Harris County store clerk saved by bulletproof glass www.privateofficer.com

 

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas June 18 2013 – Deputies say a gunman opened fire on a clerk inside a northwest Harris County store on Sunday night, but thanks to bulletproof glass no injuries were reported.
It happened around 10:30 p.m. at the Antoine Express corner store on Antoine near Veterans Memorial Drive, according to deputies.
Witnesses said the shooter appeared to be a customer who was holding up the line at the clerk’s window. The clerk asked the customer to step aside for other customers, and that’s when the suspect started to verbally assault the clerk.
“I said, ‘please check behind you, we have a lot of customers,’ and then he started talking bad and started to fire,” said clerk Eli Nizr.
The clerk closed the window as the gunman fired three shots into the glass and fled the scene. The bullets did not make it through the glass.
A description of the shooter was not immediately available.
Source- khou

Retail theft more organized, more costly www.privateofficer.com

 

Columbus OH June 17 2013 About 300 law-enforcement officers and retail leaders met yesterday to better coordinate efforts to combat organized retail crime, which results in an estimated $30 billion in losses nationwide every year.
The Ohio Regional Organized Crime Coalition held its second-annual symposium, featuring presentations from prosecutors, retail-loss-prevention professionals and police.
“Many people view shoplifting as simply a nuisance, but it has become very organized,” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. The goal of the symposium, which was held at the James G. Jackson Columbus Police Academy, was to improve communication among retailers and between retailers and law enforcement. Chains such as Cabela’s, Home Depot, Kroger and Wal-Mart Stores sponsored the event.
For criminals, “this is an all-day, every-day business,” said Steve Shepard, president of the coalition. “But they haven’t learned anything. They’re still getting caught.” Retail crime leads to higher prices for customers because companies must offset the cost of the lost merchandise, said Lt. Robert Strausbaugh, who supervises the Columbus Police Division’s burglary unit and is vice chairman of the coalition.
In addition, “lost sales-tax revenue in Ohio is more than $30 million a year,” DeWine said.
Strausbaugh described an organized shoplifting operation: Someone loads a few big-ticket items, such as TVs, into a store cart, scoots out an emergency exit and loads the goods into a waiting car. The criminals sell the stolen items at flea markets or secondhand stores, or online through eBay or Craigslist, Strausbaugh said. The rings often move from city to city.
Strausbaugh didn’t have estimates of the losses to Columbus retailers but said the burglary unit investigates about 29,000 felony thefts each year — more than any other law-enforcement agency in the state.
Yesterday’s symposium was an example of how retailers and law enforcement share information about strategies to thwart crime and prevent losses. Police also offered updates. One investigation is homing in on a person who has stolen about $140,000 in merchandise from home-improvement stores over several years, Strausbaugh said.
Serial shoplifting can lead to more significant crime, DeWine said.“Someone may steal a few TVs to buy drugs, then get high and kill someone,” he said. “It’s more than lost dollars. This has a rippling effect across society.”
source-dispatch.com

Former Smyrna Police sergeant now in own private security business www.privateofficer.com

 

MURFREESBORO TN June 17 2013 — Jeff Lucas protected citizens as an officer with the Smyrna Police Department for 17 years. But these days, the former sergeant is using the latest technology to help protect businesses.

“I started in late 2010,” said Lucas, who owns Signature Security with his wife, Regina. “Someone wanted me to provide off-duty law enforcement for a restaurant in Nashville.” The business has grown so that he is now providing armed security and off-duty law enforcement for 11 companies, using between 30 and 35 people to provide the service.

Since March, he has become affiliated with a company called Advanced Surveillance Inc. to begin offering a patented technology called Police Watch. “We find agencies who are willing to work with us,” Lucas explains. After a demonstration, he will set up a monitor and server at no cost to a law enforcement agency. “We then go into businesses that want to be connected instantly to law enforcement,” Lucas said. “We can use their existing camera system or sell them one. We put a small server in their business and connect it to their camera system, and we put panic buttons strategically located in their business. Should someone come in and attempt to rob the business it will activate the closest camera and send a live video feed directly to law enforcement within a second.”

The advantage of this system, he said, is that law enforcement dispatch can immediately see what is happening, and get accurate suspect information. Photos can be sent of the suspect to the officer as he or she is responding to the scene or as they arrive. “It cuts out third party monitoring stations,” Jeff Lucas said. “(Under the traditional system), three to 10 minutes can go by before an officer is dispatched.” In some cases, Lucas said, an officer under the current system, could pass the suspect on the street because the officer is not getting accurate information. With Police Watch, workers and store owners are where the camera is, and the information is more accurate. Signature Security recently also began offering standard burglar alarms and monitoring services. “We do burglar alarms for residents and businesses and we can do cameras for residents and business,” Lucas said.

“The majority are businesses now, but we are trying to break into the residential market.” Signature Security has been providing security guards for a year and a half during business hours to Providence Community Corrections (PCC) , which in turn provides services to Rutherford County, according to its director, Sean Hollis.

“We have been contracted with Rutherford County since 1996,” Hollis said. “We supervise all of their misdemeanor offenses, including collecting all the county’s fines and court costs.” This week, a security camera system was being installed at the Murfreesboro offices. “The new camera system was developed because we learned about it from Jeff, who thought it would be a good idea,” Hollis said.
Source-Tennessean

Women accused of stealing credit card numbers from Walmart customers www.privateofficer.com

Palm Beach County June 17 2013 Nayeliz Soto told police she knew it was wrong to use credit card numbers stolen from customers to make more than $6,000 in purchases at the Greenacres Walmart where she worked.
But she wanted to help co-worker Nadia Saint Jean feed her children, according to Greenacres police.
Both women were arrested Monday at the Walmart, at 6294 Forest Hill Blvd., after a camera captured Soto writing down a customer’s credit card information on May 22 and giving it to Saint Jean, who used it to buy two Visa gift cards, according to a Greenacres police arrest report.
The pair, both of West Palm Beach, later admitted to carrying out the scheme several times, using credit card numbers taken from customers.
Soto, 18, said Saint Jean, 20, asked her to help her support her children by taking down the numbers. She said she didn’t use the information for her own personal gain.
Saint Jean told a different story. She said Soto approached her and told her a “rich customer” provided her with a credit card number to use. She bought a $1,000 gift card with that information, and admitted to using other unauthorized credit card numbers over the course of a month. The money was spent on gift cards and to pay a few bills, according to the report.
A Walmart security specialist became suspicious after a customer on May 24 reported unauthorized transactions on her credit card to the store. The customer, Florinda Rodriquez, told police she was a victim of credit card fraud after purchasing a prepaid cellphone from the Walmart two days earlier.
While at the store, she noticed the cashier who checked her out, later identified as Soto, writing down her credit card information. She said she “thought this was strange, but did not think better of it at the time,” according to police.
Both Soto and Saint Jean face multiple charges, including criminal use of personal identification information, fraudulent use of a credit card and cheating. Soto was released early Wednesday from the Palm Beach County Jail on $17,000 bail. Saint Jean remains in the jail on $17,250 bail.
Source-Sun Sentinel

Sheriff’s shoplifting sting at Hudson Walmart nets 50 arrests www.privateoffcer.com

HUDSON  FL June 16 2013

A big electronic sign flashed at the entrance to a Florida Wal-Mart for three months warning everyone not to shoplift because sheriff deputies were operating an undercover sting inside the store.

The undercover operation conducted at a Hudson Walmart with the help of store management and store loss prevention has put a big problem in the spotlight:

Shoplifting

Altogether, 50 arrests were made between early March and the end of the May despite the presence of the big electronic sign in front of the store.

A video released to the media shows deputies tackling one man to the ground after he allegedly tried to leave the store with stolen goods.

Another clip shows a woman casually walk out of the store with a trampoline in her cart. Deputies say she didn’t pay for it and arrested her in the parking lot.

“I think this is the most obvious we’ve ever been,” Sheriff Chris Nocco said. “We’re telling people we’re here and we’re going to arrest you.

Nocco said the sting primarily targeted organized thieves who take merchandise to sell to pawn shops. He said that for many of those suspects, shoplifting is their primary source of income. They either sell the merchandise or return it for gift cards.

“We’re looking at every opportunity we can to give people the opportunity not to steal.  But if they cross that line and they steal, we’re going to take them to jail.”

 Authorities said thieves attempted to steal $4,700 worth of merchandise during the sting.

In all of 2012, there were 221 arrests for shoplifting at the Hudson Walmart store.

Serial armed robber targeting dollar stores www.privateofficer.com

 

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. June 14 2013 — Police said they have tied 25 armed robberies to the same suspect. They said he is robbing dollar stores all around metro Atlanta.
Thirteen of the armed robberies happened in DeKalb County. “This person is extremely dangerous,” said DeKalb County Police Chief Cedric Alexander. “He’s coming into the store armed with patrons being in the store.”
The FBI has been called into the investigation because 12 more armed robberies have happened outside of DeKalb County. According to police, the same man is suspected in two robberies in Lilburn, two more in Atlanta, one in Lithonia, four in Gwinnett County and three in Henry County.
Authorities in Henry County released a photo of the man they say robbed the Dollar General store in McDonough Tuesday afternoon. According to authorities, the store on West Jodeco Road was robbed by a “male armed with a small, black semi-automatic handgun.”
The suspect was dropped off by an older model silver Cadillac Escalade.
Police describe the suspect as about 20 years old, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds.
“Somebody knows this person,” Chief Alexander said at a Wednesday afternoon news conference. “Somebody knows who this is and what I’m asking this community to do throughout the entire metro community, if you know who he is please give us a call.”
Police said the man is targeting dollar stores. Every one of his robberies has been either a Family Dollar store or a Dollar General store. He has never hit the same store twice.
Because he is armed in every robbery, police feel they’ve been fortunate. “No one has been hurt at this point,” Chief Alexander said. “But with the frequency we’re seeing in this we have to make sure everyone is safe and we have to get this guy off the street as soon as we can.”
Police are asking anyone who recognizes the suspect to call Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (8477)
Source-11alive

New ‘benefit-denial approach’ to retail shrink www.privateofficer.com

 

RICHMOND, Va. June 14 2013—Best Buy and a major, undisclosed office-supply retail chain are testing a new consumer-friendly packaging approach to combat theft, all the way from the supply chain to the showroom.
The solution, from MeadWestvaco, based here, and ProTeqt Technologies in Massachusetts, physically locks a high-value or at-risk product from the point of manufacture to retail display, rendering it useless until it is purchased. That’s where ProTeqt comes in with its software, using RFID technology at checkout counters to unlock the item.
“It removes the motivation of the thieves,” both outsiders and employees, said David Miller, global director for security packaging systems for MeadWestvaco (MWV).
For example, a flash drive can be packaged with one of MWV’s Intercept locks, making it nonfunctional as is. Once it is scanned at the checkout counter, using ProTeqt’s software, the lock is wirelessly disengaged.
Miller sees further applications for this “benefit-denial” system for other items such as electronics, fragrances, high-end apparel and video games. “It’s incredibly adaptable. A single platform can protect an entire store” across the retail verticals, he told Security Director News.
John LaMalva, executive vice president of client and market development at ProTeqt, said the usefulness of the product lies in its benefit-denial value. “There’s a fundamental deterrent value. We’ve taken away thieves’ motivation to steal. Most other technology today is targeted at making it more of a risk to get a product out the door.” Products protected with the Intercept technology, however, will make them useless unless purchased, he said. That message will be prominent on the packaging, he said.
Other LP solutions can deter sales, Miller and LaMalva said. Alarms often block branding on packages; locked cabinets and plastic boxes prevent customers from experiencing the products and inhibit impulse buys. Their solution, on the other hand, is embedded within the packaging. A shoplifter looking to resell the item will be out of luck with ruined packaging and a nonfunctional product.
“This allows retailers to keep products on their shelves,” Miller said.
In addition, the software pinpoints when and where a lock was disengaged, helping in intelligence about employee theft.
LaMalva said he expects the first retail-chain rollout to come next year.
Best Buy’s testing of the Intercept on newly released video games was announced at the Loss Prevention Retail Council’s Impact Workshop last October. Tim Fisher, Best Buy’s director of asset protection and safety, told Security Director News it is the company’s policy not to comment publically on products it is testing. An article in a newsletter from Robert L. DiLonardo, principal of Retail Consulting Partners, reported that Fisher “noted the initial experience was positive, and that inventory shrinkage for the tagged titles had fallen. Best Buy is considering expanding more broadly by adding more new releases to the tagged lit, and then by adding more stores.”
Source- SDN

DIRECTV gets into security, acquires LifeShield www.privateofficer.com

 

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. June 12 2013 —Satellite TV provider DIRECTV is getting into home security with the purchase of LifeShield. Formerly known as InGrid, LifeShield is a self-installed, professionally monitored, wireless digital security system.
DIRECTV opted to purchase a company instead of partner with one because over time, it wants to “fully integrate the home security technology with the DIRECTV video experience,” Brad Bentley, DIRECTV SVP, told Security Systems News.
DIRECTV will begin selling the combined offering nationwide in the first quarter of 2014. Professional monitoring will continue to be provided by Protection 1.
DIRECTV adds between 3.5 and 4 million new customers every year. It has 1,000 dealers and 2,500 sales agents nationwide, who Bentley predicts will provide a “significant funnel” for new sales of the home security offering.
In addition, LifeShield will be offered to DIRECTV customers who move or upgrade to other services. Many of those customers may not have security, and for those who do, DIRECTV may be able to offer more “features and functionality” than a customer’s current home security provider, Bentley said.
Bentley also sees “potential through our CE channel [consumer electronics store partners] as well.”
“Wherever we sell DIRECTV today, home security will be available to those customers,” Bentley said.
While DIRECTV and LifeShield will continue to be available to customers as a DIY offering, Bentley said many customers want professional installation. DIRECTV’s nationwide network of technicians will “include [the installation of LifeShield] as part of our professional installation when we hook up their DIRECTV,” he said.
Terms of the deal were not announced. DIRECTV acquired the entire LifeShield business, which has 105 employees and is based in Langhorne, Pa. LifeShield CEO Mike Hagan will continue to run the security organization and will report to Bentley.
“We looked at a number of different folks along the way,” Bentley said. DIRECTV was sold on “LifeShield’s mix of a strong management team [and] a great product.”
DIRECTV, which had $7.5 billion in revenues in the first quarter of 2013, has a market cap of $34.3 billion and an enterprise value of $50.8 billion, according to Yahoo Finance. It has 20 million customers in the United States and 16 million customers in Latin America.
InGrid was launched in 2007 by Lou Stilp. From 2007 to 2009, Stilp raised funds and partnered with some traditional security companies and some cable companies to sell his product. He also partnered with Guardian Protection of Pittsburgh for professional monitoring. Guardian CEO Russ Cersosimo is also an investor in the company.
The partnerships with cable companies and traditional alarm companies didn’t flourish, so late in 2009 Stilp decided that InGrid should take control of its own destiny. That was the beginning of the company’s conversion to a direct-to-consumer model, he explained.

In 2010, Hagan—former CEO of NutriSystems—got involved with the company. He helped Stilp raise $11 million in two funding rounds and the company was renamed LifeShield.
In June 2012, LifeShield announced a strategic relationship with Protection 1, where Pro 1 would provide professional monitoring for LifeShield customers and would also provide professional installation for customers who did not want to install the systems themselves.

Source- SSN

Fairfax County Kmart security officer for abduction and sex assault of shoplifter www.privateofficer.com

 

Fairfax County VA June 12 2013 A Kmart security officer was arrested Saturday after police say he forced a  suspected shoplifter to perform a sexual act on him. “That’s horrible,” says Nakesha Brunson.

“You just made me  scared to shop around here.” Police say that Tabbasum Gilani, a 29-year-old Lorton resident, was working  at the Kmart store at 6364 Springfield Plaza when he detained a 23-year-old  woman.

She was later charged with misdemeanor shoplifting. The woman alleges that Gilani forced her into performing a sexual act on him  while she was detained. She was later taken to a nearby hospital for treatment  of undisclosed injuries. “That is awful… too many things around here have been happening,” says Anne  Clair Fregnan.

“Safety needs to get a little bit better in the Springfield area,  I think.” Gilani has been charged with abduction with intent to defile and forcible  sodomy. A man at his home Monday had no comment.
source- http://www.wjla.com

NC Kohl’s loss prevention officer charged with larceny www.privateofficer.com

Salisbury NC June 11 2013 Authorities say a loss prevention officer at Kohl’s Department store was caught on surveillance video stealing from the Klumac Road store.

The Salisbury Police charged Rebecca Lynn Rodgers, 43, of the 100 block of Browns Farm Road, Salisbury, with felony larceny by employee.

She was arrested Tuesday around 12:30 p.m. at the store, but officials say the incident occurred last month. On May 13, loss prevention saw Rodgers on video taking two shirts, together valued at just under $100, remove the tags inside the loss prevention office and put them into her purse. A report said Rodgers placed the items into her purse at the end of her shift and walked out of the store. The items were not recovered. The incident was brought to the attention of the store by another store employee.

Rodgers has since been released from the Rowan County Detention Center under a $1,500 secured bond.

source-salisburypost.com

Photos, video show JFK Airport security guards dozing at key posts www.privateofficer.com

New York NY June 11 2013 Terror-targeted JFK Airport has become a giant slumber party for some of its security guards — who regularly doze on duty at key posts, according to a former boss and damning photos obtained by The Post.
Although the airport has been at the center of at least one terror plot — and an embarrassing security snafu involving a jet skier last summer — these disturbing infractions seem to mean little to the cadre of guards who catnap on the job, says the ex-boss, Stephen Jackson, 39.
“It was a regular occurrence finding the guards sleeping,” said Jackson, a former manager for FJC Security, which employs about 300 security guards at JFK Airport.
Jackson, an ex-Marine, began working at FJC in August 2011 and became a security-guard supervisor at JFK in December. He was fired May 28 after what he calls a campaign of harassment over everything from his whistle-blowing to his being Hispanic.
The married Staten Island father of four said he typically supervised between 58 and 65 guards over an eight-hour shift at JFK — and regularly caught about six sleeping on duty.
FJC guards earn starting salaries of $17.23 an hour with benefits — nearly $36,000 yearly, or about $6,000 less than the $41,975 annual starting salary of a rookie NYPD cop.
One FJC worker who allegedly found it difficult to keep his eyes open was Suhas Harite, 68. Jackson claims to have caught him sleeping twice while assigned to a remote post not far from Jamaica Bay.
The post is about 150 yards from where a stranded jet skier last August breached a 6-foot-tall fence that was part of the vaunted $100 million Perimeter Intrusion Detection System bought by the Port Authority from defense contractor Raytheon.
The hapless skier sauntered unchallenged across two airport runways and wasn’t detected until he approached someone for help.
That fiasco, revealed by The Post, led the PA to authorize hundreds of thousands of dollars in police overtime to beef up patrols. FJC added four posts in the area, Jackson said.
The remote location, however, proved irresistible for sleepy guards such as Harite, Jackson said.
In a 36-second cellphone video Jackson took in March and provided to The Post, a man he identified as Harite can be seen at the wheel of an FJC vehicle sleeping contentedly.
“Come on, buddy. Wake up!” Jackson is heard saying to the man as he repeatedly honks his horn.
“Beeping the horn, nothing. A plane’s taking off,” Jackson says in the video while still honking as a jet is seen and heard overhead.

Jackson said that he told management about Harite’s napping at the post but that they kept him there — and he photographed Harite sleeping at the same spot several weeks later.
That nap, Jackson said, cost Harite a one-week suspension without pay.
Jackson claims he photographed another FJC guard, Tiana Small, in March as she dozed in a company car.
Harite did not immediately return a call for comment. A woman answering Small’s phone said she was busy and might call back. She didn’t.
Jackson also provided The Post with a third photo of what appeared to be yet another sleeping FJC guard — this one taken at a security booth near the postal-service facility in JFK.
Jackson said management gave him grief when he reported such lapses.
“If you fire someone, you have to do paperwork, hire someone new and place others on overtime until you can find somebody else, so a lot of managers wouldn’t want that placed on their shoulders,” he said.
“I’d be told, ‘Jackson, why do you have to make more work for us by exposing these people for sleeping? You should just wake them up and give them warnings.’ ”
Asked about the video and photos of sleeping guards, PA spokeswoman Lisa MacSpadden said, “FJC guards should do their napping at home, not on the job.”
On Friday, the PA rapped the three FJC employees caught sleeping in photos made available to The Post, banning them from working at PA facilities.
MacSpadden suggested FJC’s handling of dozing guards could affect how new security contracts, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, would be awarded.
“We consider past and current performance of our vendors in any future contract awards,” she said.
FJC has multimillion-dollar contracts with the PA at all three area airports, at bridges and tunnels and at the World Trade Center due to expire in January 2015.
Jackson said he was fired on a technicality after letting a worker who didn’t have his ID into a restricted area he normally had access to. Jackson said a supervisor had advised him to let the guy in.
FJC would not comment on why Jackson was fired.
Mike McKeon, an FJC spokesman, dismissed Jackson’s claims about the guards as “sour grapes.”
“The first we heard about this was after he was disciplined,” McKeon explained.
“He said, ‘If you fire me, I’m going to take this to The Post.’ I’ll give him this: At least he was a man of his word with regards to this.”
“Had he done this while on the job, he would have been commended. But he didn’t do this.”
Jackson said evidence, including e-mails and memos, proved McKeon’s assertions untrue.

Source-nypost.com

Security guard suspected in fatal southwest Houston shooting www.privateofficer.com

 

HOUSTON TX June 10 2013 – Police are investigating a deadly shooting in southwest Houston this morning.
Investigators say it happened in a strip center parking lot in the 9600 block of Bissonnet near Plainfield.
The man’s body was found around 4:30am. He has not been identified.
Police say witnesses saw a security guard shoot the man.
After the shooting, the alleged gunman took off.
The victim was taken to the hospital where he later died.
Police are still talking to witnesses but have not been able to find the security guard.
source-abc13

Security guard, 92, helped secure Normandy beaches www.privateofficer.com

 

Tacoma WA. June 8 2013 On June 6, 1944, Raymond Carreau was a 23-year-old helping sink his vessel off the coast of Normandy amid enemy fire.
The idea was to form artificial breakwaters as part of the D-Day invasion that ultimately defeated Adolf Hitler in World War II.
On Thursday, on the 69th anniversary of the invasion, Carreau carried a picture of himself at age 22 in his wallet while working the night shift as a security officer on the Tacoma Tideflats.
“I lead a quiet life at my age,” he said. “What do you expect at 92?”
About three months before the invasion of France, the U.S. Army took over Carreau’s Merchant Marine ship off the coast of Scotland, he said.
He’d settled on the Merchant Marine after stints with the Canadian Active Army and the U.S. Coast Guard during the war.
The crew crossed the English Channel after picking up 500 to 1,000 soldiers who took to the shores under heavy gunfire once they arrived. Sinking vessels helped create calmer landing waters for troops.
Only six people, including Carreau, remained aboard to help secure the harbor.
“They were firing down on us,” he said. “One shell hit the smoke stack and the top of it got blown off, but we weren’t hurt.”
Carreau continued as a merchant mariner after the war, and in the 1980s he started writing the government to say he never received an Army discharge from his time under their command.
His letters resulted in about 1,000 merchant seamen who were part of the Normandy invasion getting veteran status.
But he still has a bone to pick. The days he worked securing the sunken harbor weren’t on his discharge.
“The Army owes me four days’ pay,” he said. “I got cheated.”
Beyond Normandy, Carreau also talks about being a model in New York, the children’s book he wrote and laments was never published, a book on economics he authored, and his unsuccessful mining venture in Korea.
He also remembers the time he offended a superior in the Canadian Active Army by saying he believed monarchy will one day be extinct as a form of government.
“I could see the Union Jack flapping in his eyes,” he remembered with a laugh.
When he had time off during the war, he’d usually go to Hungary, he said, for the beautiful women. But while he remembers getting at least 100 marriage proposals from European admirers during the war, and a good dozen in the U.S., he’s remained a bachelor, though he stayed in touch with one old girlfriend from before the war until she died, he said.
“I had scads of pretty girlfriends when I was young,” he said.
His Merchant Marine pension is $355 a month, helping pay the mortgage on the Tacoma house he’s had since the 1980s or so. He works four days a week as a security officer on the Tideflats at Jesse Engineering.
The people in charge, he says, are “kind of attached” to him. Source- thenewstribune.com

Georgia man arrested after firing at alleged shoplifters’ vehicle in Alabama www.privateofficer.com

Prattville AL June 8 2013 A Georgia man was arrested in Prattville on Wednesday after his efforts to stop a shoplifting incident, according to police.
Prattville police Chief Mark Thompson said Donald Estes, 57, of Winston, Ga., told police he was shopping inside Belk with his brother when they saw two women run from the store.
The men followed the alleged shoplifters into the parking lot, where Estes fired one round from a handgun at the fleeing vehicle, Thompson said.
Estes was charged with one count of reckless endangerment, a Class C misdemeanor.
“We had a gun fired in a crowded parking lot. We don’t need that,” Thompson said.
Estes was released from the Autauga Metro Jail on Wednesday afternoon after posting a $500 bond, jail records show. The shoplifting suspects remained at large Wednesday evening, Thompson said.
Needless to say this is not the kind of help police expect from the public, Thompson said.
“If they see a crime in progress, they should call 911,” he said. “We do need accurate descriptions of the suspects and any vehicles involved. But we don’t need people getting actively involved in cases like this.”
Deadly force cannot be used to protect against theft of property when there is no threat of immediate harm, said District Attorney Randall Houston.
“Firing a weapon in a parking lot where there are other citizens creates a great risk of danger that cannot be tolerated,” he said.
It’s not known whether the shot fired struck the vehicle, Thompson said.
Information on the amount or type of merchandise allegedly stolen was not available Wednesday.

Shoplifter shouted he has AIDS, tried to bite security officer www.privateofficer.com

LUFKIN, TX June 6 2013
Lufkin Police officers arrested a 34-year-old man and charged him with robbery after he allegedly shouted that he had AIDS and tried to bite a security officer after he was caught shoplifting at Sears Tuesday afternoon.
Christopher Lee Carr, of Lufkin, is still being held in the Angelina County jail on a second-degree felony charge of robbery. No bail has been set at this time.
According to the police report, the incident occurred at approximately 1:33 p.m. Tuesday at the Sears store located in the Lufkin Mall at 4600 S. Medford Drive.

Source: KTRE

Michigan Governor signs Organized Retail Crime Act www.privateofficer.com

 

PRESS RELEASE
GOV. RICK SNYDER
MICHIGAN JUNE 4 2013
Gov. Rick Snyder has signed legislation establishing the Organized Retail Crime Act to protect consumers by cracking down on the increasing prevalence of retail fraud.
House Bills 5843 and 5902, sponsored by state Rep. Joe Graves, R-District 51, would make it a felony punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment if a person is found guilty of knowingly committing organized retail crime.
This includes the theft of retail merchandise with the intent or purpose of reselling, distributing, or transferring the stolen retail merchandise to another retail merchant or to any other person personally, through the mail, or through any electronic medium, including the Internet, in exchange for anything of value. The measures are now Public Acts 455 and 456 of 2012.
“Organized retail crime is a sophisticated operation conducted by professional criminals and can act as a gateway to finance even more serious crimes,” Snyder said. “These crimes are costing our businesses and our communities too much and law enforcement will now be better able to combat this growing threat.”

Maryland men charged; counterfeit merchandise seized from Laurel business www.privateofficer.com

 

Laurel DE June 3 2013 Three Maryland men have been charged and more than $100,000 in counterfeit merchandise has been seized following an investigation into the sale of counterfeit items at a Laurel business, Delaware state police said in a release today.
On Friday, the Delaware State Police Troop 4 Criminal Investigations Unit carried out a search warrant at the Source 1 Wireless business at 11457 Commercial Lane in Laurel.
During the search, more than 1,252 items valued at more than $100,000 were found to be counterfeit and were seized, Sgt. Paul Shavack said. He said the items that were seized included brand-name merchandise such as Polo, Coach, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Reebok, Tory Burch and NBA and NFL jerseys. Sixteen grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found, and $1,468 in cash proceeds was seized from the business, Shavack said.
Zarar Shauket, 28, of Delmar, Md.; Eitezaz Shauket, 32, of Salisbury, Md.; and Shane McAllister, 20, of Delmar, Md, all were taken into custody there without incident, he said.
Zarar and Eitezaz Shauket each were charged with four felony counts of trademark counterfeiting, 18 misdemeanor counts of trademark counterfeiting, second-degree conspiracy, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both were arraigned and released on $14,500 unsecured bond each. McAllister was charged with a felony count of trademark counterfeiting and second-degree conspiracy. He was arraigned and released on $2,000 unsecured bond.
State police are continuing their investigation.
source-delawareonline.com

Denver Library will retrain security guards who failed to report crimes www.privateofficer.com

 

DENVER CO June 2 2013 – The Denver Public library says it will retrain security guards and review details of unreported crimes, after 9Wants to Know discovered staff at the Central Library failed to report sex crimes – including child porn – to police.
9Wants to Know obtained internal security logs showing approximately 60 incidents of sexual misconduct at the library in 2013. Most of those incidents involved patrons looking at porn. However, nearly a dozen incidents involved apparent criminal behavior. The crimes included indecent exposure, sex in the bathroom and viewing child porn on library’s computers. Library security guards were aware of the incidents, but failed to notify Denver Police of most of the crimes.
The Denver Public Library’s security manager told 9NEWS his staff should be reporting crimes to police, and if they haven’t in the past, it was a mistake. Security Manager Bob Knowles says after an unreported child-porn incident in April, he did review protocol for reporting illegal activities on May 19 during a staff meeting.
9Wants to Know started investigating after a tipster emailed. She said she was the victim of indecent exposure in the library, and she was upset by the library’s response.
“I was told to my face by a supervisor of security, ‘Well if you don’t feel safe here you should just leave.’ I found that really sad,” she said. 9NEWS is not revealing the tipster’s identity because she is concerned the perpetrator would try to find her.
City Librarian Shirley Amore told 9NEWS in an emailed statement that Knowles spoke with the Denver Police area commander to “discuss/coordinate our actions and support” in dealing with crimes in the library Thursday.
Amore added library security guard will undergo more training next week to “emphasize response priorities, customer care, and the criticality of reporting illegal activities to the police.”
“We are also conducting a review of incidents to determine if any past criminal activities should be reported,” Amore said.
“That’s great,” the tipster said. “If they have some sort of plan to deal with future incidents, i think that really was the goal of me writing that initial email.”
9Wants to Know asked the Denver Police Department what should be done to ensure families visiting the library are safe and sexual deviants inside the library are stopped.
“They have a very difficult situation,” police spokesman Sonny Jackson said about library security. “They have a very diverse clientele, so therefore they have a lot of to contend with. Any way we can assist them, we are willing to do.”
Jackson said a police commander already has monthly meetings with the library security manager. Jackson added it is unlikely a uniformed officer would be assigned solely to the library, due to DPD staffing constraints.

source-9news

Waco, Texas man gets 50 year prison sentence for stealing a rack of ribs www.privateofficer.com

 

Waco TX June 2 2013 A habitual offender may have committed his final felony, after a jury sentenced him to 50 years for stealing a rack of ribs from a shop.  Willie Smith Ward, 43, attempted to steal the $35 large rack of ribs at the H-E-B store in Waco, Texas, by smuggling it underneath his shirt. Ward was then apprehended in the car park by a shopping assistant, who noticed the bulge and tried to stop him leaving.

According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, his act of theft was heightened to robbery when he threatened the employee by telling him he was in possession of a knife. According to the employee’s testimony, he added: “If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll show you what I got,” before running off. He was later arrested.

A jury in Waco’s 19th State District Court took just two minutes to convict Ward for robbery and an hour to recommend a sentence. Ward already had five previous felonies and four convictions for misdemeanors.

His previous convictions have been for crimes including burglary, attempted robbery, aggravated assault, leaving the scene of an accident and possession of cocaine. Assistant District Attorney J.R. Vicha, prosecuting, told Ward: “This verdict shows that the citizens of this county will not tolerate a continued disrespect and disregard for other people and their property. People who choose to do so will be dealt with seriously and appropriately.”

He will have to serve at least a quarter of his sentence before being eligible for parole. He allegedly rejected a 20-year prison sentence in a plea bargain before the trial.

“Bucket list” lands friends in jail www.privateofficer.com

 

OCALA, Fla. June 1 2013

Two longtime friends ended up in jail in central Florida thanks to a “bucket list” that included stealing from a store.

Police say 36-year-old Andrea Mobley and 38-year-old Jennifer Morrow face petty theft charges after stealing bathing suits and beef jerky during a trip to Wal-Mart on Wednesday.

A loss prevention officer told police Mobley was eating beef jerky in the store and Morrow concealed items inside her purse. They were detained after taking the items from the store without paying.

The Ocala Star-Banner (http://bit.ly/18BR9KR) reports the women told police they hadn’t seen each other in years and stealing from a retail store was on the “bucket list.”

Mobley told the newspaper they were just “two stupid women” doing something they’d never done before. She added she’s ashamed.

Woman claiming AIDS threatens Stoneridge Mall security officers with needle www.privateofficer.com

 

Pleasanton CA June 1 2013 A San Francisco woman was arrested May 25 for felony and two misdemeanors in an incident that began as a simple shoplifting at Stoneridge Shopping Center.

Security officers attempted to stop Vanessa Marie Delapaz, 29, at about 7:42 p.m. in the 1400 block of Stoneridge Mall Road in a theft of $148 jeans from Macy’s Men’s. Delapaz, however, pulled out a hypodermic needle, yelled she has AIDS and brandished the needle, holding the officers at bay while she attempted to get away, according to a police report.

Pleasanton police were called in for assistance. Delapaz was in the parking lot trying to get away when police arrived and she was taken into custody after dropping the needle. She was arrested for misdemeanor theft, brandishing a weapon and possession of a non-narcotic controlled substance. It could not be confirmed if Delapaz has AIDS.

source-pleasantonweekly.com

Milwaukee woman arrested for shoplifting at Brookfield store www.privateofficer.com

 

Waukesha County WI June 1 2013 A Milwaukee woman drew the attention of Kohl’s Department Store’s loss prevention when she walked into a men’s fitting room with three pairs of jeans.

Melissa A. Barker, 44, was watched as she exited the fitting room with jeans and walked toward the perfume counter where the loss prevention officer saw her concealing two bottles of perfume in her jacket sleeve on Thursday, according to a criminal complaint filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court.
Barker, who was charged Friday with retail theft and faces up to nine months in jail and $10,0000 in fines if convicted, was taken into custody outside of Kohl’s, 2315 N. 124th St.

Brookfield police officers found two bottles of perfume valued in total at $94 and three pieces of jewelry that totaled $118, the complaint states.

When Barker arrived at the Waukesha County Jail, jail staff noticed that she was wearing two pairs of pants. One pair of pants were stolen from Kohl’s and were valued at $58, according to the criminal complaint.
Source-Brookfield patch

Milwaukee woman faces charges after pepper spraying security officers www.privateofficer.com

Milwaukee County WI May 31 2013 A 26-year-old Milwaukee woman faces state charges after police say she sprayed mall security with pepper spray as she attempted to flee a Southridge mall store with a bag of stolen items.
Bythia Davis was charged May 15 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with one misdemeanor count of retail theft and one felony count of use of Oleoresin Capsicum spray, also known as pepper spray, in commission of a crime. If convicted, Davis could face up to six years and nine months imprisonment, $20,000 in fines, or both.
According to the criminal complaint:
On May 11 at 1:54 p.m., Greendale police received a report of a retail theft at Sears in Southridge Mall, 5300 N. 76th St.
A security officer with the department store told police he observed Davis putting merchandise into a bag and leaving the store without paying, according to court documents.
Another security officer stopped Davis near the store entrance/exit, where she pushed him, and said he would have to call police. She then ran toward the mall’s food court. The officer followed, trying to grab the bag of merchandise, when Davis pulled out the canister of pepper spray from her purse, aimed at the officer’s face and sprayed for 7 to 8 seconds. The spray hit the officer in the side and back of the head. The officer grabbed Davis and she sprayed the canister a second time.
Security was eventually able to detain Davis, and recover the canister of pepper spray.
Police say several other employees working and eating in the food court sustained and were treated for minor injuries from the pepper spray, including a woman 4 months pregnant.
Davis was under probation and extended supervision at the time of the incident.
She is due in court June 12 for a scheduling conference. She is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail.

Suspect Charged With Indecent Exposure At Fairfield Store www.privateofficer.com

 

FAIRFIELD, Conn. May 31 2013– A Bridgeport man was charged with exposing himself to a woman Fairfield’s Kohl’s department store earlier this year, police say.
A shopper at the Tunxis Hill store reported the incident April 8, according to police reports. While browsing the store she turned around to see a man exposing himself to her and masturbating, police say.
Store security gave police a license plate number for the suspect’s car, which was traced to a Bridgeport address. Police also found that the owner had been charged with similar incidents at Kohl’s and Marshall’s in 2010, according to police records. The owner was not home at the time, but police issued an arrest warrant for the man in April.
Jean Leconte, 25, of Bridgeport turned himself in at Fairfield Police headquarters Thursday after learning of the warrant. He was charged with public indecency, obscenity and a breach of the peace. His bond was set at $1,000, and he is due in court on June 6.

Source-daily voice

Shoplifter arrrested for assaulting Macy’s security agent www.privateofficer.com

 

Braintree MA May 30 2013 A 49-year-old Dorchester man was arrested last week on assault and battery and larceny charges after he allegedly tried to steal more than $600 in merchandise from Macy’s and tussled with a loss prevention officer on his way out of the store. Security saw James R. Drayton conceal the items in a shopping bag last Thursday, Police Chief Russell Jenkins said in a statement. When confronted, Drayton struggled with a loss prevention officer and they both fell to the ground, Jenkins said. He dropped the merchandise and ran across the street to Forbes Road and Grandview Road, where police stopped him.

Shoplifting streak at small town Walmart end sin multiple arrests www.privateofficer.com

 

TOWN OF ALLEGANY, N.Y. May 28 2013 – Following multiple complaints at the Wal Mart at 1869 Plaza Drive in the Town of Allegany, five people, including one employee were arrested and charged with petit larceny.

Troopers arrested an employee, 28-year-old Eric Campbell of Shinglehouse, PA, and charged him with petit larceny.

Campbell was released on an appearance ticket returnable to the Town of Allegany Court on June 3rd. Troopers also arrested 17-year-old Alexander Work and 19-year-old Allyson Bretzin, both of Portville.

Both were charged with petit larceny and released on an appearance ticket returnable to the Town of Allegany Court on June 3rd.

In addition, troopers arrested 21-year-old Amber Schoch of Olean, and 16-year-old Lynn Whalen of Rushford. Both were charged with petit larceny and released on an appearance ticket returnable to the Town of Allegany Court on June 10th.

Source- WKBW

Child run down by mother fleeing shoplifting in critical condition www.privateofficer.com

 

Centerville GA May 25 2013 A 25-year-old Macon woman allegedly fleeing store security ran over her 4-year-old son in the parking lot of the Houston County Galleria in Centerville.
Arkebia Albury faces multiple charges, and the boy is in critical condition with injuries to his head and internal organs, Centerville Police Chief Sidney Andrews said.
“The child is in bad shape,” Andrews said. “It wasn’t looking too good.”
The youngster remained in critical condition late Friday afternoon.
Thursday night, a Belk loss prevention officer followed Albury into the parking lot as she, the boy and a younger child were heading toward her car.
As the officer told her to stop, she cranked up the four-door 2001 Toyota Camry, but only the younger child, who is about 2, had made it into the passenger side, Andrews said.
As the security officer rushed to the injured boy, the mother got out and tried to pick him up, ignoring the officer’s pleas to leave him where he was until an ambulance could get there.“She picks the little boy up and throws him in the car and drives off,” Andrews said.
A Centerville patrol officer stopped the car on nearby Wilson Drive, and emergency medical workers were called to the scene.
The chief said contrary to media reports, Albury’s sister and niece were not charged in the case, as they had stayed in the car and were not involved in the alleged theft.
Andrews said he wasn’t sure exactly what was taken, but noted nothing would be worth hurting a child.
“I believe it was a couple of T-shirts. I do know it was clothing. It was a misdemeanor amount,” he said. “This certainly was not worth it.”
The Georgia State Patrol is investigating the accident, he said, and has charged Albury with serious injury by motor vehicle, failing to stop at an accident with injuries, driving with a suspended license and two counts of child seat belt violation.
Centerville police charged her with two counts of cruelty to children, reckless conduct and theft by shoplifting.
Andrews, who has two children, said: “These kind of cases are hard for us.” Source- the telegraph

Habitual Providence shoplifter sentenced to prison www.privateofficer.com

 

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. My 20 2013– A 64-year-old Providence man was remanded to the Adult Correctional Institutions Monday following his arrest over the weekend on charges of shoplifting more than $100 in Gillette razors from the Stop & Shop supermarket on Mineral Spring Avenue.

The police described Raymond E. Henderson of 160 Broad St., Providence, as a habitual offender who was already on a year’s probation on another charge of shoplifting brought in February by the Cranston police.

After his arrest on Friday, Henderson complained of chest pains and was evaluated at Fatima Hospital. He was eventually taken to North Providence police headquarters and arraigned before a justice of the peace.

Source- Providence Journal

Men arrested for shoplifting items tomake explosive device www.privateofficer.com

 

Gainesville Fla May 20 2013 Two men were arrested for shoplifting items from Walmart that could be used to make an explosive device, Gainesville Police Department said.

On May 7, police interviewed Mason Scott Beuning, 18, for shoplifting BBs, flare guns and other items from a Walmart Supercenter with 18-year-old Wolfe O’Meara, authorities said. Beuning told them he had already made an explosive device or a “homemade firework” but had been scared to detonate it, police said.

Bomb Disposal Team members went to his house and found a cardboard tube containing an black, explosive powder, police said.

“The tube was sealed at both ends and contained a fuse,” police said in a statement.

The device was taken for further analysis.

Beuning faces charges including  possessing a destructive device, which is a third-degree felony, police said.

O’Meara, who was with Beuning, faces charges with misdemeanor shoplifting and possession of drug paraphernalia, authorities said.

“In the wake of recent national tragedies, the Gainesville Police Department is taking no chance when it comes to explosives” Police Chief Tony Jones said in a statement.

Beuning remained in jail Monday on a $45,000 bond, while O’Meara had been released on his own recognizance, a jail official said.

It wasn’t immediately known if they had attorneys.

Source-NBC Florida

Yuba County Walmart shoplifting suspect nabbed after rock attack www.privateofficer.com

Yuba County CA May 18 2013 A Marysville woman punched a Walmart security agent in the face before pelting him with numerous rocks on Thursday as she tried to get away with lotions and body spray stuffed in her purse, Yuba County deputies said.
An apparent getaway car abandoned Evalee Havanna Hawkins as she left the store in the 1100 block of North Beale Road just before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Undersheriff Jerry Read.
“The loss-prevention officer was taking pictures of the vehicle, and the driver apparently decided he didn’t want any part of what was going on and left,” Read said.
Hawkins then tried to get into another vehicle, which also drove off, leaving her alone with the security guard, who asked the woman to return the lotions.
“Then she punches him in the chin and tries to walk away,” Read said.
Several more guards stepped in as Hawkins began striking the same guard with multiple rocks.
The guard was not seriously injured.
Sheriff’s deputies detained Hawkins, who was booked into the Yuba County Jail on $50,000 bail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and robbery. She was still in custody Thursday.

source- http://www.appeal-democrat.com