Archive
Line of Duty Death Officer Edward “Teddy” Dillon, III
Corrections Officer
Edward “Teddy” Dillon, III
Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, Massachusetts
End of Watch: Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Bio & Incident Details
Age: 27
Tour: 4 years
Badge # Not available
Cause: Automobile accident
Incident Date: 7/25/2012
Weapon: Not available
Suspect: Not available
Corrections Officer Teddy Dillon was killed in an automobile accident while conducting an external perimeter check of the Middlesex House of Correction in Billerica.
His patrol car left the roadway and crashed into a wooded area along Treble Cove Road at approximately 4:10 am.
Officer Dillon had served with the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office for four years.
Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:
Sheriff Peter Koutoujian
Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office
400 Mystic Avenue
Medford, MA 02155
Phone: (781) 960-2800
Line of Duty Death Officer Matthew Tyner
Police Officer
Matthew Tyner
Colorado Springs Police Department, Colorado
End of Watch: Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Bio & Incident Details
Age: Not available
Tour: 16 years
Badge # Not available
Cause: Motorcycle accident
Incident Date: 7/24/2012
Weapon: Not available
Suspect: Not available
Police Officer Matt Tyner was killed in a motorcycle accident while performing traffic enforcement on Austin Bluffs Parkway, Oro Blanco Drive and Old Farm Drive, shortly after 2:30 pm.
His motorcycle collided with another vehicle, causing him to suffer fatal injuries.
Officer Tyner had served with the Colorado Springs Police Department for 13 years and had previously served with the Kansas City Police Department for six years. He was assigned to the Specialized Enforcement Motorcycle Unit.
Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:
Chief of Police Pete Carey
Colorado Springs Police Department
705 S Nevada Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Phone: (719) 444-7000
Highway fatalities unexpectedly surge www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC July 26 2012 After a decade of sharp declines, highway fatalities increased unexpectedly during the first quarter of 2012, according to preliminary government data – and a warm winter may catch at least some of the blame.
Traffic deaths surged a substantial 13.5% for the three-month period, according to a preliminary analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That’s a significant reversal of recent trends. Last year, roadway fatalities fell 1.7%, to the lowest overall total in more than 60 years. And, on a per-mile basis, it was an all-time record.
For the first quarter of this year, NHTSA says 7,360 people were called in traffic accidents, up from 6,720 the year before. If that figure holds it would work out to about 1.10 deaths per 100 million miles driven compared to 0.98 deaths the year before.
Despite bad winter road conditions in many parts of the country, the first quarter generally sees a decline in traffic deaths because people drive less. And, in general, American motorists have been curtailing driving, in recent years, to compensate for rising fuel prices.
But there was a 1.4% surge in the number of miles Americans drove during the first quarter of 2012, and that may have been encouraged by the unusually mild winter that brought spring and even summer-like temperatures to much of the country.
Noting the first quarter was “unseasonably warmer than usual in most areas of the country,” a NHTSA statement cautioned that, “Consequently, the fatality rate for the first quarter should not be used to make inferences for the fatality rate for the whole of 2012.”
Certainly, safety advocates hope that’s the case. The U.S. traffic death total has been plunging sharply for the last seven years. As recently as 2005, there were 43,510 deaths on U.S. roads – a figure that includes pedestrian fatalities. But last year’s number came in at 32,310, the lowest figure since 1949. On a per-miles-driven rate it was the lowest number since the government began keeping records in 1921.
Travel also fell last year by 1.2%, year-over-year, to 2.963 trillion miles driven by American motorists. That was the lowest figure since 2003. But Americans drove an extra 9.7 billion miles during the mild first quarter, a 1.4% increase over January to March 2011.
NHTSA’s disconcerting numbers may actually understate the problem. Using its own data the National Safety Council estimated first-quarter 2012 traffic deaths rose to 8,170, up from 7,270 a year earlier.
Whatever the final number, researchers will clearly be examining their data to determine the precise cause of, most likely, causes. Safety experts have been worried about increasing problems with driver distraction, something U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has described as an “epidemic,” responsible for as much as one in 11 fatalities on American roads.
Armed officers now on duty at Lipscomb University www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN July 26 2012 Two armed Campus Security and Safety officers are now on patrol during every shift.
Brad Wyatt, director of security, and Phil Ellenburg, Lipscomb’s general counsel, said the university has been working on the arming process for a few years.
“For the last five years, we’ve been really intentional about upgrading all of our security and safety, emergency planning, everything across the board for the institution,” Ellenburg said. “We’re trying to improve and increase our professionalism. Over the last five years a lot of improvements have been made, but over the last two years, we’ve had a very intentional process where we’ve done several things, and the arming component was a part of that whole process.”
Ellenburg said there weren’t specific events that prompted the decision to begin the armed patrols June 16, rather it was “a normal step in enhanced service.”
Wyatt said Lipscomb’s security and safety department, in recent years, intentionally has been hiring officers who would fit the qualifications for an armed officer. The department created a “Security Officer II” position, which requires an advanced security background for example as a police officer, military police officer, armed hospital or prison security officer.
Wyatt and Ellenburg said all of the university’s security officers are licensed with the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, which handles both unarmed and armed security licensing.
“Our internal policies as far as training and standards for officers are a lot higher than the baseline for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance,” Ellenburg said.
In addition to licensing, Lipscomb hired a security expert from the Boston area to analyze the campus security department and the officers individually. The consultant then recommended that Lipscomb should arm a segment of the officers, Ellenburg said.
“The whole arming component was just a part of that bigger piece to say, if you look at Lipscomb now and you look at what Dr. Lowry is doing, in every area, we want to be excellent,” Ellenburg said. “And certainly in this area we want to be excellent, and we want to do the best we can.”
Wyatt said Lipscomb also performed psychological evaluations on all of the officers who would be armed.
“That’s not a requirement but an extra standard that we thought would be wise,” Wyatt said.
Ellenburg said Lipscomb is also considering becoming accredited with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.
“That’s just another area that we’re looking at that would make us even better,” he said. “It’s continual. The improvement and preparation never stops.”
In recent years, campus security has changed its uniforms, better equipped their vehicles and made them more visible, created a strategically placed dispatch center, as well as trained with batons, pepper spray and handcuffs. This fall the dispatch center will be “computer-aided,” which will enable security to track calls and officer response times, Ellenburg said.
Students had mixed reactions to news of the change in security measures.
Katie Limberg, a junior from Memphis, Tenn., studying government and public administration, said “I don’t see how it’s necessary” to have armed officers.
“If we had had lots of crime, I could understand it, but as it is now, the worst crime we have is occasionally a dorm room gets broken into,” she said. “No one is ever really in danger, so I don’t see the point.”
Caitlyn Brick, a summer student worker who graduated in May with a degree in dietetics, said she feels better knowing the officers will be armed, adding that she hopes they won’t have to use the weapons.
“I think as long as they are properly trained, which I think they will be, I would say that I feel safer,” she said.
Andrew Hunt, a junior in corporate management from Centerville, Tenn., said he believes having armed officers might make him feel less safe.
“I think it’s not really needed because of the area we’re in,” Hunt said.
Katie Borgmann, a senior in nursing from Nashville, said she supports the decision to add firearms.
“If there was a dangerous situation, they could use deadly force,” she said, adding that it might make people hesitant about trying anything illegal on campus. “It is a bigger deterrent for threats and violence because they know that our security officers are armed.”
Nicholas Mortensen, a Chicago native who will begin the graduate Exercise and Nutrition Science program in the fall, said he thinks it could be easy to abuse that type of power but overall is supportive of the change.
“I think it’s a good thing,” he said. “I’m glad they have to have previous experience and training.”
Ellenburg said the university is one of the safest campuses in the state, and arming officers is simply a way to be prepared.
“When you look at the reasons, specifically for arming, you kind of go, ‘well is our campus that dangerous?’ And the answer is no,” Ellenburg said. “We’re consistently one of the safest campuses in the state of Tennessee. We have our location to thank for that. We also have security officers to thank for that and just a campus community that is vigilant and aware. But we are in a major city, and crime happens all around us.”
Wyatt echoed Ellenburg’s sentiments by quoting a friend of his who works in security at Belmont.
“When we’re armed, it gives us the image and the reality of preparedness,” he said.
Wyatt said his department has been doing extra training for months.
“Even before we carried the weapons, we had a day of training in late May where we took our guys over to Ezell and tried to simulate what it would be like in an armed shooter scenario where you’re going room to room, clearing a room and working as a team of four,” he said. “That’s not happening on a lot of college campuses.”
Ellenburg said the officers have not only been training but also testing the safety of their equipment.
“We’ve gone to an immense level of detail to ensure that the officers are qualified, even down the holsters that they have,” he said. “You cannot accidentally pull one of these weapons out of a holster. Someone cannot walk up to you and take your weapon.”
Ellenburg said arming officers is “an accepted standard now,” noting that the following universities also have armed officers: Harding, Pepperdine, Abilene Christian, Oklahoma Christian and Freed-Hardeman.
Officials from Tennessee State University, Belmont University, Vanderbilt University and Middle Tennessee State University all said at least a portion of their campus security officers are armed.
Wyatt said he consistently reminds the security officers of their role on campus and said arming them won’t change their goal. Wyatt said he emphasizes the need to be “friendly and accessible and establishing healthy relationships with the students where they know they can count on us.”
“Our motto for our department since I’ve been here is ‘Working to serve you better,’ and nothing about the arming process takes away from that,” he said.
Ellenburg said the university hopes the officers won’t need to use their guns, but they want to be properly equipped to protect themselves and others on campus.
“We hope and pray we never even have to draw the weapons, but you’ve got to be prepared,” he said. “I hearken back to, we had never had a flood before on this campus, and the very year we, for the first time ever, purchased flood insurance, we had a flood. Now we hope that just because we’re going armed doesn’t mean we’re going to need them, but it just goes to say that we want to be as best prepared as we possibly can.”
Source: Lumination Network
Suspect dead, police officer injured after falling into Niagara Gorge www.privateofficer.com
Niagara Canada July 26 2012 A male suspect has died and a police officer is seriously injured after they both fell into the Niagara Gorge in Canada around 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to reports.
The suspect, whose identity was not confirmed late Tuesday, was being pursued by the officer. The drop was estimated at about 100 feet, although it’s unclear how far the two tumbled, according to CTVNews.
The Niagara River flows through the gorge and the iconic falls are more than a mile away from the accident scene.
Niagara police Constable Derek Watson said they both fell into the gorge on River Road, according to a Tweet by Canada’s CP24 television station.
Witnesses said that a police officer was chasing a male suspect around 5 p.m. when the suspect jumped over a retaining wall and into the Niagara Gorge, with the officer close behind him.
A spokesperson for a Canadian air ambulance service confirmed that an Ornge air ambulance landed near the gorge and transported one person with “serious injuries” to Ontario’s Hamilton General Hospital, the station said. The police officer reportedly suffered a broken femur, while the suspect died of his injuries.
“Initial reports from the scene in Niagara Falls say the patient transferred by air ambulance was the police officer who fell into the gorge,” CP24 reported.
Details on why the officer was pursuing the suspect were not immediately available. Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit was investigating.
“There was sirens, screaming and yelling,” Wanda Woodland, an Otter Street resident, told the Niagara Bullet News. “Someone heard a (gun) shot.”
Woodland told the Bullet News that police called the suspect a “prisoner.”
Source:www.nydailynews.com
Body found in field near Bush airport, police say www.privateofficer.com
A motorist spotted the body of an apparent 17-to-30-year-old man about 1 p.m. Monday after stopping for a moment along the 20900 block of Birnam Wood. The body was in the bushes, Houston police said.
“It appears the body has been burned and dumped at this location,” said Sgt. Ryan Chandler, of the Houston police homicide division.
Police said there is little traffic in the area where the body was discovered.
A caller reported a fire in the general area Monday morning but did not give an exact address. Houston firefighters looked in the area but didn’t find anything. HPD detectives believe the call may have been connected to their homicide investigation.
An autopsy has been ordered to determine the person’s identity and cause of death. Police are still gathering clues and evidence about the case.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
Armed man arrested at Salt Lake City International Airport www.privateofficer.com
Erick Wirz, 30, was booked in the Salt Lake County Jail on two misdemeanor charges.
Police say Wirz regrets his choice and feels horrible about the incident. However, they say he is someone who should be familiar with the rules regarding guns and flying, considering he is a pilot.
Police say Wirz was apparently trying to make a morning flight to Las Vegas before he was screened by TSA security.
Police checked Wirz and found no arrest warrants. However, they say he had no firearms concealed carry permit.
“We’re trying to get the word out that you can take your gun but you just need to transport it legally,” says TSA agent Lorie Dankers.
Dankers say this is the 14th such incident this year where an arrest was made because someone tried to transport a gun through airport security.
Police say Wirz works right across from the terminal. He is a helicopter pilot with Upper Limit Aviation.
Upper Limit’s vice-president Gordon Birch talked to FOX 13 and said Wirz is an “outstanding person” and someone of “flawless moral character.”
Birch says probably nobody feels worse about what happened than Wirz himself.
But TSA officials say ignorance of the law or a momentary lapse is no excuse.
“I’d like to remind all gun owners and everyone in the public, the number one rule of gun safety is know where your firearm is at all times and please don’t bring it to the checkpoint,” said Dankers.
Source:fox13.com
Man jumps into alligator infested Mobile Bay to escape police www.privateofficer.com
SUMMERDALE, Alabama July 26 2012– A 22-year-old man, recently released from prison, led police on a chase north from Summerdale to Battleship Parkway, where he ditched the car after a collision and jumped into Mobile Bay early Sunday, police said. The man was subsequently arrested.
Charles Foster Love Jr., 22, was charged with first-degree receiving stolen property, first-degree criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and attempting to elude police. He remained in the Baldwin County Corrections Center on Monday evening on bail totaling $11,000, according to jail records.
Maj. Trent Dennis, the acting police chief of Summerdale, said that Love was released from the Alabama prison system on May 4 after serving a sentence for burglary.
According to Dennis, a Summerdale patrolman spotted a car speeding northbound on Ala. 59 about midnight Saturday and attempted to stop the car. At the same time, the patrolman reported the license number and was told that the car had been stolen out of Gulf Shores, Dennis said.
The driver sped up and led police north, occasionally reaching speeds up to 120 miles per hour, Dennis said. In the process, the driver collided with the Summerdale patrol unit and damaged it, he said. The officer was not injured.
The chase, which Dennis said lasted more than 20 minutes, eventually ended on Battleship Parkway after the stolen car was involved in another collision, and the driver got out and jumped into Mobile Bay.
Alabama Marine Police arrived in the area and took Love into custody. Dennis said that the receiving stolen property charge was related to the car Love was driving, and that the first-degree criminal mischief charge, a felony, was related to his collision with the patrol car. The other two charges are misdemeanors.
Love gave an address in Theodore during his booking, according to jail records.
Source:AL.com
Alabama Police Enforcing Immigration Law Slowly www.privateofficer.com
Birmingham AL July 26 2012 In the first nine months since Alabama police have been required to check the immigration status of every criminal suspect they encounter, Clanton police chief Brian Stilwell estimates his officers jailed fewer than a dozen immigrants as a result.
The immigrants who were detained, and later turned over to federal immigration authorities in Montgomery, ranged from serious offenders to harried drivers. One had a murder warrant out in Texas. Another was involved in drug trafficking. But others were pulled over for speeding or not having their headlights on. One woman, stopped for driving erratically, was trying to breast-feed her child.
The “stop and verify” provisions — derided by critics as a “show your papers” law — were some of the most contentious parts of Alabama’s sweeping anti-immigration law, which legislators first passed last year. Right away, immigrants either left Alabama or hid out at home to avoid contact with the cops. But police in many areas have been treading carefully while carrying out the new law, stymied by an initial lack of training, revisions to the law and the threat of federal lawsuits.
Even though Alabama is off to a slow start in rolling out the law, it is ahead of the other states, including Arizona, that approved similar measures. Courts blocked laws in the other states, until the U.S. Supreme Court gave its initial approval last month to the approach in a case involving Arizona.
The decision could also affect Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah, which have similar laws. Lower courts must act before those laws can officially go into effect. Meanwhile, Alabama’s police have been checking immigration status since late September.
The state will eventually disclose how many immigrants have been detained as a result of the law, but, for now, advocates on both sides of the issue agree that enforcement has been uneven. Supporters hope many of the practical problems that prevented police from enforcing it more widely have now been solved.
Birmingham stand-off ends in suicide www.privateofficer.com
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama July 26 2012 – A suicidal man who held police at bay for more than five hours this morning in northeast Birmingham has killed himself.
Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Johnny Williams said the man took his own life about 12:30 p.m. despite hours of talks with trained negotiators.
The ordeal began shortly after 7 a.m. when an employee driving a Trussville heating and cooling company van failed to show up for work. The man’s employer tracked the van using its GPS system and located the van on MaryTaylor Road, Williams said.
Trussville police responded to the scene and found the man, whose name hasn’t been released, outside of the van and brandishing a weapon. He was, Williams said, threatening suicide.
A Trussville police officer immediately was brought in and initiated talks with the man. Birmingham’s tactical squad was dispatched to the scene, which is actually in Birmingham.
Williams confirmed that the man is the subject of a Moody Police Department investigation and that officers from Moody also responded to the scene, but said he couldn’t disclose the nature of that probe.
Source:AL.com
First half of 2012 sees drop in police officer deaths www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC July 2012 There has been a drop in the number of police officers killed in the line of duty during the first half of 2012.
53 officers were mortally wounded while on duty through the end of June, compared to 94 being killed through June 2011. The total represented a 43.6 percent decline in deaths.
POLICE Magazine reports that the total marked the lowest number of police deaths during the first half of a year since at least 2000, according to National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund statistics.
New Jersey didn’t have any deaths among its law officers during the first half of 2012, but suffered its first loss shortly afterward. Craig Floyd, the Chairman of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington said, according to 1015.com, “New Jersey did lose an officer in the performance of duty. Christopher Reeves – a Millville patrolman – was killed in an automobile crash July 8.”
According to 6abc.com, witnesses at the scene said police were chasing a black SUV when the police cruiser was hit broadside on the driver’s side when it tried to cut off the SUV. The 40-year-old Reeves was killed instantly. His wife Susan is also a Millville police officer.
Memorial Fund statistics showed that 21 of the 53 officers who died in the first half of 2012 were killed in traffic-related incidents, a 36 percent decline during the first six months. 19 were shot to death, down 50 percent from last year. 13 officers died due to other causes, a drop of 38 percent.
“After two years of rising numbers of peace officer fatalities, the law enforcement community has joined together to make officer safety the utmost priority,” Floyd said, according to prnewswire.com. “It is good to see those efforts paying off and the number of peace officer fatalities decreasing thus far in 2012.”
D.C. officers are directed to leave citizen photographers alone www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC July 26 2012 District police cannot interfere with citizens as they photograph or videotape officers performing their jobs in public, according to a new directive issued by Chief Cathy L. Lanier as part of settlement in a civil lawsuit.
The six-page general order, similar to one published by police in Baltimore in November, warns officers that “a bystander has the right under the First Amendment to observe and record members in the public discharge of their duties.”
On Monday, the Washington chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union dropped a federal lawsuit filed against D.C. police by Jerome Vorus, a freelance photojournalist who was detained while shooting a traffic stop in Georgetown in June 2010.
Arthur B. Spitzer, the ACLU chapter’s legal director, said Vorus obtained an undisclosed monetary settlement and agreed to the new general order, which was published June 19.
“It tells police to leave people alone,” Spitzer said. “It makes it clear that if a person is in a place that interferes with police operations, the officer can ask or tell them to move to another location, but they can’t tell them to stop taking pictures.”
Gwendolyn Crump, chief spokeswoman for D.C. police, said the new policy is in addition to existing rules governing how officers interact with the news media. “The new general order reaffirms the Metropolitan Police Department’s recognition of the First Amendment rights enjoyed by not only members of the media but the general public as well,” Crump said in a statement.
The issue of police officers seizing cameras and ordering people to stop taking pictures has been a source of conflict for years, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The new policies recognize that cameras are ubiquitous, and that anyone carrying a cellphone is also most likely equipped with a camera.
In 2010, a Maryland judge threw out criminal charges filed under the wiretapping statute against a motorcyclist who recorded his own traffic stop with a helmet-mounted camera and posted it on YouTube.
That same year, Baltimore police seized a cellphone that recorded a disorderly-conduct arrest at the Pimlico Race Course during the Preakness Stakes.
The general order in D.C. makes it clear that citizens with cameras are not permitted to cross police lines, stand in areas not already accessible by the public and cannot interfere with officers doing their jobs.
But it also emphasizes that taking pictures “by itself does not constitute suspicious conduct.” Lanier’s order says that images cannot be deleted “under any circumstances.”
If an officer thinks a citizen has captured images that could be used as evidence, police can ask the person to e-mail such images to the department. If the person refuses, the officer can call a supervisor and seek a warrant to seize the camera or images.
Source:Washington Post
Hickory NC teacher and coach is facing multiple sex-related charges www.privateofficer.com
HICKORY, NC July 26 2012 - A Hickory teacher and coach is facing multiple sex-related charges after an investigation sparked more than two months ago.
According to District Attorney Jay Gaither, 38-year-old Shawnacie Antoine Johnson, a teacher and basketball coach at Hickory High School, is facing at least five charges.
Johnson was arrested on Tuesday morning around 9:45 a.m. by Hickory Police.
According to police, officers were called by the officials with Hickory Public Schools after an allegation of a sexual nature made against Johnson in May by a current student.
During the investigation, police learned of other allegations between 2007 and 2009. Johnson was charged with four counts of Statutory Rape of a person under 15-years-old occurring in 2007 and 2008 along with another count of Sexual Activity with a Student by a Teacher in 2009.
Johnson was an employee of the Hickory Public School System at the time of the alleged offenses.
Johnson was placed under a $300,000 secured bond and was transported to the Catawba County Detention Center in Newton. He will be scheduled for Administrative Superior Court in Catawba County on October 1, 2012.
Hickory Police Department received continuous cooperation from the Hickory Public Schools, officials said, and will work very closely with District Attorney Gaither and his staff as this case continues.
Additional charges involving additional victims may be filed in this investigation.
Source:WBTV
Dyer County TN constable jailed on charges of aggravated sexual exploitation www.privateofficer.com
DYERSBURG, Tenn.July 26 2012 (AP) – A Dyer County constable is jailed under $250,000 bond on charges of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.
According to the State Gazette, 29-year-old Derick Hundley of Dyersburg was taken into custody early Saturday.
TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said she could not elaborate about the case.
The paper said Hundley is a former officer with the Halls Police Department.
Great Falls Elementary School teacher accused of sexually molesting a male teen www.privateofficer.com
GREAT FALLS SC July 26 2012 — The Great Falls Elementary School teacher accused of sexually molesting a male teenager over a period of four years has been placed on administrative leave with pay, Chester County schools officials confirmed Monday.
When district leaders learned last week of the allegations against Richard Jayson Jones, 47, they placed Jones on leave, said Superintendent Agnes Slayman.“The district will monitor this situation and take further action as appropriate,” Slayman said.
“The district takes seriously the responsibility to ensure that we provide a safe and secure environment for all students at all times, and we will do so in this situation.”Slayman’s comments Monday came after repeated attempts Friday for comment by The Herald.
Slayman said officials took their regularly scheduled Friday off in compliance with summertime hours.
Authorities arrested Jones Thursday after a month-long investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division and Great Falls Police Department.
In June, a 16-year-old boy told police that Jones, an art teacher at Great Falls Elementary School, sexually assaulted him on several occasions since he was 12, said Great Falls Police Chief Steven Rice.Jones has taught at Great Falls Elementary School for nine years.
He was nominated in May for conideration as the county school district’s Teacher of the Year. He previously taught at Great Falls Middle-High School.Slayman said Jones’ personnel file shows that he had no prior complaints or disciplinary actions taken against him.
A family member of the victim said the boy, at one time Jones’ student, decided to come forward with his allegations to prevent Jones from harming other children.The Great Falls Police Department sought help from SLED to look into the allegations.
After almost a month, SLED issued arrest warrants against Jones and arrested him in Anderson, charging him with criminal sexual conduct of a minor between ages 11 and 14 and committing a lewd act on a child under the age of 16.SLED determined that none of the alleged assaults took place on school grounds.The Sixth Circuit Solicitor’s Office will prosecute Jones, officials said.
As of Monday, Assistant Solicitor Chris Taylor was unsure if Jones planned to schedule a preliminary hearing. Hearings for Chester County inmates arrested in July, barring scheduling conflicts, won’t be held until Oct. 2, Taylor said.If convicted, Jones could face anywhere between 10 to 20 years in prison for the criminal sexual conduct with a minor charge and up to 15 years in prison for the lewd act with a child charge, Taylor said.Rice, the police chief, said school officials had requested copies of the victim’s complaints and Jones’ arrest warrants on Friday.Jones remains jailed at the Chester County Detention Center without bond.
Source:www.heraldonline.com
NC police arrest 11 people in teenagers brawl www.privateofficer.com
Authorities said it led to the arrests of 11 people accused of taking part it in.
Deputies said the, which occurred According to a Rowan County Sheriff’s Office report, the fight happened on July 14 at the 8000 block of Karriker Road, was all set up by parents and their children. Now, a mother accused in planning it is speaking out.
Lisa Sellers, 35, said the fight was over a break-up between her daughter and a boy. Sellers said she had no part in planning it.
Sellers said her daughter’s ex-boyfriend had been threatening for months that he was going to bring girls over to her house to fight her 15-year-old daughter.
“He said, ‘I’m coming cars deep,’ and like I said, this has been threats that have been made for months now. I didn’t think anything of it. I laughed about it,” said Sellers.
The video posted on YouTube lasted four minutes. In it, Seller’s daughter and another teen can be seen throwing punches at each other and then wrestling on the ground.
Deputies said while that was going on, friends and parents stood by watching and even encouraged the two teens to fight like men.
“My daughter said, ‘I’m going to fight her,’ and I said, ‘If you’re going to fight her you better beat her butt,’” said Sellers.
According to a Sheriff’s Office report, Sellers arranged the fight for her own daughter.
Sellers said that’s not true. She said when the ex-boyfriend got to her home, she tried to kick him and six other people who were with him off of her property.
Seller’s dad also tried to break up the fight, but ended up getting pulled into it. He, too, was later arrested.
Authorities said a total of 19 people were at the fight.
The 11 arrested are all out of jail after posting bail. They are expected to face a judge for their charges on Aug. 28.
The Charges
Sellers was charged with three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, misdemeanor child abuse and affray. Sellers was released after posting a $5,000 bail.
Zachary Nichols, 17, was charged with cyber bullying, affray and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Nicholas was released after posting a $2,500 bail.
Randy Lefler, 55, was charged with affray and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was released after posting a $1,000 bail.
Jonathan Shumake, 19, was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Shumake is being held under a $1,000 bail.
Victoria Salters, 17, was charged with cyber bullying and released after posting a $2,500 bail.
Stacy Burg, 30, was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and released after posting a $1,500 bail.
Kristen Harwood, 17, was charged with affray. She was released after posting a $700 bail.
Savannah VanCamp, 18, was charged with manufacturing marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She was cited and released.
Richard VanCamp III, 42, was charged with manufacturing marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released after posting a $1,000 bail.
A 15-year-old female juvenile was also charged with manufacturing marijuana, affray and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was released to her father.
A 15-year-old male juvenile was charged with affray and released to his parents.
Source:WSOC.com
Former Radio Shack employee gets 6 1/2 years in federal prison for indentity theft www.privateofficer.com
FORT WORTH TX July 26 2012 – A former Radio Shack customer service representative was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison Monday for stealing personal information from customers that she used to file fake income tax returns to claim refunds.
Youlanda Rochelle Wright, 37, of Fort Worth was ordered to pay $166,384 in restitution. She pleaded guilty in December to charges of false claims against the United States and identity theft.
Wright, who had been on pretrial release, was taken into custody earlier this month after she violated conditions of her release, one of which was that she not be arrested for another crime. Federal court documents indicate that Wright was arrested by Fort Worth police in June on a charge of theft of $50 to $500, which she did not report to her federal supervising officer.
Wright began working for Radio Shack in the call center in 1999, according to federal authorities. She often received personal information from customers. She admitted that she used that information to file income tax returns in their names to claim refunds.
Source:www.star-telegram.com
Alabama shoplifter tries to steal police car www.privateofficer.com
PRICHARD, Alabama July 26 2012 – A 29-year-old shoplifting suspect tried to steal a Prichard police patrol car this morning, but officers fired shots and got the woman to stop before re-arresting her, police said.
A release from Prichard police identified the woman as 29-year-old Tasha Maryellen Johnson. She was charged 12 times, including three counts of probation revocation, two counts of third-degree theft of property, first-degree theft of property, second-degree assault and a number of traffic warrants.
Johnson was in Mobile County Metro Jail on Tuesday evening without bail.
Prichard police said that Johnson was caught shoplifting batteries from the Dollar General store at St. Stephens and Lott roads late Tuesday morning, and she was handcuffed and put in the patrol car. She managed to get her arms from behind her to in front of her and jumped into the driver’s seat of the police car, the release said.
She tried to drive off, but the two officers at the scene fired shots at the vehicle, and it stopped in a nearby ditch, police said. Johnson was arrested again and was later booked at Metro Jail.
No one was injured during the incident.
Online records indicate that Johnson has a criminal record dating back to 2005 with charges that include harassing communication, theft, drug and domestic violence charges. She will appear in Mobile County District Court on Thursday morning.
Source:AL.com
Florida middle school assistant principal arrested in shoplifting incident www.privateofficer.com
VolusiaCounty Fla July 26 2012 An assistant principal at a Florida middle school was caught shoplifting nearly $500-worth of clothes and lingerie from a store on Friday.
As police took Dianne Atkinson to jail, she admitted that it was not her first time doing so and said that she needed ‘help’.
She is a long-time employee of the Volusia County school district and currently earns $69,493 per year in her position as assistant principal.
According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Mrs Atkinson, 53, has no criminal history, but confessed that she had stolen items from the department store Bealls before without being caught.
Grainy surveillance footage shows Mrs Atkinson entering the Orange City store with an empty plastic bag.
She proceeds to browsing through the racks while the clothes she examines suddenly come off their hangers and her bag gets increasingly full.
Local station WFTV reports that Mrs Atkinson then changed into one of the store’s new bras and leaves before being stopped by a department store loss prevention officer.
Police were called to the scene and Mrs Atkinson was taken to jail on retail theft charges.
The police report notes that she was embarrassed and said that she had a problem. She has since returned the stolen merchandise, which added up to $469.
School administrators at Galaxy Middle School have declined to comment and would not say what, if any, punishment she would face, but they did say that they are doing their own investigation.
Her husband, John, is also a local school principal and he works at Pine Ridge High School.
Bear cub goes shopping at Pittsburgh area mall www.privateofficer.com
Frazer Township PA July 26 2012 An unexpected guest made for quite the unbearable shopping experience at one Pittsburgh-area mall.
A bear cub found roaming a Sears department store at Pittsburgh Mills on Saturday night sent shoppers scrambling for the exits just before closing — although no one was hurt and the animal was successfully sedated, according to reports.
“The bear just walked up to the automatic doors, they opened and he just ran in,” Brian Grant, security director for Pittsburgh Mills, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “One of our officers arrived here and saw people running out the doors.”
The black bear — described as a female about a year old and weighing 120 to 125 pounds — was first seen darting around the parking lot, where drivers tried to corral her with their cars.
“It was the strangest thing,” mallgoer Matt Marcinik told The Tribune-Review.
Unable to get into the Frazer Township mall’s main doors, the cub strolled into the Sears entrance around 8:40 p.m.
Employees alerted shoppers to the fuzzy creature — and the entire mall was evacuated as well, said CBS 2 Pittsburgh.
“The voice (on the loud speaker) seemed calm but slightly panicked,” Sears shopper Michelle Eckert told the station. “And then, as we’re walking casually – there’s like a group of us – and as we got to the exit, the one employee says, ‘There’s a bear!’ And we all look at each other and we just run out.”
The cub didn’t appear aggressive, according to shoppers who had a close encounter with her.
“It wasn’t angry, it was afraid,” Marcinik said.
Officials devised a bear trap: The creature was chased into a vestibule with automatic doors and the entrance’s power was cut, leaving the animal stuck inside, The Tribune-Review reported.
A Pennsylvania Game Commission officer arrived on scene and shot the bear with a tranquilizer. But before it was knocked out, the bear was able to get back inside the store when the doors suddenly opened.
She plodded around some more and then fell over, which allowed conservation officials to grab hold of her.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said she was wearing a collar, which means she may be part of the state Game Commission’s urban research program.
It was likely the hunt for food that drew the young bear to the mall, officials said.
She “was probably more frightened than anything,” Game Commission officer Dan Puhala told The Tribune-Review. “For the most part that bear wanted to get away from everybody.”
Another bear sighting was confirmed Sunday night near the mall, when police responded to reports of an adult along a highway that leads to the shopping center. Officials described that bear as about 300 pounds, according to The Tribune-Review.
Source:www.nydailynews.com
Cal. security officer faces off with armed robbery suspects www.privateofficer.com
Hawthorne CA July 26 2012 A security guard faced off with a masked gunmen, firing a shot and foiling a robbery in a crowded Hawthorne convenience store, police said Tuesday.
Videotape surveillance shows the men’s outstretched arms with guns pointing at each other during the Sunday evening crime.
“It is a pretty brazen robbery,” Hawthorne police Lt. Scott Swain said. “It looks like at least seven people are in the store.”
Police plan to investigate whether there is any connection between the crime at the 7-Eleven at 3300 W. 135th St. and a holdup involving masked robbers at a Radio Shack in Torrance last week, Swain said.
The robbery attempt in Hawthorne began at 10:35 p.m. Sunday when two men barged inside the store. One walked up to the counter, stood between two customers, and pulled a large-framed silver revolver handgun on a clerk.
“This suspect pointed the revolver toward the front counter and also waved it around at the many customers in the store while demanding that everybody get down on the ground,” Swain said.
A second robber then jumped the counter where the store employees were working.
Neither man appeared to notice the armed security guard positioned just inside the store’s entrance, Swain said.
The guard, Swain said, pulled his gun, yelling “freeze” and “don’t move” at the first robber.
“The security guard, fearing that Suspect No. 1 may shoot a cashier, patron, or himself, fired one round at the suspect, but missed,” Swain said. “Suspect No. 1 then turned his attention away from the cashier and aimed his weapon directly at the security guard but fortunately did not fire.”
Both robbers then ran from the store, heading south on Lemoli Avenue.
No one in the store was hurt during the crime.
Witnesses described the first robber as black, 21 to 28 years old, 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, 180 to 210 pounds.
He wore a black short-sleeved T-shirt, black or gray-colored pants, and a dark bandana over his face.
The second robber was black, 18 to 25 years old, 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, 200 pounds. He wore a long-sleeved black shirt, dark-colored jeans, and a black bandana over his face.
There were no injuries to any customers or employees during the attempted robbery.
Hawthorne police asked anyone with information about the crime to call Detective Paul Vu at 310-349-2851.
Torrance detectives are investigating a July 17 robbery where three robbers in bandanas held up a Radio Shack at 1790 Carson St., Torrance police Sgt. Jennifer Uyeda said.
The men did not pull guns, but pretended to have them during the 9:30 a.m. crime. They stole iPhones and iPads, Uyeda said.
Torrance police planned to connect with Hawthorne police to determine if there was any links to the crimes.
Duval County fourth-grade teacher arrested on sex charges www.priavteofficer.com
Jacksonville Fla July 26 2012 A Duval County fourth-grade teacher was arrested Tuesday on numerous charges of sexual behavior against a child, only months after he was named Windy Hill Elementary School Teacher of the Year and a Duval County Teacher of the Year semifinalist.
Reading and writing teacher Christopher Robert Bacca, 26, of the 3900 block of St. Johns Avenue, was booked into the county jail. He was charged with three counts of sexual battery against a child under 12, plus one count each of lewd and lascivious battery of a child under 16, lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12, and lewd and lascivious conduct of a child under 16, according to jail logs.
Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals will recommend Bacca’s suspension without pay pending termination at the next School Board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 7, according to district spokeswoman Jill Johnson.
“The safety of our students is a top priority and the district took immediate action upon learning of these allegations,” Johnson said in an email statement. “We will provide the outcome of the investigation to the Professional Practices Commission in Tallahassee for any potential action against his teaching certificate.”
Johnson would not comment on whether the victim was one of Bacca’s students.
Bacca was first hired in August 2008 as a fourth-grade teacher at Long Branch Elementary School and transferred to Windy Hill in January 2010.
Any personal information on a victim of a sexual crime is redacted under state law on a police report. But the boy told police he “has showered with the suspect on more than one occasion while staying the night at his residence” on July 17, according to the arrest report.
The report narrative goes on to say the suspect touched the boy’s private parts with his hand repeatedly, and also performed oral sex on the boy more than once.
Police interviewed Bacca at the Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday and he was arrested without incident.
Bacca was also one of 26 Northeast Florida Teacher of the Year finalists profiled over a half year in a Times-Union series called “Teachable Moments,” which was done in conjunction with The Community Foundation.
Source:jacksonville.com
Westminster Teacher Arrested In Child Porn Investigation www.privateofficer.com
LAKEWOOD, Colo. July 26 2012– A Westminster middle school teacher has been arrested and accused of possessing child pornography, police said Tuesday.
Patterson is a language arts teacher at Mandalay Middle School in Westminster, Lakewood police spokesman Steven Davis said in a news release The arrest happened after Denver police alerted Lakewood investigators that Patterson might possess several images of child pornography, Davis said.
The juveniles in the images have not been identified, Davis said.
Patterson began teaching at Mandalay in August 2011, Davis said. Prior to that, Patterson was a teacher at Wheat Ridge Middle School from August 2009 until he transferred to Mandalay. He previously taught at North High School in Denver.
The case will be presented to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office for a formal charging decision.
Lakewood police asked anyone who may have information that would assist in the investigation to contact Detective Lovejoy at 303-987-7111.
In 2005, Patterson was arrested in a Denver domestic violence incident on a misdemeanor assault charge. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of harassment, according to court records.
In 2003, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Littleton, and later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of driving while ability impaired, court records said.
Source:thedenverchannel.com
Richmond VA Family Dollar Store clerk shot to death www.privateofficer.com
RICHMOND, Va. July 26 2012 – Police have released the name of the Family Dollar store clerk who was shot outside the store in Richmond Tuesday night.
Officials said 51-year-old Milton F. Jackson, of the 2100 block of Lauderdale Drive in Henrico, died after being transported to VCU Medical Center.
Jackson was a clerk at the store, which was closed at the time of the incident.
Police received a call around 10:30 p.m. for a report of a shot fired in the 3100 block of Jeff Davis Highway.
When officers arrived, the found Jackson, a clerk at the store, in his vehicle. He had been struck by a bullet.
Detectives think three suspects approached Jackson’s vehicle and tried to rob him since three suspects were seen leaving the area on foot after the shooting.
They trio are described as black males, between 5 feet ten inches and six feet tall. The first suspect was wearing a grey t-shirt and tan trousers. The second suspect was wearing a white t-shirt and dark blue jeans. The third suspect was wearing a black t-shirt and white trousers.
Neighbors said they were shocked by the shooting, but not surprised because they feel crime is on the rise in the area.
“You don’t walk outside your door at night, because you never know what’s going to happen,” said Betty Adkins who works nearby. “I mean this is scary, being right next door.”
“This area of the corridor down Jeff Davis at night, is dangerous. I don’t even walk out here this time of night,” said Michael, a native of the area. “The thing is, the people who did this they are cowards. It makes no sense, this man is trying to make a livelihood and gets shot for some money. I’m just shocked by it.”
If you have any information that could help investigators, call Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
Source: WTVR
Driver pulls gun on Securitas security guard www.privateofficer.com
At 12:36 a.m., a security guard with the company Securitas came to the station to report that a man had just threatened him.
Southborough Police Sgt. Timothy Slatkavitz said the man said he was driving in his company security truck on Rte. 9 west when a man pulled up next to him at a stop sign at Central Street.
The guard told police the man was yelling at him and waving his arms, and that after the light turned green he matched speeds, pulled out a black handgun and pointed it at him.
The man with the gun eventually pulled of onto I-495 north, the guard told police. Slatkavitz said police are looking for the car. He said he couldn’t release information about the make of car because of the ongoing investigation.
Source:www.metrowestdailynews.com
Texas security guard helped teens escape juvenile corrections unit www.privateofficer.com
Investigators say 39-year-old Veronica Shay McCoy of Waco knew there was a problem with a perimeter fence but never reported it.
McCoy supervised the youths July 14 when one allegedly tampered with the fence at the McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility in Mart. The trio fled the next day. All three were caught several hours later about two miles away.
McCoy has been charged with facilitating escape. She’s free on $25,000 bond. McCoy was suspended without pay the day after the escape and later resigned. Records show she had worked as a corrections officer for five years.
The teens face escape charges.
Security measures at the unit are under review.
Conn. Firefighter Kills Self After Standoff With Police www.privateofficer.com
GROTON, Conn.July 26 2012 – The man who fatally shot himself early Tuesday at UConn’s Avery Point campus after a standoff with police was a local firefighter, fitness trainer and university graduate.
Timothy Devine, 30, was a firefighter with the Poquonnock Bridge Fire District for four years, said Chief Todd M. Paige.
“Firefighter Devine was a dedicated firefighter with an exemplary record who took great pride in serving the community,” Paige said in a written statement. “The Poquonnock Bridge Fire Department is deeply saddened by the sudden loss and is extending their support to his family at this extremely difficult time.”
Devine was a 2010 graduate of the bachelor of general studies program at the Avery Point campus, said university spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz.
He owned a gym called CrossFit Groton. Devine wrote on his Facebook page that he got hooked on the CrossFit method of fitness training after he tried it through a coworker at the firehouse.
Also on his Facebook page is a picture of his close friend and fellow firefighter Todd Williamson, who died of cancer in 2010.
“His ordeal brought to light the true importance of health and wellness,” Devine wrote.
Devine’s own ordeal came to the attention of police on Monday.
According to a press release from the state police, who are investigating Devine’s death, Groton-area police received a report of a despondent man at about 5 p.m. They later learned the man might have a weapon.
With officers from the University of Connecticut, Stonington, Ledyard and from the city and town of Groton involved, Devine’s car was found at about 10 p.m. on the Avery Point campus, parked near the water.
A short time later, the state police said, officers found Devine standing on the rocks at the shoreline. He was armed with a handgun and would not drop it, they said. At times, he waved the weapon.
Police started talking to him and called the state police tactical team and negotiators. A trooper and a local officer talked to him for several hours in an effort to convince him to disarm, to no avail, Lt. J. Paul Vance said.
The Coast Guard was on the water nearby, and it was “a dangerous situation for everyone involved,” Vance said at the scene.
The SWAT team fired bean bag ammunition and used “flash-bang” grenades in attempts to get Devine to give up.
About 3:50 a.m., he suddenly stopped talking to negotiators, Vance said. “A short time later, he raised his weapon and shot himself,” his release states.
“Our intent was to peacefully disarm the individual and get him the help he needed, again to no success,” Vance said.
The university activated its emergency alert system during the standoff. A building on a different part of the campus, where some 40-50 high school students were staying for a summer oceanology program, was locked and guarded by UConn police, the university said. Parents were told they could pick up their children if they wished.
Shortly before 5:30 a.m. UConn tweeted “The Avery Point incident has ended. The Campus will be open at 8:00 AM for normal business.”
That part of the campus is isolated, Reitz said. The fact that it was being treated as a crime scene did not interfere with day-to-day activities.
UConn employees were encouraged to make use of the university’s Employee Assistance Program by calling 860-679-2877 or 800-852-4392 if they wish to speak confidentially with a mental health professional about any concerns stemming from this incident.
Boy, 4, Accidentally Shoots And Kills Self In Virginia www.privateofficer.com
Woodbridge VA July 26 2012 Virginia police say a 4-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself in Woodbridge today.
The tragic scene unfolded at about 3:25 p.m. when cops got a call from a family member who said the unidentified boy took a gunshot wound to the head, WUSA reports.
The boy had apparently gone into an unoccupied pickup truck at that address and found the gun, according to The Washington Post.
The boy was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Authorities on scene said the wound seemed to be self-inflicted and accidental. The sad incident is still under investigation.
