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Three people shot at Arizona church gathering www.prrivateofficer.com
Phoenix AZ June 22 2012 Three people were shot in a late-night gunbattle that erupted after intruders pounded on the door of a Phoenix home where a church group was gathered, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
Twenty people, including 11 children, were inside the home near 83rd Avenue and Thomas Road when someone started banging on the back door of the home around midnight, said Sgt. Tommy Thompson, a police spokesman.
Someone inside the home with a handgun, fearing for their safety, fired several shots through the door, and people outside returned fire with a rifle, Thompson said.
A 31-year-old man, 31-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man were injured as a result of the gunfire. None of the injuries were life-threatening, Thompson said.
On June 2, people broke into the house, Thompson said.
Police are still looking for the those who fired into the home.
Source:www.azcentral.com/
Myrtle Beach man armed with BB gun charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer www.privateofficer.com
North Myrtle Beach SC June 22 2012 Police arrested a 25-year-old man on charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer and holding two men and a woman at gunpoint with a BB gun, according to a police report.
Jonathan Ryan Monroe, 25, was charged with kidnapping, wearing masks and the like, impersonating a law enforcement officer and pointing and presenting a firearm at a person, according to records at J. Reuben Long Detention Center. Monroe is being held on $37,000 bond.
Monroe was arrested by a North Myrtle Beach police officer after one of the victims called to report they were being stopped by a man, who wore at Balaclava mask, which is similar to a ski mask, pretending to be a Homeland Security officer, according to the report.
The victims, two men, ages 17 and 18, and a woman, 18, told officers that about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday they were walking to their rental house at 202 26th Ave. N., when a man drove up next to them and attempted to stop them in the road, according to the report. The victims said the suspect followed them to their house and told them he worked for Homeland Security and flashed a military identification card at them.
The victims said Monroe pulled a gun and pointed it at the 18-year-old man’s head and then at the other victims and held them there for about 15 minutes, according to the report. The victims said the suspect demanded their names, birthdates and addresses, and spoke to someone on the phone like he was checking their backgrounds.
An officer drove along 26th Avenue North and drove by the location and when he turned around to go back, the suspect, Monroe, was speeding toward him, according to the report. The officer followed Monroe and noted he was wearing a mask and had a blue neon light flashing on his tailgate.
The officer stopped Monroe on 27th Avenue North and ordered him out of the vehicle, according to the report. The officer found two BB guns and a taser among other camping and items inside the vehicle.
The victims identified Monroe as the suspect who held them at gunpoint during the incident.
Source:www.myrtlebeachonline.com
Md. man charged with impersonating a police officer www.privateofficer.com
Police said Anthony Kenneth Mastrogiovanni of Crofton learned that lesson Wednesday after he flicked on the police lights in the windshield of his white pickup truck and attempted a traffic stop in southbound Route 301 near Trade Zone Avenue, Prince George’s County police said.
Police said Mastrogiovanni pulled over an off-duty Capitol Heights officer driving in his private vehicle.
The officer identified himself to Mastrogiovanni, who in turn said he was a military police officer from Louisiana. Mastrogiovanni then told the officer he was speeding and the officer informed him he had no jurisdiction and that the blue-and-red emergency lights were illegal in Maryland, police said.
Mastrogiovanni fled in his truck, but the real officer followed as he called county police, who made the arrest.
Authorities charged Mastrogiovanni with impersonating a police officer and he was later released on his own recognizance, officials said.
Source:Washington Post
Security nabs eight students on school roof after hours www.privateofficer.com
The students, whose identities have not been released, were taken into custody shortly after 5 a.m.
It is unclear why the students were on the the roof or how they got up there. Police are currently searching the inside of the school.
The incident will not impact regular classes since the school, located at 4901 South Chesterfield Road, is closed for summer break.
Men killed delivery driver then ate dinner www.privateofficer.com
WILMINGTON, NC June 22 2012 – Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous held a press conference on Thursday to make an announcement about a pending homicide investigation.
Four men and a juvenile were arrested in connection to the death of Zhen Bo Liu, a Wilmington restaurant delivery man who died on June 14.
•911 calls reveal delivery driver bleeding from the neck
“He was brutally murdered for no reason what so ever,” Evangelous said. “If you’re going to be involved in this type of activity, we’re going to hunt you down.”
Cornell Dwayne Haugabook Jr., 20, and an unidentified 15-year-old were charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery. Marvin Lee White, 18, Manije Daneek Johnson, 16, and Rasheed Ramone Thompson, 16, were charged with conspiracy to commit robbery after over 600 hours of investigation.
Evangelous said the group ordered approximately $48 worth of food, shot Liu, took the food, went back to a house, and then they all sat down to eat together.
“If that’s not cold-blooded, I’ve never seen it,” the WPD chief said. “Seldom do we ever see the victim accosted in such a brutal way.”
District Attorney Ben David said that the case is a priority to his office and that in the state of North Carolina, a 16-year-old is considered an adult. He said a hearing will be held soon to determine if the 15-year-old will be considered an adult.
“It’s a reminder to everyone in this community that crime doesn’t sleep and neither do the men and women of law enforcement when something like this happens,” David said.
A committee of senior prosecutors will determine if the case is death-penalty eligible. David said a 15-year-old is not eligible for the death penalty in North Carolina.
During a hearing held for the juvenile on Friday, Assistant District Attorney Jason Smith said that they learned through interviewing the suspects that the 15-year-old shot Liu in the foot and Haugabook shot him in the face. They also learned that two different weapons were used.
When the two shooters left the scene, the three other men came back, went through Liu’s vehicle and took the food, Smith said. Judge J.H. Corpening said that the 15-year-old can’t face capital punishment, but that he can spend the rest of his life in prison. He will stay in secured custody until a probable cause hearing on July 3.
Haugabook had his first court appearance at 11 a.m. on Friday. When the judge asked him if he understood the seriousness of the death penalty, Haugabook said yes. He was not given a bond and will make his next appearance on July 12.
The other three men involved in the case will appear at 2 p.m. on Friday.
Detectives notified the Chinese embassy of the murder, which is where Liu’s family is located.
According to 911 calls, witnesses found Liu’s Honda Liu in the middle of the road with the door open. The caller said that he was bleeding from the neck and it looked like he may have been stabbed.
Most people who live and work in the area knew Liu as China King’s delivery driver. Several folks stopped by the restaurant the day after he died.
Patrick Piner used to work with Liu at another Chinese restaurant a few years ago. He said most people there called him Shi-Fu.
“He was just a hard worker you know. He did a lot of the stuff in the kitchen and everything else. He was very reliable,” Piner said.
Following the police department’s announcement and arrests, the manager of Liu’s former place of employment China King spoke out. Ting Cheng said he feels “happy” and “relieved” to hear that arrests were made.
Cheng said he still doesn’t understand why the suspects allegedly killed one of his closest friends and co-workers for no apparent reason. He said it has been a very emotional time for everyone at China King.
Cheng said he hopes that the police will continue to follow the case because, despite the arrests, he still feels like justice should be served.
Cheng also said that China King no longer delivers at all following Liu’s death.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Wilmington Police Department at 910-343-3600.
Source:WECT
Police capture man in shooting near Chesterfield County Courthouse www.privateofficer.com
CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. June 22 2012 – A suspect is in custody after shots were fired outside a Chesterfield office building Thursday afternoon near the Chesterfield County Courthouse.
Police said 41-year-old Mark M. Lowe was apprehended after an off-duty Virginia Capitol Police officer and a Chesterfield police lieutenant who happened to be nearby and disarmed and arrested him.
Police said Lowe, of the 200 block of Philray Road, was charged with attempted murder, abduction, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and shooting into an occupied dwelling.
Lowe is being held at the Chesterfield County Jail without bond pending a hearing on Friday.
Chesterfield Police Capt. Dave Pritchard said the shooting happened outside the Centre Court building at 9401 Courthouse Road.
Pritchard said a lawyer representing someone involved in a custody battle was the intended target of the shooting. The lawyer and a bystander suffered minor injuries trying to get away from the gunman. No one was shot.
CBS 6 News’ Sandra Jones confirmed that a lawyer from the firm of Barnes & Diehl was the intended target of the shooting.
A person inside the building said he heard at least one gunshot. He said the building was first on lockdown, but that police later ordered the building evacuated.
The Chesterfield Courthouse building, which is across the street from the office building, was on lockdown after the shooting. However, officials said the lockdown was lifted after the suspect was arrested.
Police said the building was deemed safe and people will be let back in within the hour.
Police said Courthouse Road will be shutdown for around two hours as police complete their investigation.
Source:WTVR
Twin Rivers Unified School District police officer arrested www.privateofficer.com
Sacramento CA June 22 2012 The District Attorney’s office filed charges against Twin Rivers Unified School District police officer Branche Smith, who is accused of four misdemeanor counts of assault while on duty.
Smith, 37, is accused of choking two subjects who were detained at the Twin Rivers Police Department on Sept. 17, 2010. The subjects were handcuffed to benches.
After challenging their detention, Smith is accused of assaulting two subjects and pointing his taser at a third subject and threatening to tase him in the chest, according to a press release from the District Attorney’s office Thursday.
Smith is also accused of kicking a handcuffed subject in the head while the subject was on the floor at the Sacramento County jail on May 30, 2011.
Smith faces up to four years in jail and a fine of $10,000.
Source:www.sacbee.com
Former KY fire chief sent to prison for embezzlement www.privateofficer.com
LOUISVILLE, KY June 22 2012– The former chief accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a Kentuckiana charity has pled guilty to defrauding the public, the Crusade for Children, and the McMahan Fire Protection District of $198,277.
Paul Barth entered his plea to 16 counts of fraud and money laundering before a federal judge Thursday afternoon. Barth, 55, pled guilty to one count of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and 12 counts of money laundering. Federal prosecutors have agreed to dismiss one count of the indictment.
Conditions of the agreement require Barth to repay the Crusade for Children $190,000 in restitution and $8,277 to the fire district. Barth will serve 41 months in a federal prison.
According to the plea agreement and information presented in court, Barth used the money donated through the McMahan department for the Crusade for Children for his personal benefit and use. Barth is alleged to have used the money for Disney World vacations, Corvette Club expenses, and to cover funds that he fraudulently obtained from the fire district.
Prosecutors said that between July 2002 through March 2009, Barth received 13 additional paychecks totaling $36,645.89 that were payable to him, knowing that he was not entitled to the money. Between November 2007 and June 2009, Barth used a fire district credit card to make personal purchases that totaled $36,281.79. Those purchases included $10,800 to the Jefferson County Clerk to pay his vehicle property taxes.
If convicted on all charges Barth faced a maximum of 190 years in federal prison, a $4 million fine and supervised release for three years after his prison term. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
Source:WAVE3
Idaho State University has been ranked one of the safest campuses in the nation
“This university of 15,000 located in small Pocatello, Idaho, is known as the smile capital of the world,” the website states. “It has to be safe place then right? Idaho State is a perennial safe school that is on the list year after year.”
Collegesafe broke down the top-10 safest colleges and universities with a minimum enrollment of 6,000 students. All of the colleges and universities on the list are residential campuses – the list does not include commuter campuses.
“Our Public Safety staff is dedicated and works hard at keeping the campus safe and we live in a good community,” said Stephen Chatterton, ISU director of public safety. “The support and attitude toward campus safety displayed by our students, staff and faculty makes the difference in the quality of our campus atmosphere.”
Joseph Han, associate vice president of Facilities Services, has high praise for ISU’s Public Safety leadership team.
“Steve Chatterton and his management team are world class professionals and a pleasure to work with,” Han said.
ISU has been ranked high in safety for several years, being rated the fifth safest campus in the nation in 2009 and the seventh safest in 2010 by The Daily Beast, a national news website.
To review the Collegesafe safety rankings visit http://www.collegesafe.com/index.php/safety-rankings/top-ten-safest-colleges-and-universities.
Collegesafe ranked the New York Institute of Technology the nation’s safest university. Regionally, the University of Montana was ranked sixth on the list.
U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against SEIU www.privateofficer.com
The 7-2 decision released by the high court this morning in Knox v. SEIU Local 1000 means that unions must give nonmembers an immediate chance to opt out of unexpected fee increases or special assessments required of workers in closed-shop workplaces, such at California’s state government.
The court said that Dianne Knox and other nonmembers represented by Local 1000 didn’t receive the legally required notice in advance of a $12 million assessment the 93,000-state employee union charged them to raise money for the union’s political fund.
In 2007, a district court ruled against the union and ordered refunds of the money with interest. San Francisco’s 9th Circuit Court reversed that decision as “practically unworkable.”
The high court said today that union opt-out fee policies “approach, if they do not cross, the limit of what the First Amendment can tolerate.” Then this summary passage:
The SEIU, however, asks us to go farther. It asks us to approve a procedure under which (a) a special assessment billed for use in electoral campaigns was assessed without providing a new opportunity for nonmembers to decide whether they wished to contribute to this effort and (b) nonmembers who previously opted out were nevertheless required to pay more than half of the special assessment even though the union had said that the purpose of the fund was to mount a political campaign and that it would not be used for ordinary union expenses. This aggressive use of power by the SEIU to collect fees from nonmembers is indefensible.
source: sacbee.com
Stamford shoplifter bites Lord & Taylor’s security agent www.privateofficer.com
STAMFORD, Conn. June 22 2012— A Stamford woman was arrested after attempting to shoplift and biting a security guard Wednesday afternoon at Lord & Taylor’s, Stamford police Sgt. Paul Vaccaro said.
Security officials at the store saw Stephanie Marin, 27, attempting to walk out of the store with $500 merchandise, Vaccaro said. When stopped by a security guard, she began fighting with him and bit him on his thumb, and ran off, police said.
Security caught her down the street from the store and was able to hold her until police came and arrested her, Vaccaro said.
Marin was charged with sixth-degree larceny, third-degree robbery and second-degree assault, police said. She appeared in court Thursday, Vaccaro said.
Alabama town enforces 11PM curfew on everyone www.privateofficer.com
CHILDERSBURG, A.L. -June 22 2012
For two decades Childersburg has had a curfew.
Now, city police are ramping up efforts enforce it to combat crime.
“I think that it is a good idea for little kids to be inside because the way things are going on, now its crazy out here. People are dying for no apparent reason,” Childersburg resident, Mark Wesley said.
The police chief says there’s been no recent fatalities, only shootings, like one last week, in the early morning hours.
“It’s police officers discretion to enforce the curfew law,” Childersburg Mayor, Bill Meeks said.
The law it prohibits one or more people from walking, standing, and loitering on city property after 11 p.m. seven days a week.
The curfew is for all ages and Mayor Meeks says there’s a reason for that.
“It’s not a good sight to have a gathering some place and you’ve got some older people with juveniles,” Meeks said.
Police Chief Shane Burnette released a statement saying, “the Childersburg Police Department is trying to take these additional steps to provide a safer area.”
Resident mark wesley backs the city’s actions.
“As long as it keeps on going. We should keep on going with it. I have no problems with it,” Wesley said.
As a proactive measure police will also increase patrols in certain areas of the city.
Source:nbc13.com
Hattiesburg officer injured-K-9 partner killed in traffic collision www.privateofficer.com
HATTIESBURG, MS June 22 2012 - After being closed for more than 12-hours both northbound lanes of I-59 at Highway 98 East reopened shortly after 1 p.m.
Major Hardy Sims of the Hattiesburg Police Department says Officer Chris Hensley is out of surgery and is doing well and expected to make a full recovery. Sims says Hensley received several injuries to his arms and legs.
Hensley was injured in a Wednesday night accident when an 18-wheel tanker hit his vehicle head-on while he was attempting to assist a stranded motorist. The driver of the tanker truck was also injured in the crash and taken to a local hospital. He was treated and released. Hensley’s K-9 dog Nero was killed in the crash.
Traffic was rerouted from I-59 north to Hwy 98 east over to Elk’s Lake Road and then rerouted back onto Hwy 98 west back to I-59 while the accident scene was being worked.
The tanker truck from Bulk Transportation was carrying some type of hazardous material. A team from the United States Environmental Services Hazardous Waste Response Division responded to the scene.
The accident is being investigated by the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Hattiesburg Police Department.
Source:WDAM
Volunteer Detroit security guard shot to death www.priavteofficer.com
Marcel Jackson, 39, was shot at about 3:15 a.m. during a drive-by outside of the Pandemonium Night Club, according to information from police and a member of the Detroit 300.
Angelo Henderson, a founding member of the Detroit 300, said Jackson was a volunteer with the group and a father of six children between the ages of 5 1/2 months and 16 years old.
Henderson said witnesses reported that, before he was shot, Jackson intervened when a man was assaulting a woman at the club. That man, Henderson said witnesses reported, was kicked out of the club and was later picked up by the driver of a Dodge Charger, which was seen circling the block several times.
Then the shots came.
Henderson said Jackson was shot in the back.
Police said the vehicle the suspect is believed to have been in was a gray Dodge Charger.
The Detroit 300 is trying to raise money for Jackson’s family and his funeral. The organization is asking for people to either call its hotline at 313-826-2040 or drop donations off at the Roberts Riverwalk Hotel, 1000 River Place in Detroit, where members of the group have gathered
Source:detroit free press
National Park Service Ranger Dies During Mount Rainier Rescue www.privateofficer.com
The National Park Service identified the ranger as Nick Hall, 34, from Maine. Rangers said Hall fell from the 13,700 foot level to about 10,000 feet on the mountain’s northeast side while helping the injured climbers evacuate the mountain by helicopter.
One climber remains on the mountain Friday morning, forced to spend the night there with rescue crews following the accident. She will come down the mountian under her own power, unless weather permits another helicopter rescue attempt, said Ranger Kevin Bacher.
The accident that killed Hall happened just before 2 p.m. Thursday. In all, four climbers, two women and two men, were scaling down the mountain along the Emmons Glacier route when the two women slipped and fell into a crevasse.
One of the climbers in the group had a working cell phone and called park rangers. Rrescue crews located the climbing group and began to rescue the women out of the crevasse.
All four climbers were injured, but none of their injuries were life-threatening.
It was reportedly while harnessing one of the injured climbers to a Chinook helicopter that Hall slid to his death.
The helicopter was able to evacuated three of the climbers to safety, but inclement weather and the accident that killed Hall halted the rescue operation. Rescue personnel spent the night with the one remaining climber on the mountain.
The four climbers are from Waco, Texas and successfully summited the mountain before the incident. Their names will be released once all four families have been notified.
Ranger Nick Hall is a 4-year veteran of Mount Rainier National Park’s climbing program and a native of Patten, Maine.
“Nick…has been part of the team that’s been up there on the mountian keeping people safe and bringing people out for a long time. He’s a valued member of our team,” said Ranger Bacher.
Mount Rainier posted a picture of the Climbing Ranger Team on their Flickr page Friday. Nick Hall is pictured at the far left.
