Archive
GA college student charged by federal agents with building bombs www.privateofficer.com
GAINESVILLE, Ga. June 2 2012
A federal magistrate judge denied bond for a north Georgia college student Thursday who the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said admitted building bombs.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne confirmed Wednesday a small army of ATF, FBI, GBI and local law enforcement raided a house in the woods where the girl lives near Cornelia.
The girl’s father told Winne she’s not a danger.
“Oh, she’s a real good person,” Tommy Savage said about his daughter Celia. “She likes to hunt and fish. She loves shooting. She goes sky diving. All kinds of stuff like that that you wouldn’t really typically think of a young lady doing
“What goes on in your heart and mind when you realize they’re arresting your daughter?” Winne asked Savage.
“I wish the government would stay out of my business or her business or whoevers,” Savage answered.
Winne found fascinating photos on Facebook through her name and now federal documents show Celia Savage facing some fascinating charges.
A sworn statement by an ATF agent said she illegally possessed a destructive device and possessed firearms while being an illegal drug user.
Tommy Savage told Winne his daughter Celia is a church-going college student but also is a daddy’s girl, hunting and fishing as she grew up. Like him, she is also a fierce advocate of the right to keep and bear arms.
“Is she a gun toting terrorist of any kind?” Winne asked Tommy Savage.
“Not hardly,” Savage answered, laughing.
Savage said his daughter’s not a militia member but she shares his dislike of government.
“The government, don’t have a whole lot of use for,” Savage said. “I think everybody ought to be able to stay on their property, do whatever the heck they want to.”
Savage confirms she’s in a YouTube video where she exploded a commode.
The ATF agent’s statement suggests Savage told an FBI agent she likes to blow up toilets in the woods.
Celia Savage allegedly has said she made five to seven pipe bombs of various sizes and that “manufacturing explosive devices and detonating them for recreation was her hobby.
But one wonders if she’ll have to face up to statements on Facebook.
“I despise all law enforcement and any governing authority. I am not one for selective targeting but mass destruction,” one statement said on her Facebook page.
Her dad said neither he nor his daughter advocate violence toward the government.
Documents allege suspect pot and suspected meth were found. They said Celia used pot the previous day and meth two months ago.
Her dad said to his knowledge his daughter is not a drug user but he’s concerned about some of the people she’s been hanging out with.
NE hospital security officer needed stitches after assault by patient www.privateofficer.com
Stangehoener was later arrested at his home and booked for assault, disturbing the peace and criminal mischief.
Buffalo Police Officer Arrested in Big Pot Bust www.privateofficer.com
BUFFALO, NY June 2 2012 - Another Law Enforcement Officer is on the wrong side of the law.
Buffalo Police Officer Jorge Melendez of the D District is accused of running and maintaining a marijuana growing operation just blocks from the A District police station. He’s charged with conspiracy to manufacture more than 100 marijuana plants, maintaining a premises for manufacturing marijuana and manufacturing more than 100 marijuana plants.
Jason Elardo faces the same charges.
Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda says Melendez has been fired from the police department. He and Elardo are both in federal detention. Derenda says no other police officers were involved but there could further arrests of other individuals.
The federal charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years, a fine of $4,000,000 or both.
Federal DEA agents say Melendez owns a warehouse on 2157 South Park Avenue in Buffalo where undercover surveillance cameras were installed as part of the investigation. The complant says Melendez and Elardo were seen tending to the marijuana plants. Agents describe the marijuana growing operation as a sophisticated hydroponic system with PVC piping, irrigation, humidifiers, and high intensity lights, and growth inducing chemicals and fertilizers.
Agents say Melendez was actually seen driving his marked Buffalo police car to the South Park location in March to briefly check the location.
Agents say another growing operation was located in a warehouse at 1372 Clinton Street. They say their investigation also turned up cutting, harvesting, and packaging equipment for sales of pot at a home at 76 West Woodside Avenue. There were raids at all three sites Thursday morning. Equipment, cash, vehicles, boats and motorcycles were seized. Agents say various weapons were also found at the homes of Melendez and Elardo. They also seized up to 1,000 marijuana plants from the three locations.
U.S. Attorney William Hochul says, “This operation was literally hiding in plain sight.” He went on to say, “Police officers are sworn to protect the public and uphold the law. It is particulary disturbing when an officer breaks the law he was sworn to uphold.”
source:wgrz
Moreno Valley High School teacher arrested for having sex with student www.privateofficer.com
He was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a student.
Detectives launched into an investigation and identified a former student as a potential victim of sexual assault. They also gathered several statements and confirmed a sexual relationship had occurred between the victim and Brohamer, a Riverside County Sheriff’s report stated.
The relationship began with the victim was 17-years-old and continued for several months.
Brohamer was detained and arrested on May 31 and booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on charges of unlawful sex with a minor.
Brohamer has been teaching at Moreno Valley High School for six years. He was the boy’s and girl’s golf coach and AVID instructor.
Investigators believe that current or former students may be able to provide additional details regarding this investigation, Sgt. Kaas stated.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is urged to contact Investigator Adams or Investigator Holland from the Moreno Valley Police Department’s Detective Bureau at 951- 247-8700.
Brooklyn public high school teacher arrested for rape of student www.privateofficer.com
NEW YORK NY June 2 2012 – Erin Sayar, a Brooklyn public high school teacher arrested on rape charges in connection with an affair with a 16-year-old student, is expected to appear in court Friday.
Police say the 36-year-old Sayar, an English teacher at James Madison High School, was arrested Thursday on charges of rape, criminal sex act and sexual abuse.
According to CBS New York, Special Commissioner of Investigation for New York City schools Richard Condon said the student confessed to having relationship with Sayar and engaging in sexual relations with her on multiple occasions.
Condon reportedly said Sayar, who is married with a child, in one encounter picked the 11th grade student up at his home around midnight late last year and then “took him to Marine Park where they engaged in sexual intercourse in her SUV.”
Condon says the alleged relationship came to light because of Facebook messages the teacher and student had sent each other, CBS New York reports. The teen’s girlfriend saw the messages and alerted the school.
If convicted, Sayar faces up to four years in prison.
Source:CBS NY
Parents of slain medical student sues nightclub for lack of security www.privateofficer.com
San Francisco CA June 2 2012 The parents of a UC San Francisco medical student who was beaten to death at Temple Nightclub last year are suing the club, citing lax security.
Joey Hernandez, a 30-year-old fourth-year medical student, was reportedly chatting with a classmate about graduating when he was attacked for no apparent reason Jan. 9, 2011, police said. Hernandez was later declared brain dead.
The lawsuit, announced Thursday, alleges there were too few security personnel on the dance floor and a broken surveillance camera.
Three separate fights erupted both indoors and outdoors on what was described as a chaotic night.
In response, the Entertainment Commission ordered the club to discontinue serving bottled beer on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, install identification scanners and double its number of security cameras, from 32 to 64, to cover “blind spots.”
“The owner of Temple Nightclub knew before the night of the beating that security at the 700-person capacity club was inadequate,” said Charles Kelly, the parents’ attorney.
“Making money was more important to the owners than making the club safe,” Hernandez’ mother, Rita Hernandez, said in a statement.
The lawsuit also calls upon the commission to investigate whether nightclubs with lax security should be allowed to also lack insurance coverage for patrons injured in fights.
“We are examining the attorney’s request to determine if requiring additional insurance would prevent violence,” said Nicolas King, a deputy director for the commission.
Source:www.sfexaminer.com
Henry County deputy sheriff accused of stealing while on duty www.privateofficer.com
Henry County Sheriff William Maddox says state investigators arrested 32-year-old Nicholas Cheek on Thursday at the county courthouse. He is accused of four theft counts and a fifth charge of intimidating a witness.
Maddox tells The Dothan Eagle (http://bit.ly/KlvhrM) that Cheek already has been fired.
The deputy allegedly confiscated and kept a gun while answering a domestic violence call in 2009. He’s accused of taking other items including a gun and prescription medicine during traffic stops.
Court records aren’t yet available to show whether Cheek has a lawyer. Maddox says he had worked with the department since 2008, most recently as a sergeant supervising a shift.
Cheek is free on bond.
Hickory Hollow Mall gives tenants just 30 days to vacate www.privateofficer.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. June 2 2012- Most tenants of Hickory Hollow Mall have received a notice from the mall’s owners letting them know they have 30 days to vacate the property.
The letters came on Friday. Officials with CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. said that the tenants of the mall were notified as part of the mall’s plan for the future.
“Hickory Hollow is in the process of reinventing itself and as part of this evolution we’re going to close a portion of the retail temporarily and that will allow us to develop a plan for the remainder of the center,” said Katie Reinsmidt of CBL Properties.
Reinsmidt said a dozen stores will remain open in the short term. It is not know if retail will be part of Hickory Hollow in the future. She did not name which stores would not close.
Shoppers reacted to the news of the mall’s fate Friday afternoon.
“It’s not surprising, it’s gone down hill. It’s been sad to see it go the way it’s been going, so it’s nice to know some new places are coming in, the college is coming in,” said shopper Abby Axelrod.
Rodney Gammage has shopped at Hickory Hollow since he was a child. He has hated to watch the mall’s demise.
“It’s like a ghost town in there. You go down certain halls it’s dark. All the stores are closed, the gates are shut. It’s kind of heart breaking because I’ve been coming to this mall since I was a kid,” Gammage said.
Juanita Veasy runs the non-profit Black Children’s Institute of Tennessee. It is located on the upper level of the mall. She got a letter from mall management Friday tell her the organization had 30 days to leave the mall.
She said the termination of BCI’s lease will cost her organization a lot of money.
“We’ve not been here a year yet and had invested a lot in fixing it up and remodeling. So being a non-profit, that was quite a shock,” Veasy said.
The revitalization of the mall has already started. Work is underway on Nashville State Community College’s satellite campus. It will be located in the former Dillard’s department store building.
As part of Mayor Dean’s plan to reinvent the mall as a community space, the new Hickory Hollow mall will include a public library, recreation center and a green space.
It was unclear if the retail stores will reopen inside the revitalized Hickory Hollow Mall.
Source:newschannel5.com
Ohio club security guard robbed www.privateofficer.com
The strip club security guard said he stepped outside to take a smoke break and he saw a Pontiac Vibe pull into the parking lot about 11:58 p.m. on Wednesday. Two women and five men got out of the car. One of the men then reached into the security guard’s pocket and stole an envelope containing $235. The guard told officers the stolen money was earnings from dancer fees for the female entertainment.
The suspect ran west and the guard chased him, grabbed his shirt and threw punches, the report said. When two other men approached him in an aggressive manner so he backed off and the suspect ran east toward Oberlin Elyria Road. The other people got in the car and drove off.
The incident was caught on video. Officers located the suspect’s vehicle down the road. The vehicle owner, Scarlett Zimmerman, 26, of Cleveland, was cited for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, according to the report.
One of the passengers said suspect asked them for a ride to the Brass Pole in exchange for $5. Deputies did not locate the suspect.
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation police chief resigns www.privateofficer.com
Two tribal government employees told The Associated Press the resignation of Chief Daniel Collins was announced internally on Thursday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal affairs.
His departure follows inquiries to the tribe by the AP about issues with the police department. Former employees said in interviews that it can barely manage to patrol the tiny reservation, let alone the casino.
The Pequots’ tribal council said its officers are fully trained and competent.
A spokesman for the tribe did not immediately respond to questions about the chief’s resignation.
Bank guard conviction in shooting reversed- no criminal intent involved www.privateofficer.com
KANSAS CITY, KS June 2 2012- It was simply a horrible tragedy, but no criminal intent was involved, according to a bank security guard who shot a customer.
“The jury convicted me on, I’d say, 70 percent of the facts,” Clifford O’Rear told KCTV5.
O’Rear has been waiting nearly six years to tell his story. He is coming forward now after the Kansas Supreme Court earlier this year threw out his 2007 conviction for aggravated assault. O’Rear served two days in jail. He was also placed on probation.
The high court said the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office failed to show sufficient evidence.
Representatives for Jerome Gorman’s office did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
The ordeal began in 2006 when Bank Midwest planned to close the branch at Fifth Street and Minnesota Avenue. The community was upset, and O’Rear said he faced angry customers almost daily.
“One fella who had mental problems, he got unruly to the point where he came back a few days later with a knife when I was off and was threatening people. He got arrested,” O’Rear recalled.
In June 2006, Samuel Jackson walked into the bank wearing a hat, dark shades, glasses and carrying a cane. He was not armed.
But O’Rear, who was already on edge, mistook the cane for a shotgun. O’Rear said he ordered the then 60-year-old man to drop his weapon. He didn’t repeat his command a second time, instead he opened fire.
“Instead of keeping his hands where I can see him, he turned toward me and I thought I was in a gunfight with a man with a shotgun,” O’Rear said.
Shot in the chest, Jackson collapsed. And that’s when O’Rear discovered the only weapon was a cane.
In distress, he suffered medical problems and was loaded up in an ambulance. O’Rear recalled what he was thinking.
He said he was “a basket case” because he had “hurt a good man.” He said it was the worst day of his life.
O’Rear has apologized to Jackson and his family, who have forgiven him.
Gorman charged O’Rear with aggravated battery. O’Rear said what he did was not a criminal act.
“It’s what I said all along. While it was a terrible accident, there was no crime, and essentially, I was prosecuted for political correctness as far as I could see,” O’Rear said.
Now that his conviction has been overturned, O’Rear would like to return to security work. He thus far has been unable to find a job and is doing landscaping work.
Source: KCTV
Ohio mother arrested for leaving four-year-old daughter at a play area in mall www.privateofficer.com
MENTOR, Ohio June 2 2012 — Police in Mentor say a mother left her four-year-old daughter at a play area in Great Lakes Mall while she went shopping.
Lt. Ken Zbiegien of the Mentor Police Department tells Fox 8 News that on May 30th, 37-year-old Natalie Rosca, of Mentor, was charged with a single count of child endangerment for allegedly leaving her child for an hour to go shopping at a store in the mall.
Zbiegien says parents gathered at the play area first noticed the child had been left alone around 5:30 p.m.
Zbiegien says the mall’s Guest Service Department was alerted and Mall Security was then contacted. A page was made on the mall’s over-head speakers for the child’s parents to return to the play area, but Rosca did not return.
Zbiegien says police were then called to scene, arriving around 6:00 p.m.
Rosca came back to the play area around 6:30 p.m., said Zbiegien, and told police that she had been shopping.
According to Zbiegien, a sign is clearly posted outside the play area that states children are not to be left unsupervised.
Rosca was arraigned on the charge in Mentor Municipal Court on Friday morning. She posted bond and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on July 7.
Source:FOX8
Vacum cleaner thief indicted on robbery charges www.privateofficer.com
Mantua NJ June 2 2012 Gloucester County A Runnemede man has been indicted by a Gloucester County grand jury on charges he stole vacuum cleaners from Target stores in Mantua and Washington townships.
Michael J. Froberg, 25, is charged with shoplifting in the alleged Mantua incident and robbery in relation to the alleged Washington Township incident.
Froberg stole two Dyson vacuum cleaners from each store on Feb. 24, according to the indictment. In Washington Township, he was confronted by the store’s loss prevention officer.
Froberg told the officer he had a weapon, according to the complaint. He did not possess such a weapon, according to Bernie Weisenfeld, spokesman for the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.
Regardless, for placing the officer in fear of harm, what would normally be a shoplifting change was elevated to robbery, Weisenfeld said.
Rollins College security officer hit by driver www.privateofficer.com
Winter Park police are searching for a driver who hit a pedestrian overnight and then took off.
Police said a Rollins College security guard was in a crosswalk on Fairbanks Avenue near Park Avenue around 1:30 a.m., when someone driving a grey Honda hit him.
The security guard is expected to be okay.
Police said they were able to get the tag number on the car and they’re working to track down the owner.
Source:wftv.com
Chicago U.S. Attorney’s office announce one of their largest-ever financial fraud cases www.privateofficer.com
The U.S. Attorney’s office said Friday that both the CEO and head trader of Sentinel Management Group are accused of defrauding more than 70 customers out of more than $500 million before the Illinois-based firm collapsed.
Eric Bloom and Charles Mosley allegedly misappropriated customers’ securities by using them as collateral for a loan Sentinel received from a New York bank. They’re charged with wire fraud, securities fraud and making false statements to an employee-pension plan.
A conviction on one count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The 47-year-old Bloom is from Northbrook and the 48-year-old Mosley is from Vernon Hills. Messages seeking comment from their attorneys on Friday weren’t immediately returned.
Source-www.charlotteobserver.com
Feds shut down 26 passenger bus companies over extreme safety violations www.privateofficer.com
Charlotte NC June 2 2012 Three North Carolina-based passenger bus companies were shut down Wednesday in what federal officials called the nation’s largest crackdown ever of unsafe bus operators.
In addition to bus companies in Rocky Mount and Greensboro, New York-based companies with routes to Charlotte were among 26 companies ordered out-of-service by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The federal sweep was the culmination of a yearlong investigation, spurred in part by a deadly crash involving Charlotte-based bus company Sky Express.
The companies are accused of using a complex web of multiple registrations and overlapping ownership to evade previous shutdown orders and conceal safety violations. Thirteen of the companies had previously been ordered out of service and were operating in defiance of the order, the FMCSA said.
Despite having 26 different names and government operating registrations, authorities said the bus lines were actually clustered into networks and effectively operated as only three companies, controlled by the same people and sharing expenses such as payroll, gasoline and tolls.
For years, officials said, the companies operated well outside the margin of safety, forgoing regular vehicle inspections, flouting service limits designed to prevent driver fatigue, and hiring drivers without drug and alcohol screening – or even without valid commercial driver’s licenses.
“The egregious acts of these carriers put the unsuspecting public at risk, and they must be removed from our highways immediately,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro.
While the crackdown was applauded by industry and safety groups, Jackie Gillan, president of the Washington-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, questioned whether it would have a lasting impact.
“That’s the big question … will these companies just go back into business?” Gillan said. “You have a high visibility enforcement action; it deters people, but then people go back to their same old habits.”
The companies ordered out of service operated about 30 to 35 buses and carried about 1,800 people a day on Interstate 95 and connected highways, federal authorities said. The North Carolina companies shut down this week were Go To Travel Inc. and Coach 88 Inc., both based in Rocky Mount, and United Tours, based in Greensboro.
None of the companies could be reached by phone Thursday.
Apex Bus and I-95 Coach, both based in New York, also were shut down. Those companies have sold tickets online for trips from the Knights Inn on Glenwood Drive, near Interstate 85, to New York City. An Observer investigation earlier this year found the bus that runs those trips was typically from a third company, Philadelphia-based Happy Go Travel Inc. Happy Go Travel was not among those companies targeted by the government sweep.
One year ago on May 31, a Sky Express bus from North Carolina to New York City crashed in the early morning hours on I-95, killing four and injuring more than 50 passengers.
The driver, who was from Greensboro, later told investigators he dozed off before the wreck, according to reports. He and the Sky Express dispatcher, from Charlotte, are to stand trial for manslaughter in Virginia this month.
Sky Express was cited for numerous safety violations before the crash. Although the FMCSA ordered the company to cease operations after the crash, Sky Express allegedly repainted some buses and quickly went back on the road. The government issued another shutdown order after that.
The deadly wreck was one of several last year. In March, 15 people died when a bus operated by World Wide Tours crashed in the Bronx. Investigators say the driver was speeding. He also is preparing to stand trial for manslaughter.
Several of the companies targeted for shutdown this week were subpoenaed for their records last year after the Sky Express crash.
A total of 34 people died last year in motor-coach crashes, according to the Washington-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
Ferro said the FMCSA will take steps to ensure the companies shut down this week don’t restart operations. Such carriers, known as “reincarnated” bus lines, have been a persistent problem in the industry .
But officials said FMCSA lacks the authority to actually seize and impound the vehicles. There also are no civil or criminal penalties currently being sought against the operators of the 26 bus companies shut down this week.
Companies could face a $2,200-a-day fine if they continue operating in violation of the government shutdown orders.
Ferro acknowledged Thursday that’s just “the cost of doing business” for some unsafe companies. The FMCSA is seeking authority to levy fines up to $25,000 each day for companies that violate shutdown orders.
The National Transportation Safety Board found in a study last year that government inspectors are overburdened, with a ratio of 1.15 inspectors to 1,000 motor carriers. There is often “a lower level of safety oversight for motor carriers transporting passengers than for those transporting freight,” the NTSB said.
Gillan remains critical of the government for failing to put tougher safety regulations in place and not mandating that all new companies be inspected before starting to offer bus service. “It’s very disheartening,” she said. “Really, none of that has changed since Sky Express.”
One major problem for authorities has been the web of connections between many companies. Companies often sell tickets for trips that are then actually provided by a separate company, sometimes with a driver leased from a third company. That makes it hard for passengers to tell who’s actually operating the bus, and can conceal safety violations.
For example, two of the companies shut down in North Carolina – Coach 88 and United Tours – have shared a Greensboro address. The third company, Go To Travel, has a separate address, but the registered email address for United Tours is the name of Go To Travel’s owner.
Thursday afternoon, a gold-colored bus sat empty in a parking lot next to the Knights Inn on Glenwood Drive in Charlotte. A sign by the entrance still read “I-95 Coach Waiting Area,” with an arrow pointing toward the bus. The bus was registered to a company called All Nations Coach Inc., which federal records show has been flagged for driver-fatigue violations.
There was no driver around, and no passengers waiting – only an orange “Out of Service” sticker from the FMCSA affixed to the bus windshield, right in front of the driver’s seat.
Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com
Woman accused of sending threats to herself for years www.privateofficer.com
SPARTANBURG, SC June 2 2012 - A Spartanburg woman is accused of sending herself more than a dozen harassing letters that threatened her and her family.
Spartanburg Public Safety Capt. Regina Nowak said since November 2008, Tammy Roberts filed 19 police reports claiming she received threatening letters.
A police investigator assigned to the case has worked on it for a long time, Nowak said.
Investigators sent two separate evidence samples to the State Law Enforcement Division, and they said in both cases, DNA from the sealed envelopes matched Roberts.
Because of the circumstances, the case involves the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspectors. Roberts she could face federal charges.
Roberts is adamant that she didn’t do it and claims that she’s being framed.
She is charged with 19 counts of filing a false police report.
Roberts was arrested Wednesday. She was released on bond Thursday.
Source: WYFF
Village public safety officer accused of sexual abuse of minor www.privateofficer.com
Bethel, Alaska June 2 2012- A village public safety officer in the community of Cheforank is accused of three counts of sexually abusing a minor, including twice at the village’s public safety building.
Eddie B. Fenn was arrested Sunday.
A shift supervisor said Fenn was being held Wednesday at the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center in Bethel on $50,000 bail.
The 17-year-old victim contacted Alaska State Troopers on May 21.
According to a police affidavit, the victim alleges they had sex after he summoned her to the safety building one night in November.
The document says the victim alleges two more acts of abuse, including after Fenn allegedly paid for her airfare to Bethel in December and again in March at the Cheforank safety building.
Cheforank is nearly 500 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Source:www.adn.com
Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem is under federal order to negotiate with security guards union www.privateofficer.com
Bethlehem PA June 2 2012 Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem has been ordered to negotiate with its security guards.
The Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem is under federal order to negotiate with the union representing security guards.
Sands earlier this year was directed by the National Labor Relations Board to negotiate, but refused, according to a decision posted Wednesday on the board’s website.
A three-member labor relations board panel reviewed the case and ordered the casino company to negotiate. The order also bars any effort by the casino to restrain employees from partaking in union activities. Finally, the order requires Sands to post for 60 days a statement that the casino company violated federal labor law.
The board gave Sands 14 days to comply with the order to post the statement and 21 days to comply with the other requirements.Should Sands casino keep fighting the unionization effort of its security guards?
The guards’ Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association is drafting a letter to Sands requesting a date to begin negotiations, according to union membership coordinator Peter Luck.
“July 22, it’s going to be a year since we voted to get the union in,” said George Bonser, the Bethlehem casino guards’ lead delegate to the law enforcement employees association, or LEEBA. “We were hoping … to sit down and negotiate.”
Sands had taken the guards’ request to negotiate to the federal counts, which returned the case to the labor relations board, Luck said.
A Sands spokeswoman on Friday released a statement that said the company is appealing the case to federal court and called the labor relations board order entered Wednesday “routine.”
“In order to appeal various irregularities which led to the certification of LEEBA, federal law requires Sands to refuse to bargain with LEEBA. With Wednesday’s decision in hand, Sands may now pursue an appeal in federal court. This morning Sands filed a Petition for Review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia,” Sands’ statement says.
Luck said of the Sands’ federal appeal: “They have the right to do that. But our members, at the same time, have the right to organize. … At some point in this process it becomes frivolous. I think we’re at that point.”
Sands will be fighting the National Labor Relations Board in federal court, Luck said, adding that the union won’t be a direct party to that action.
The guards previously said they were seeking a grievance policy, higher wages and reduction of health care premiums. The union represents 100 guards and was the casino’s first group of employees to organize after its May 2009 opening; no other groups have publicly revealed plans to unionize.
Bonser, of Wilson Borough, said the opening of Sands Bethlehem Event Center, the hotel and shops at the casino have expanded the guards’ duties.
“We have a lot of younger guys that have families,” he said. “It may be one of these instances where these guys are going to keep these jobs and make a career out of it.”
Nightclub security officer stops shooters rampage www.privateofficer.com
SELMA, Alabama June 2 2012– Last night’s shooting at Club Entourage left one of the shooters dead and the other in the hospital listed in critical condition.
Selma Police Chief William Riley said quick thinking by a security person at the nightclub prevented the event from a worse outcome.
Riley said two men were thrown out of the club because of bad behavior. The men tried to re-enter the club, but were denied.
Following is the chief’s description of how the events played out next:
The men retrieved guns from a car, forced their way inside, and began shooting. The security person shot the two men before they could enter the main area of the club where hundreds of people were gathered.
One of the suspects, Rodney Aaron, 21, was treated by paramedics at the scene and taken to the hospital where he is listed in critical condition. Aaron suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
“We don’t know (if he will recover),” Riley said. “It will be day-to-day.”
The second suspect, Cory Booker, fled and was taken to the hospital in a private vehicle. He died there a short time later.
Four people suffered gunshot wounds in the open gunfire. Three of the victims were shot in one leg, while the fourth suffered gunshot wounds to both legs.
Aaron has been charged with four counts of attempted murder and one count of felony murder. Riley said Aaron can be charged with the death of Booker since his death was the result of Aaron’s felonious act.
If Aaron recovers and is taken into custody, his bond will be set at $2 million.
Source: AL.com
Suspected Thief Found Handcuffed, Sleeping www.privateofficer.com
Dallas TX June 2 2012 A burglary suspect did not prove to be difficult to find in downtown Dallas Friday morning. He was shoeless, handcuffed, maced and sleeping, according to investigators.
The man, whose name has not yet been released, tried to steal a passenger’s bag that had been stored underneath a Greyhound bus at the Greyhound station at Lamar and Commerce Streets, according to Dallas police.
Around 7:15 a.m. a Greyhound security officer confronted the suspect and tried to handcuff him, according to a security representative at the station.
During that confrontation, the suspect wrestled away from the security officer with the set of handcuffs secured to one of his wrists. In response, the officer sprayed the suspect with mace. The suspect, who was not wearing shoes, then ran away from the station.
A short time later, an employee of El Centro College called Dallas police to report that a shoeless man with handcuffs on was attempting to sleep in one of the school’s buildings on the downtown campus.
When the man was being walked into the back of a Dallas police van, he told NBC 5 that he was not stealing anything from the bus station. He said that the security officer singled him out because he hangs around the bus station.
Since 2005, 1,157 crimes have been reported at the Greyhound station, according to Dallas PD data.
Of those, 35 percent were either thefts or robberies.
Source:NBCDFW
Man chases security officer with front-end loader www.privateofficer.com
ABERDEEN SD June 2 2012 (AP) — A man accused of chasing a security guard with a front-end loader at a Hutterite colony in South Dakota that has been embroiled in controversy has pleaded not guilty.
Twenty-two-year-old Raymond Waldner is charged with aggravated assault in the April 3 incident. He is accused of driving the loader at a worker for a private security firm hired by one of two disputing factions at the colony.
The two groups are at odds over which branch of the Hutterite religion to follow and have been battling in recent years over control of the colony near Stratford.
According to media reports, Waldner could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. A condition of his bond bars him from living at the colony while his case proceeds.
