Archive
Yancey County sheriff’s deputies charged with thefts from property room www.privateofficer.com
BURNSVILLE, N.C. June 14 2012 Two former Yancey County sheriff’s deputies have been charged with selling items that belonged to the department.
Authorities say former Chief Deputy Thomas Lloyd Farmer was arrested Monday and charged with embezzlement of property received by employment. Former Deputy John Paul Grindstaff has been charged with larceny by employee.
Both men are also charged with willfully failing to discharge duties, and both left the department last year.
An internal investigation showed that Farmer pawned three guns that belonged to the sheriff’s office. Authorities say Grindstaff sold two department radios.
Both men have been released on bond. It wasn’t known if they had attorneys.
Sheriff Gary Banks says the department has built a new evidence room and revised its inventory and seizure policies.
source-www.charlotteobserver.com
Maryland woman in theft of money from elderly apartment dwellers www.privateofficer.com
Police said Kunthea Lun, 29, of the 8700 block of Carroll Avenue, admitted taking about $388 from residents of the Forest Oak Towers Apartment. She is charged with theft under $1,000 and fraudulent misappropriation.
Lun was responsible for collecting contributions from residents to offset costs of a meals program offered through Montgomery County under a contract with the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC). Lun worked for HOC, police said, and was supposed to deposit the cash into a government account.
Commission supervisors noticed Lun had not made deposits in April and May although she had collected funds, police said. She stopped coming to work on May 21, according to police, who were called in after HOC reported the theft.
Baby dies after being wedged in chair with sleeping dad www.privateofficer.com
Coroner Don McCown told WYFF-TV that the father apparently fell asleep in a chair with the boy on Friday night at the family’s home.
McCown says the boy also fell asleep and became wedged between his father and the arm of the chair. The boy suffered cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at a hospital after paramedics tried to resuscitate him.
McCown says the father told authorities he was tired from working to find a new job.
Officials say this is the seventh child death in Anderson County this year.
Jacksonville Walmart employee charged in $37,000 theft www.privateofficer.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. June 14 2012 – Police arrested a Walmart employee Saturday on allegations she stole over $37,000 from the big box retailer.
Judy Ocampo, 46, was arrested Saturday and charged with employee theft.
Ocampo was arrested at the Normandy Boulevard Walmart after the store found out she had been stealing money from them.
Ocampo would remove large bills from the registers and take them to make change. Instead of placing the large bills in the area they were supposed to go, she would palm the large bills, according to an arrest report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Ocampo would then go to the bathroom where she would put the money in her pocket.
Ocampo gave a written confession to Walmart. Ocampo told police she took the money because she is depressed and addicted to pain medication, according to the report.
Ocampo told police she wants to try and pay Walmart back to make things right.
Source:First Coast News
Charlotte man scammed restaurants by filing false claims www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE, NC June 14 2012 - A Charlotte man is behind bars after investigators say he scammed restaurants by filing false claims that something in his food caused damage to his mouth.
According to North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, 27-year-old Robert Chase Garcia was arrested by Charlotte Mecklenburg Police and is facing ten counts each of obtaining property by false pretense and insurance fraud.
Investigators say that since 2009, Garcia would visit different restaurants in Charlotte and claimed that foreign objects in his food had caused damage to his mouth.
When restaurant managers refused to pay cash for Garcia’s dental work, he filed claims with the businesses’ insurance companies.
Investigators allege that Garcia provided fraudulent documentation regarding the dental work and received more than $5,000 from the insurance companies to settle the claims.
Garcia was arrested on Monday and is being held under a $75,000 secured bond.
source-wbtv.com
Former Iowa school business manager misspent nearly $230,000 www.privateofficer.com
DesMoines IA June 14 2012 The former business manager of a northeast Iowa school district was accused Thursday of using district money to pay for college tuition and credit cards for one of her daughters.
Vicki Vanter, 61, of Strawberry Point was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree theft.
A state audit report of the Starmont school district released Thursday found that she spent $229,501 on improper salary and benefits, as well as payments to personal credit cards, a car, and college tuition and credit cards for one of her daughters. Vanter documented the personal credit card payments as “registration fees for conferences,” the audit found.
Fayette County Sheriff Martin Fischer said an investigation is ongoing, and he expects to make at least one additional arrest.
The district’s former superintendent, Gary Stumberg, allegedly misspent $133,120 on salary and benefits, medical insurance premium reimbursements and payments to other administrators, and appeared to submit excessive mileage reimbursement claims, the audit found.
Stumberg denies any wrongdoing, his attorney Brandon Brown said in a statement. Stumberg has provided information that shows he had permission to invest the value of his health insurance benefits while he was on his wife’s health insurance plan, Brown said. Stumberg has fully cooperated with the investigation and voluntarily provided financial records and statements, Brown said.
A former school board president also has given a sworn statement that Stumberg did not “engage in any acts of impropriety” while superintendent, Brown said.
“Furthermore, no information has been provided to us or to the public to contradict the school board’s knowledge and approval of these investments,” Brown said, noting that the state auditor’s office rejected numerous requests to meet and clarify Stumberg’s actions.
The audit found that Stumberg and Vanter received salary and benefit packages about $120,000 greater than what was authorized by the school board. Improper and unsupported payouts ranged between $900 and more than $32,000 per year between 1993 and 2010.
The district’s financial health plummeted in recent years due to salary and benefit increases awarded to central office staff, administrators and teachers, the audit found. The district’s general fund dropped more than 138 percent between fiscal years 2004 and 2010, from a $2.1 million surplus to a $608,000 deficit.
Vanter resigned from the district in October 2010. Stumberg began working at Keystone Area Education Agency in Elkader in November 2008. He remains employed there, said Pat Heiderscheit, the agency’s administrative services director.
The agency’s board of directors is aware of the state audit and will “chart a course of action” after reviewing it, he said.
“We’ll make sure we perform due diligence and proceed appropriately,” Heiderscheit said.
Source:DesMoinesRegister.com
Harnett County NC firefighter dies after responding to fire www.privateofficer.com
Authorities said 55-year-old Donald “Donnie” Suggs collapsed at his home shortly after returning from a fire. Officials said it wasn’t clear if the fire had played a role in his death.
Suggs was assistant chief of the Summerville Fire Department and had served there for more than a decade.
Visitation was planned for Suggs on Wednesday at O’Quinn Peebles Funeral Home in Lillington. Funeral services were planned for Thursday morning at Lillington Baptist Church.
source-www.charlotteobserver.com
UPS employee charged with theft of prescription drugs www.privateofficer.com
Elm Grove WI June 14 2012 A Milwaukee man is facing charges after he was caught trying to steal bottles of Tussionex while working at UPS in Elm Grove.
Terry D. Barnes, 22, was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Wednesday with attempted theft and possession of an illegally obtained prescription drug. If convicted, he faces up to 10 ½ months in prison and $5,500 in fines.
According to the criminal complaint:
On April 10, police were called to the UPS facility after an employee saw Barnes take several boxes and place them off to the side, then open one up to take items out of it. When police arrived, they discovered Barnes had taken bottles of Tussionex from the box.
Barnes admitted to the theft, saying he stole about 50 bottles of Tussionex from the facility while working there so he could use it for himself.
He will make his initial appearance in court July 2.
Florida woman charged with grand theft of TV’s from Walmart www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FL June 13 2012 - A Port Charlotte woman was arrested for grand theft for allegedly stealing two large screen televisions from the Walmart in the Deep Creek area, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
A Walmart security employee contacted deputies February 15 after they discovered two large screen televisions were not in inventory and were never purchased.
Surveillance video showed a woman selecting a 47-inch television and exiting the store without paying for the TV, reports said.
The following day, the same woman was recorded selecting a 55-inch television, exiting without paying and loading the TV into a Chevrolet HHR, reports said.
The employee told deputies the suspect may be Lynch-Ricewick because of a prior incident involving a television theft case at the Murdock Walmart, according to deputies.
A Walmart employee who helped the woman load the television into her shopping cart positively identified Lynch-Ricewick from a photo lineup, reports said.
Detectives met with Lynch-Ricewick, then charged her with two counts of grand theft.
source-nbc
Walmart trip leads to theft, sexual assault charges www.privateofficer.com
La Crosse WI June 14 2012 A La Crosse man was charged with theft and sexual assault after police say he wandered through a Walmart Sunday afternoon taking clothes, sampling groceries and fondling customers.
Store security officers said Peter J. Solberg spent about 45 minutes in the store on Mormon Coulee road putting on clothes and walking around the store, according to police reports. He ate groceries and deli items, took a drink from a bottle of chilled wine and grabbed a woman’s buttocks before exiting the store, leaving behind a black tote bag and a pair of khaki shorts.
Security officers said they gave Solberg several chances to pay for the items but he refused to speak to them.
Another woman approached as an officer was taking a report and said Solberg had also touched her daughter’s buttocks.
Solberg denied being at Walmart until an officer pointed out the price tag on his shorts. Told that police would need his shoes, socks and shorts as evidence, Solberg mentioned that his shirt also belonged to Walmart.
Solberg, 40, was charged Monday with misdemeanor theft, fourth-degree sexual assault, disorderly conduct and bail jumping, all misdemeanors.
source-lacrossetribune.com
California Highway Patrol officers union agrees to monthly furloughs www.privateofficer.com
Sacramento CA June 14 2012 The California Highway Patrol officers union and Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration have reached a furlough agreement to cut pay 5 percent for a year.
Under the deal, the CHP’s roughly 6,300 officers will be furloughed eight hours per month starting July 1.
The union is the first to reach agreement with Brown, who wants pay reduction deals in place with all state worker unions to save an estimated $839 million to help close a budget gap estimated to be at least $15.7 billion.
The governor proposed putting most state workers on 9.5-hour shifts four days per week and closing departments on either Fridays or Mondays.
The agreement with the California Association of Highway Patrolmen signals that other unions representing workers in 24/7 jobs – prison officers, psychiatric technicians, firefighters and others – are under pressure to take similar deals.
It may also complicate talks scheduled with other unions, including today’s scheduled negotiations with SEIU Local 1000, which represents 93,000 workers. Those talks center on Brown’s plan instead of the arrangement worked out with the CHP union.
CHP officers will be able to bank the hours to take later, but their paychecks will reflect the 5 percent pay reduction regardless.
Jon Hamm, CEO of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, said that the language of the agreement encourages officers to take their banked furlough time before taking paid vacation.
The Brown administration had said that it wanted to avoid a policy that allowed banking furlough hours because that leads to employees taking less paid leave, creating a deferred cost for the state when the leave credits with monetary value are cashed out at the end of an employee’s career.
Until now, CAHP members had never been furloughed. Hamm said union members understand that they need to make a sacrifice, given the state’s $15.7 billion budget crisis.
“Our members’ reaction has been pretty positive (to the furlough),” Hamm said Friday. “I think this is sinking in. They’re saying, ‘I’m lucky to have a job.’ “
The union plans to put the furlough agreement to a ratification vote next week.
Source:www.sacbee.com
The Hazards of Homemade Explosives www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta GA June 14 2012 While terrorist incidents using improvised explosives such as the Oklahoma City bombing or the attempted attack on American Airlines Flight 63 have made national headlines, the greater risk to most communities exists among those who are not terrorists at all but are simply experimenting with explosives.
“When we think about improvised explosives, the first thing that comes to mind is terrorists, the guy who lit himself on fire on an airplane Christmas Day or the shoe bomber on American Airlines Flight 63,” says Donald Sachtleben, director of training at the Center for Improvised Explosives Research and Training (IMPEX). “While that big world threat is certainly real, the big problem we see is with home experimenters.”
Statistics seem to bear this out. Between 1998 and 2008, there were approximately 4,273 incidents involving the possession, manufacture, and use of homemade explosives for experimentation and criminal purposes, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Of this number, the ATF reports five were terrorist bombings and the rest involved experimentation and were motivated by curiosity.
“It would be too simplistic to say it’s just kids because it’s not just juveniles, it’s adolescents and perennial adolescents, it’s that 35-year-old guy who still thinks it’s cool to build a bomb and blow things up,” Sachtleben says. “That’s the person your average small- to mid-size police department is going to encounter.”
What’s more, these types of incidents play out frequently across the country. Last month a 19-year-old Greeley, Colo., man exploded an acid bomb, made by mixing drain cleaner with aluminum foil inside a plastic bottle. When police contacted the teen, he told them he had learned how to make the bomb on YouTube, that he wasn’t aware it was illegal, and that he had set them off before.
“The reality is the U.S. has just as many issues dealing with homemade explosives as Afghanistan or Iraq,” says John Jermain, acting chief of the ATF’s Arson and Explosives Section. “Those countries also have tons of explosives and ordnance left over from previous wars. Suspects can utilize bombs encased with TNT. You can’t purchase high explosives in the U.S. unless you have the proper licenses. This means more people are manufacturing explosives from homemade materials.”
In the 1960s, books like the “Anarchist Cookbook” detailed recipes for explosive formulas, and that was a problem. Now the Internet has put improvised explosives recipes and how-to videos just a few clicks away from everyone, and that’s an even bigger problem. A simple search on the Internet pulls a wealth of explosives formulas using readily available materials. “It is a big concern here,” Jermain says. “We have more bomb incidents among teens because of exposure to the Internet and YouTube.”
Whether a department’s jurisdiction lies nestled among the cornfields of rural Nebraska or in the center of a major city, homemade explosives pose a very real and growing threat. But through business community involvement and greater training and awareness, some of these threats can be stopped dead in their tracks. And, even if they go undetected until an incident occurs, departments will know what to do.
Packing a Punch
The risk for harm from homemade explosives can be great. “Homemade explosives are as powerful as any commercial or military explosive,” Jermain emphasizes.
To illustrate this fact, Sachtleben pairs demonstrations of commercial and military explosives with homemade materials in improvised explosives courses for bomb technicians at the Center for Improvised Explosives Research and Training at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences. The demos compare and contrast the materials’ destructive powers and distinctive characteristics.
“We show commercially manufactured military-type explosives and follow with improvised explosives,” Sachtleben says. “In many instances you can’t tell the two apart. It is possible to cook up something in your kitchen that is just as powerful as that block of C4 used by the military or that stick of dynamite used in a rock quarry.”
The risk multiplies when one considers that individuals with little understanding of explosives are whipping up these volatile concoctions. “Improvised explosives have no quality control. There is no repeatability. The way they are made—every time they are made—is a little bit different,” says Sachtleben, a retired FBI agent who led a team investigating the Oklahoma City bombing and was on the entry team at Unabomber Ted Kaczynski’s Montana cabin.
Homemade Mayhem
The 2010 “Bomb Factory” house in Escondido, Calif., is a sobering reminder of the safety hazard homemade explosives pose. It was discovered by a gardener stepping on a small amount of explosive material in the backyard causing it to detonate. The gardener lived but suffered severe injuries to his left eye, torso, and arm.
Compounding the relative ease of manufacture is the fact that experimenters produce homemade explosives from common household chemicals that when mixed become explosive, according to Jermain. “These mixtures contain an oxidizer and a fuel that are either mechanically mixed together or molecularly bonded during a chemical reaction,” he says.
Homemade explosives are generally grouped into three categories based on the main oxidizer present: chlorates/perchlorates, nitrates, and peroxides.
Of these three categories, peroxide explosives are the most sensitive. Although hydrogen peroxide in concentrated forms can be mixed with various organic fuels to form explosive mixtures, it is more commonly used in chemical reactions to make triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD). When hydrogen peroxide is mixed with either acetone or hexamine (fuel tablets), it forms a dangerous primary explosive, which is highly sensitive to heat, shock, and friction.
Jermain points out these precursors, such as hydrogen peroxide or acetone, can be purchased from numerous sources without suspicion. The materials can be found in rather innocuous places such as the local pool cleaning and maintenance store, the beauty supply shop, or the hardware store.
To emphasize this point, Sachtleben uses readily available ingredients when cooking up explosive education for bomb technicians. “We could buy chemicals in laboratory-type containers and use them in our class but we don’t,” he says. “We go to pool supply, beauty supply, hobby, and hardware stores and buy the actual products people might use so students can see them in their native condition. That’s very important because they know how the experimenters are going to have them. They’re not going to buy them from the chemical supply warehouse; they’re going to buy them from local suppliers.”
Detection Begins at Home
Because these materials are readily available within the community, Scott Zimmerman, owner of K17 Security, a Washington, D.C.-based firm providing security, personal protection services, and training to law enforcement, encourages police to work with local businesses to create a business watch that operates similar to a neighborhood watch. “This will allow businesses that sell items commonly used in improvised explosives to stay in contact with one another via a Yahoo talk group, e-mail list, blog, Facebook page, or any other means they find suitable,” he says. “It is important for businesses to work together because these individuals do not want to arouse suspicion so it is common to buy smaller quantities from several different stores.”
Sachtleben also encourages adding educators such as chemistry teachers to the mix. “Schools are often a source for chemicals,” he says. “Kids may steal classroom chemicals and repurpose them for their own needs.”
Building awareness among parents is also important. “Parents know what belongs in their home,” Sachtleben says. “If something doesn’t smell right or kids are playing around with things they shouldn’t, they need to understand and take action so their kids don’t hurt themselves or anyone else.”
Local police departments can set up training days to advise the business community and other key community individuals of the items explosives experimenters may purchase in bulk and share other signs to look for such as chemical burns on the hands and wrists. “We want to educate store owners,” Sachtleben says. “If you own a pool supply store, for example, you sell chemicals that can be used to make explosives. You want store owners to know this so they can be more attentive to who is buying these things and pick up the phone and call police when it seems suspicious.”
But while knowledge is power, Sachtleben warns that police walk a fine line between building awareness and creating problems. “In community education, we want to emphasize that these are very hazardous materials and they don’t react well with each other,” he says.
Be Prepared
Signs of a bomb-manufacturing site can often be readily seen. In regard to chemicals, officers might see nitric acid, sulfuric acid, muriatic acid, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen peroxide, potassium chlorate, potassium perchlorate, acetone, hexamine, citric acid, ammonium nitrate, urea, nitromethane, magnesium, and aluminum. There may be grinders (coffee grinder, mortars and pestles, etc.), coffee filters, mixers, stirrers, ice baths, glassware, and hot plates used in the manufacturing process.
“Low explosives require some kind of confinement to blow up, so on-scene you might see pipes. You might see hydrogen peroxide bottles or pool sanitation chemicals lying around. There might be liquid boiling on the stove,” Jermain says.
Back Off
When these signs are noted, responding officers should keep their distance and wait for bomb technicians to arrive. “Separate yourself from the material. Don’t pick it up or handle it,” says Sachtleben. “A lot of these materials are static sensitive so if you’re wearing a nylon windbreaker, you could generate static electricity and set it off. I cannot emphasize enough the importance for first responders to leave it alone, isolate it, evacuate the area, and get a safe distance away.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Bombing Prevention has long distributed copies of the Bomb Threat Stand-off Card to first responders. This laminated card enables officers to quickly evaluate how to keep civilians and responders safe during the initial incident investigation and response, says Christine Lee, DHS program manager.
Today they’ve taken that technology to the smartphone and for a relatively low cost police departments can purchase the First Responder Support Tool (FIRST) Bomb Response for iPhones, iPads, Android phones, and Windows PCs. The application is combined with the commercially available HAZMAT Evac to help first responders address improvised explosives situations and HAZMAT spills. FIRST Bomb Response provides standoff distances, allows points of interest queries to pinpoint areas of concern, and more to help first responders safely evacuate and secure an area.
Numerous portable instruments can also help first responders determine response. The ATF utilizes ThermoScientific’s Raman First Defender and FTIR TruDefender to identify explosives in the field. Field Forensics also offers portable instruments that can help make an explosives ID. “These tools are simple to use by the average police officer,” Jermain says, noting departments can often write a grant to purchase them.
And if local law enforcement doesn’t have these tools in their kit, odds are the fire department does. “Once you add them or find them in your community, officers want to use all these tools and know how they work and know their limitations,” says Sachtleben. “You don’t want the first time you use them to be on a real call.”
Improvised Explosives Training
ATF: Departments can request formal explosives training at the ATF Website. The training is taught by ATF special agents, bomb technicians, and explosive chemists and is available to police officers, even if they are not bomb technicians.
Oklahoma State University: The Center for Improvised Explosives Research and Training at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences offers training on improvised explosives for bomb technicians. This training provides an overview of the materials used to manufacture homemade explosives and demonstrates the threat posed by improvised explosives through classroom lectures, laboratory experiments, and demonstrations on an explosives range.
Source:Ronnie Garrett
Fairfax County teacher arrested at school for possession of child pornography www.privateofficer.com
Fairfax VA June 14 2012 A Fairfax County teacher has been arrested at his school and charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography.
Robert C. Fenn, 26, of Herndon, Va., has been suspended from his job as a first-year special education teacher at Poplar Tree Elementary School in Chantilly. He taught kindergarten through 3rd grade, NBC4′s Chris Gordon reports.
Fenn is accused of possessing images on his home computer. No Poplar Tree students were shown in the pictures, said a police spokesperson, and school computers were not used.
Fenn was arrested after a week-long joint investigation by the Fairfax County Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security agents.
Homeland Security was involved because online images can be transmitted internationally.
Source:NBC4
Cops: 1 woman dead in shooting at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo www.privateofficer.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. June 14 2012 (AP) — Police cordoned off a Buffalo hospital and its sprawling campus where a woman was fatally shot Wednesday morning, prompting authorities to lock down the facility with hundreds of patients and workers inside as they searched for the gunman.
Police haven’t released any information on the victim or if they believe the shooter remained on the grounds of the Erie County Medical Center.
Buffalo police spokesman Michael DeGeorge confirmed that a woman was shot and killed shortly after 8 a.m. on the grounds of the medical center, which he described as being in “complete lockdown” as SWAT teams and other officers cordoned off the 65-acre campus.
Officials said the shooting occurred inside a building that houses outpatient services and offices. The building is adjacent to the hospital’s main building.
Police patrol cars blocked all entrances to the hospital campus, where officers could be seen apparently showing photographs to people in parking lots. Incoming patients were being diverted to another hospital.
A police helicopter circled over the medical center’s campus, which includes a 550-bed hospital. Officials said as many as 400 patients and about half of the hospital’s 2,000 employees were on the grounds at the time of the shooting.
“Things are well under control by Buffalo police” and other law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation, Mayor Byron Brown said. He said state police, Erie County sheriff’s deputies and suburban police departments were assisting.
“It’s a very sad day for ECMC and our community,” said Jody Lomeo, the medical center’s chief executive officer. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim.”
Nikita Patel, a 25-year-old University at Buffalo medical student from Los Angeles, said she arrived at the hospital about 9 a.m. for a class and was kept from entering. She texted fellow students inside the hospital to find out what was happening.
“They said they’re locked in and can’t get out of the hospital and I can’t go in,” Patel said.
Jacksonville High teacher arrested for sex with student www.privateofficer.com
JACKSONVILLE, NC June 14 2012– A Jacksonville High School teacher has been arrested and accused of having sex with a student. The arrest happened around 9:30 a.m. at the school.
The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office says Christopher D. Howard, 33, who is the band teacher at the school, is charged with three counts of sexual activity with a student by a teacher and four counts of indecent liberties with a student
The Sheriff’s Office say its investigation began on the afternoon of May 23 when a deputy found Howard and the student together in a parked vehicle in Burton Park.
A detective’s investigation found the relationship with the student, who is now 17, may have started back in 2007 after a band concert.
Source: WWAY
Security officer injured at Detroit Mayor’s mansion www.privateofficer.com
Detroit MI June 14 2012— An EMS unit was called to the Manoogian Mansion Wednesday morning but it wasn’t for Mayor Dave Bing.
A spokesman for the mayor reported that a security officer tripped while making his rounds and injured his knee.
Bing was later seen leaving the Manoogian Mansion — the traditional home for all Detroit mayors — and is at work at his office in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center.
Bing was hospitalized in March and had surgery to repair a hole in his colon. After being released following the surgery, he was readmitted for a few days after doctors diagnosed acute pulmonary embolism. He returned to the office April 30.
Source:www.detroitnews.com
Durham firefighter faces 43 charges including robbery-kidnapping www.privateofficer.com
Durham NC June 14 2012
A Durham firefighter faces 43 charges in a series of robberies where he allegedly wore a comic book villain mask.
Thirty-five-year-old Damon Quick went before a magistrate Wednesday morning where his bond was set at $9 million on charges ranging from robbery with a dangerous weapon to second-degree kidnapping.
Police said they caught him in the act during a robbery at a Dollar Tree store on Guess Road around 9 p.m. on Tuesday.
According to arrest warrants obtained by ABC11 Wednesday, Quick is accused of using a silver colored .45 caliber handgun to rob eight businesses over the past six weeks – including several dollar stores, two restaurants, and a video game store.
Investigators said they had unofficially labeled their suspect the “Green Goblin” for allegedly wearing a mask during theholdups. The Green Goblin is a villain in the Spider Man comic books and movies.
Police charged Quick Wednesday with:
•19 counts of second-degree kidnapping
•11 counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon
•2 counts of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon
•7 counts of assault by pointing a gun
•2 counts of assault with deadly weapon
•2 counts communicating threats
Police said Quick was charged with kidnapping for allegedly ordering employees around at gunpoint during the robberies.
Quick was hired at the Durham Fire Department in August 2003, earning $40,000 a year.
He was arrested in 2007 on a prostitution charge, but pleaded not guilty and was found not guilty. Durham Fire Department officials said they didn’t have enough information to fire Quick at the time and he was allowed to remain on the job.
“Had we known this type of situation would have emerged later, that would have made a difference,” said Durham Fire Chief Bruce Pagan.
Pagan said the city is now in the process of terminating Quick.
Detectives are also looking at a series of thefts at Durham fire stations where a total of about $1,200 is missing. The department was forced to change security codes at its buildings because of the thefts.
When asked about that Wednesday, police stopped short of saying Quick is a suspect. They said the investigation continues.
Source:WTVD
East Baton Rouge detectives arrest couple in brutal death of 8-year-old www.privateofficer.com
BATON ROUGE LA June 14 2012 - A man and a woman were arrested by East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Detectives after a deceased 8-year-old was found with 56 bruises and bite marks, according to EBRSO spokesperson Casey Rayborn Hicks.
Michael Robertson, 46, of 11480 Glenda Drive and Lavaughn Riley, 32, of 8711 Coy Ave. were charged with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile following the death of their 8-year-old son Xzayvion Riley, according to the release.
Hicks says the child’s death is still under investigation, and detectives are awaiting the autopsy. Deputies responded to the Coy Avenue apartment Tuesday afternoon in reference to the unresponsive 8-year-old.
Xzayvion was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital, Hicks said.
According to the release, the medical staff documented 56 various bruises, cuts and abrasions on the child, including an adult-size bite mark on his stomach.
Riley admitted causing bruises on the child during a beating and also stated the victim’s father, Robertson, caused bruises and scratches on the victim’s neck.
The victim’s sibling told detectives that Robertson beat the child with his closed fist from noon Monday until Monday evening. The sibling also said they witnessed Robertson bite the child on a regular basis.
Robertson denied any involvement in his son’s injuries. Hicks said more charges could be pending.
source-wbrz.com
Northwest Catholic High School coach and teacher arrested for marijuana growing operation www.privateofficer.com
Bloomfield CT June 14 2012 A coach and teacher at Northwest Catholic High School and his wife have been charged with operating a marijuana growing operation out of their Bloomfield home.
Christopher Gallagher, 40, and Kristine Gallagher, 44, were both arrested and charged after police who were working with federal agents served a search warrant on Tuesday at the couple’s 11 Sunset Lane home.
Excessive electricity tipped detectives off and officers said they found four pounds of dried marijuana, 90 plants in various stages of growth, three guns, $2,200 in cash and a variety of packaging supplies were seized.
They believe Christopher Gallagher was producing drugs for about one year.
For eight years, Christopher Gallagher has been an English teacher and lacrosse coach at Northwest Catholic, located at 29 Wampanoag Drive in West Hartford.
School officials said he has been placed on “indefinite administrative leave.”
Police said they have no reason to believe that Christopher Gallagher was supplying drugs to his students.
Both suspects were charged with cultivating more than one kilogram of marijuana, possession of more than four ounces of marijuana, possession with intent to sell, operating a drug factory and conspiracy to commit those crimes.
Christopher Gallagher was held on $150,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Wednesday.
Kristine Gallagher posted $50,000 bail and was released.
Source:NBC CONNECTICUT
Southern California school teacher found dead in her classroom by a security www.privateofficer.com
A San Bernardino County sheriff’s statement says the body of Tamara Joyce Dawe of Adelanto was found Tuesday morning at Mesa Linda Middle School in Victorville.
Authorities say there were no signs of foul play, but the cause of death was is clear. An autopsy has been scheduled.
The Victorville Daily Press says Dawe was a language arts teacher and yearbook advisor.
The newspaper says it appeared Dawe hadn’t shown up for work Tuesday, and when a school security officer opened the classroom for students to get in they found her on the floor. The guard rushed the students out and called police.
source-www.fresnobee.com
Hospitals Issue Warnings in Wake of Mob Attacks www.privateofficer.com
Chicago IL June 14 2012 Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Lurie Children’s Hospital security officials are asking staff to remain alert in the wake of two recent attacks on its physicians.
One doctor was walking on Chicago Avenue about 10 days ago when he was confronted by a group and punched in the face, according to a security memo obtained by NBC Chicago. The memo said the physician was not seriously injured.
In a similar attack Sunday on Dewitt Street, a group of young men and women passed another physician, punched him in the back, and used an object to strike his forehead. That physician was treated at the hospital’s emergency department and released, according to the memo.
Authorities say the attacks both occurred at around 10 p.m. and were physical attacks only.
The attacks are among a series of similar mob-type incidents in the city.
Northwestern and Lurie security officials have issued the following tips to keep workers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and everyone else safe.
Walk in groups with a purpose whenever possible
Try to walk in well-lit areas with others
Have keys ready before entering a vehicle
If someone sees a large group of individuals in their path or walking toward them, they should try to walk in the other direction. They should then call 911if they need assistance or to report suspicious activity
Pay attention to surroundings. Refrain from walking with headphones or talking on a cell phone, which can take a person’s attention of their surroundings.
Officials also say if someone is confronted, they should remain calm, comply with demands for personal property, not attempt to intimidate or confront the attacker, and try to remember as much about the incident as possible, in addition to calling 911 immediately.
Police have also said they plan to increase patrols along Michigan Avenue and the Lakefront.
source:www.nbcchicago.com
Armed guard robbed of weapon at California medical marijuana dispensary www.privateofficer.com
According to Lt. Jeff Nightengale of the Garden Grove Police Department, the robbery took place on June 7 at 4:40 p.m. at the Garden Grove Patient’s Group, located at 13902 Harbor Blvd. (near Westminster Avenue).
The suspect did not take money or marijuana, but instead robbed the armed security guard inside the business. Taken was the guard’s duty belt with a loaded 9mm Ruger handgun, three loaded magazines, handcuffs, pepper spray and a collapsible baton.
The GGPD’s Gang Suppression Unit developed leads that led them to a suspect, Anthony Kim, 34, of La Mirada. Armed with a search warrant, officers went to the suspect’s home and arrested him on Saturday.
According to Lt. Nightengale, all of the items taken from guard were recovered, as well as a .357 revolver, an assault rifle with high capacity magazines, methamphetamine and packaging supplies.
Also located, said police, were several police badges and police duty belts. Investigators believe these items may have been used in unreported robberies of other medical marijuana dispensaries.
Anthony Kim was arrested for armed robbery. His brother, Paul Kim, 30, was arrested on narcotics and firearms charges.
Anyone with information about these items is asked to call the GGPD at (714) 741-5704.
