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Chicago police enlist help of many police agencies for NATO summit duty www.privateofficer.com
CHICAGO IL May 16 2012 — Chicago Police are already out in force as the NATO Summit approaches, and they will be getting a lot of help from all over the country.
As CBS 2’s Susanna Song reports, Chicago Police will get help from out of state agencies, which include Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Charlotte, N.C.
Also, several hundred Illinois State troopers will be helping out this weekend.
They will all be under the command and rules of Chicago Police.
Meantime, the Police Department is also taking steps to keep more of its own officers on the streets in the neighborhoods, as well as handling security for the summit.
Starting in the wee hours of Friday morning, Chicago police officers will begin working longer hours to handle the NATO summit at McCormick Place, and the demonstrations against it.
“We’re going to 12-hour tours, and cancelling days off,” McCarthy said. “As a result of that, that frees up about one-third of the department to deal with the [summit.]”
The superintendent said none of that means the neighborhoods will be neglected.
“This actually results in a 15 percent increase in the number of officers assigned in the neighborhoods,” he said. “So, the same officers who would do an 8-hour tour are now going to be doing a 12-hour tour, in the same districts that they’re working in today.”
Speaking to CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine on Monday, police McCarthy said new tactics also will be in place for the summit.
He says his officers are not coming out in helmets and riot gear, and such items will not be used unless absolutely necessary.
“There are people who are intent to come and commit crimes, and our expectation is that we’re going to arrest those folks and protect and facilitate the marches and speeches that other people want to do,” McCarthy said.
He declined to say whether his department or its partner agencies have identified specific individuals or groups intent on causing trouble as world leaders meet at McCormick Place.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure that we facilitate the public safety. Some of those methods are covert right now and I can’t talk about them,” McCarthy says.
Some of the protesters authorities will monitor are those dressed in black from head to toe, with bandanas covering their faces — the unofficial uniform of those with a history of violence at past international gatherings.
McCarthy says he plans to employ a strategy based on surgical strikes rather than massive force. He says putting up the “right front” and dealing with protesters in a low-key way will encourage demonstrators to likewise be peaceful toward officers.
“You’re not going to see police charging wholesale into a crowd, you’re not going to see tear gas,” McCarthy says.
He says his department is not interested in dispersing crowds, but he wants officers to be able to “extract people who need to be extracted.”
Source:CBS Chicago
Florida mother kills her four children-then herself www.privateofficer.com
PORT ST. JOHN, Fla. May 16 2012 (AP) — A Florida mother who fatally shot her four children before killing herself Tuesday called three of the kids who had sought help from a neighbor back to the house before firing the fatal shots, authorities said.
Tonya Thomas, 33, fatally shot her four children, who ranged in age from 12 to 17, said Lt. Tod Goodyear, a spokesman for the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
Three of the children had gone to a neighbor’s front door before dawn to say their mother had shot them. The mother then called the children back to the house and killed them, Goodyear said.
“From what the neighbors said, she was very calm. She walked out and called them back. They turned around and walked back to the house,” Goodyear said.
The neighbor then heard gunshots and called 911.
Another neighbor told deputies that Thomas sent a text message in the middle of the night saying she wanted to be cremated with her children.
“He didn’t see the text until he woke up this morning,” Goodyear said.
Deputies identified the children as Pebbles Johnson, 17; Jaxs Johnson, 15; Jazzlyn Johnson, 13; and Joel Johnson, 12.
The shooting happened in Port St. John, about 15 miles west of Cape Canaveral in an area known as the “Space Coast” because it is the home of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the location of numerous famed shuttle launches.
A spokesman for the Department of Children and Families wouldn’t immediately comment on whether the family had a history with the agency.
Dispatch records released Tuesday show that authorities responded to Thomas’ house on three successive days in April.
In the first visit, on Easter Sunday, Thomas reported that her son had thrown a bicycle through a window at the house. The next day, Thomas called to report that her son had kicked and punched her when she tried to wake him up for school. The following day, child welfare investigators visited the house to look into allegations of inadequate supervision of the children.
Records also showed that Thomas was arrested in 2002 on a misdemeanor battery charge for striking the father of her children. The charge was later dropped. Two years earlier, she filed a domestic violence complaint against Joe Johnson, but that was dismissed after a hearing.
Jamie Hudson, whose mother lives two doors down from the family, said the boys in the family were known to shoot BBs at a home across the street and had threatened to set it on fire.
“It has been an ongoing problem on our street with them,” Hudson said.
Goodyear said Jaxs Johnson had recently been arrested on a domestic violence charge. He said he didn’t know if the boy had been accused of hitting his mother or causing damage at the house.
Austin Lewis, a 16-year-old classmate of Pebbles Johnson, said the family “had problems like everybody else but nothing that drastic.”
He described Pebbles Johnson as “very loving and caring.”
“Always with a smile,” Lewis said. “Didn’t let anything affect her. She was always in a good mood.”
A pastor at the church the family attended described it as “normal stuff.”
“I think he was punching some walls or something,” said Jarvis Wash, pastor of the Real Church in Rockledge, Fla.
Wash said the family attended services last Sunday but had been absent for a few weeks before that.
“I don’t know what could have happened in the past couple of days,” Wash said. “It’s a tragedy to the church and the community.”
Former Myrtle Beach police officer sentenced to eight years in prison www.privateofficer.com
Sixty-three-year-old Larry Dennis Hardee of North Myrtle Beach pleaded guilty Monday to felony driving under the influence with death.
Hardee was charged last May in a crash that killed 49-year-old Rocky Lane Honeycutt of Albemarle, N.C., during the annual Harley Davidson motorcycle rally.
Honeycutt worked as a correctional officer at the Albemarle Correctional Institution. He died from head and chest injuries at Seacoast Medical Center in Little River.
Hardee had worked as a police officer at the Myrtle Beach Police Department from 1975 until 1996 when he retired as a lieutenant. He did no prior criminal record.
Witnesses said Hardee turned in front of Honeycutt.
Hartland High School security officer in critical condition after struck by car www.privateofficer.com
Livingston County MI May 16 2012 Sheriff Bob Bezotte said the victim in today’s accident at Hartland High School was a security officer and is still listed in critical condition at the University of Michigan hospital.
The female security guard was hit by a car around 2:30 p.m. today in the parking lot of the High School, according to principal Chuck Hughes.
“She was in and out of consciousness, so that’s a good sign,” he said.
According to Bezotte, excessive speed and drugs may have played a factor in the accident.
“Speed is a factor as well as possible marijuana use since we found marijuana in the car,” he said. “But that has to be verified.”
The suspect came in for drug testing and was released to his parents and a search warrent was issued. Results from the drug test could take up to 3 to 6 weeks, according to Bezotte.
According to 16-year-old Melissa Maloney who was riding two cars back from the accident, the female security guard was hit by a teen driver in a black Sable and thrown into the air.
“She was hit by the front left of his corner and she flew up in the air, I thought she flew off the back end of the car, it was pretty high,” she said. “Then she hit the truck and then hit the cement.”
Malonie said that students were jumping out of their cars rushing to the injured woman who was speaking after being hit.
“She said a few things as we were leaving,” the 16-year-old said. “Something like her back hurting.”
Malonie said the driver was upset and confused after the accident.
The security guard, who according to Hughes has been directing traffic at the high school for 12 years, was unclear what happened during the accident.
The name of the guard is being withheld.
Deerfield Police Community Service Officer Accused of Stealing www.privateofficer.com
An arrest warrant was issued May 9 for Dowell, a 50-year-old Wauconda resident, charging him with official misconduct, a Class 3 felony, and theft, a Class Two felony, Deerfield police said.
The charges were brought after a preliminary investigation by Deerfield police discovered that Dowell allegedly took $250. Further investigation by Deerfield police and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Special Investigations Division uncovered the theft of “more than $500, but less than $10,000,” police said.
Investigators are determining the period during which the thefts allegedly occurred. Dowell was an employee with the police department for 24 years.
Dowell lost his position, which carried no police power, as soon as the alleged theft was uncovered. The position is generally one of providing support services.
“The Village of Deerfield and the Deerfield Police Department set a very high standard for the conduct of its employees and behavior of this type cannot and will not be condoned,” Deerfield Police Chief John Sliozis said.
Dowell surrendered May 10 to Lake County authorities. He was released on $15,000 bond after posting the required 10 percent.
If Dowell is found guilty of a Class 3 felony, he faces two to five years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000. A Class 2 felony is punishable by three to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.
Because the investigation is pending, no further information will be released at this time, according to a statement by Deerfield Deputy Police Chief Rick Wilk.
A preliminary hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. May 30 in Waukegan.
Man enters guilty plea in I-26 crash that killed 72-year-old woman www.privateofficer.com
Charleston SC May 16 2012 Not yet old enough to legally drink, 19-year-old Samuel McCauley begged a police officer to kill him after learning that his drunken driving had killed someone else.
He pleaded guilty to the charges against him Monday in circuit court and asked to be locked up while awaiting his sentence.
McCauley, now 20, spoke to 72-year-old Eleanor Caperton’s family after making his plea.
He turned away from the judge and microphone to look them in the eyes. People on both sides of the packed courtroom cried.
“No one deserves to die the way I killed Eleanor Caperton,” McCauley said. “I wish it was me that had died that night, but I can’t change what happened. … I am and will forever be sorry.”
McCauley drove the wrong way on Interstate 26 near the Crosstown and slammed into Caperton head-on July 24, as she headed home to Ladson after a night shift as a security guard.
Caperton, a mother and grandmother who still worked and traveled, died at Medical University Hospital.
McCauley had just graduated from the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville two months earlier, according to his lawyer, Capers Barr. Barr said McCauley and four friends gathered on a sailboat belonging to one teen’s mother at Dolphin Cove Marina in the Neck Area the night of the accident.
The group first hung out at a restaurant and agreed not to drive or to wander onto the boat’s deck alone, according to Barr. Barr said McCauley sprinted away, but a friend brought him back.
Then, according to Barr, McCauley dashed off again.
“Sam’s last conscious memory was walking back to that boat,” Barr said. “His next conscious memory was coming awake in a hospital room and being told he’d been in an accident and a woman had been killed.”
McCauley reportedly asked an officer in the emergency room to kill him.
“I’m 19. I drank too much. And I killed someone,” he said, according to lawyers for both sides.
When McCauley’s Nissan Maxima collided with Caperton’s Honda Civic, the impact broke her legs and 19 ribs, while causing trauma to her chest and hemorrhaging in her brain, according to Assistant Solicitor Jennifer Kinzeler. She said investigators determined that McCauley had been driving 60 mph the wrong way on an on-ramp with a speed limit of 30 mph.
The teen’s blood-alcohol level exceeded the legal limit for a 21-year-old adult by 21/2 times, according to Kinzeler. An officer handcuffed him to his hospital bed when he tried to strangle himself with the officer’s hands, after learning about Caperton.
Known by friends as Ellie, Caperton worked as a bank teller at First Citizens Bank in Hanahan for more than 50 years and worked security on the weekends. She loved taking cruises and occasionally gambling at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in North Carolina.
One of her relatives flashed a photograph of the smiling grandmother — two parrots on her shoulders and a third on her head — across the aisle at the crowd of supporters gathered for McCauley.
McCauley planned to take a year off from school before starting college.
He intended to help his mother, a court reporter, deliver transcripts that summer, while working two other part-time jobs.
He had no prior criminal record and faces as much as 35 years in prison in the case.
“The tragedy of this case is indeed shared by two families,” his attorney said.
Although he could remain free until his sentencing, deputies took McCauley to jail after the hearing, at his request.
Source:post and courier
Victor Valley Union High School security investigated for use of excessive force www.privateofficer.com
VICTORVILLE CA May 16 2012 The Victor Valley Union High School District has placed two Silverado High security officers on leave amid concerns the officers acted too harshly while detaining two students involved in a recent fistfight.
The district is also investigating a third security officer and stressing to all security personnel that rough physical measures should only be taken as a “last resort,” Superintendent Elvin Momon said.
“We just want to make sure that things are above-board and they’re following protocol and training,” Momon said.
The district began investigating the security officers after watching a cell phone video of a fight on campus earlier this year that had been posted to YouTube. The video showed two students in a heated brawl, throwing punches with a crowd of students around them, according to Momon. The security officers arrived to break up the fight, and at one point a student tried to attack a student who was being restrained, Momon said.
The officers then grabbed the students by their necks and put them in tight headlocks, Momon said.
Nobody was seriously injured, but district officials are now questioning whether officials could have handled the situation in a less physical way.
It’s not the first time such concerns were raised this year.
Several weeks ago, a mother complained after Silverado security officers reportedly handcuffed her special-needs daughter and pressed her head to a wall, leaving a shallow scrape across her upper face, according to Momon. The girl had been caught loitering with friends at another lunch period when she was supposed to be headed straight to the bathroom and back to class. Though she was reportedly failing to respond to officers and getting violent, Momon said he was “baffled” why two large security guards had that much trouble restraining a small-framed girl.
With roughly 3,800 students, Silverado High presents a challenge to security officers as the largest high school in the Victor Valley. The school on Palmdale Road also has a history of racial tension between Hispanic and black students.
School officials have said on-campus violence has diminished in recent years. But a quick YouTube search pulls up several fights on the campus posted within the last few months. Many include the phrase “Mexican vs Black” along with a string of obscene comments and hateful exchanges.
Principal Sergio White is taking steps toward improving the campus culture, Momon said, such as through “Breaking Down Barriers” activities that aim to prevent school violence. White could not be reached for comment Monday.
The district is in the process of creating an official security training manual — with Momon surprised to find none had existed — and offering more professional development for its security officers, who already go through several levels of training, depending on their classification.
All school employees should focus on establishing a better rapport with students and using tactics like verbal judo, a strategy police officers use to diffuse conflicts with words, Momon said.
“We need to focus on relationships with kids,” he said.
Source:VVDailyPress.com
Nightclub bouncer accuses Cincinnati men’s basketball team members of assault www.privateofficer.com
Cincinnati OH May 16 2012 An Ohio nightclub bouncer has accused members of the Cincinnati men’s basketball team of assaulting him, WXIX-TV reported.
Brian McLucas filed a police report Sunday, claiming he was punched in the face and kicked by Bearcats players after he asked them to leave a VIP section of PLAY nightclub in downtown Cincinnati.
McLucas, whose right eye was swollen shut, told the station his boss had informed him that the players were at the club, and had a list with the players’ names.
McLucas said the confrontation began Saturday night when he asked the men to leave a woman’s VIP table because they were making “rude, racial remarks towards her.”
“I said you guys need to calm down. And whenever I did that I looked to the right of me and right as I looked to the right of me I seen the dude take three quick steps and punch me in the eye.”
Managers of the night club declined to comment. The university told the station it was unaware of any incident.
The Cincinnati basketball team was involved in an ugly brawl during a game in December against intra-city rival Xavier, highlighted by a nasty punch by former center Yancy Gates to the face of Xavier’s Kenny Frease.
West Virginina, 34 other states do not comply with federal sex offender registration act www.privateofficer.com
And state officials said there are no plans to do so because it would be more costly and less effective than the process now used by state police.
Failure to comply will cost the state about $600,000 a year in federal funding, but officials said implementing the act would cost much more than that.
The federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) wants states to reclassify sex offenders using a three-tier system. Those offenders who fall into the highest tier — rapists and most child molesters, among others — are required to appear in person at the appropriate agency at least four times a year to verify their registry information. Others must appear once or twice a year, depending on their convictions.
In West Virginia, sex offenders must notify State Police of any changes in their information within 10 business days and will be visited by a trooper unannounced at least once a year to verify the offender is living at his listed address.
State Police Sgt. Michael Baylous said troopers don’t just take a sex offender’s word for where he or she is living. If the person isn’t there when the trooper visits, the trooper visits again later. If the trooper has reason to believe they’ve moved, he begins an investigation.
“The current system we have works well,” Baylous said. “It’s a priority of ours to make sure all offenders are compliant with the law. It’s definitely a drain on our manpower, but it’s a necessary duty that needs to be done.”
There are more than 3,500 registered sex offenders in West Virginia and almost all are required to register for life, according to State Police.
Only about 77 offenders — convicted of lower-level crimes with adult victims — are required to register for 10 years.
Sexually violent predators, offenders with the highest risk of re-offending, register for life and are visited at least four times a year. There are 24 sexually violent predators in West Virginia, which includes one in Preston County, according to the state registry.
West Virginia Division of Justice and Community Services Director J. Norbert Federspiel said the state cannot afford to hire enough troopers to do quarterly visits.
“I think we are protecting the public every bit as good as the federal design and, to come into compliance just for the money, would not be smart,” Federspiel said. “We are still protecting the public and the State Police take it seriously. They are tough. They want to get everyone registered that is supposed to be.”
For example, if quarterly visits were required for all offenders, troopers would have more than 14,000 verifications to do each year.
The state employs 682 troopers, although six are currently deployed by the military, Baylous said. Some detachments assign a trooper to check on sex offenders while others spread the work out.
Federspiel said most states allow sex offenders to check in with any law enforcement agency, or sometimes at courts, but, in West Virginia, sex offenders only check in with the State Police.
There are about 235 law enforcement agencies in West Virginia and some are staffed by only one or two officers, Federspiel said. If the work was spread out to all agencies, he said he thinks the quality of the verification process would go down.
“Even though we don’t meet the quarterly registration requirements, I still believe we are as effective because the troopers know where the sex offenders are,” Federspiel said. “The State Police actually have someone go to the address to see if they are there. We’re pretty tight on our registration requirements and followup. It’s just a different method of doing it. To switch over, we just don’t have enough troopers to do it.”
The federal government allows states that don’t meet the SORNA requirements to apply to receive 10 percent of the money they lost — about $60,000 for West Virginia — to use to work toward compliance.
Ohio may allow on-line driver education www.privateofficer.com
The revision would have broad impact. In 2010, Ohio licensed 152,230 16- and 17-year-olds, according to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Ohio requires drivers age 15½ to 17 to take 24 hours of instruction in the classroom, eight hours of driving and practice 50 hours with an adult. The new law would let teens take the classroom portion, if OK’d by the Ohio Department of Public Safety, online.
Sen. Tom Patton, R-Strongsville, said the change provides an option for students and families who can’t fit traditional classes into their schedules.
Online companies also charge considerably less than brick-and-mortar schools — as low as $19 for one program.
“If we’re allowing people to get Ph.D.s online … this is driver’s training — we should be able to do this,” Patton said. “Young people have become accustomed to learning online.”
Patton, who led the push to ban electronic devices for teen drivers, said he wouldn’t have hesitated if one of his six adult children wanted to take driver’s ed online.
The proposed change is one of several amendments to the governor’s main budget corrections bill, which is expected to reach the Senate floor Wednesday.
Driver education school leaders oppose the change, saying teens could complete the online course with little oversight. They also fear a loss of business that they said could force them to raise prices and close classroom locations. On-the-road training is more expensive to provide than classroom instruction, they said.
Driving schools don’t oppose online classes, but would prefer a “blended” setup where students take most of the classroom portion online and meet in a class for tests and to discuss more serious topics such as drunken driving, said Dan Cox, president of the Driving School Association of Ohio.
“By us having the other half of this, we can test them in class,” Cox said. “They cannot ever cheat on it because we’re testing them physically in class. We can enter the 21st century, but we need to do it right.”
Of the 26 states that require teen driving education, 15 have approved online courses or online course providers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.
The data is inconclusive on whether traditional online or traditional classroom instruction leads to better driving habits, however.
Texas studied parental instruction but did not distinguish between online programs. California examined license test pass rates, but didn’t link them to accident data. Preliminary data from Virginia indicated crash rates were lower among public school students taking the course in school compared to homeschooled students taking one of the approved alternative courses. A similar effort in New Hampshire stalled last month.
The lack of evidence supports the need for online courses, said Gary Tsifrin, founder and chief operating officer of DriversEd.Com, which started offering classes in California in 2004.
Tsifrin said his program and others led to more teens taking drivers education before becoming licensed drivers.
“The idea that all learners are the same ignores the contemporary research in education, which clearly identifies the types of learners who benefit from online education,” Tsifrin said.
Crash fatalities among California teens decreased more than 50 percent from 2004 to 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety attributed the drop to graduated licensing, which lengthened the permit period and added 50 hours of practice time.
DriversEd.com offers courses in all 15 states and already has a Web page to lure Ohio drivers to sign up for a $49.95 course. Tsifrin said the listed price is a placeholder for the cost determined on demand in Ohio.
The price sounds like a bargain compared to the $370 program offered by D&D Driving School in Kettering.
But students would still have to spend eight hours behind the wheel with an instructor — an expensive service driving school owners say will cost more if online courses are allowed.
D&D operates 10 locations and owner Sharon Fife said the move would force her to cut back and knock out about half of Ohio’s 780 driving school locations.
Fife is not opposed to online courses but said a teen could have a friend or parent take the course for them unless there is some classroom oversight.
“We’re talking about teenagers, we’re talking about lives,” she said. “The highest crash rate is among 16- to 20-year-olds — why would you diminish high quality education for teens?”
Source:Dayton Daily News
Newark Airport security supervisor arrested for using identity of a man murdered decades ago www.privateofficer.com
Newark NJ May 16 2012 A security supervisor at Newark Airport stole the identity of a man murdered in Queens two decades ago to hide his illegal immigration status, officials charged Monday.
Bimbo Olumuyiwa Oyewole, 54, started working at the airport in 1992 under the name Jerry Thomas, according to the Port Authority, which runs Newark Airport.
On July 20 of that year, Jerry Thomas, 41, was found shot dead in the head and chest inside a room at the Jamaica YMCA, according to a Daily News report. He was one of 12 people who were murdered in Queens that weekend.
Oyewole had immigrated illegally to the U.S. three years before finding work at the airport, officials said.
He was arrested at his home in Elizabeth, N.J., Monday morning after an anonymous tip to the Port Authority several weeks ago lead to an investigation. He faces charges including identity theft and was awaiting arraignment Monday night.
Port Authority investigators do not believe Oyewole masqueraded as Thomas for any other reason than to gain employment as an illegal immigrant.
“If there was any other nefarious activity, it would have come up on his very frequent background checks,” said Steve Coleman, a spokesperson for the Port Authority.
Oyewole worked at the airport under several contractors, most recently for FJC Security Services, starting in 2003, where he supervised about 30 guards, officials said.
When FJC hired him in 2003, company officials reviewed his birth certificate and social security card, according to a company spokesman.
The New Jersey State Police and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection also vetted him.
“During his time with FJC, he had nothing in his record or his performance to indicate a cause for concern, or a reason to question the State Police and federal government’s background checks,” said FJC spokesman Michael McKeon in a statement.
Source:www.nydailynews.com
San Antonio TX security officer files personal-injury lawsuit against CPS Energy www.privateofficer.com
CPS spokeswoman Christine Patmon said, “We will respond to the lawsuit at the appropriate time but cannot comment on the merits at this time.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial. The incident occurred on or about May 14, 2010, according to the suit filed in 73rd U.S. District Court in San Antonio.
Castillo’s lawyer, Alan Tysinger, said Castillo “appeared to have been hit by lightening” when conducting the inspection. Castillo suffered an electric shock injury that resulted in “impaired cognitive function, physical pain, nerve damage and emotional disturbances,” Tysinger said.
At the time of the accident, Castillo was an employee of AlliedBarton Securities Services LLC,Tysinger said.
Source:www.mysanantonio.com
Metro Officer Suffers Dog Bite, Police Dog Shot www.privateofficer.com
Police were investigating reports of a suspect with a knife who was going from home to home and jumping backyard fences.
The incident happened in the backyard of a home on Upland Boulevard near Jones Boulevard and Alta Drive. Police say the police dog was let loose to chase the suspect and became confused and attacked a police officer.
The dog was shot by the officer’s partner. The dog was rushed to an animal hospital and is listed in stable condition.
Police did arrest the suspect a short while later.
Police charge pair in Pecanland Mall shooting www.privateofficer.com
Monroe LA May 16 2012 Monroe police have arrested two men in connection with a Saturday night shooting at Pecanland Mall.
According to Detective Jeremy Kent, Christopher Coleman, 18, of 652 Spruell Road, Monroe, and Nicholas Lawson, 18, of 2111 Burg Jones Lane, Monroe, were booked into Ouachita Correctional Center, each on a charge of attempted second-degree murder.
Kent said shortly after 7 p.m., the alleged victim, 17, and his girlfriend were walking out of Burlington Coat Factory at the same time as Coleman and Lawson. He said for unknown reasons, the pair started a fight with the victim.
According to Kent, Coleman and Lawson armed themselves with a baseball bat and a firearm. He said the pair then took turns striking the victim with the bat.
Kent said the suspects then passed the firearm between themselves before Lawson fired two shots at the victim, striking him with one. He said the round passed through the victim’s arm and into his chest.
A small pool of blood was on the ground a short distance from what was believed to have been the victim’s white Cadillac. Police cordoned off a crime scene and had tape on seven vehicles, including the Cadillac.
Also on the scene were Monroe Fire Department and AMR units.
Kent said the victim, whose name was not released, was taken by ambulance to St. Francis Medical Center, where he remained in stable condition Sunday evening.
Kent said police apprehended Coleman at his residence Saturday night and Lawson was found at a relative’s residence early Sunday morning.
Mall manager Randy Barnett said he was grateful for the response by Monroe police.
“I know they got out here quick,” Barnett said. “I feel like this was an isolated incident.”
Barnett said he felt the mall’s security procedures worked well in this emergency situation.
Kent said witnesses at the mall identified the pair as the suspects. He said the incident remains under investigation.
Source:thenewsstar.com
North Brunswick teacher’s aide charged with sexual assault of teen, 6-year-old girl www.privateofficer.com
Kaplan said Derrick Weeks, 34, was arrested and charged on Friday with the aggravated sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual contact of the teenage girl and aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault of the younger girl.
Weeks was also charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Weeks was employed as a special education aide at the high school, but Kaplan said the investigation showed Weeks did not meet the girls through the North Brunswick schools and the charges do not stem from his duties at the high school.
He has been suspended from his job following his arrest.
Kaplan said the investigation revealed Weeks, a North Brunswick resident, sexually assaulted the 15-year-old girl on numerous occasions between January 2011 and the summer of 2011. He sexually assaulted the younger girl on April 28, 2012, the prosecutor said.
He said the investigation began when the mother of one of the victims contacted police.
Weeks is being held in the Middlesex County jail in lieu of $300,000 bail set by Superior Court Judge Vincent LeBlon.
Source:NJ.com
Ohio high school teacher stole prom money www.priavteofficer.com
Hamilton, Ohio May 16 2012 – A former high school teacher in southwest Ohio has been charged with stealing money meant for a school prom in a cash-strapped district.
The district says Heather Schoell-Schroeder, a teacher on the Lakota East High School prom committee apparently urged students to pay her directly, instead of following the ticket sale process. The Butler County sheriff’s office says the 45-year-old woman has been charged with misdemeanor theft.
The office received a report that the woman sold tickets for the April prom but failed to turn in the money. Some students complained about having trouble getting admission to the April dance.
The JournalNews in nearby Hamilton (http://bit.ly/JXD61Y) reports the woman quit her job as authorities investigated.
The district says $800 was missing, and a relative has paid $160 of that
Union City NJ woman arrested for assaulting hospital security www.priavteofficer.com
The 32-year-old hospital security guard told police the woman was brought in for being intoxicated around 5:48 a.m., reports said, adding she started to become very combative with hospital staff and had to be placed in restraints.
While the security guard was assisting other staff in attempting to place the woman in restraints, she allegedly bit him on the right arm, causing a half-inch welt, police said.
After woman, 31, was restrained, staff administered medication to calm her down, reports said.
The guard signed a complaint against the woman for simple assault, police said.
Source:nj.com
Albuquerque bouncer stabbed his girlfriend 19 times www.privateofficer.com
Witnesses say Orlando Trencilio was on duty, working as a bouncer at Cananas in Northeast Albuquerque.
“It’s awful to see a security guard beating a woman and for the other security guards not to get involved and just let it happen,” a witness tells Action 7 News.
Police say Trencilio got in an argument with his girlfriend and stabbed her multiple times and a friend of hers once in the leg.
“(A witness) said it appeared the boyfriend was punching her friend repeatedly all over the body and what we actually found out later is that he was actually stabbing her,” Officer Tasia Martinez says.
Police say Trencilio initially fled but turned himself in about an hour later and admitted that he had attacked his girlfriend.
Witnesses say other bouncers just stood and watched the attack but police could not confirm that version of the story.
