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Charlotte security guard killed breaking up fight www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C.May 5 2012
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police has reported a fatal shooting at a Mexican restaurant in east Charlotte.
Police said that a security officer at the El Paisano Restaurant on Albemarle Road was shot and killed.
Police said he was trying to break up a fight outside the restaurant around 2 a.m. when someone pulled out a gun and fired.
Police have identified the security guard as Richard Snyder.
Witnesses told police they saw two men fighting and the guard tried to break it up.
CMPD officers are still searching for two men in connection with the shooting.
Two men plean guilty to Garda armored car robbery www.privateofficer.com
According to the indictment, on June 23, 2011, Moore and Smith, both from Timberlake, North Carolina, robbed the Garda armored vehicle of $1,210,440.
At the time of the robbery, the vehicle was located adjacent to the Bank of America automated teller machine on Carolina Avenue in Washington, North Carolina.
A third participant in the robbery, Emmanuel Wallace, III, pled guilty to the same charges on April 23, 2012, and is scheduled for sentencing on August 6, 2012.
Sentencing is set for September 4, 2012. The maximum penalties for the robbery are up to 20 years’ imprisonment followed by up to three years’ supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. For the use of a firearm during the crime, the maximum penalties are up to a life-term imprisonment, with a mandatory sentence of seven years, consecutive to any other sentence imposed followed by up to five years’ supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. As part of their plea agreements, the defendants have agreed to assist in the recovery of the stolen money or property acquired with it.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Washington Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney John H Bennett prosecuted the case.
Reported by: FBI
Security tight at new Maryland Live! Casino www.privateofficer.com
Arundel County MD June 6 2012 Maryland Live! Casino opens officially Wednesday evening at Arundel Mills Mall in Anne Arundel County.
Casino officials tell WBAL Radio that they will have plenty of security at the new facility both inside and outside.
Rob Norton, President and General Manager of Maryland Live! says they have to provide a safe environment. “Everybody who comes in here will feel safe and secure,” says Norton.
Anne Arundel County Police officers will be patrolling outside the casino. Maryland Live! will have more than 100 of its own security officers at the casino.
Norton says casino officials have been in long meetings with the county police department and mall security to ensure that casino visitors are safe. And he says that the FBI and Maryland State Police have been given tours of the facility.
There will be more than 800 surveillance cameras around the casino. Norton says the cameras will be able to zoom in on the color of a customer’s eyes anywhere on the property if security officers choose to do so.
“I believe once people have experienced our facility and experienced the casino the way we have set it up, I think security will be far from their concerns. And their bigger concerns will be how to win on the machines,” says Norton.
Source:wbal.com
Suspicious bag closes down LAX airport terminal www.privateofficer.com
LOS ANGELES CA June 6 2012- A terminal at Los Angeles International Airport was partially evacuated Tuesday after a suspicious bag was found. The evacuated terminal was re-opened later in the morning.
Airport police Sgt. Belinda Nettles said the bag was reported at about 10 a.m. ET Tuesday at Terminal 6, leading to a partial evacuation. There are no details about how many people were evacuated.
CBS Radio station KNX-AM reports from the airport that travelers were allowed back into the terminal after 11:30 a.m. ET. The terminal services Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air and some United Airlines flights, among other carriers.
Nettles said the bag’s owner was located and is being interviewed.
Los Angeles police sent a bomb squad to examine the bag. Canine units were also brought to the scene, KNX-AM reports.
Authorities said no threats were made.
The airport also is dealing with road closures because of a construction project.
Three lanes on passenger arrival levels near the Tom Bradley International Terminal were closed Tuesday.
Source:CBS NEWS
1 arrested for allegedly throwing nails at Santa Monica Airport www.privateofficer.com
Santa Monica CA June 6 2012 Police are investigating a series of incidents in which someone threw roofing nails onto the driveways of three flight schools at Santa Monica Airport, where residents and community groups have sought to restrict their operations.
So far, one person has been arrested on suspicion of attempted felony vandalism. Police said Jeremiah Kean Mayman, 31, of Venice was booked Thursday night after he allegedly tossed 1½-inch nails onto flight school property as he rode past on a bicycle.
Mayman has been released on bail, which was set at $20,000. Authorities are trying to determine whether he is connected to six other incidents between late March and mid-May in which hundreds of roofing nails were strewn in the driveways of Justice Aviation, Krueger Aviation and American Flyers.
Justice and American Flyers are the two largest flight schools at the airport. Krueger is an aircraft dealer, but also offers flight lessons.
The flight school incidents are the latest development in a long-standing controversy over whether Santa Monica Airport should be closed or have its flight operations restricted.
More recently, community groups have called for limits on flight instruction around the airport, such as flying box patterns over neighborhoods to practice takeoffs and landings.
City officials have proposed a plan to subsidize flight schools to move their pattern flying to other general aviation airports in less-populated areas.
Source:LANOW.com
Store security agents nab wanted burglar www.privateofficer.com
Charles Balangue, 25, of San Francisco, was held after attempting to leave the store without paying for some articles of clothing, police said. Investigators declined to identify the store.
A records check turned up the warrant for burglary out of Alameda County, police said. Balangue was booked and transported to the Martinez Detention Facility. His case will be forwarded to the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office for review.
Ore. woman gets $900K in online dating herpes lawsuit www.privateofficer.com
PORTLAND, Ore. June 6 2012– In a first-of-its-kind case in Oregon, a jury has awarded a Beaverton woman nearly a million dollars from the man who gave her herpes.
As first reported by KGW news partner The Oregonian, the woman said she met the man through the online dating website E-harmony; after discovering she had herpes, she sued him, saying he should have told her about his condition.
An jury awarded $900,000 to the woman. She said the retired dentist infected her with genital herpes, but didn’t tell her about it until after they had sex. It was a rare case in which a dispute over a sexually transmitted disease went to a jury trial.
The 49-year-old woman, who filed the suit under a pseudonym, testified last week that she suffered painful outbreaks and spiraled into depression following a sexual encounter with the 69-year-old man she met through the dating website eHarmony.
“I told the jury he’s dangerous, and I believe he is,” said Randall Vogt, the attorney for the woman, who declined to be interviewed.
High-profile lawsuits accusing celebrities of herpes transmission have been in the news for a quarter-century, but such lawsuits remain relatively rare and typically do not go to trial. The award issued Friday is believed to be the largest of its kind in Oregon. A similar 1996 case ended in a $550,000 settlement.
Vogt said the cases are uncommon because they are difficult to prove and typically embarrassing for the claimants. Moreover, it does not make sense to pursue a civil lawsuit unless the defendant has the money to pay a potential judgment.
The retired dentist, whose name was also omitted from the lawsuit, has had herpes since 1991. He testified he did not know he was contagious because he was not experiencing an active outbreak at the time the pair had sex, which was during their fourth date.
Roughly 1 of 6 adults in the United States has genital herpes, and transmission can occur regardless of whether infected persons have visible sores, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The suit alleged negligence and battery. On the question of negligence, the jury found the man 75 percent responsible and the woman 25 percent. The jurors determined the dentist committed battery because he intentionally engaged in an activity that harmed his date.
“We all felt he should have told her,” juror Noah Brimhall told The Oregonian newspaper. “He had the responsibility to tell her.”
The dentist’s attorney, Shawn Lillegren, argued that the woman was negligent because she did not demand that his client wear a condom. He also portrayed the woman as greedy in his closing argument to jurors.
“Go for a million — that’s plaintiff’s message,” he said, according to The Oregonian. “God bless America. Go for it. Got some coffee to spill on me?”
Lillegren did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday; it was unknown whether his client is considering an appeal.
Vogt said his client handed the dentist a condom, but he did not wear it and “the advance overtook her too quickly.”
Later, while the two were lying in bed, the man told the woman he had herpes, Vogt said. She asked him to leave.
The woman received a clean bill of health a few months before having sex with the man on May 25, 2010, and tested positive for herpes less than two weeks later. Vogt said the quick medical test was crucial in proving the case.
Besides suffering from painful outbreaks, Vogt said his client eventually lost a job because of her depression. The viruses that cause herpes are incurable, though symptoms can be managed with medication.
“It made her feel like she needed to isolate herself from society, and she became a recluse,” he said. “She was interested in finding a husband but pretty much dropped efforts in that direction because of the herpes.”
source:kgw.com
Suspect arrested in Oregon Coast Aquarium sexual assault www.privateofficer.com
NEWPORT, Ore. June 6 2012– Two girls told police that a man monitoring a student event at the Oregon Coast Aquarium Saturday touched them inappropriately.
The incident was witnessed by at least two others who were also interviewed by investigators, according to Sgt. Tom Simpson with the Newport Police Department.
The suspect, Benjamin Dean, 24, of Albany, was arrested on two counts of sex abuse and two counts of harassment. He was lodged at the Lincoln County Jail with bail set at $60,000.
The girls, ages 11 and 12, were participating in science projects at the aquarium when Dean touched them inappropriately, Simpson said.
Dean was not an aquarium employee. He was from an outside organization brought in to monitor the special event.
The Oregon Aquarium sent this statement to the media, following the arrest:
We at the Oregon Coast Aquarium were shocked to learn that an arrest was made Saturday during an event sponsored here by a second party.
We wish to note that the person accused of inappropriately touching two girls is not an Aquarium employee and is not associated with our organization in any way. He was involved as a facilitator in a private Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) event which is not a part of any of our programs.
For all of our own educational programs, we fingerprint and do extensive background checks on all adults involved.
The ROV Competition event took place in a separate area of the aquarium, not in a public place and there were chaperons around at all times during the event.
Cindy Hanson, Public Relations Manager, Oregon Coast Aquarium
source-kgw.com
Man who assaulted court security guard gets 10 months www.privateofficer.com
YAKIMA, Wash. June 6 2012 — A shoplifting suspect whose fight to disarm a security guard during an escape attempt triggered gunfire outside a Union Gap courtroom was sentenced to 101/2 months in jail Friday.
Michael N. Garza, 20, of Wapato was originally charged with first-degree assault and faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Instead, he pleaded guilty in Yakima County Superior Court to reduced charges of third-degree assault, attempt to disarm a police officer and two counts of reckless endangerment.
Yakima County Prosecutor Jim Hagarty said the evidence simply didn’t support a first-degree assault charge because Garza never had control of the guard’s gun.
“The guard pointed the gun at the defendant’s face and threatened to shoot him, not the other way around,” said Hagarty, explaining his reasoning for a plea bargain.
The incident took place Sept. 1 when Garza appeared in Union Gap Municipal Court on a misdemeanor shoplifting citation.
During that hearing, Municipal Judge Bob Northcott noticed Garza was free on bail after pleading guilty just two weeks earlier to robbing a Terrace Heights video store in 2009. In that case, police said a young man asked about renting movies, but then showed a semi-automatic handgun and demanded money.
When Northcott ordered Garza into custody, he attempted to flee.
The court’s lone security guard tried to stop Garza outside the courtroom, leading to a protracted struggle that spilled into the women’s rest room, where the guard’s pistol discharged twice. No one was injured by the gunfire.
Hagarty said a careful review of the evidence and witness statements did not support the contention that Garza ever pointed the gun at the security guard.
“He just grabbed it and they started struggling,” he said.
In a statement, Garza’s defense attorney, George Trejo, blamed the shooting on the security guard, who Trejo said outweighed the slightly built Garza by more than 150 pounds.
“Despite having a variety of means to subdue the significantly smaller Michael, including punching him, Tasing him or sitting on him, the (guard) threatened the use of deadly force by pointing his firearm directly at Michael’s head and yelling ‘I’m going to kill you!’” Trejo said.
“It was at that point that Michael pushed the barrel of the firearm away from his head and the firearm was discharged twice. Quite frankly, it is the security officer’s blatant use of excessive force that caused this incident to escalate into a near fatal situation.”
Garza was eventually sentenced to six months for the Terrace Heights robbery. On Friday, he was sentenced for the Union Gap incident by Yakima County Superior Court Judge David A. Elofson.
At the time of the incident, Union Gap’s municipal court was at City Hall, which has since been shut down due to toxic mold. The court has since been moved to a fire station on West Washington Avenue. Security was beefed up after the incident and the court now has two guards on duty. Northcott previously reported that Garza’s escape attempt was the fourth since he became judge in January 2011.
A retired county prosecutor, Northcott said Friday he was not happy with the plea deal. “That kid’s dangerous,” he said
Source:yakima herald
Offutt Air Force Base security shoot-kill man in police chase www.privateofficer.com
Base spokesman Peter Danielson said the man was shot Monday afternoon by a member of the 55th Security Forces Squadron.
Danielson said the man “illegally” forced his way onto the base after a traffic stop and was being chased by members of the Bellevue police department and Sarpy County sheriff’s office. He said all base exits were closed, and the suspect was shot when he tried to force his vehicle off the base.
The suspect was flown to Creighton Medical Center in Omaha where he later died.
The chase came to an end around 3:30 Monday afternoon at the Kenney Gate to Offutt Air Force Base. Broadcasts over police radios indicate the armed guards from Offutt fired on the suspect, and that the suspect was hit.
General Don Bacon said that the security officer who shot the suspect did as all the security officers are trained to do.
The Kenney Gate is the main entrance to Offutt off of Highway 370.
Police broadcasts indicated that the man driving the car was hit by gunfire. He was described as a middle-age male. The car he was driving was blue with Nebraska plates.
Daycare security recovering from brutal attack www.privateofficer.com
Family members say 18-year-old Jaylen Farmer is nothing less than a hero after the teenager risked his life and placed himself between small children and a violent man with a baseball bat.
On April 26, Mickel Tyrone Young entered the “It’s a Family Affair” daycare center located on the 300 block of Garrett Morgan Boulevard in Landover and asked to use the phone, authorities say.
Staff at the daycare center refused Young’s request, causing him to become violent. Police say that’s when Jaylen Farmer stepped in holding a baseball bat and told the man to leave.
Young took the bat from Farmer, officials say and hit him with it briefly before coming back and breaking windows with it. He then took a daycare employee’s car keys and fled.
Authorities arrested Young near Barlowe Road and Village Green Drive where they also found the stolen vehicle. At the time of his arrest, police say Young appeared to be under the influence of drugs.
Farmer was transported to a local hospital with severe injuries and is recovering. Farmers’s friends and family say Jaylen had taken the job at the daycare to help pay for college and was pursing a professional football career.
Former Portsmouth police officer convicted of embezzlement www.privateofficer.com
Robert Anthony Murray, 38, had been charged with felony embezzlement but was found guilty of misdemeanor embezzlement in January because the judge could not determine the value of a television involved in the incident.
Murray was sentenced to six months behind bars with all six months suspended, according to a clerk with the Portsmouth Circuit Court.
Murray must also serve 40 hours of community service and must pay the court costs.
He was also sentenced to two years unsupervised probation and fined $500. $250 of that was also suspended.
Providence Point retirement community security guard arrested for thefts-burglaries www.privateofficer.com
Steven P. Kowalski, 49, was charged Friday with two counts of burglary and faces others stemming from 13 burglaries, which were reported between October and December, said Scott police Sgt. Jeff Skees. The sergeant had long suspected the culprit was an employee of Providence Point but struggled to narrow down the possibilities.
He got a break on Thursday, when a resident went to the hospital and returned to find her deadbolt unlocked. She continued into her apartment and discovered a man crouching behind her chair. She confronted him from the hallway, but he covered his face with a cushion and then pushed the cushion into her face so she couldn’t see him, Sgt. Skees said. He walked away from her with his back turned.
Still, the woman was able to make out his dark hair and clothing, giving police a description that led them to Mr. Kowalski. Pawn records showed “a lot of activity” by Mr. Kowalski, who generally admitted to the crimes under Sgt. Skees’ questioning.
“These were crimes of opportunity,” the sergeant said. “He was just trying to keep up with the bills.”
Among the items taken were jewelry and at least eight sets of silverware, only one of which has been recovered. Police estimated the worth of the loot at between $125,000 and $150,000.
Sgt. Skees said Mr. Kowalski would wait until residents were on vacation or receiving medical care to break into their homes. When the complex changed the locks in February, Mr. Kowalski took a new key, the sergeant said.
Court records show he posted $10,000 bond and was released from the Allegheny County Jail. He could not be reached for comment Monday night.
Source:www.post-gazette.com/
New York City police officer killed in crash www.privateofficer.com
NANUET, N.Y. June 6 2012 (AP) — Authorities say a New York City police officer has been killed in a crash on the Palisades Interstate Parkway.
State Police say Esther Sanzo was driving south near exit 8 in Clarkstown early Sunday when she struck a guard rail in the center median and was thrown from the SUV.
The NYPD says Sanzo joined the force in 1997 and was assigned to the Bronx.
According to The Journal News (http://lohud.us/M4yoDs ), Sanzo and her husband, NYPD Lt. Michael B. Holmes, had residences in Manhattan and suburban Nanuet (nahn-yoo-EHT’).
Her father, Graziano Sanzo, is a minister at Church of Our Savior in Yonkers.
Armed robber hits SC Walmart in the middle of the day www.privateofficer.com
Lexington County SC June 6 2012 An armed man robbed a cashier at the Walmart Supercenter on S. Lake Drive in the middle of the afternoon Saturday and deputies hope you recognize images of the suspect taken from the store’s surveillance cameras.
Deputies were called to the Walmart at 1780 S. Lake Dr. around 4:45 p.m. after a man with a gun took an undisclosed amount of money from a cashier.
Detectives have released two surveillance camera photographs of the man who committed the robbery. Witnesses told detectives that the man, who is white, has a goatee and is between the ages of 45 and 55, standing between 5-foot-10 and 6-feet, and weighing between 190 and 210 pounds.
At the time of the robbery, witnesses told deputies that the man was wearing black athletic shoes, white socks, light-colored shorts, a light orange or pink sleeveless T-shirt, a light blue baseball cap with an oval emblem on the front of the cap and sunglasses, investigators said.
Video shows the man pull a sliver revolver out of his waistband and show it to the cashier before taking the money and leaving through the retail exit.
The man fled in a white, extended-cab pickup truck that was driven by another person, whom detectives have not yet identified, according to deputies.
According to deputies, the man was originally dropped off in the Lowe’s parking lot before using the garden entrance at Walmart.
Lexington County Sheriff James R. Metts asked anyone with information about the robbery, the man who committed the robbery, or the person who drove the getaway vehicle to call the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department at (803) 785-8230 or Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. Citizens also can provide information anonymously by accessing the Crime Tip link on the Sheriff’s Department web site (www.lexingtonsheriff.com).
Source:WISTV.com
N.C. Court of Appeals rules that private colleges and university policeare not subject to public records laws www.privateofficer.com
In a case from Elon University, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled today that private colleges and universities — and their campus police departments — are not subject to public records laws.
The unanimous decision, which affirmed a lower court ruling, seems legally air tight.
But it reveals what I hope was an inadvertant oversight when the General Assembly enacted the Campus Police Act in 2005.
The case originated two years ago when Nick Ochsner, a journalism student at Elon and reporter for Phoenix14News, asked for records about the arrest of a fellow Elon student. He was given the arrest report and first page of the incident report but asked for the rest of the incident report, which he asserted contained information deemed public under the state’s public records laws. Elon police said no, and Ochsner sued.
(Ochsner is now a reporter for a TV station in Lubbock, Texas.)
The trial court, and today the Court of Appeals, ruled that, as a private institution, Elon is not subject to the public records laws, and so neither is its police department.
True enough, the law states that “public law-enforcement agency” means “a municipal police department, a county police department, a sheriff’s department, a company police agency commissioned by the Attorney General pursuant to G.S. 74E-1, et seq., and any State or local agency, force, department, or unit responsible for investigating, preventing, or solving violations of the law.”
This would include the campus police departments at UNCG and N.C. A&T, but not at Elon.
But here’s the rub: The law covers company police agencies commissioned by the attorney general. Prior to creation of the Campus Police Act in 2005, campus police departments at private colleges were classified as company police agencies and therefore treated as public law-enforcement agencies. When the General Assembly crafted a separate category for campus police departments, it simply neglected to write them into the definition of public agencies. It was an oversight — and one that should be corrected.
All police agencies authorized by the state to enforce the law, investigate crimes and make arrests — whether they are a city police department, the sheriff’s department or a campus police department at a public or private university — should be equally accountable to the public. They all should have to comply with the public records laws.
Elon issued this statement today:
“Elon University is pleased that the North Carolina Court of Appeals has upheld the decision of the trial court, and affirmed that the university followed the law in release of campus police investigation information to Nick Ochsner. Mr. Ochsner was an Elon student requesting information regarding an incident involving a fellow student. The court held that the campus police of Elon University, a private university in North Carolina, are not subject to the North Carolina Public Records Act. Elon’s campus police office has consistently shared more records than are required and did so in this case as well.”
I’m not faulting Elon. Good if it routinely releases some of the same records that public police agencies do. The point is that Elon is not required to release any records, and someday it might decide it won’t.
There’s an irony here. Davidson College, and probably some of its North Carolina counterparts, celebrated last November when the state Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding Davidson’s campus police powers. The challenge that led to that decision came from a person who had been arrested by a campus police officer for suspected drunken driving and asserted that a police officer employed by an institituion with religious roots should not be granted arrest power by the state. Doing so violated the separation of church and state, the plaintiff said.
If the courts can affirm the arrest power of campus police departments at private colleges — the same arrest power granted to public police departments — it is unfortunate that the courts cannot hold these same agencies fully accountable to the public they serve.
The legislature should step in and fix this omission. An agency that can arrest citizens of this state must be required to release to the public a full and complete record of that arrest, including the reasons it was necessary. Otherwise, we may be living in a state with pockets where private secret police can operate without full accountability.
Source:news-record.com
Doll bought at Toys “R” Us has foul mouth www.privateofficer.com
The toys in question are sold at Toys “R” Us. The You and Me Interactive Triplet Dolls are designed to talk to each other in what’s supposed to be indecipherable baby talk.
But Rose Pickens says she heard foul language coming from one of the dolls, loud and clear.
“She is a potty mouth, She actually says the ‘B’ word,” Pickens said. “The dolls are basically supposed to interact with each other. They laugh, and they play and they coo together.”
“I just never paid attention to what the dolls say, they coo, they cry they say mama and dada, and this particular day I hear ‘you crazy b****.’ And I turned and I’m like, wow.”
Pickens said she initially thought she was imagining things, but when she said moments later, she heard the doll repeat the same offensive phrase.
Toys “R” Us claims, however, that the dolls are not designed to utter curse words, and that any reports of them doing so have been misinterpreted by parents.
The company issued a statement saying:
“Please be assured that we would not carry a doll that uttered profanity of any kind. We are aware that some customers believe they are hearing something else spoken by one of the dolls in the set, when, in fact, the doll is uttering baby babble.”
Pickens says she’s been offered an in-store credit for the dolls, but says that’s not good enough. She wants them pulled from store shelves. She worries other children may end up emulating them.
“”This is, we teach our children at an early age,” She says. “There are certain things that you don’t say.”
Former Daytona Beach police sergeant and son arrested for drug trafficking www.privateofficer.com
Daytona Beach Fla June 6 2012 A former Daytona Beach police sergeant and his son were arrested this morning for dealing in prescription pills, a South Daytona police official said.
Former police Sgt. Anthony Annatone, Jr., 49, and his son Aaron Annatone, 24, were arrested along with two others — Angelo Lavezza, 22, and Desirae Shamp, 22.
The four people were arrested after a two-year surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, said South Daytona Police Lt. Ronnie Wright.
Anthony Annatone, who was under surveillance, was arrested on his way to work this morning.
“He was stopped at State Road 40 and Timber Creek Road at 9 a.m. this morning while driving a truck from Turner’s Pest Control,” Wright said.
Mark Slater, Chief Executive Officer for Turner Pest Control, said Anthony Annatone had only been with the company as a part-time field technican for a little more than a week.
A background check and drug test done on Annaotone when he was hired did not raise any red flags, Slater said.
“He was clean,” Slater said. “I just want people to know that Annatone does not necessarily repesent the kind of people that work for us. We have a lot of good people who have worked hard to make our company what it is.”
Aaron Annatone was arrested at an apartment at 1600 Jones Street at 8 a.m. after the FBI Gang Taskforce/Safe Street Taskforce, made up of members of the South Daytona and Daytona Beach police departments and Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, raided it, Wright said.
Lavezza and Shamp were the brokers of the oxycodone dealings, and the transactions took place in South Daytona, Wright said.
Shamp was picked up at an apartment at Sweetgum Lane in Port Orange while Lavezza was arrested at his girlfriend’s Daytona Beach apartment at 1600 Big Tree Rd..
Anthony Annatone, Jr., and his son, Aaron Annatone, were each charged with trafficking in oxycodone and arrested on $50,000 bail. Anthony Annatone has bailed out of jail, Wright said.
Lavezza and Shamp were each charged with principal to trafficking in oxycodone and were both taken into custody on $50,000 bail, Wright said.
Source:daytona news journal
Police investigate 10 armed robberies in 3 days in Myrtle Beach www.privateofficer.com
MYRTLE BEACH, SC June 6 2012 Myrtle Beach Police are investigating and searching for suspects after a string of strong armed robberies were reported in the Myrtle Beach in the past three days.
Two arrests have been made in correlation with three of the robberies. A man described as Hispanic, 5 feet 8-inches tall, 150 to 160 pounds is still at large for a fourth robbery. He has a black trimmed moustache and black hair.
The remaining six robberies occurred Saturday night into Sunday morning, and are all believed to be related.
In each incident, the suspect was reportedly carrying a black pistol, that in most cases he used to strike the victims.
Police are looking for a dark green or blue, 1989 or 1990 Pontiac or Buick. Myrtle Beach Police Captain David Knipes said it is likely police will find the suspects based on the late model of the car. Knipes said police departments in surrounding areas are helping with the search in case the suspects fled town.
“A large number like that typically is gonna be somebody coming from outside of town that come in and do a large number of robberies and leave,” Captain Knipes said.
Knipes said the police department will work actively until the case is solved.
“The six that happened on Saturday night, we’re very concerned about. We have a number of detectives and officers that are assigned to that case and are working that case actively. We’re making it our priority to get that solved as quickly as possible,” Knipes said.
WMBF News obtained multiple police reports detailing the strong armed robberies reported in the vicinity of Ocean Boulevard in the overnight hours Saturday into Sunday.
Saturday, June 2 – 10:15 p.m.
A strong armed robbery was reported on the 1200 block of 21st Avenue North Saturday, where the victim told police she walking west from Ocean Boulevard when a man struck her in the head from behind.
The victim claims in the report the suspect then tried to take her bag, and unwilling to let it go, the suspect struck her again causing her to fall to the ground.
The suspect fled the scene with the victim’s bag toward King Street.
A witness told police in this report she was riding a bicycle in that area and saw the suspect running from 21st Avenue North to King Street, then noticed the victim on the sidewalk crying.
The report says the victim’s bag contained money and a cell phone, totaling $565 in value.
Sunday, June 3 – 12:29 a.m.
Police responded to the 500 block of Broadway Street and found a male victim that claimed he was robbed of $200 in cash.
The victim detailed in the report that he noticed a black male following him as he walking, and was then struck from behind causing him to fall. The suspect had a black semi-automatic pistol, and told the victim to “give it up.”
The victim says he asked the suspect, “Give what up?” after which he was struck in the face with the pistol and the suspect took the cash out of his pockets.
This victim says the suspect, a black male standing five feet, seven inches to five feet, nine inches tall with short hair, fled the area in a four door sedan.
The victim was incoherent and was transported to a local hospital after reporting the incident to police.
Sunday, June 3 – 1:38 a.m.
An attempted armed robbery was reported on the corner of Yaupon Drive and 11th Avenue South Sunday morning.
This victim told police he was walking east through a parking lot towards Yaupon Drive after leaving a friend’s house when a black male suspect ran up to him with a black in color semi-automatic handgun.
The suspect demanded everything the victim had, but when he fought back, the suspect ran toward a dark in color four-door vehicle and fled the scene. The victim said there was a black male and black female in the vehicle.
The victim’s friend saw the incident from his window and reported the same circumstances to police. He says the car fled east along 11th Avenue South after the victim fought back.
The suspects did not take anything from this victim.
Sunday, June 3 – 1:40 a.m.
Two victims, a male and female, reported an armed robbery on the 1800 block of South Ocean Boulevard Sunday morning.
The report says the two victims were conversing by the female victim’s vehicle in a parking lot adjacent to a hotel when the black male suspect approached and struck the male victim in the head with a black in color, semi-automatic handgun.
The male victim fell to the ground. The suspect demanded the victims surrender their cell phones, and then asked for the female victim’s purse.
The report says the victim reached into her car for her purse, and emptied its contents on the seat before handing it to the suspect. Realizing the purse was empty, the suspect threw her purse on the ground and fled the scene, traveling west onto 18th Avenue South and then onto Yaupon Drive.
EMS responded to the scene and treated the male victim for a laceration caused when he was struck across the face with the pistol. Both victims described the suspect as a black male in his twenties with shoulder length dreadlocks and dark baggy pants.
The report says the suspect in this robbery took two cell phones, valued at $450, $20 in cash and the male victim’s shoes.
Sunday, June 3 – 1:51 a.m.
Police were dispatched to 400 12th Ave. South. The report says two victims were on scene when police arrived. The victims stated they had just been robbed.
The first victim said he was coming back from Ocean Blvd, about to go into his hotel room, when he was approached by the suspect who showed him a black handgun. The suspect ordered the victim to open his door. The suspect went inside the hotel room and made the victim lead him into the bedroom where a second victim and the witness were sleeping.
The second said he started to wake up when the suspect entered the room, and then the suspect hit him in the head with the handgun. That victim did suffer a laceration and some swelling to his head.
The suspect ordered the first victim to search the second and the witness’ wallets for money, but neither had any money in their wallets.
According to first victim, the suspect stole $46 and a silver necklace from him. The second victim said the suspect stole a pack of cigarettes from him.
After the suspect couldn’t get any money from the second victim, he fled on foot in an unknown direction.
Sunday, June 3 – 3:48 a.m.
Police were again dispatched to a strong armed robbery, this time in the area of Mr. Joe White Avenue and Ocala Street. This victim reported she was walking west on Mr. Joe White Avenue from Ocean Boulevard when dark in color four-door vehicle following her.
This victim says the vehicle, with three occupants, parked on Ocala Street, and one of them robbed her at that intersection.
The suspect reportedly told the victim he wanted her bag and asked her to empty her pockets on the sidewalk, but told her she could keep her house keys.
The suspects then fled down Ocala Street. The report says they robbed the victim of $260 worth of money and other property.
This victim described the suspect as a black male with “wiry dreads,” wearing dark jogging pants and carrying a black in color handgun.
Investigators tell WMBF News that they are searching for two black males and one additional suspect that remained in the vehicle during these crimes.
One of the male suspects is described to have long dreads, and the other has short dreads. One of the males is described as standing six feet tall.
The third suspect was originally thought to be a black female, standing five feet, three inches and wearing a short skirt, but a good description of that suspect is not yet available.
Anyone with information about any of these crimes should contact Myrtle Beach Police as soon as possible.
Source: WMBF
Security guard stops man in sexual assault incident www.privateofficer.com
The incident, which occurred on June 3 around 12:23 a.m. inside the Monte Carlo nightclub on Castro Street, resulted in the arrest of a suspect, Alberto Rodrigues of Redwood City, for two counts of sexual battery and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. He was booked into the county jail.
According to MVPD spokewoman Liz Wylie, the suspect allegedly grabbed the buttocks of two women, among them the wife of the victim, while the women danced on the lower level of the club.
The women then went to the upstair bar to report to their husbands what had happened and pointed out Rodrigues.
Wylie explained that the male victim, 50, then approached Rodrigues, 23, and yelled at him for touching the women’s buttocks.
Apparently, the suspect–who had clearly been drinking alcohol, Wylie said–initially acted like he did not want to fight.
However, when the victim walked away the suspect allegedly followed him and smashed a beer bottle over his head from behind.
A security guard observed the incident and caught the suspect when he tried to run. The suspect, who had a cut on his hand, was detained until MVPD officers arrived
The bloody victim, who suffered lacerations to the head and face, went to the bathroom and was assisted by security officers.
Both the suspect and victim had to be transported to the hospital and both received stitch, according to Wylie.
“The victims appeared sober,” Wylie said.
Kelly Creek Elementary School Parent-Teacher Club treasurer arrested for embezzlement www.privateofficer.com
Soprito is accused of stealing $11,000 from the club’s fund between August 2009 and October 2011, according to a police report.
Students raised the money by selling entertainment books, cookie dough, movie tickets and holiday greenery, among other fundraisers. It was earmarked for field trips, books and classroom computers.
Police began investigating Soprito in December 2011 when the school’s principal reported the suspected embezzlement.
At the time, parents and teachers in the Orient area were reeling from a similar situation in which another Gresham woman was accused of stealing nearly $17,000 from the Orient Parent Teacher Club.
Jenifer Lynn Sayles, 34, of Gresham volunteered as treasurer of the club, which raises money on behalf of both East Orient Elementary School and West Orient Middle School.
Gresham police on March 7 arrested Sayles on three counts of first-degree theft and one count of identity theft. She has since been released.
Regarding Soprito’s arrest, “We’re just really happy that the court system is taking it forward,” said Michelle Kahan, president of the Kelly Creek Elementary School Parent-Teacher Club. “And we put our full trust in them to follow through with this.”
Embezzlement suspects often are not initially arrested or indicted because the investigations are so labor intensive, requiring a lot of documentation and time, said Detective Bob Fay with the Gresham Police Department.
Unlike Sayles, who repaid $6,100 of the money she allegedly stole, Soprito has not paid anything back, Kahan said. “We’re hoping to be able to get the money back in full,” she said.
Since the investigation began last December, the club has bolstered its accounting systems to avoid future financial crimes. It also has worked with teachers and parents to raise money and grant dollars to pay for a few select field trips. The others had to be canceled.
The club also purchased fewer new computers than it had planned to buy and scaled down festivities for the upcoming fifth-grade promotion/graduation ceremony.
“Everyone has really come together,” Kahan said of the Kelly Creek community. “We are just really appreciative to our whole community for helping.”
Source:Outlook News
WV sheriff indicted on federal charges www.privateofficer.com
U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld announced in a news release Tuesday that Jefferson County Sheriff Robert Shirley is charged with one count of deprivation of rights under the color of law for allegedly assaulting and kicking a person on Dec. 27, 2010, in Berkeley County. Prosecutors said Shirley is also charged with falsifying records during a federal investigation of the incident.
If convicted on both counts, the 60-year-old Shirley faces up to 30 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Shirley’s attorney, Kevin Mills, said the case stems from the apprehension of a dangerous bank robbery suspect — now in prison — and that his client “will be entering pleas of not guilty to both counts.”
The indictment comes a week after Mark Daniel Haines, a Harpers Ferry man serving a prison sentence for bank robbery, sued Shirley and 14 unidentified law enforcement officers whom he says beat him severely after a failed heist and vehicle chase through Jefferson and Berkeley counties in December 2010.
In the civil suit, Haines, currently an inmate at Maryland’s Allegheny County Detention Center, says Shirley repeatedly kicked Haines in the head and stomped on his face while other officers threw him to the ground and against a cruiser, punched him and shocked him with stun guns.
Shirley’s attorneys said in a statement last week that the sheriff denies the inmate’s allegations. And on Tuesday, Mills criticized federal prosecutors.
“We’re a little bit surprised the civil rights division from Washington, D.C., has gotten involved in this case and is making decisions about how law enforcement officers, including Sheriff Shirley, would conduct themselves when chasing a violent, serial bank robber who has fled the scene of a robbery,” Mills said.
A message left with the West Virginia State Police was not immediately returned. Representatives at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI in West Virginia said no one was available to comment.
