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Man Charged after Biting and Fighting Security Guards www.privateofficer.com
The store security officers attempted to stop him, but he hit the guards, according to reports. Police said he was arrested with the assistance of several Evergreen Park Police officers.
Wade was ultimately charged with three counts of aggravated battery, one count battery and one count retail theft with felony conviction, police said.
According to reports, Wade bit the store security guard on the hand and another guard on the shoulder. He hit another guard and bit him on the forearm, reports said.
Because of a previous conviction of retail theft, Wade’s charge was upgraded to a felony, police said.
Federal Security Director disciplined in TSA shake-up www.privateofficer.com
Federal Security Director Bob Cohen will have the opportunity to appeal his recommended two-week suspension without pay. He and 36 other employees, including his assistant and a third supervisor responsible for the screening process, have been recommended for suspension, said David Castelveter, director of external communication for the administration.
Five other employees have been recommended for termination and are currently on administrative leave. They also have the opportunity to appeal their punishments. Those five employees worked security check points.
The administration’s investigation showed some employees were not performing random, supplemental screening procedures over a period in 2011. The administration said the violations occurred during the late shift and affected 300 to 400 passengers over two months, according to NBC-2.
Spokesperson Sari Koshetz said travelers were never in danger.
Diaper assault lands woman in jail for robbery www.privateofficer.com
Columbia MO June 10 2012 A woman who allegedly struck a Walmart security officer with a box of diapers was arrested yesterday afternoon on multiple charges, including second-degree robbery.
At 2:49 p.m., officers responded to a shoplifting report at the store at 415 Conley Road. Police said Marquita L. Lynne, 39, of 609 West Blvd. had put clothes and DVDs in her purse, then grabbed a box of diapers before leaving the store. When a loss-prevention officer tried to stop her, police said, she hit the officer with the box of diapers and then dropped the diapers and hit the officer in the chest with her hand.
Police said Lynne ran off, and officers found and arrested her near the 1100 block of Eastland Circle. She was arrested on suspicion of second-degree robbery, use or possession of drug paraphernalia and felony warrants for failure to appear in court on three previous charges.
She was being held in the Boone County Jail, with bond yet to be set on the robbery charge. Bond set for the other charges totaled $40,500.
Source:Columbia Daily Tribune
Driver deliberately crashed car with gas container into NW D.C. building, police say www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC June 10 2012 A car carrying at least one container of gasoline crashed into the lobby of a prominent Washington office building Friday evening as diners ate at a restaurant one floor above, authorities said.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said the crash was deliberate. Law enforcement sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that one or more containers of gasoline were in the vehicle and that gasoline had been poured on or in it.
The vehicle smashed through plate glass and into the lobby of the building on the southwest corner of Connecticut Avenue and L Street NW about 7:30 p.m.
With its similarities to car bombings, the crash provoked a vigorous response. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force was at the scene, but there was no indication late Friday of a terrorist link. The motive was unclear.
The driver was taken to a hospital for evaluation, D.C. police said. There was no report of any other injuries.
“I felt a crash,” said a woman who was in the bar area of Morton’s the Steakhouse. “I kind of heard it.” She said someone in their group asked facetiously: “Is the building collapsing? Should we try to get out?”
The woman, Maureen Mathis, a law student working in D.C. for the summer, said a red vehicle, apparently a Jeep, rested in the lobby. Mathis said the man who appeared to be the driver struggled with building security officers, then with police. Police said the car had been stolen.
The corner is busy and many people were nearby, Mathis said. She added that she saw what appeared to be a gasoline container being taken out of the vehicle.
The entrance to the Farragut North Metro station at that corner was closed after the incident while police investigated. “Everyone said it was a miracle that no one was hurt,” Mathis said.
Source:Washington Post
Armed robber storms Houston game room-assaults security www.privateofficer.com
Shots were fired around 1:30 p.m. Friday on Richmond at Ocee, Houston Police said.
The shooter entered the game room and beat up a security guard inside. He then fired a shot at a machine to try and get the money out.
The shooter fled the scene. No one was seriously injured.
source-fox26.com
Dallas man guilty in murder of security officer www.privateofficer.com
DALLAS TX June 10 2012- A Dallas County jury on Friday found a man guilty of murdering a bank security guard during a botched robbery last August.
The conviction means Courtland King will automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors and witnesses described how King grappled with guard Lionel Newell at the Bank of America in the 3500 block of S. Lancaster Rd., then take the gun from Newell’s holster.
Jurors heard a 911 call made by one of the bank tellers. During the call, shots were heard in the background.
“He shot the security guard. He already shot him,” teller Lucy Shifflet told the operator.
King ran to a nearby church and tried to steal a car from two workers, but police arrived and took him into custody.
Source:fox news
NYPD recruit fired for not shaving www.privateofficer.com
Fishel Litzman, who was just a month away from receiving his shield, got the boot after he refused to trim his scraggly beard, insisting it would violate his religious beliefs.
“I always wanted to be a police officer,” a disappointed Litzman said, as he played with two of his five kids outside his home in Monsey, N.Y. “This was unfortunate.”
Then, a bit sadly, he added, “I’m a newly minted civilian.”
Litzman, a 38-year-old Hasid, said the NYPD did not state a reason on his dismissal papers.
“They didn’t give me anything,” he said. “I don’t understand what the problem would be.”
Litzman’s lawyer said the problem is religious discrimination.
“They knew from when he took the exam and applied that he would not trim his beard,” said Nathan Lewin, a legal heavyweight who has fought and won beard battles on behalf of observant Jews with the Army and Air Force.
“He said from the outset it was a matter of religious observance. He never made a secret of it.”
Isaac Abraham, an activist in Brooklyn’s Hasidic communities, said it was a shame that allowances couldn’t be made for Litzman’s beard.
“I can’t see where a whisker would cause somebody to be fired if he does his job,” he said.
The NYPD’s chief spokesman insisted they made every attempt to accommodate Litzman.
“The NYPD makes reasonable accommodations in this regard, permitting beards for religious purposes to be kept to 1 (millimeter) in length,” said Paul Browne. “This was explained to the recruit in the Police Academy.”
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly signed off on the firing Thursday, but sources said Litzman’s ouster had been in the works for several months.
Back in March, Litzman’s instructors recommended he be canned after he was disciplined repeatedly for failing “to maintain personal appearance,” sources said.
Litzman was cited the first time Jan. 27 for his unkempt beard. Then he was issued a command discipline from Jan. 30-Feb. 2 — all for failure to maintain his personal appearance.
While Litzman rocked the tests with scores of 99, 100 and 96, he also got written up for minor mistakes like being in the locker room too early and forgetting his gym gear, sources said.
In a March 18 memo to the NYPD, Litzman defended his performance and stated that “as an Orthodox Chasidic Jew it is absolutely forbidden in my religious beliefs to cut or trim my beard in any way.
“I am being disciplined only because I maintain my religious beliefs and observances,” he wrote, underlining the sentence.
He also wrote passionately about his desire to be a city cop, while remaining true to his faith.
“I will not waver in my firm belief that I can be a successful member of the NYPD and an Orthodox Chasidic Jew at the same time,” he wrote. “I believe that my love of G-d and my love of the NYPD can coexist.”
A source familiar with Litzman’s progress described him as “a great recruit” who holds a rabbinical degree, is fluent in both Hebrew and Yiddish, and used to be a paramedic.
“But there is a potential safety issue,” the source said.
Asked how Litzman’s beard might be a hazard, the source mentioned the masks recruits wear during counterterrorism training.
“You have to be clean shaven so the mask can fit,” the source said. “If it doesn’t fit it can be a safety issue — and a liability issue.”
Before he was dismissed, Litzman was formally asked by the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Equal Employment Opportunity to trim his beard, sources said.
He refused.
And when he appeared at the academy Friday for a day shift he was fired.
Police then escorted Litzman back to his home to collect NYPD property, including his helmet, sources said.
The Police Department hired their first Hasidic cop in 2006 and now there are at least two dozen Orthodox-Jewish officers on the force.
Like observant Muslim and Sikh officers, they are allowed to keep their beards for religious reasons but are required to keep them neat and trimmed.
They are also allowed to wear their yarmulkes under the police caps and are excused from working after dusk on Fridays and on Saturdays and Jewish holidays.
Like many large organizations, the NYPD has, at times, had difficulty adjusting to changing demographics in the city.
In 2002, a Sikh rookie traffic agent cadet sued the department after he was fired for refusing to prune his beard or remove his turban.
Amric Singh Rathour was later reinstated after the NYPD relented and agreed to incorporate turbans into their uniforms.
Source:www.nydailynews.com
NY crossing guard arrested for choking 14-year-old student www.privateofficer.com
The guard, Jillian Selby, 60, scolded the boy at Rockaway Blvd. and 99th St. in Ozone Park, sparking a fight, sources said.
She knocked away his baseball cap and allegedly “grabs him with both hands and chokes him,” during the 7:30 a.m. spat, police sources said.
The teen, who was on his way to Middle School 137, did not appear to be seriously hurt but had marks and scratches on his neck.
His mother took him to the 106th Precinct to file a complaint.
Selby was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing, acting in a manner injurious to a child and harassment. She was taken into police custody at noon Friday.
Neighbor Marissa Jewel, 21, said such behavior was not typical of Selby.
“She is going to yell at you if you walk when it says ‘Don’t Walk.’ Actually, she’s just doing her job,” Jewel said.
Jewel, who said she’s known Selby 15 years, described the woman as a “strict parent, but she never put her hands on her daughter.”
The boy “probably said something mean” to prompt such a reaction, she added.
Source:www.nydailynews.com
Nashville residents say city parks aren’t safe www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN June 10 2012 Leigh Little won’t be returning to Cedar Hill Park near Madison after having her purse stolen last month. And she’s not sure about Nashville’s other parks either, after she got to thinking about some of the high-profile crimes within the past 12 months.
At Centennial Park, a woman was robbed and there was a gang shooting during a movie night.
“I don’t feel safe. I would love to go to the parks more often,” said Little, 26, of Brentwood. “We’re knocking out parks left and right.”
Despite her uneasiness, Nashville’s 115 parks have seen a drop in crime since 2007, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation statistics. And police say the parks are relatively safe. There were 40 reported violent crimes in the parks in 2011. That same year, in all of Davidson County, there were 25,000 violent crimes reported. The agency does not break down its crime statistics by park.
Metro Parks Police acknowledge residents are wary of some parks after hearing about criminal activity there. And the recent news that the Kurdish Pride gang has virtually taken over Paragon Mills Park in South Nashville hasn’t done much to help that image either.
Parks police, while technically operating under the Metro Department of Parks and Recreation, get their policing powers from the Metro Police Department and are subject to its rules and regulations.
“We’ve had some things happen,” said Parks Police Capt. Chris Taylor. “About — it seems once a month — for the past couple months, we’ve had something high profile pop up.”
Most recently, it was a Memorial Day fracas between two homeless men grappling over food. One man was stabbed in the fight and hospitalized. The other was arrested on an aggravated assault charge.
In February, a 63-year-old woman who was opening up William Pitts Park was carjacked and slashed outside the park gates.
She survived the attack, and her attacker was arrested.
Perhaps the highest-profile crime happened June 3, 2011. During a Movies at the Park event at Centennial Park, at least one suspected gang member opened fire on a crowd, injuring a teen in the knee. The day before, the gang had threatened on Twitter to turn the event into a “gun range.” No one has been arrested in the shooting.
And just this week, Metro police filed suit to ban suspected members of the Kurdish Pride gang from Paragon Mills Park, where they were holding regular meetings. The gang also may be banned from another nearby park, Providence Park, if Metro succeeds in the lawsuit.
Keep valuables stored out of sight
Taylor’s officers use patrol cars, bicycles, foot patrols, ATVs and sometimes even horses to try to keep parks safe. The parks are open from dawn until 11 p.m. and Taylor said most of the violent crimes happen after hours.
Property crimes rather than violent personal crimes are far more common in the parks, Taylor said.
“Our property crimes are more of an issue that we deal with ongoing,” Taylor said.
“People will park, and when they bring things to the park, they will leave things out in the open. People just haven’t gotten the message that you need to secure your valuables.”
Little said she feels silly about leaving her purse on the floor behind her passenger seat. But still, she was shocked and scared to return that night after a game of softball to find her window smashed out and her purse — including credit card — gone. Another person she plays with had her car broken into as well and two days later, Metro Parks Police responded to four more vehicle burglaries in that very same park.
Police recommend that park visitors never leave valuables in plain sight. Instead, lock up laptops, purses and other items in your trunk.
Little says she doesn’t doubt police are doing everything they can to protect people in Nashville’s parks. And she didn’t dispute that crime may be low at those locations.
But for her, becoming a victim trumps numbers, even if it means leaving the park where she trained for her half-marathon.
“It’s scary,” she said. “I won’t go there anymore. I refuse to run there anymore.”
Source:the Tennessean
Four men removed from Delta flight bound for Detroit www.privateofficer.com
DETROIT MI June 10 2012 - A flight from Reagan National Airport to Detroit was delayed Friday when four men had to be removed from a Delta plane.
In a statement, Delta Airlines said a federal law enforcement officer on board Pinnacle flight 3290 saw the four men “behaving suspiciously” prior to pushing back from the gate and reported it to the flight crew.
Sources close to the investigation told Local 4 the men weren’t speaking English and ran into a language barrier with the flight crew when they didn’t take their seats and made trips to the restroom.
The plane was emptied and TSA re-scanned all of the luggage.
The four men were taken off the plane and questioned by law enforcement officials.
The men were not allowed back on the flight, but sources said investigators don’t think anything sinister was behind the men’s behavior and that it was simply a language issue
General Sales Manager Gary Macko was on board the flight and called into the Local 4 studios in Detroit and sent in pictures.
Macko said the men were noticeably walking around and talking to each other as other passengers tried to board the flight, which was scheduled to leave at 11:30 a.m.
“This behavior was very suspicious looking,” Macko said. “As the plane was about to push off, two of them got up. One went to the front of the plane, one went to the back of the plane. Flight attendants told them to sit down and they went to the bathroom.”
Macko said the flight crew started talking amongst themselves and the plane remained where it was for about 45 minutes.
“I was sitting in this window seat and I could see all of a sudden the Homeland Security cars showing up and parking outside and people getting out and walking around,” Macko said.
Macko said the men were taken off the plane and the passengers were told there had been some type of security breach.
The following statement is from Eric T. Epperson, vice president of corporate culture and communications:
On Friday, 6/8, a federal law enforcement officer on board Pinnacle flight 3290 (Reagan National Airport (DCA) to Detroit Wayne County (DTW) observed a group of 4 passengers behaving suspiciously prior to pushing back from the gate for taxi.
· After reporting the behavior to the flight crew, the Captain made the decision not to push back from the gate out of an abundance of caution.
· All passengers were safely de-planed and the TSA has re-screened the aircraft.
· The suspicious passengers were questioned by law enforcement and removed from the flight.
· The aircraft was cleared to continue its flight and has departed for DTW
Source:clickondetroit.com
Four people shot dead near Auburn University www.privateofficer.com
One of the wounded was shot in the head and critically hurt. Another was a current player, Eric Mack.
Desmonte Leonard opened fire at the party at an apartment complex near the university, Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson said. Federal marshals and police were searching for Leonard, who faces three counts of capital murder.
Slain were Edward Christian, who had not been playing because of a back injury, and Ladarious Phillips, who had previously quit playing football. The other person killed was 20-year-old Demario Pitts.
Officials also said Xavier Moss and John Robertson were wounded. Robertson had been shot in the head and was in critical condition; Moss was released from the hospital.
“The only connection that the Auburn football team has to this is they are victims of a brutal shooting. Sometimes the young men get a bad rap, I feel like, but they are the victims today,” Dawson said.
Police say Desmonte Leonard has been charged with capital murder and has not yet been captured. Dawson urged Leonard to turn himself in and also said authorities were searching for two other persons of interest.
Dawson stressed that the football team was connected to the shooting only because current and former players were victims. He said he did not know why the party was being held, or what sparked the fight.
“Them being football players really has nothing to do with this. They’re victims of a shooting,” Dawson said.
Turquorius Vines, 23, said he was at the pool party Saturday evening at the University Heights apartments with one of his friend, Pitts. He said he and his friend were approached by two other men who started arguing with them over a woman.
Vines said he punched one of the men, while Pitts hit both of the men over the head with a bottle. Either one or both of the two men then started shooting, he said. He said his friend was shot and killed, while two others also were hit by gunfire. Vines said he had never before seen the men who he had been arguing with.
“It’s like I lost a lung,” Vines said of his friend. “I don’t know how I’m going to survive this.”
Several emergency vehicles had converged overnight around the University Heights apartment complex where reports indicated a number of students who attend Auburn University typically reside. The building was swathed in yellow police tape.
It appeared that the shooting happened in an archway near the apartment complex information center, near the edge of the parking lot. Five uniformed officers guarded the area, which was sealed off with crime scene tape, and a handful of crime scene investigators were at work.
Mack, the wounded player, is a junior offensive lineman from St. Matthews, S.C. He played in five games last season. Coach Gene Chizik said Mack was expected to make a full recovery.
Christian is an offensive lineman who was out last season while dealing with a back injury. Phillips was a backup fullback. Chizik said in April that Phillips had decided to give up football.
A person who answered the phone at the home of Phillips’ mother declined comment and said his family was too distraught to comment.
“Nobody should ever have to endure such unimaginable grief, and we will love and support the victims’ families during this terribly difficult time,” Chizik said. “We have a lot of people on our football team that are hurting right now and we’re going to do everything we can to help them get through this
