports for more than a dozen trips, and helped others do the same in exchange for kickbacks. Woosley used $5,000 of the taxpayer’s money to buy a boat, and nearly $16,000 for a real estate investment.

Officials say Woosley got help from several ICE employees, including his personal assistant Lateisha Rollerson with whom he developed “a close, personal relationship.” The two lived together and often traveled together on business trips. Rollerson pleaded guilty earlier to creating the fraudulent travel vouchers and documents to support Woosley’s fake expenses.

In some instances, other ICE employees stayed at Woosley’s Virginia home when travelling to Washington, D.C. on business, then created false hotel receipts. Woosley then took a kickback from their receipts.

Woosley “abused his sensitive position of trust to fleece the government by submitting phony paperwork for and taking kickbacks from subordinates who were also on the take,” said U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen, Jr. who helped prosecute the case.

Besides Rollerson and Woosley, three others also plead guilty earlier in the scheme. They include ICE supervisory intelligence research specialist 64-year old Ahmen Adil Abdallat, ICE intelligence research specialist 53-year old William Korn, and ICE contractor 61-year old Stephen Henderson.

Woosley faces 18-27 months in prison and a fine. He has agreed to forfeit the stolen money

Ex-Wilson County deputy gets 18 years for trying to sell drug probe information www.privateofficer.com

 

Nashville TN May 3 2012 A federal judge sentenced a former Wilson County sheriff’s deputy, working on a federal task force, to 18 years in prison for attempting to sell information about a drug trafficking investigation.

John Patrick Edwards, 39, of Mt. Juliet pleaded guilty in February to corruptly obstructing justice for his efforts to sell information about a large-scale federal wiretap investigation to the targets of the probe.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Agency conducted the investigation into cocaine and marijuana trafficking. The case included members of a Mexican drug cartel.

After a three-hour hearing that lasted until 9 p.m. Friday, U.S. District Court Judge William Haynes sentenced Edwards to 18 years and four months, agreeing with prosecutors that the term should be above the federal sentencing guidelines.

U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin said the vast majority of law-enforcement officers are honorable and perform very difficult jobs.

“But we can’t let rogue agents and officers taint the rest of us,” he said. “This sends a powerful message to everyone that no one is above the law.”

The maximum Edwards could have faced was 20 years in prison. The sentencing guidelines for Edwards, which are advisory, ranged from nine to 11 years.

Prosecutors asked Haynes to consider the stiffer penalty but did not request the maximum because no law enforcement officers were harmed as a result of Edwards’ actions.

Martin said FBI agents stopped Edwards from carrying out his plan. Federal prosecutors take obstruction of justice seriously, especially if someone’s actions could harm a law enforcement officer, he said.

Had Edwards been successful, his actions could have led to the deaths of agents working the drug case, Martin said.

Edwards had worked on the federal investigation in 2010 and 2011 and had details of the probe, including the name of the confidential informant. In April 2011, Edwards sought to sell the names of the informant and the two lead agents on the case. He wanted $100,000 and a Range Rover in return.

An attorney for Edwards did not return a message Monday seeking comment.

source-the tennessean

Grayslake community service officer hit while directing traffic files lawsuit www.privateofficer.com

 

Grayslake ILL May 3 2012 A Grayslake community service officer has sued a private school that employed a bus driver accused of striking the woman and causing serious injuries to her while she directed traffic on a busy thoroughfare.

Dale M. Strzyz was handling traffic-control duties for Grayslake police outside Prairieview School in Hainesville when she was injured by the bus on Nov. 29, 2011, according to her lawsuit.

Strzyz’s lawyer filed the negligence complaint in Lake County circuit court on April 18 against La Petite Academy Inc., which has a Round Lake Beach branch.

Kate York, executive director of the Round Lake Beach facility, declined to comment on the case Monday and referred inquires to La Petite’s corporate headquarters in Michigan. La Petite’s Novi, Mich., office didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

In the suit filed by Chicago attorney Michelle Kohut, it’s alleged La Petite bus driver Mary M. Moore was driving east on Route 120 at Misty Hill Lane in Hainesville when she struck the on-duty Strzyz. The suit contends Moore didn’t yield the right of way, decrease her speed or provide “an audible warning” with her horn before the collision.

Kohut was involved in a trial and unavailable for comment Monday. However, in an email, she stated Strzyz, 59, of Third Lake, suffered a broken arm, severe facial fractures, a subdural hematoma and broken nose.

Strzyz has been with the Grayslake Police Department for about 10 years. She seeks more than $50,000 in damages from La Petite in her suit.

La Petite offers programs, such as private kindergarten, early preschool and summer camp. Documents didn’t state whether any children from the private school were on the bus when it struck Strzyz.

Moore, who also was named in the suit, couldn’t be located for comment.

Source: Daily Herald

Police: Man arrested after posing as cop during Pasco traffic stop www.privateofficer.com

 

NEW PORT RICHEY Fla May 3 2012 — When a Tarpon Springs man was pulled over Saturday in New Port Richey, he tried to convince officers that he was one of them, according to police.

Joseph Rainier, 53, was driving north on U.S. 19 about 2 p.m. in a white Jeep Cherokee, police said, when New Port Richey police Cpl. Donald Velsor clocked him going faster than the 45 mph speed limit.

Upon being pulled over, Rainier asked to speak with a police supervisor. Velsor replied that he was a supervisor, police said.

Rainier then flashed a gold shield resembling an official Florida Department of Law Enforcement badge, police said. “You’re in trouble,” he told the officer.

When Velsor asked to see the gold shield again, Rainier refused, police said. Velsor asked Rainier to get out of the car. Again, he refused, police said.

Rainier was later removed from the vehicle and taken into custody. He was booked in the Pasco County jail on charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest without violence.

Orange County deputy arrested for breaking into car at Disney www.privateofficer.com

 

Orange County FLA May 3 2012 An Orange County deputy was arrested on charges that he broke into a minivan while on duty at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and stole children’s’ money.

Kirk Smurawa, who has worked for the Sheriff’s Office for 10 years, was charged with armed burglary of a conveyance and petit theft.

A Sheriff’s Office report released Wednesday said Smurawa was under surveillance by other deputies as he patrolled a parking lot at the theme park Tuesday afternoon.

Deputies watched as Smurawa opened the passenger door of a minivan and walked away from the rental vehicle with a silver or grey purse.

Deputies said Smurawa took the purse back to his marked patrol car, sat in the vehicle, walked back to the minivan, and then tossed the purse on the ground under the driver’s side front door.

Smurawa then drove away from the area in his car.

Deputies stopped Smurawa, who confessed to taking the purse and taking cash from two small children’s wallets he found inside the purse.

The owner of the purse told the Sheriff’s Office there was about $55 in her children’s wallets.

Smurawa was arrested, relieved of duty without pay, and his law-enforcement credentials were revoked pending an administrative review.

Palm Springs school security guard guilty of sexually abusing four female students www.privateofficer.com

 

PALM SPRINGS CA May 3 2012  — A security guard at a Palm Springs-area middle school was behind bars Wednesday after he was found guilty of sexually abusing four female students.

KNX 1070′s Brian Ping reports Marvin Cash first made inappropriate contact with several girls while handling tardy sweeps at Desert Springs Middle School in 2008.

One of the victims was taken into the walk-in freezer of the school store, where the 47-year-old Cash exposed and touched himself in front of her, then grabbed her and forced her to touch him.

He was convicted of committing a lewd act on a child under the age of 14 using force, sexual battery and two counts of annoying or molesting a minor, according to court reports.

Other girls have since come forward with allegations that Cash had made sexual comments toward them.

Cash’s attorney denied the physical contact in the freezer ever happened, and said that Cash was guilty of merely being the “cool” security guy in school and making comments that were potentially inappropriate, but nothing amounting to a felony.

The defendant’s inappropriate behavior had allegedly gone back to 1997, when he fondled his girlfriend’s 9-year-old daughter.

source-knx

Nashville church volunteer charged with molestation www.privateofficer.com

 

Nashville TN May 3 2012 A former Cornerstone Church youth program volunteer has been charged with aggravated sexual battery after Metro police said he admitted to fondling a 10-year-old boy in 2007.

Brian Lance Mitchell, 30, is being held at the Metro jail on $50,000 bond. Investigators said that shortly after the 2007 incident, Mitchell sent the boy inappropriate text messages. The child’s mother showed those messages to church staff members, and Mitchell was removed from the youth program, police said.

The victim, who is now 14, recently visited the church, saw Mitchell from a distance and began remembering the events from five years ago, police said. His recollections resulted in a forensic interview at the offices of Nashville Children’s Alliance in March.

During a police interview a few days ago, investigators said Mitchell made certain sexual admissions concerning the boy. To date, police are unaware of any other complaints about Mitchell during his association with the church youth program.

Before his arrest, he was living at the Nashville Rescue Mission and working in the kitchen of a local hospital.

Source:the Tennessean

80 Year old Tennessee man arrested for sexual abuse of Amish girls and boys www.privateofficer.com

PULASKI, TN May 3 2012- The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested a Pulaski, Tennessee man on several sex charges.

Investigators said 80-year-old Maurice Dale “Jimmy” McAllister abused male and female victims over the course of seven years.

McAllister was arrested Tuesday on one count of aggravated rape, one count of sexual battery and one count of aggravated burglary in Giles County.

Details of the abuse were uncovered this week by law enforcement and the District Attorney General requested TBI to investigate allegations of sexual assaults among several members of a local Amish community in Giles County.

In addition to the arrest, TBI executed a search warrant on McAllister’s home at 2750 Big Dry Creek Road in Pulaski.

The investigation is ongoing and McAllister could face additional charges. He was booked into the Giles County Jail on $250,000 bond.

Source: WAFF

San Diego college student left in cell without food-water-bathroom for 5 days www.privateofficer.com

 

San Diego CA May 3 2012 An engineering student stepped forward with his lawyer Tuesday to say he was left alone in a federal holding cell for five days with no food or water, apparently forgotten by the federal drug agents who detained him.

Daniel Chong, 24, a UC San Diego senior, said he was swept up in a Drug Enforcement Administration raid near campus and was taken to the Kearny Mesa facility. After questioning, he was told he would be released.

Then the DEA left him locked inside a five-by-10-foot windowless cell.

He screamed. He kicked madly at the door. He cried like a baby.

Soon, Chong said, nothing made sense. He could hear agents chatting among themselves on the other side of the heavy door, and other detainees coming and going from holding tanks nearby.

Days crawled by. No food. No water. No bathroom. He remembers biting his eyeglasses and using the broken shards to scrawl a note onto his left arm.

“Sorry Mom,” he tried to write.

The DEA acknowledged, in a statement to The Watchdog on Monday, that agents left someone in a cell after a raid on April 21 — until they found him and had to call paramedics. San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said that medical call came on April 25.

At the raid, DEA officials said, they apprehended nine suspects and netted 18,000 ecstasy pills, three weapons and other drugs.

“Seven suspects were brought to county detention after processing, one was released and the individual in question was accidentally left in one of the cells,” spokeswoman Amy Roderick said.

Federal agents declined to respond to follow-up questions on Monday and no clarification was provided Tuesday.

Their statement did not address how long the detainee was left alone, but San Diego Fire-Rescue said paramedics were summoned to the Viewridge Avenue administrative center at 4:42 p.m. Wednesday to transport a patient who was suspected of ingesting a white powder substance. The DEA said the substance tested positive for methamphetamine.

Left behind

Chong said the ordeal began hours after he went to some friends’ house on Friday night, April 20, to celebrate.

Early the next morning, drug agents executing a search warrant at the University City residence burst through the door, and eventually took nine people into custody.

At the DEA field office in Kearny Mesa, Chong said, he was handcuffed and left in a holding cell for about four hours. He was then moved to an interview room, where he was told he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and would be released shortly. One agent even promised to drive him home.

He was then returned to a holding cell to await his release. The door swung closed sometime Saturday and didn’t open again until Wednesday. Chong said he was in one of the middle cells, with no toilet, no water.

“I had to recycle my own urine,” he said. “I had to do what I had to do to survive.”

He tried everything he could think of to get someone’s attention. He laid on the floor and squinted through a tiny crack beneath the door. He could see shadows and hear muffled voices, Chong said. But no one came.

“It’s impossible to describe hallucinations like these,” he said. “I was completely insane.”

In utter confusion, Chong said he ate some of the broken glass he’d used to slice his arm. He also ingested a white powdery substance the DEA said had been left in the cell inadvertently.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Badly dehydrated, cramped and likely hours from death, Chong said it took him some time to realize he was being saved.

“When they opened the door, one of them said ‘Here’s the water you’ve been asking for,’” he said. “But I was pretty out of it at the time.”

Chong was rushed to the nearby Sharp hospital, where he spent five more days recovering from problems including a perforated lung that was the result of eating broken glass.

He singled out the nursing staff, many of them by first name.

“They really took care of me,” said Chong, who grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos. “My nurses were there 24-seven. I can’t be more grateful.”

Chong was not charged with any crimes.

The UCSD engineering student said he missed several midterm exams last week. Attorney Eugene Iredale said he hoped university officials would allow his client time to make up the missed school work.

In the statement Monday, the DEA defended the raid and said the unidentified suspect was at the house to use drugs. Chong admitted smoking marijuana but said he did not know of ecstasy or weapons at the home.

The agency has not commented on Chong’s claim that he was without food or water or a bathroom for days — a scenario The Watchdog has been asking about since Friday. They also have not explained how methamphetamines were left in the cell with Chong.

Chong’s attorney, Eugene Iredale, said he plans to file a claim against the federal government as soon as today. He said he expected it would be denied and he would proceed with a federal lawsuit later this year.

“We still at this point don’t know whose role it was to make sure everyone was properly transported,” Iredale said. “People should be held responsible civilly and, if need be and it’s appropriate, criminally.”

Source:UT San Diego

Nine condo residents sue after Taser-toting private security guards burst into their homes www.privateofficer.com

 

SACRAMENTO CA May 3 2012 (CN) – Nine condo residents claim Taser-toting private security guards burst into their homes at 3 a.m. and assaulted them, forcing them into the street in their underwear, in a foreclosure the residents had never been informed of.

One plaintiff claims that when he finally was allowed back into his home, naked pictures of him and his girlfriend were missing.

Lead plaintiff Steven Saxon sued Paladin Protection Services dba Paladin Private Security and the Jasmine Homeowners Association in Superior Court.

Saxon, who was the building’s lessee, claims the guards accused the plaintiffs of being “squatters,” though none of them were aware of the foreclosure action against the building and none had received service of the lawsuit.

After a default judgment was issued, “in the wee hours of April 30, 2011, defendants came onto plaintiffs’ residence, uninvited, at approximately between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., performing a military style raid of plaintiffs’ residence,” according to the complaint.

Paladin Private Security conducted the raid, Saxon says. When tenant-plaintiff Jedediah Main opened his door, “he was met with a security officer for Paladin who had a Taser gun holstered on his hip. Mr. Main thought it was a gun. The security officer told Mr. Main that he was being charged with burglary and that other officers were on the way,” the complaint states.

Tenant-plaintiff Nick Bartilotta “was told that he was trespassing and that he was going to be charged with burglary. They ordered him to hurry up and get out of the condo, allowing him no time to get dressed.”

Tenant-plaintiff Justin Bond says, “A security guard barged in telling him to leave, and pointed what he thought were guns at him. The Security officer told Mr. Bond that he was a house burglar, and that they were going to take them to jail.

“Plaintiff Darrin Martin was awoken by the banging at the door. He stumbled to his feet to see what was going on and the guard was already in the house yelling at the top of his lungs for everyone to get outside. He asked for Mr. Martin’s identification card and ran a check on everyone in the condo.”

Martin says guards accused him of “breaking and entering” into his own condo.

Once outside, “Mr. Martin had to urinate, at which time the guard outside allowed him to go inside. When Mr. Martin got to the top of the stairs, he saw two guards going through cabinets and their personal property.”

The security guards threatened several tenants with Tasers, saying, “Don’t move or we’ll fry you,” and, eventually, “forced them to stay outside in the cold for around thirty minutes in their underwear; they were not permitted to go back into their residence even to get dressed,” the complaint states.

Saxon says he explained to a security officer that he had been paying all of the utilities and the security officer said that, “‘between you, me and the lamppost, the homeowners’ association is over-zealous.”

“The security officers apologized and said it was all a misunderstanding, and then left,” the complaint states.

“They occupied and controlled the premises approximately two hours, holding plaintiffs against their will and preventing them by the use of force and/or the threat to use force for freely moving and entering their residence. …

“During this approximate two-hour ordeal, the armed men threatened arrest and incarceration, menaced the plaintiffs with weapons, engaged in intimidation, positioning themselves immediately in front of and/or behind the plaintiffs, glaring at them menacingly and invading the plaintiffs’ space.”

When the plaintiffs returned to their homes, they saw that their personal belongings had been sifted through, and one man discovered that “naked photos of his girlfriend and himself … had been taken.”

The plaintiffs seek damages for trespass, extortion, assault and battery, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy, conversion and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

They are represented by Jeffrey Jacobs.

Former Dallas Cowboy arrested in Tampa on drug and weapon charges www.privateofficer.com

TAMPA Fla May 3 2012 — A former starting offensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys was arrested Tuesday night and charged with felony drug and weapons charges after police say he sold an undercover officer $20 in marijuana in the strip club where he works.

Torrin Tucker, 32, who started 24 games for the Cowboys from 2003-05 and played last year for the UFL’s Sacramento Mountain Lions, was charged with four felonies — possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, delivery of marijuana and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony — along with a misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana.
After spending the night in the Hillsborough County jail, he was released Wednesday morning on $19,500 bail.

According to the arrest report, Tucker was observed selling a $20 bag of marijuana to an undercover officer at Hollywood Nites, a club located at 3003 N Howard Ave. where Tucker told police he works in “security.” A subsequent search found 18 baggies of marijuana “packaged for sale” and nine capsules containing cocaine, all in a Crown Royale bag “stuffed down the front of (his) pants,” according to the report. Tucker also was found to have a Smith & Wesson handgun loaded with 11 hollow-point rounds of ammunition holstered inside his waistband. He advised the arresting officers he was in possession of both the weapon and the drugs prior to being searched, according to the report.

Tucker, who is listed at 6-foot-8 and 350 pounds on the arrest report, also gave police a Tampa address for his home.
He signed with the Bucs in 2006 after three seasons with the Cowboys, only to be cut in the preseason that year after being limited by a knee injury.
 He was in camp with the Houston Texans in 2008 but has since played in the Canadian and Arena leagues, then last fall in the UFL, where he is still listed on the Sacramento roster.
Tucker joined the Cowboys in 2003 after playing collegiately at Southern Miss.

Gilbert AZ man kills 4 people including toddler before committing suicide www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Gilbert AZ May 3 2012 A man armed with several firearms shot and killed four people, including a toddler, before committing suicide, Gilbert authorities said. Among the dead, sources said, is J.T. Ready, a reputed neo-Nazi who made headlines when he launched a militia movement to patrol the Arizona desert to hunt for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

At least one person survived the shooting.

It’s not immediately known the gender or ages of the victims, besides the youngest of the group, a girl between 1 and 2 years old, said Gilbert police Sgt. Bill Balafas. The survivor was being treated at Maricopa Medical Center.

It’s also not immediately known what Ready’s role was in the incident.

The gunman’s motives also is unknown. Authorities recovered two handguns and a shotgun from the scene, Balafas said.

The shootings occurred sometime after 1 p.m. in a residential area in the 500 block of West Tumbleweed Road, near Warner and Cooper roads.

DeAnn Rawson, 38, who has lived in the Lago Estancia neighborhood for 13 years, said she was “sick to my stomach, as you can tell everyone driving by is absolutely shocked.”

Rawson stood on a street corner and answered drivers who rolled down their windows to ask what happened.

“I would have come and got her,” Rawson said of the youngest victim. “It makes me mad. I can’t have children and you have other people doing things that are insane.”

Gary Davis, who also lives in the neighborhood, stood outside Wednesday afternoon, watching the commotion.

“There’s no excuse for taking a child’s life,” Davis said. “Nothing ever happens in this neighborhood. It’s a shock to us.”

Mesquite Junior High School, along with nearby Gilbert Elementary School, was placed on “modified lockdown” status — meaning classes go on as normal, but students are not allowed to leave and no one is allowed to enter the building — until 2 p.m.

Witnesses in the neighborhood said a SWAT team sealed off part of the area and that investigators told residents to remain indoors.

Nearly an hour after the shootings occurred, police were milling around the neighborhood of stucco homes with red-tile roofs. Police tape cordoned off three separate areas of Tumbleweed Road.

Source:www.azcentral.com

Pa man charged with passing himself off as federal agent www.privateofficer.com

 

CALN PA May 3 2012— A Caln man who allegedly passed himself off as a federal agent is in federal custody.

Twenty-one-year-old Eric Marques Devlin-Bell was taken into custody Tuesday morning following a brief investigation led by Special Agent Ed Ryan of the U.S. Federal Protective Service, a division of Homeland Security.

Numerous Homeland Security agents and inspectors, working with the Caln, Tredyffrin and Coatesville police departments and detectives from the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, were involved in Devlin-Bell’s arrest, which took place on Olive Street in Caln.

According to an affidavit provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Devlin-Bell, who gave his address as “Downingtown,” was taken into custody early on Tuesday morning following an investigation that started on April 13.

The report states that on April 9, police dispatchers received a call from Devlin-Bell, who identified himself as an off-duty “enforcement officer” who does government work. Devlin-Bell allegedly detained the driver of a black Jaguar for allegedly traveling at 120 miles per hour on Route 30.When the driver pulled over to extinguish a small fire in his engine compartment, Devlin-Bell allegedly approached him before he could leave and flashed a badge inscribed with “Federal Agent.”

Devlin-Bell also allegedly informed the driver that he thought he was going to have to chase him and that he “would have had to turn my lights on,” falsely indicating that the dark blue Crown Victoria he was driving was a police vehicle.

On April 12, Caln Police Sgt. Chris Sambuco detained Devlin-Bell in his 2003 Crown Victoria for a traffic violation and discovered a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol under clothing on the front seat.Instead of citing Devlin-Bell, Sambuco asked him to contact Todd Bereda of the Tredyffrin Police, the officer who originally questioned the driver whom Devlin-Bell detained.

Devlin-Bell subsequently confirmed that he had asked the driver to wait and that he showed him an ID card from his “security company,” but denied showing him a badge.

During the interview, Bereda discovered Devlin-Bell had no certifications or commissions with any federal, state or local law enforcement agencies. He also discovered that Devlin-Bell’s car was registered with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation under the name “United States Enforcement Officers,” and that Devlin-Bell wished to become a “private policeman.”

Source:The Mecury News

Woman who let man rape her five-month-old daughter given two consecutive life sentences without probation www.privateofficer.com

 

ST Louis MO May 3 2012 A woman who admitting allowing her five-month-old daughter to be raped by a man she met online was handed down two consecutive life sentences without probation today.

Tessa L. Vanvlerah, 22, from St Louis, was charged with first-degree statutory rape and sodomy, as well as incest and child pornography.

Her attorneys failed to convince a judge that she should get probation because she suffers from a psychological disorder.

Dr Brooke Kraushaar said a dependent-personality disorder caused Vanvlerah to participate in the sexual fantasies of Kenneth M. Kyle, 49, a college professor from California, even though she knew sex acts involving her then-five-month-old daughter were wrong.
Kyle was sentenced to 37-and-a-half years in prison in March after pleading guilty of abusing the infant during several occasions in 2009, according to St Louis Today.

Along with hundreds of child porn images on Kyle’s computers, investigators found information that led them to the St Louis area, where Kyle had visited Vanvlerah four times in five months since meeting online.

During those visits, prosecutors say the pair had sex with the girl and each other at various hotels.

Dr Kraushaar also told the court that the 22-year-old was so afraid of being rejected by others that she also allowed Kyle to choke, burn and urinate on her

But prosecutors said Vanvlerah exercised free will when she started communicating online with Kyle and sharing child pornography. She also carved his name into her arm at his request but refused when he suggested bestiality

They also said she spoke with another man who sent her child pornography and invited him to also come and have sex with her infant daughter.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kathi Alizadeh also pointed out that Vanvlerah willingly posed for pictures with Kyle and her daughter.

St Louis today also reported that a woman obtained an order of protection in 2008 against Vanvlerah, then 18, accusing her of seducing and having sex with the woman’s 16-year-old autistic son.

The autistic boy is believed to be the father of the infant in the case.

The infant, who is now three years old, was placed with a foster mother who has since adopted her.

She read out a victim’s impact statement saying the child would scream when anyone bathed her or changed her diaper.

Even now she has night terrors and asks every night to make sure no one comes into the home.

The woman, in tears, said the girl was getting better day by day now that she ‘is no longer Tessa’s plaything and she is no longer Tessa’s child’.

Eighteen Atlanta Public Schools students are accused of hacking their attendance records www.privateofficer.com

 

 

ATLANTA GA May 3 2012 – Eighteen Atlanta Public Schools students are accused of hacking the computer system at Washington High School and altering their attendance records.

Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Keith Bromery tells 11Alive News a fellow student blew the whistle on her classmates.

Bromery says the alleged ringleader was the son of a school system employee. The student allegedly used his parent’s password and user name to access the school’s computer system and change “attendance and class schedule records.”

According to Bromery, the student has been suspended for seven days and could face expulsion. A total of 18 students have been implicated in the scandal.

Apparently, the tampering had gone on undetected for several months — between February and April. However, Bromery says once it was reported, the school system was able to identify the altered records and correct them.

Prince George County police charge bouncer with first-degree assault www.privateofficer.com

 

Prince George MD May 3 2012 County police have charged a bouncer at a popular College Park bar with first-degree assault, saying he punched, choked and threw to the ground a disorderly patron over the weekend.

The patron, a 23-year-old Air Force member from Wyoming who is on the honor guard at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, was critically injured in the attack, though his condition was considered stable Wednesday, said Julie Parker, a Prince George’s County police spokeswoman. She said the bouncer, 28-year-old Marcus A. Plummer, of Berwyn Heights, was released on $50,000 bond Wednesday after his arrest Tuesday night, according to information she received from the Prince George’s State’s Attorney’s Office.

The incident occurred about midnight Sunday at R.J. Bentley’s on Baltimore Avenue, Parker said. She said the 23-year-old had thrown a drink at a patron inside the bar and been ejected.

When the 23-year-old tried to come back in, Plummer “punched, choked and threw the victim to the ground face first on the sidewalk outside the bar,” Parker said. She said Plummer is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs almost 400 pounds, and the 23-year-old is 6 feet one inch and weighs about 185 pounds. “The severity of the assault,” Parker said, is what led investigators to charge the bouncer.

“This went beyond, it would appear, what a bouncer is required to do,” Parker said.

A call to management at R.J. Bentley’s was not immediately returned Thursday night.

Source:Washington Post

Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and a security company settle wrongful death lawsuit www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Fayetteville NC May 3 2012 A woman who sued Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and a security company last year after her mentally ill son died in the Emergency Department has reached a settlement with the hospital.

Terms of the agreement between Valerie Walker and the hospital were not disclosed.

Walker’s son, Andre, a 27-year-old schizophrenic, died after security officers in the Emergency Department restrained him on April 17, 2011. One of the officers put Andre in a choke hold, according to the lawsuit. A medical examiner determined that he died of asphyxiation, court documents state.

Valerie Walker’s suit against AlliedBarton, the company that employs the security officers, remains pending. Jennifer Milak, a lawyer for the company, did not return a call for comment.

Valerie Walker also is hoping that someone will be held criminally responsible for her son’s death.

“I just think justice should be done since human life was taken and it was not warranted,” Walker said Tuesday. “I do not have my son anymore, and I don’t think anything has been done as of yet legally with the people that are responsible.”

Walker wrote a letter to Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West last month imploring him to bring charges against those responsible for her son’s death.

“The neglect here is unprecedented and I want action, not just for Andre, but for all the mental patients and young men and women who suffer when misconduct, such as has been witnessed in this case, goes unpunished,” she wrote. “What if Andre was your son; would we still be waiting? I have already waited too long.”

In an interview last week, West said he expects the Fayetteville Police Department’s investigative file related to Walker’s death to be turned over to his office in the next few weeks.

West, and possibly lawyers from the state Attorney General’s Office, will review the findings and determine whether criminal charges are warranted.

“It is an open-ended timeline,” West said. “Normally, these files are fairly extensive and we want to be thorough.”

At the time of his death, Andre Walker was living with his mother and focusing on his music career. Valerie Walker said her son had always been drawn to music, a passion he picked up as a child from his musical father.

She said her son wrote and performed rap music. He had recorded 13 songs and was one song short of completing his first album of original material when he died, she said.

“His music was structured to reach out to the lost, the misguided and the misunderstood,” she said. “He wanted to reach out and tell them they can make it because he made it and he had been through a lot in his life.”

But it all ended suddenly that day in April 2011. About 5 p.m., Andre Walker was taken to the hospital by ambulance. He had been acting strange, possibly because he had stopped taking his medications.

According to the lawsuit:

A doctor on staff ordered medication for Walker and decided to commit him to the first mental hospital with space. But as the hours passed and no hospital with a room could be found, Walker became increasingly agitated and aggressive with the staff.

He tried to leave but was restrained by security guards. One of the guards put Walker in a choke hold and pulled him to the floor. Three other guards grabbed Walker and got on top of him.

A surveillance video from the hospital showed that Walker became nonresponsive after a few minutes of struggle.

For about 90 seconds after the struggle began, security guards hovered over Walker, and hospital staff and security guards continued to enter and exit the room.

At 9:17:51 p.m., the security guards placed Walker on a stretcher. Nurses and guards undressed him and secured leather restraints to his arms and legs.

At 9:21 p.m., medical staff checked Walker’s vital signs. A nurse brought a “resuscitation bag” to the room at 9:23:15 p.m. and handed it to a security guard.

A resuscitation bag is a hand-held device used to provide ventilation to someone who is not breathing or not breathing adequately.

The security guard attempted to resuscitate Walker using the bag but was unsuccessful. Walker was taken to another room, where another attempt was made to resuscitate him at 9:23:31 p.m.

The hospital never reported Walker’s death to the Fayetteville police, who said they learned of it only after the state Medical Examiner’s Office contacted them five months later.

Valerie Walker said she is hopeful her lawsuit will spur changes in how mentally ill patients are treated in hospitals and emergency rooms.

“I want precautions taken and things put into place for the protection of people that have mental illnesses,” she said. “There needs to be training for people that have direct contact with them because they need to understand how to deal with them. You can’t deal with them the same way you would deal with someone off the street.”

source:fayobserver.com