Archive
Line of Duty Death- Postal Inspector Preston Boyd Parnell
Postal Inspector
Preston Boyd Parnell
United States Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Government
End of Watch: Thursday, July 26, 2012
Bio & Incident Details
Age: 46
Tour: Not available
Badge # Not available
Cause: Automobile accident
Location: Alabama
Incident Date: 1/25/2007
Weapon: Not available
Suspect: Not available
Postal Inspector Preston Parnell succumbed to injuries sustained in an automobile accident on Highway 43, near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on January 25th, 2007.
He was conducting a joint operation with a special agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation when they were involved in the crash. Inspector Parnell suffered severe head trauma, a broken neck, and other injuries. He never fully recovered and passed away as a result of the injuries on July 26th, 2012.
Inspector Parnell is survived by his wife and two sons.
Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:
Chief Postal Inspector Guy Cottrell
United States Postal Inspection Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza
Washington, DC 20260
Phone: (877) 876-2455
Line of Duty Death Officer Jose Torres
Police Officer
Jose Torres
Westfield Police Department, Massachusetts
End of Watch: Thursday, July 26, 2012 Bio & Incident Details
Age: Not available
Tour: 27 years
Badge # Not available
Cause: Struck by vehicle
Incident Date: 7/26/2012
Weapon: Automobile; Commercial
Suspect: Not available
Police Officer Jose Torres was struck and killed by a dump truck while directing traffic at a construction site near the intersection of Pontoosic Road and Little River Road at approximately 7:30 am.
He was transported to Baystate Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries approximately two hours later.
Officer Torres had served with the Westfield Police Department for 27 years. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:
Chief John Camerota
Westfield Police Department
15 Washington Street
Westfield, MA 01085
Phone: (413) 562-5411
Line of Duty Death Deputy Sheriff William Mast, Jr.
Deputy Sheriff
William Mast, Jr.
Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, North Carolina
End of Watch: Thursday, July 26, 2012
Bio & Incident Details
Age: 23
Tour: 3 years
Badge # Not available
Cause: Gunfire
Incident Date: 7/26/2012
Weapon: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect: Shot and killed
Deputy Sheriff William Mast was shot and killed as he responded to a 911 call with an open line at a trailer home on Hardin Road in Deep Gap, North Carolina, at approximately 1:00 am.
Upon arriving at the scene he began walking towards the house when he was shot in the face. It is believed the subject who shot him intentionally ambushed him. Another deputy with him returned fire killing the suspect.
Deputy Mast is survived by his expectant wife.
Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:
Sheriff Len Hagaman
Watauga County Sheriff’s Office
184 Hodges Gap Road
Boone, NC 28607
Phone: (828) 265-7601
St. Louis man given five years in federal prison for fraudulent armored car pick-up www.privateofficer.com
Mario Darnell Smith, 29, pretended to be an Ameren employee and contacted U.S. Bank last year to arrange the money pickup.
But employees became suspicious midway through the scam and contacted the FBI.
Smith had an inside man — his co-defendant and acquaintance, Jeffrey G. White, 28, who worked for a St. Louis County branch of the bank and supplied account numbers and other information, prosecutors claim.
White pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced in June to three years of probation.
Smith pleaded guilty in May to two counts of mail fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
In addition to the five years from U.S. District Judge Rod Sippel, Smith will have to serve an extra year, as he was on probation from a federal gun charge at the time of this crime.
Source:St Louis Post
Three people die in Sedona Airport plane crash www.privateofficer.com
A witness told KPHO in Phoenix that three people died in the crash, but local authorities have not confirmed the deaths.
The aircraft was taking off from Runway 3 when it went over the end of the runway and down a tree-covered hill and caught on fire, according to a Federal Aviation Administration official. The plane was described as a small twin engine Beech 60.
Fire officials say they did extinguish a fire, but did not transport anyone from the scene. The investigation has been turned over to the Sedona Police Department.
The U.S. Forest Service temporarily has closed the Airport Loop Trail and the Table Top Trail to allow authorities to conduct the crash investigation.
The FAA said it does not confirm fatalities.
Calls made to the Sedona Police Department were not immediately returned. Officials are still at the scene of the accident.
Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office officials say they are not assisting with the incident.
There are no addition details at this time
Source:azdailysun.com
Orlando police officer fighting cancer www.privateofficer.com
Long had just come back from her morning run. She kept going for a few extra miles that day. She knew when she got home, she would have to talk to her doctor — who had tested two lumps in her breast just days before
The news wasn’t good. She had an aggressive form of stage-three breast cancer.
“She said, ‘Yup, it’s confirmed. It’s cancer. It’s Invasive Ductal Carcinoma’ which is very aggressive,” said Long, recalling the conversation with her doctor. “Then she said, ‘You’re going to need a mastectomy.’ “
Long was 33 at the time, a newlywed. She had put in seven years with the Orlando Police Department and was working as a school resource officer.
She ran every morning. She ate healthy and she had no history of cancer in her family. She should not have been at risk. But that didn’t change the facts.
Now Long’s OPD family is hosting a fundraiser today behind police headquarters to help curb the expenses she’ll face as she pursues experimental treatment in Europe this fall. Community donations have paid for the food that will be served at the “Turn Up the Heat and Knock Out Cancer” fundraiser.
After the initial shock of her diagnosis, Long said, her faith in God and her police instinct kicked in and she decided she would fight.
“We’ve got that warrior mentality,” she said Thursday. “You don’t stop. You don’t just lay down and die. You keep going until you can’t keep going anymore. You can make it out of anything.”
Long started her treatment.
“I did the double mastectomy. Six months of chemo. Seven weeks of radiation.”
Long started losing her hair on her first wedding anniversary.
“It’s kind of ironic because I have been growing it out for Locks of Love for over two years,” she said. Locks of Love takes donations of human hair and uses it for wigs for children who lose their hair because of medical conditions. Her hair reached the middle of her back at the time.
During all the hardship, Long had her children, who were 3 and 4 at the time, to think of.
“I had to explain to them, ‘Mommy is getting superhero medicine. This medicine is so powerful that it’s going to just knock the hair right out of my head,” she said.
“My son just looked at me and said: ‘Cool.’ “
After the intense treatment, Long and her husband, William Long, who also works for the police department, thought the worst was behind them.
They had moved on and were planning to have another child. Those plans came to a halt in May. Just months from reaching her five-year remission mark, Long went back to the doctor and was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer.
And the cancer had speared to her lungs and sternum.
Long is now on daily medication. She also receives monthly shots to strengthen her bones and shut down her ovaries to help contain the estrogen-fueled ailment. Doctors predict she will have to continue this regimen for the rest of her life.
Karen and William Long are headed to Germany in September.
This three-week trip will be the first of many to a cancer clinic for hyperthermal treatments. The treatment — which, in laymen terms, will heat the cancer cells and hopefully kill them — likely will rack up more than $100,000 in medical and travel expenses.
But, if it’s successful, the treatment could help Long live a life off medication and could renew her hopes of having another child.
The whole-body hyperthermal treatment she needs is still in the clinical stages in the United States and has not yet been approved by the FDA.
Karen and William Long say the outpouring of support from the community has been phenomenal and they are glad for the money they have raised so far and the morale booster she has gotten from those who have rallied around them.
“People are doing this because they are trying to keep me alive,” she said.
Turn Up the Heat and Knock Out Cancer Fundraiser
Date: Friday, July 27.
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Behind OPD Headquarters 100 S. Hughey Avenue.
There will be food and soft drinks available. Tickets are $10.
Those who would like to donate but can’t make it to the fundraiser should visit williamandkaren.com. Visitors will also be able to follow Karen Long’s journey through her blog on the site.
Source:tribune.com
Atlanta police officer was charged with second-degree vehicular homicide www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta GA July 27 2012 An Atlanta police officer was charged Wednesday with second-degree vehicular homicide — a misdemeanor — after a weekend collision left a local woman dead.
Police said Joshua Sieck, responding to a call for assistance, was traveling west on Cascade Road in unincorporated Fulton County Saturday afternoon when his cruiser collided with a BMW driven by Jacqueline Culp of Atlanta, who was traveling south on Fairburn Road.
Fulton County police spokeswoman Melissa Parker did not release details on the charge leveled against the 31-year-old officer.
Sieck was placed on paid administrative leave by Atlanta police “pending further determination by the chief of police regarding his status,” according to a statement.
Sieck and Culp both had to be extricated from their vehicles after the crash. The 59-year-old victim died after being taken to Atlanta Medical Center. Sieck was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital but has since been released.
Kenyatta White, the driver of a third car that was also hit, told Channel 2 Action News that Sieck appeared to be driving too fast but she remembered few details about the crash.
“I saw the lights across the street and I looked over and the next thing I knew, there was the accident,” White said. “It just happened so fast.
At home “gold parties” in Virginia against the law www.privateofficer.com
Richmond VA July 27 2012
A new form of home parties in Virginia is actually illegal. Unlike Tupperware or Mary Kay, ”cash for gold” parties - where attendees trade old or broken jewelry for money is forbidden by law.
They are not the golden opportunity they may seem, police and prosecutors said this week.
While merely hosting the party is not against the law, those who buy the jewelry – typically traveling dealers – are committing a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The announcement came as a result of an upswing in the parties here and inquiries from residents regarding their legality, office spokeswoman Macie Pridgen said.
They’re illegal and can result in jail time and fines, according to a release from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
State law requires precious-metals dealers to obtain a permit and work from a permanent location. It sets other requirements, including that dealers have their weighing devices inspected.
At-home gold parties violate those rules, Pridgen said. They also take business away from legitimate dealers, cheat the government out of taxes and can make party hosts susceptible to other crimes, according to detectives from the Police Department’s Pawn Unit.
“There’s money and jewelry there,” Detective J.M. Baker said. “It’s an invitation for a robbery to occur.”
“We haven’t prosecuted any dealers yet,” Pridgen said. “But we’re hoping through educating the public we can stop the problem that way.”
Loomis Armored guard arrested in theft of money www.privateofficer.com
LYNDHURST NJ July 27 2012— Police arrested a Newark man earlier this month for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from an armored vehicle he was driving for a Lyndhurst-based company.
According to Capt. John Valente of the Lyndhurst police, Loomis Armored representatives discovered a $3,500 discrepancy in its financial records, which prompted security employees to review surveillance video from cameras in its trucks.
During the review, security noticed one of the company’s drivers, 21-year-old Felix Almonte, removing a handful of money from a bag he was transporting, which was later determined to be the $3,500 in question.
The company referred the matter to police, who arrested Almonte on July 18. He was charged with theft and released on his own recognizance after being issued a summons.
Valente said Almonte is no longer an employee of Loomis Armored.
Source:NJ.com
NC man arrested for refusing to leave jail www.privateofficer.com
WENTWORTH, N.C. July 27 2012 (AP) – A man who’d just been released from jail in northern North Carolina was arrested again for refusing to leave the jail after authorities wouldn’t give him a ride to a motel.
The News &Record of Greensboro reports (http://bit.ly/OZm7NK) that 37-year-old Rodney Dwayne Valentine was charged with trespassing.
Valentine was released from the Rockingham County jail Saturday morning after being behind bars since May 22. The sheriff’s office says he asked them to drive him to a local motel and they refused. Deputies charged Valentine with second-degree trespassing when he had refused to leave the jail by Saturday afternoon.
He’s being held on $500 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 9. It was not clear if he has a lawyer.
Western Psychiatric Institute security officer files lawsuit in shooting www.privateofficer.com
Jeremy Byers filed the writ citing “negligence” against the estate of John F. Shick, who police say entered the UPMC facility in Oakland on March 8 and shot six people, killing one.
Mr. Shick, 30, was shot and killed by a University of Pittsburgh police officer.
11-year-old boy bypasses airport security for flight to Rome www.privateofficer.com
LONDON July 27 2012 — It was just the sort of story Britain’s security chiefs did not want on the eve of the Olympic Games: an 11-year-old boy who managed to fly from Manchester, England, to Rome on Tuesday without a passport, a ticket or a boarding pass, simply by tagging along with families traveling with other children as they passed through airport security checks.
The boy, whom British news media identified as Liam Corcoran, passed without any documentation through five successive security controls on his way to the Rome-bound plane, according to embarrassed British officials. By the time he was discovered, he was halfway to Rome, and even then only after he told fellow passengers, concerned because he was sitting alone and seemed unhappy, that he was running away from home.
For Britain, which has had a bumpy countdown to the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday night because of other security problems, the episode seemed like something out of the BBC’s popular Olympic sitcom, “Twenty Twelve,” which has chronicled — fictionally — an endless series of hapless miscues on the road to the Games.
In effect, Liam appeared to have shown that aviation security, essential to protecting the Olympics against possible terrorist attacks, was defenseless against a youngster randomly foiling a system that has been refashioned from the ground up since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
The boy was safely back in Manchester on Tuesday evening, met by his mother at the airport after completing the round-trip of 1,300 miles aboard the same aircraft he had boarded hours earlier. In Rome, he was held aboard the aircraft, operated by the budget airline Jet2.com, while he was questioned by Italian police and border officials, who cleared him for the return journey.
Airline officials said he told them that he ran away from his mother during a trip to a shopping center near the airport, then made his way to the aircraft by tucking in with other children as they passed with their parents through the successive airport controls. In all, Liam passed through a passport and boarding pass check on entry to the airport’s departure area; a scanner area where all passengers and their hand luggage are individually screened; another passport and boarding pass check at the gate; a boarding pass check on entry to the aircraft; and a head count by cabin crew aboard the plane.
Concerns about a possible aerial hijacking of the kind that led to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington have been high among Olympic security planners. They have placed helicopter-borne snipers and supersonic fighter jets on 24-hour alert around the Olympic Park in east London, and positioned antiaircraft missile batteries on high rooftops overlooking the park. On Tuesday, a Typhoon fighter was scrambled after what turned out to be a false alert about an airliner bound for Heathrow Airport that failed to respond to ground controllers.
The British army has stepped in at the last minute with nearly 5,000 extra soldiers, on top of 13,500 already in the security plan, to take the places of thousands of private security guards that the main Olympic security contractor, the G4S company, failed to deploy on time. Through gritted teeth, government officials and Olympic organizers have said that the games will be safe and secure, and that spectators and athletes have no cause for alarm.
Spokesmen for the airline that flew Liam to Rome said they had fired several people on the airline’s security staff, and tightened checks at every stage in the boarding process. The transport minister, Justine Greening, said she had ordered a full report.
It was left to the director of security for Manchester airport, Russell Craig, to find a silver lining in the affair. “He did go through full security screening,” he said of Liam. “So he didn’t present a threat to himself, to other passengers, or to the aircraft.”
Wal-Mart sued by disabled over payment machines www.privateofficer.com
The plaintiffs allege that Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart knowingly placed point-of-sale terminals beyond the reach of disabled customers at many of its more than 200 stores in California – in violation of state law and the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act.
The lack of accessible payment devices makes it difficult or impossible for disabled customers to independently pay for goods with a credit or debit card, according to the lawsuit. Many must ask cashiers to read the charges, enter their personal identification number or PIN or sign on their behalf to authorize the transaction.
“Wal-Mart should be an industry leader, not a defender of discrimination,” said plaintiff’s attorney Bill Lann Lee. “Point-of-sale machines are the wave of the future in American retail. They should be accessible, convenient and secure to use for all customers.”
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Ashley Hardie could not comment on the lawsuit itself, but she said the company is committed to serving customers with disabilities.
“Our goal is that every point-of-sale machine be accessible within the regulations of the (Americans with Disabilities Act) and California law,” she said.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by the Berkeley-based Center for Independent Living and two disabled individuals. They are represented by the groups Disability Rights Advocates and Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.
“I feel unsafe when I check out at Wal-Mart,” said plaintiff Janet Brown, a wheelchair user from Pittsburg. “I can’t reach the payment device on my own, read the display screen, enter my PIN or sign the screen to complete the transaction. I have to share my private PIN with the cashier, which I hate to do.”
The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status for the lawsuit so that it could cover all disabled people who have had trouble using payment devices at Wal-Mart stores in California.
The lawsuit, which attorneys say is the first of its kind, seeks unspecified damages and the installation of accessible payment machines at the company’s California stores.
Hard-to-reach credit-card readers are common at retail stores throughout the world, but disability advocates say they are launching their campaign to change that by targeting Wal-Mart, said Arlene Mayerson, directing attorney at the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund.
“Why Walmart? Because they are the biggest retailer in the world,” Mayerson said. “They should be able to do it right.”
Alert Florida casino security officer leads to capture of prison escapees www.privateofficer.com
HOLLYWOOD Fla July 27 2012 – Luck ran out for pair of inmates from Wisconsin who have been on the lam for days.
Early Wednesday morning 29-year old James Newman and 18-year old James Misleveck were captured after being spotted at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood.
A casino security guard stopped the pair after they were seen circling the parking garage. When they asked the men what they were doing, they said they were looking for the exit. The guard directed them to the exit, but noticed they continued to drive around the garage.
Seminole Police Lt. David Carry believes the Newman and Misleveck may have been looking for a vehicle to steal.
The guard then alerted all of the casino’s security personnel to be on the look out for the pair. They were then spotted driving around in another parking garage. When they left, the security guard contacted the Seminole Police Department who stopped them on Stirling Road about a block from the casino. When the officer ran the vehicle’s plate and it came back as having been reported stolen in Wisconsin.
In an effort to escape the pair took off on foot; Misleveck was quickly taken into custody after he was found in Chistopher William’s backyard at North 68th Ave and Meade St. in Hollywood.
“It was 3:40 in the morning and I heard somebody in my yard and I was getting ready to do what I had to do,” said Williams.
Police found Newman hiding in a tree. When he came down, he again tried to make a run for it. He was brought down by a Hollywood police K-9. When police lead him off to jail, he was limping, wearing a bandage and a hospital gown.
Investigators say these guys were violent when they escaped from prison, before arriving in Hollywood.
“They were armed and dangerous in Wisconsin,” said Lt. Carry. “They kidnapped a female at gunpoint with a shotgun, took her out of the car, held her for 5 hours, robbed her of $500, then released her to steal another vehicle to come to Florida.”
Newman had been in prison for weapons charges and sexual assault. Misleveck had been convicted of burglary, theft and arson.
The kicker in all this, Newman had just 6 months left on his sentence, Misleveck was scheduled to be released in 30 days.
Prosecutors in Wisconsin filed a new charge against the pair shortly after their arrest. Both are charged with one count of unlawfully possessing a shotgun as convicted felons.
If convicted, the charge carries 10 years in federal prison.
Source:CBS
Texas constable kills man armed with a flashlight www.privateofficer.com
Deputies had an open warrant on 37-year-old Tracy Dear for felony aggravated assault. They went to his home in the 12700 block of Robert E. Lee near C.E. King Parkway around 9:30 p.m. to serve him.
When they arrived, Dear was hiding, but suddenly emerged from behind a wall in the garage.
He was carrying a flashlight, but one of the deputies mistook it for a gun and opened fire.
Dear was shot in the chest and died at the scene.
Family members said the officer reacted too fast.
“They said he came out the side door and they shot him in the chest. They said he had a flashlight in his hand. They thought it was a gun, but there’s no way. If they had a light, they could have seen it wasn’t a gun, it was a flashlight,” said a female relative. “He didn’t even get out of the garage before they shot him in the chest.”
Deputies said Dear lunged at them and that is why the officer fired his duty weapon.
Dear’s stepmother said he spent most of his life running from the police, so the last thing he would do is to run toward them – with anything. They admit he had a lengthy criminal record, but feel he did not deserve to die.
Deputies said it was dark in the garage when Dear appeared, so it was difficult to see exactly what was in his hand. The constable who shot Dear is on paid leave while the case is being investigated.
Man says Santa Fe security guard attacked him unprovoked www.privateofficer.com
The man claims the security guard attacked him and shot him in the face with a pepper spray cartridge without cause. But a spokesman for the private security company says the guard acted appropriately after spotting the man “tagging” property with graffiti late at night. Police haven’t filed any criminal charges in connection with the incident.
Justin LeVan said he was was getting off work as a server at Coyote Cafe on Water Street just after midnight Tuesday morning when the security guard began chasing him. LeVan said after the brief foot chase, the guard tackled him across the street from El Paseo Bar and Grill, 208 Galisteo St., and then shot him in the face with a pepper spray gun for no reason.
“He had a gun pointed at me, and I told him to chill out,” LeVan said in an interview at his apartment Wednesday. “I don’t really remember much after that.”
The guard, Heath Mora, who works for Associated Securities Industries of Albuquerque, told Santa Fe police he saw LeVan tagging a traffic sign near the corner of Galisteo Street and Water Street.
While a police report of the incident said officers didn’t find any graffiti on the traffic sign that Mora believed had been tagged, it does state that LeVan had been “tracing” someone else’s tag on a trash can with a black marker.
The report stipulates that Mora’s actions were justified based on the facts presented to police.
LeVan and his attorney, Jason Flores-Williams, said they are preparing to file a lawsuit in state District Court against the security guard, alleging negligence, assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment. They said the lawsuit will accuse Associated Securities Industries of negligent hiring and negligent supervision of an employee.
Mora has been working with the security company for about six months, according to general manager Micah Johnson. Johnson said his company is paid to protect a residential condominium complex on Galisteo Street. He said it is against company policy to chase a trespasser beyond the boundaries of an assigned property. Although he did admit that Mora went beyond his assigned property, he said Mora’s actions were justified, and no disciplinary actions will be taken against him.
“The officer witnessed the man tagging one of our properties, and when he was asked to stop, [LeVan] threw a Sharpie [pen] at the officer,” Johnson said.
Johnson claimed his officer was trying to get LeVan to sign a criminal trespass form, which he said can lead to a small fee for trespassing but does not require law enforcement or criminal action.
LeVan said Wednesday that he had been heading to the El Paseo Bar that night to meet some friends after work. He said he wasn’t tagging, he was only dragging his finger in patterns along building walls as he walked along Water Street. When he heard Mora chasing him, LeVan said, he began to run. LeVan admits he was carrying an ink marker, but claims he never had it out of his pocket.
Luke Wills, 17, a bystander who was walking past El Paseo, said he saw LeVan being pursued on foot by someone he thought was a police officer southbound on Galisteo Street. Wills said the officer tackled LeVan, then propped him up against a wall. Wills said it didn’t appear LeVan was resisting when LeVan removed his hands from the wall to talk to the officer.
“He just turned around real slowly with his hands up,” Wills said.
According to the police report, Mora told officers that he “believed he was being threatened” and that LeVan took a step toward him. From less than 2 feet away, Mora shot LeVan in the face with pepper spray.
Johnson said his officers are equipped with small, compressed pepper spray canisters, “the same pepper spray your wife might carry.”
LeVan said the guard appeared to have a pepper spray gun, which shoots two compressed cartridges of pepper spray.
According to the police report, blood was spattered 10 feet high on the façade of Aspen Optical, behind where LeVan was standing.
The guard then placed LeVan in handcuffs while a crowd of witnesses and acquaintances from El Paseo Bar and Grill gathered around him, taking cellphone video of the incident. In the video, LeVan can be heard saying, “I wasn’t resisting. I wasn’t doing anything.”
People in the video are heard asking someone to call for an ambulance, and Mora is heard saying, “I asked him if he wanted medical attention and he said no.”
Juniper Storm, 23, a bartender at El Paseo, ran out with ice and a damp cloth to tend to LeVan. She said an orange substance was in LeVan’s eyes, nose and mouth.
According to LeVan and a video, LeVan was handcuffed behind his back for nearly 20 minutes while blood from his face was seeping into his pants and shirt. LeVan said Mora did not remove the handcuffs even though he begged to get them off because he suffers from anxiety, for which he is on prescription medication.
“I kept yelling at him [the security officer],” said Storm, who said she was coughing from being around the spray. “I kept telling him to take the cuffs off.”
Mora did not remove the handcuffs or call police during the incident. Instead, he called his supervisor, who arrived promptly and released LeVan from the cuffs after police arrived at about 1 a.m. A bystander had called authorities.
Jail records show that LeVan, a Santa Fe High School graduate, was arrested in 2006 on a charge of unlawful graffiti on private property.
Source:SanteFeNewMexico.com
Southern University police officer charged with felony assault www.privateofficer.com
BATON ROUGE, LA July 27 2012 - A Southern University police officer may be asked to turn in his badge, and the 9 News I-Team has learned it’s not the first time.
According to a report by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, Randolph Harrell, an officer at the university, got into an argument with a customer outside of an audio store on Plank Road.
Harrell was booked and charged with felony aggravated assault.
According to the arrest report, the victim, a customer at the store, said Harrell and another guy “pointed a dark colored handgun, which resembled a Ruger at him and the other unknown black male pointed what appeared to be an AK-47 at him.”
Store employees ran inside the store and called 911, but after deputies left they said the two men came back, parked behind the fence at a business next door and waved their guns out of their windows.
The report states, “at 12:13 p.m., deputies returned after a witness called back to report the accused passed back a second time … Pointing a gun out of the window.”
An hour later, a third call to deputies “to report the accused had passed again heading north on Plank Road and pointed the weapon again.”
“Whenever an officer is involved in such matters they’re called in and talked to and put on administrative leave,” Southern University Police Chief Ronald Stevens said.
After the arrest, Stevens said he sent internal affairs officers to Harrell’s house to let him know an investigation was underway.
“I take a misdemeanor arrest just as serious as I do a felony arrest. We are police officers, hired to enforce the law not break it and if I got out and break it then how is it that I can go out and enforce it,” Stevens said.
It was not the first time Harrell found himself on the wrong side of the law. Former Southern University Interim Police Chief Terry Landry said less than a year into Harrell’s job as a police officer, three years ago, he had to ask Harrell to resign or be fired.
“During the probationary period of his employment there was an incident where Mr. Harrell allegedly fired his weapon at a car he had some type of altercation with at his residence,” Landry said.
Landry said Harrell never reported the incident.
Current Chief Stevens said he rehired Harrell in April of this year. But not before doing a thorough background check. He said he called the Pointe Coupee, Tangipahoa and St. Helena Sheriffs’ offices, where Harrell worked after leaving Southern.
“That’s one of the first questions I asked, if they would hire him back and I got the nod that they would have and he was a good officer while he was there,” Stevens explained.
Landry said Chief Stevens never called him about Harrell.
“I’m just astonished that this young man was hired back because his patterns are laid out and if they had done adequate research… I know no one called me and asked what I thought about it,” Landry said.
Chief Stevens said he expects to know the internal affairs investigation to be complete in less than 60 days
Source: WAFB
Man pepper- sprayed by security during birthday party www.privateofficer.com
According to the Wauwatosa police report:
A private security firm had been hired to watch over a quinceañera, a 15th birthday celebration in the Hispanic community, to which 200 guests had been invited. It took place in the Muellner Building in Hart Park. The birthday girl’s family members had given guards a few rules to enforce, such as not allowing kids to leave the building without a chaperon after 10 p.m.
A few minutes before 10 p.m., a couple of kids wanted to go outside. One guard said OK if they were back inside by the deadline, while another told them they couldn’t leave and got physically aggressive with the kids, they said.
The kids were pulled into a room for questioning by guards when the West Allis man – the boyfriend of the birthday girl’s mother – came to see what was going on. He said he felt responsible for the children at the party; however, he got loud and refused to leave after numerous requests by the guards. He was pepper-sprayed by a guard.
A large amount of alcohol was being consumed and some of the intoxicated adults were upset about the party being disrupted, so police decided to shut it down and told people to leave. Police arrested the man for disorderly conduct because his actions directly contributed to the escalating problems at the city building.
Source: Wauwatosa Now
Former Pennsville police officer arrested for obstructing the FBI www.privateofficer.com
Robert Waterman, 31, of Wrightstown, Burlington County, allegedly destroyed a computer hard drive in March 2010, while employed as a police officer, after FBI agents began investigating him for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a statement today.
According to Fishman’s office, which cited a criminal indictment unsealed today, FBI agents from the bureau’s Philadelphia division began investigating Waterman on March 4, 2010. While interviewing him on that day, authorities allege, agents told him of the nature of their investigation. On the same day, authorities say, Waterman destroyed a computer hard drive with the intent to impede and obstruct the FBI’s investigation. Authorities recovered the hard drive the next day, according to the indictment.
Waterman, who appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel Schneider in Camden, is charged with one count of obstruction of justice. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.
A call to Waterman’s public defender was not returned.
SafeNest Worker Accused of Sexually Motivated Coercion www.privateofficer.com
Police arrested 59-year-old Benedetto “Ben” Vitale Tuesday. The arrest came after a 24-year-old North Las Vegas woman reported that Vitale attempted to coerce her into committing sex acts in exchange for signing off on her community service hours.
The victim had gone to the nonprofit agency to arrange to work off her court-ordered service. She had reported to the donation center at 4208 Arcata Way to discuss her duties when the alleged incident happened.
Vitale was arrested on one count each of open and gross lewdness, forgery and sexually-motivated coercion. Detectives are investigating the possibility that additional victims may exist.
Nashville police arrest man for stabbing at Walmart store www.privateofficer.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. July 27 2012– A man has been arrested in an early morning stabbing outside a Walmart in south Nashville.
Detectives charged 27-year-old Wah Wah with felony aggravated assault and unlawful weapon possession.
Darrius Griffin, 39, was stabbed several times in the driveway of the Walmart on Harding Place, near Nolensville Pike, around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Griffin told police he was walking along Harding Place to catch an MTA bus when someone in a van threw a beer bottle at him. He said as he reached the Walmart driveway he encountered three men that were getting out of the van. An altercation took place, and Griffin was stabbed several times in his torso and left leg.
A friend drove Griffin to the front of the store and dropped him off. He was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and is expected to recover.
As police responded to the scene, an officer spotted the van leaving and stopped it on Harding Place. Wah was the only occupant, but detectives found a .22 caliber rifle along with bullets and a magazine for the gun in his pocket.
Wah spoke very limited English, and said he was from Thailand. He was taken to Vanderbilt, where Griffin identified him as one of the three men who attacked him.
Police continue to try to identify and locate the other two men.
Wah was jailed in lieu of $120,000 bond.
Source:newschannel5.com
Ex-school nurse gets 10 years for setting campus building on fire www.privateofficer.com
Mary Lucille Gutierrez on Monday pleaded guilty to criminal mischief of more than $200,000 over last summer’s fire at Speegleville Elementary School in Woodway. A jury in Waco on Wednesday sentenced Gutierrez to prison and also fined her $10,000.
Nobody was hurt in the Aug. 9 pre-dawn blaze that caused about $2 million in damage. Video surveillance showed the 56-year-old Gutierrez going in and out of the school.
Investigators say Gutierrez hoped the fire would lead to a transfer for her or the administrator behind her poor review.
The newly repaired school is scheduled to reopen next month.
Enrico Fermi High School teacher charged with sexual assault of student www.privateofficer.com
Police said Tyler Wells, 29, had an inappropriate relationship with a student at Fermi High School.
Police started investigating Wells in June. He turned himself in to Enfield Police on Tuesday.
“I didn’t see it coming. It was pretty surprising. He’s a good guy,” Eric Adamczyk, a student, said.
Adamczyk was one of many of Wells’ students who were stunned by the accusations.
Wells had been a popular teacher and coach for several years and they never noticed any suspicious behavior, students said.
“In the hallways he’s always so nice and says ‘Hi’ to everyone. I would never think this would happen,” Emily Wiecek said.
NBC Connecticut went to Wells’ home to get his side of the story since he bonded out of jail, but no one answered the door.
Police said Wells was having an inappropriate relationship with a teenage girl inside Fermi High School, but they would not say how long the relationship lasted.
Police said they didn’t have any reason to believe Wells targeted other students at the school, but they were keeping this investigation open just in case other students came forward.
“I don’t fully believe it all,” Adamczyk said.
Some students questioned if the claims against their teacher were even true.
“It’s really mind boggling I guess,” Emily Wiecek said.
NBC tried getting in touch with Wells, his attorney and officials at Fermi High School, but no one returned phone calls or emails.
Source:NBC Connecticut
Duval County Public School teacher held in jail on sex charges www.privateofficer.com
Information released by the Duval County Public School district Wednesday details an incident reported in October 2009 alleging an inappropriate relationship between Christopher Bacca and a student.
At the time, Bacca was a 4th grade teacher at Long Branch Elementary, according to DCPS spokeswoman Jill Johnson.
“We immediately removed the teacher from the classroom based on those allegations,” Johnson said.
The report was investigated by the Department of Children and Families. The agency said the child confirmed spending nights alone with Bacca and sleeping in the same bed.
The child denied sexual contact, according to the report.
No criminal charges were filed. According to the report, the Department of Children and Families recommended Bacca be assigned to a “less vulnerable” student population.
In January of 2010, Bacca was transferred to Windy Hill Elementary following instructions to have no further contact with that child and a written reprimand, according to Johnson.
“Had they known about that, I promise you my nephew would not have been in that class,” said Karen Davis, who said her nephew was in Bacca’s class last year. “He was very liked. Very. It’s a shock.”
Although Davis called Bacca a good teacher, she believes the school should have disclosed the 2009 investigation to parents.
“It was just crazy that this happens just out your back door,” Davis said. “You would have never, ever, ever thought it would have been him.”
Johnson stressed all teachers go through a background check and said Bacca had no criminal record prior to being hired in 2008.
In the information First Coast News received from DCPS Wednesday, there is a letter from Bacca in which he responds to the allegations. It is not clear to whom the letter is written.
In that letter, Bacca said it is true that he has a special bond with the child, saying: “This bond stems from the close relationship that I and my family have to his mother and his entire family. I cannot have this connection with every child. I simply do not have the time or money.”
He goes on to say his relationship with the child would not change, nor the commitment to his family.
Bacca remained in jail Wednesday night. His total bond was set at $750,000.
Source:First Coast News
Mother and daughter receive award for helping police capture bank robber www.privateofficer.com
In honor of their heads-up help, Northville Township Public Safety Director John Werth presented both with civilian citations at the Board of Trustees meeting on July 19.
Werth said Mary Guibord and her daughter Gabrielle were at the TCF Bank at Six Mile and Haggerty roads around 1:40 p.m. Sunday, July 1 when Mary observed a suspicious-looking female enter the bank, go up to the teller and then quickly leave the building and drive away.
The robbery suspect had asked for $6,000 and left with over $5,000, according to Werth.
According to Lt. Michael Wildt, the Guibords followed the suspect in their own vehicle while contacting the police. They continued to update the police on the suspect’s location. Eventually, Livonia police deployed stop sticks, disabling the vehicle and arrested the suspect.
Werth said both “were very accurate in giving us information.”
“This is what we call in public safety ‘the best witnesses,’” Werth said.
Because the case/trial is ongoing the police would like to keep some of the Guibords’ personal information private.
Werth read from the certificate and said both were courageous in helping with the apprehension of a bank robber as well as the recovery of $5,342.
“By your act a dangerous criminal was taken off the street minutes after the robbery occurred,” Werth read. “This serious crime would not have been solved so quickly without your assistance.”
According to Wildt, the suspect is Kristie Lynn Smith, 35, of Redford Township, and she is charged with one count of bank robbery, a felony charge with up to life in prison.
Source:hometownlife.com
