LINCOLN, Neb.Jan 29 2012 — A Lincoln police officer died in a rollover crash Wednesday night on his way to work.

Officer Tony Howe, 37, worked the overnight shift in the criminal investigation unit and was driving his Dodge Neon when the accident occurred,according to the Omaha World Herald. Investigators said the vehicle travelled into the median, hit a drain and went airborne before rolling.

Howe was pronounced dead at York General Hospital. He was not wearing a seat belt.

Colleagues saw Howe was caring, thoughtful and always took time to help people.

“Tony was the kind of police officer that, if you or any member of your family were a victim, you would like to see handle the situation,” Lincoln Police Chief Jim Peschong said Thursday. “He had the ability to bring calm to a chaotic scene.”

Jan 29 2012 A sailor assigned to a bomb disposal unit at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek died during a training exercise off the coast of North Carolina on Thursday.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor Gallant, 22, was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 12, part of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command in Virginia Beach.

Gallant, of Winchester, Ky., enlisted in 2008. He was conducting dive operations with his unit aboard the Canadian coastal defense vessel Summerside, which is here for Bold Alligator, a major, multinational naval training exercise that’s set to kick off in the Atlantic next week.

On Friday a spokesman for Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, Lt. Cmdr. John Gay, said the Navy is investigating what happened.

“It’s too early to know anything for certain,” Gay said.

He said the sailor was treated at the scene but couldn’t be revived. He was taken to Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Explosive ordnance disposal units are tasked with handling bombs in any environment, including under the water, so diving is a routine part of their training.

OAKLAND, Calif. Jan 29 2012  (AP) – About 300 people were arrested Saturday during a chaotic day of Occupy protests that saw demonstrators break into City Hall and burn an American flag, as police earlier fired tear gas and bean bags to disperse hundreds of people after some threw rocks and bottles and tore down fencing outside a nearby convention center.

Dozens of police officers remained on guard outside City Hall around midnight following the most turbulent day of protests since November, when Oakland police forcefully dismantled an Occupy encampment. An exasperated Mayor Jean Quan, who faced heavy criticism for the police action last fall, called on the Occupy movement to “stop using Oakland as its playground.”

“People in the community and people in the Occupy movement have to stop making excuses for this behavior,” Quan said.

Protesters clashed with police throughout the day, at times throwing rocks, bottles and other objects at officers. And police responded by deploying smoke, tear gas and bean bag rounds, City Administrator Deanna Santanta said.

“These demonstrators stated their intention was to provoke officers and engage in illegal activity and that’s exactly what has occurred today,” Santana said.

Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said about 300 arrests were made.

The group assembled outside City Hall late Saturday morning and marched through the streets, disrupting traffic as they threatened to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center.

The protesters walked to the vacant convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and “destroying construction equipment” shortly before 3 p.m., police said.

Police said they issued a dispersal order and used smoke and tear gas after some protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects.

The number of demonstrators swelled as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.

A majority of the arrests came after police took scores of protesters into custody as they marched through the city’s downtown, with some entering a YMCA building, said Sgt. Jeff Thomason, a police spokesman.

Around the same time police were taking people into custody near the YMCA, about dozens of officers surrounded City Hall, while others swept the inside of the building looking for protesters who had broken into the building, then ran out of the building with American flags before officers arrived.

The protest group issued an email criticizing police, saying “Occupy Oakland’s building occupation, an act of constitutionally protected civil disobedience was disrupted by a brutal police response today.”

Michael Davis, 32, who is originally from Ohio and was in the Occupy movement in Cincinnati, said Saturday was a very hectic day that originally started off calm but escalated when police began using “flash bangs, tear gas, smoke grenades and bean bags.”

“It was very emotional. I thought it was a very good day for the movement because it brought us back together,” Davis said. “We all were here in spirit and everybody actually helped everyone today.”

“What could’ve been handled differently is the way the Oakland police came at us,” Davis said. “We were peaceful.”

Quan blamed the destruction on a small “very radical, violent” splinter group within Occupy Oakland.

“This is not a situation where we had a 1,000 peaceful people and a few violent people. If you look at what’s happening today in terms of destructing property, throwing at and charging the police, it’s almost like they are begging for attention and hoping that the police will make an error.”

Quan said that at one point, many forced their way into City Hall, where they burned flags, broke an electrical box and damaged several art structures, including a recycled art exhibit created by children.

“City Hall is closed for the weekend. There is no excuse for behavior we’ve witnessed this evening,” City Council President Larry Reid said during a news briefing Saturday. “It’s just unacceptable and makes absolutely no sense for the type of behavior we’ve seen on the streets in the city of Oakland today.”

Oakland Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, echoed Reid’s sentiments and said that what was going on amounts to “domestic terrorism.”

“This is domestic terrorism and we cannot allow this to continue because something even more worse could really happen,” De La Fuente said.

The demonstration comes after Occupy protesters said earlier this week that they planned to move into a vacant building and turn it into a social center and political hub. They also threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.

Oakland officials said Friday that since the Occupy Oakland encampment was first established in late October, police have arrested about 300 people.

The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately.

Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she wasn’t briefed on the department’s plans.

On Saturday, Quan seemed to have changed her tune on how police have been handling the demonstrations and protests.

“Our officers have been very measured,” Quan said. “Were there some mistakes made? There may be. I would say the Oakland police and our allies, so far a small percentage of mistakes. But quite frankly, a majority of protesters who were charging the police were clearly not being peaceful.”

Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included “serious concerns” about the department’s handling of the Occupy protests.

Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said late Saturday that he was in “close contact” with the federal monitor during the protests.

Quan added, “If the demonstrators think that because we are working more closely with the monitor now that we won’t do what we have to do to uphold the law and try keep people safe in this city, they’re wrong.”

 

 

LOS ANGELES CA Jan 29 2012 - Los Angeles police say an LAPD detective has been arrested for investigation of grand theft.

An LAPD statement says Ramon Alvarez, a 25-year department veteran, was arrested Friday after a fellow detective reported he spotted Alvarez taking money from a drug bust in Los Angeles.

A search was conducted on Alvarez’ vehicle, where a quantity of money was found.

Police Chief Charlie Beck called the arrest disturbing and shocking, but says he is glad a fellow detective reported what appeared to be criminal behavior.

The narcotics detective was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center and bail was set at $20,000. He was immediately placed on administrative leave.

The detective’s union issued a statement saying Alvarez is innocent until proven guilty.

WEST COVINA CA Jan 29 2012- Two robbers pulled a handgun on a store security guard who confronted them while stealing a trash bag full of merchandise from a department store late Friday, police said.

A security guard at Ross, 2753 E. Eastland Center Drive, noticed two men walking toward the exit with a trash bag full of goods just before the store’s 10 p.m. closing time, West Covina police Lt. Marty Sevilla said.

One of the men pulled a revolver, pointed it at the guard and told him something in Spanish, Sevilla said.

The robbers then got into a waiting four-door, gray compact car with a third man at the wheel, he added.

Police described the robber who carried the trash bag as a Latino man in his 20s, wearing a black jacket and a dark-colored baseball cap. The gunman was also a Latino man in his 20s, wearing a blue Dodgers jersey with the number “323″ written on the back and a dark-colored baseball cap.

Anyone with information is asked to call the West Covina Police Department at 626-939-8500. Tips can also be left with the department’s 24-hour anonymous tip line at 626-939-8688.

 

Denver CO Jan 29 2012 Police have arrested two suspects allegedly involved in a pharmacy holdup, including a man who began beating a police officer and stole her gun after she fired at him.

“I purposely shot at him. I went to shoot him again but it misfired,” said Sgt. Virginia Quiñones. “I can still feel him hitting me.”

Police arrested two suspects wanted in the Thursday afternoon robbery at a Walgreens at Green Valley Ranch Boulevard and Tower Road.

Joseph Farina, 56, and Nicholas Zentz, 25, have been arrested for investigation of aggravated robbery and assaulting a police officer.

Quiñones, a 23-year police veteran and former spokeswoman for Denver police, was at the pharmacy picking up a prescription when two masked robbers entered the store and began yelling.

“This is a … stickup,” the two suspects yelled and then jumped over the counter. Three female employees began screaming and crying.

Quiñones reached into her purse and grabbed her gun.

“I leaped over the counter. My inner voice was yelling as loud as theirs was,” she said.

She landed between the robbers and the three women.

“I tried to use verbal judo,” Quiñones said. “I wanted them to think this crazy woman might shoot their —.”

Quiñones’ first thought was protecting the women, who could have quickly become hostages, she said.

“They weren’t out there to steal a bag of M&Ms and a friggin’ Coca-Cola,” she said.

She yelled that she is a police officer and ordered the two suspects to kneel on the floor and get their hands up in the air. The two men did as she said.

One of the suspects appeared to be afraid while the other was “sizing” her up, she said.

She ordered the three women to go call the police.

Suddenly, one of the suspects lunged at Quiñones. She fired her gun at the man. The bullet hit the wall and did not hit anyone.

The man began striking Quiñones with a milk crate, according to a police department news release. She fended him off with one arm and tried to fire her gun again, but it misfired.

The suspects ran away with her gun.

Her attacker ran from the store and carjacked a vehicle outside a Grease Monkey. The second robber jumped in a 2005 black Chevy Suburban with temporary plates.

Quiñones, whose left arm is now wrapped in medical tape, said she chased the robbers out of the store so that she could see their car or get their license plate number.

“Yes. It’s just me against two men,” she said. “There might be people who question what I did. I did the best that I could do. The tactics I used were sound. The outcome to me was ideal. The women are OK.”

Source:www.denverpost.com

Memphis TN Jan 29 2012  Police Officer Melvin Robinson was relieved of duty after he was arrested in a federal investigation.

According to court documents, Robinson first told an FBI Informant he was having money problems, in Novemeber of 2011. The officer agreed to sell 10 kilos of cocaine, at a street value of $300,000.

According to court documents, the FBI informant asked Robinson to pick up the drugs in his police squad car. The exchange was to take place at a south Memphis trucking lot, according to court documents.

The documents also stated Robinson arrived in his uniform while on duty, and grabbed a black duffle bag when he was arrested.

Police Director Toney Armstrong called Robinson a thug, and Mayor AC Wharton promised swift action to figure out why certain officers were tarnishing the reputation of the department which he proudly called, “Memphis’ finest”.

Richmond VA Jan 29 2012 Some 5,000 cops help patrol the streets across Virginia and don’t take a dime for it. Reserve officers volunteer with departments throughout our viewing area, but a legal ruling from the state has put many of them out of service.

Full-time police officers aren’t sworn in until they spend 16 weeks at the academy. Then it is another 100 hours of field training. But should volunteers meet that same standard? A state agency says yes – and that decision has forced many officers off the street.

Waynesboro police have a reserve unit of 14 officers and Staunton has another nine volunteers. All of them have been, in effect, suspended from duty, since a December ruling from the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS).

Some 5,000 auxiliary officers serve departments across Virginia. Last month the DCJS clarified a decades-old state law, by ruling that those reserves must have the same level of training as paid officers.

Waynesboro Reserves Chief Reo Hatfield disagrees stating, “I think it’s a disgrace. They gave up family, time… They gave up work time and everything else for the citizens. And we need the citizens to back this.”

The Albemarle County Sheriff’s Office has over 50 volunteers – the state’s largest reserve unit. Sheriff Chip Harding says he was never informed of the DCJS ruling, but will investigate its potential impact.

Several departments tell us reserves are already highly trained. In Staunton, for example, it’s 200 hours that include firearms and use of force. Police hope the attorney general or state lawmakers step in, and allow their volunteers to go back in service.

 

Boynton Beach, Fla. Jan 29 2012  Mayor Jose Rodriguez surrendered to charges of public corruption, police said.

Rodriguez was charged with accepting unlawful compensation for official behavior, as well as solicitation to commit unlawful disclosure of confidential criminal information and resisting or obstructing a law enforcement officer.

The charges are based on allegations of Rodriguez trying to obstruct a police investigation into a report of child abuse filed against him by his wife. He surrendered to the charges at the Palm Beach County Jail Thursday.

Rodriguez’s attorney, Kenneth Lemoine, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel his client would fight the charges.

Rodriguez could be suspended from the office of mayor while the criminal case is pending.

Source:www.upi.com

Phoenix AZ Jan 29 2012 A Surprise mother faces murder and child abuse charges more than a year after her child died from an infection that could have been treated, authorities said.

Phoenix police arrested Kristen Elizabeth Torres, 21, on Tuesday.

Maricopa County prosecutors charged Torres with second-degree murder and felony child abuse for the death of her 13-month-old son Aiden Torres.

Aiden died on Nov. 2, 2010 from acute peritonitis and had been suffering from fever for a few days. When the baby began vomiting bile, the parents contacted a doctor for advice, according to the the probable cause statement police filed.

The Mayo Clinic website defines peritonitis as a an infection of the peritoneum, a membrane that lines the abdominal wall. The condition requires prompt treatment, usually with antibiotics, to fight the infection, the site notes.

Both parents were told to take the baby to the emergency room, but Torres was unable to take him due to high blood pressure, according to court filing. She begged her husband to take the baby but he was too tired that evening from helping his in-laws move, the filing said.

Police contacted two pediatric specialists who said the baby likely would have survived if he had received medical attention.

Sgt. Tommy Thompson, a spokesman with the Phoenix Police Department, said he had not read the report and could not say why the baby’s father was not charged.

Because Torres resided in Phoenix when her baby died, Phoenix officials are in charge of the case instead of Surprise, where she was currently living.

Source:www.azcentral.com

LOS ANGELES CA Jan 29 2012 – A Mammoth Lakes surgeon charged with sex crimes against a 14-year-old Santa Barbara girl killed himself two weeks after he posted bail and was outfitted with a GPS ankle tracking device, his attorney said Wednesday.

The GPS unit was used Tuesday afternoon to find the body of Dr. Andrew Bourne, 46, in the Hot Creek fish hatchery area near Bourne’s Mammoth Lakes home, attorney Ron Bamieh said. Bourne’s wife made the discovery.

“I believe these charges led to his suicide,” Bamieh said. “The charge of this crime is so life-altering. Dr. Bourne could not deal with the fact that everyone assumed he was guilty.”

He didn’t reveal the method of death.

The cause of death will be determined by the Inyo County coroner’s office in Bishop, said Mono County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jennifer Hansen. There was no suicide note, she said.

Bourne and co-defendant Joseph Walker, 48, were arrested Jan. 4 and charged with sexual misconduct with the teenager in a case that stretched from the eastern Sierra Nevada resort to the Santa Barbara coast.

Bourne was charged with eight counts of contacting a child with intent to commit a sexual crime and Walker was charged with one count of a committing a lewd act on a child and six counts of contacting a child with intent to commit a sexual crime.

They both pleaded not guilty.

Santa Barbara prosecutors said the defendants had a two-year relationship with the teenager. Clandestine meetings were held in Santa Barbara and in Mammoth Lakes, which the girl visited more than 100 times, according to court documents.

Bourne, a Mammoth Lakes school board member since 2008, lived with his wife and two children in the Eastern Sierra resort area.

Bail for Bourne and Walker was initially set at $1 million, but a Santa Barbara judge reduced it to $750,000 each on Dec. 10. Conditions for release included no contact with children and GPS tracking.

His lawyer said he talked to Bourne on Tuesday at about 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m.

“I gave him some optimistic news about his case,” Bamieh said. “I told him I thought we had a viable defense.”

“This case is defensible,” the attorney added. “There were a lot of assumptions about things.”

Later Tuesday, Bamieh said he became concerned because he hadn’t heard from Bourne and the lawyer contacted the family. Bourne couldn’t be found so the GPS tracking firm was called.

“They gave the address where he was,” Bamieh said.

CHANTILLY, Va. Jan 29 2012- A Southwest Airlines employee has died from injuries in a crash between a baggage cart and a passenger shuttle at Dulles International Airport.

Southwest said Friday that the employee was flown to a hospital after the Thursday morning crash and died overnight.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority says none of the passengers aboard the shuttle was injured.
Airport police are investigating. The airline did not release the worker’s name or any details about the crash.

Dulles has for decades relied on the oversized shuttles — also known as “mobile lounges” or “people movers” — for transporting passenger between terminals and sometimes directly from airplanes. The now retro-looking vehicles are closely identified with the airport.

They have mostly been replaced by a interterminal subway system completed in 2010. Nevertheless the mobile lounges are still in use for some purposes.

Southwest released the following statement on the incident:

“On Thursday, Jan. 26, at approximately 7am, a Southwest Employee was involved in a collision between a baggage cart and a mobile lounge at Washington Dulles Airport. Immediately following the accident, the injured Employee was rushed to an area hospital to receive medical attention. We learned earlier today, Friday, Jan. 27, that the Employee passed away as a result of injuries sustained in the accident. We continue to work with all relevant agencies, including the local authorities and the airport, to investigate events surrounding the accident. The Southwest Airlines Family is greatly saddened by the passing of our Southwest Family Member, and we extend our heartfelt sympathies and support to his entire family at this time.”

Logan Utah Jan 29 2012 Logan police thought they had safely secured a drunk and unconscious man in an exam room at Logan Regional Medical Center.

An officer even took up station outside the room while writing his report on the man’s alleged trespassing, intoxication and public urination.

But when the officer finished the report and went in to check up on his charge, he allegedly found a male medical staffer performing oral sex on the still-unconscious suspect instead of inserting a catheter.

“It’s one of those moments when you say to yourself, ‘Really? Wow,’” Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen said Friday. “It’s unsettling, to say the least.”

Jensen said that late on the night of Jan. 20, his officers had been dispatched to a residence near 1200 West and 200 North to deal with the drunken suspect, who was reportedly refusing to leave the home. Officers arrested the man, who passed out in the back seat of a cruiser en route to the Cache County Jail.

Neither officers nor paramedics were able to rouse the man, so he was transported to the hospital emergency unit and placed in the exam room to be monitored.

When the accompanying officer decided to check on the suspect, “He walked in the room and pulled the curtain back slightly. The officer observed the unconscious man laying on the hospital bed and the male caregiver performing a sexual act on the patient,” Jensen said.

The officer summoned hospital security personnel and just after midnight Jan. 21, Hal Lavaun Weston, 46, of Laketown, was detained, questioned by detectives and then arrested.

He was booked into Cache County Jail and later released on his promise to appear before a judge Feb. 13 in 1st District Court.

On Tuesday, Cache County prosecutors formally filed a first-degree felony forcible sodomy charge against Weston.

Calls to Weston’s Laketown home Friday seeking comment went unanswered.

New York City NY Jan 29 2012 A down-on-his-luck soap-opera actor took his own life this week after he was forced to put his beloved dog to sleep under pressure from his Upper West Side condo and became wracked by grief, pals said.

Nick Santino euthanized his dog, Rocco, Tuesday — on Santino’s 47th birthday. That night, his guilt over the gut-wrenching decision became too much to bear.

“Today I betrayed my best friend and put down my best friend,” a despondent Santino wrote in a suicide note, said close friend Stuart Sarnoff.

“Rocco trusted me and I failed him. He didn’t deserve this.”

The Brooklyn-born Santino — a struggling actor whose TV credits include “All My Children” and “Guiding Light” — adopted Rocco from a shelter several years ago.

The man, raised in an orphanage and foster homes, soon began to write about his pet on Facebook, writing, “I did not rescue Rocco, Rocco rescued me.”

But in 2010, his building at 1 Lincoln Plaza announced strict new dog regulations, including a ban on pit bulls. The ban didn’t apply to pit bulls already in the building, but friends and neighbors said Santino began to be harassed.

“People were complaining about his dog,” said neighbor Kevan Cleary, 63, an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School. “It was open season on him.”

Rocco couldn’t ride in the main elevators and wasn’t allowed to be left in the apartment alone for more than nine hours.

Santino was then threatened with a $250 fine for having a barking dog, neighbors said.

“The dog was not a barker, but somebody complained that the dog would bark,” Cleary said.

“He felt like he was in this battle because he was the only guy in the building with a pit-bull mix,” Cleary added.

Another neighbor, Lia Pettigrew, who runs a pet-care company, said, “Everybody knows that he had been harassed by the building management.”

The building’s management refused to comment yesterday.

After months of increasing anguish, Santino had the healthy dog put to sleep Tuesday.

Neighbors said a tearful Santino brought dog treats to the building’s doorman and said: “Give these to the other dogs. Rocco is no more.”

Dog owner James Steven Grant said Santino left two rawhide bones on his doorstep and earlier was seen tearfully giving away Rocco’s fluffy bed.

“Rocco was the sweetest dog in the world. Rocco wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Grant said.

A veterinarian told Santino that Rocco was becoming aggressive — and Santino blamed it on his own depression.

He spent Tuesday in agony over what he had done to Rocco.

“He was distraught and remorseful about putting down his best friend,” Cleary said.

The last phone call he made was to a former girlfriend at 2 a.m. Wednesday. Later that day, police found his body in his bedroom. He had overdosed on pills.

Rocco has been cremated, and friends said Santino’s remains will be, too, and they will be reunited.

“One way or another, their ashes will be together forever,” Sarnoff said.

Source:www.nypost.com

Bentonville AR Jan 29 2012 After 30 years, “People Greeters” will no longer welcome Walmart customers with a “cart and a smile.” Four months after Walmart got rid of its night-shift “People Greeters,”the big-box retailer is moving its day-shift greeters inside the store. Walmart claims it’s all in the name of better customer service, but the announcement has left some greeters uncertain about the future of their jobs.

“Welcome to Walmart. How are you doing?”
Jerome Allen has greeted morning shoppers at Walmart for five years, the last two at a supercenter in Fort Worth, Tex. He heard through the grapevine that the store was reassigning its night-shift greeters, but was surprised when the store manager called him into his office on Thursday, and told him that there would be no more door greeters at all.

Allen’s new position, which begins February 6, will be to stand in “high traffic” areas of the store, ask customers if they need any assistance, and direct the flow of traffic. Allen doesn’t think his new position will be particularly useful. The store, he said, already has a full roster of employees manning the floor, who are required to ask nearby customers if they need any help, as dictated by the “10-foot Rule.”

David Tovar, a Walmart spokesman, claims store greeters have no cause for concern. “They’re not going anywhere,” he told AOL Jobs in an interview.

But Allen isn’t convinced. “I don’t think they’re going to let me stand around doing nothing,” he said. “I don’t know what my career is going to be here at Walmart. They’re moving me to a position that isn’t going to be here very long.”

Allen fears that many greeters, once they’re in their new positions, will be found redundant, and let go. Allen’s hours are already reduced for next week, from 20 hours to 16. He would love to work more; with an hourly wage of $10.45, Allen is struggling to support his two children.

Aggressive Hospitality
After Walmart got rid of night-shift greeters in September, Tovar told Bloomberg that the decision was a way to to rein in costs and prices. Walmart’s sales have thinned in recent years, as many customers flocked to dollar stores instead, which offered even lower prices. Same-store sales at Walmart dropped for nine straight quarters, but picked up by 1.3 percent in the quarter that ended in October. In contrast, between 2007 and 2010, Family Dollar and Dollar General grew by 15 percent and 37 percent, respectively, according to a December 2011 report from Colliers International.

Most of the night-shift greeters were assigned to other roles, “and a very small percentage ended up leaving the company,” said Tovar. But that’s not what’s happening here, he emphasized. Walmart had given greeters extra responsibilities over the years, he explained, like helping customers return products, and cleaning and prepping carts. The change frees greeters from these other duties, so that they can “really focus on customer service,” he said, and interact more with customers while they’re in the store.

The “People Greeter” was an idea dreamed up by Sam Walton himself, first introduced in 1980, and quickly imitated by retailers everywhere. The “People Greeter” has become such a cultural staple that he even had his own cameo on “Family Guy.” Walton believed “aggressive hospitality” would set Walmart apart from other retailers, and Tovar insists that this new development is simply a continuation of that legacy. Even so, “Welcome to Walmart” isn’t quite the same, when said in a “high traffic” area.

COLUMBIA, S.C.Jan 29 2012 – The company that provides security at a shopping mall in Columbia has agreed to pay $530,000 because of a shooting death in 2007.
The State newspaper reported  Allied Barton Security Services admits no liability in paying the settlement for the death at Columbiana Center. Circuit Judge Knox McMahon approved the settlement in Lexington County last week.
The wife and children of 49-year-old Robert Bell accused Allied Barton personnel of failing to adequately protect him and daughter Shaunna from the shooting by her then-estranged husband, Michael Young Jr.
The 25-year-old Young is serving a 50-year prison sentence after pleading guilty last year.
The family’s lawsuit says Bell’s daughter reported to mall security four encounters in which she felt threatened by Young in the nine months before the shooting.

Source:www.heraldonline.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. Jan 29 2012 (AP) — A jury has convicted a New York prison inmate of falsely filing tax returns seeking $890 million in refunds.

Prosecutors say the man filed the bogus returns from 2006 to 2010 while at various state prisons. They say he even was issued a refund for $327,000 – but prison officials intercepted the check and returned it to the Internal Revenue Service, which led the investigation.

The man was convicted Thursday of 11 counts of filing false claims and one count of helping another inmate file bogus returns.

He was serving two to four years for possession of stolen property when he was charged last February. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count when he’s sentenced in May.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Jan 29 2012— An Indiana man was arrested after authorities say security personnel at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport found a gun in his bag.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reports that 57-year-old Michael Shelton was on his way to board a plane to Fort Wayne, Ind., Thursday when screeners spotted the gun on an X-Ray image of his bag. Transportation Security Administration searched the bag and reported finding a 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol.

Deputies responded to the airport, and Shelton reportedly told them he forgot the weapon was in his bag. Shelton was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed firearm. He was later released on $5,000 bail.

Jail records didn’t say if Shelton had an attorney.

DIGHTON KS Jan 29 2012 – A former Lane County Emergency Medical Service director is facing life in prison after a jury convicted him Friday of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

William Lance McGowan was also found guilty Friday of aggravated solicitation of a child, but he was acquitted of two counts of criminal sodomy, according to Clint Blaes, a spokesperson for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.

The crimes occurred between 2007 and 2009 and involve a girl between the ages of 6 and 8, according to district court records.

McGowan stood trial this week before District Judge Bruce Gatterman, the chief judge of the 24th Judicial District that covers Lane, Edwards, Pawnee, Ness, Hodgeman and Rush counties. Jurors deliberated for about seven hours before reaching a verdict Friday.

The conviction for aggravated indecent liberties with a child falls under Jessica’s Law and calls for a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole for 25 years. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Friday that McGowan is now in custody.

McGowan previously served as chairman of the Southwest Kansas Regional Trauma Council and as chairman of the Lane County Hospital board. He was arrested in November 2010 outside Lane County Hospital, where he was director of information technology.

Assistant Attorney General Nicole Romine prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

www.hutchnews.com

Blue Springs MO Jan 29 2012 A 43-year-old soccer coach in Blue Springs, Missouri has been charged with molesting two children on his team.

It was reported that Blue Springs youth soccer coach Richard Burroughs was charged Friday with child molestation and sodomy for inappropriate touching of two girls on his team. Prosecutors also charged Burroughs with sexual assault.

Burroughs denied the allegations during interviews with police. His lawyer, P.J. O’Connor, declined comment Friday.

Bond was set at $125,000 cash only. Burroughs is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Source:kake.com

MESQUITE TX Jan 29 2012 – Mesquite police arrested Mesquite High School teacher Andrew Lott, 33, and charged him with Improper Relationship Between an Educator and a Student, a second degree felony.

Lott allegedly began a relationship with a 17-year-old female senior at the beginning of this school year.

There are no other victims at this time, though the Mesquite police investigation is ongoing.

Source:WFAA.com

PORTSMOUTH, Va. Jan 29 2012  – Portsmouth police arrested a substitute teacher as she was leaving work Friday for her alleged role in an Oct. crime.

Tena Lin Neese Artise, 22, a substitute teacher at Douglas Park Elementary School, is charged with burglary, abduction/kidnapping and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

On Oct. 21, police were called to the 1300 block of County Street at 5:41 p.m. for a “suspicious situation”. A 14-year-old girl at the home told police she heard a knock at the back door and when she answered a woman pointed a gun at her. The woman entered and asked the teen where her other relatives were, as a second suspect stayed behind outside. Police say the women left after they found that no one else was home.

The teen was not hurt.

Police spokeswoman Jan Westerbeck said a police investigation led them to Artise, who was identified as the armed woman. Westerbeck said owed money appears to be the motive.

Westerbeck added a gun was found at Artise’s home.

Police are still working to locate the second suspect. If you have any information that can help police, call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

Source:WAVY

Elizabeth NJ Jan 29 2012 A Jersey City police officer accidentally shot himself in the stomach Thursday night while on assignment in Elizabeth.

Officer Jesse Soto was rushed to the trauma unit at University of Medicine and Dentistry Hospital in nearby Newark.

Jersey City Police Lt. Edgar Martinez told NBC New York that “the bullet went in and out of his stomach, and it didn’t hit any vital organs.”

Martinez was released shortly after midnight, about two hours after he was shot.

Officials confirmed that the officer shot himself while providing perimeter security outside the home of a fugitive in Elizabeth.

Authorities were trying to apprehend a woman who had skipped out on her carjacking trial earlier this week in Jersey City.

She was identified as Latoya Campbell, and according to Schroeder, as marshals entered the building, she and a male subject “attempted to escape out a window.”

Both were quickly caught.

Memphis TN Jan 29 2012 A Memphis City Schools security officer was arrested today after being accused of interfering in a rape investigation involving a 14-year-old girl.

Tuesday, MCS security officials told police that the officer found the suspected rapist had sexually explicit photos of the victim on his cellphone, according to a police affidavit.

He advised the suspect to avoid getting into trouble by deleting the photos, and the suspect did, according to the affidavit.

Phillip Cotton, 41, was charged with tampering with or fabricating evidence.

Further details on the investigation, as well as what school Cotton works at, were not released.

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Bond for Cotton has not been set.

Source:Memphis Commercial Appeal

Master Corporal
Sandra “Sandy” E. Rogers

Aiken Department of Public Safety, South Carolina

End of Watch: Saturday, January 28, 2012
Bio &; Incident Details
Age: 49

Tour: 27 years

Badge # Not available

Cause: Gunfire

Incident Date: 1/28/2012

Weapon: Gun; Unknown type

Suspect: Apprehended

Master Corporal Sandy Rogers was shot and killed while responding to a call for suspicious activity at Eustis Park just after 7:30 am. When Master Corporal Rogers arrived on scene, a struggle ensued and she was shot.

Master Corporal Rogers was transported to Aiken Regional Medical Centers where she succumbed to her wounds.

The subject was linked to another shooting in Richmond County earlier in the day. He was apprehended in Batesville-Leesville a few hours later.

Master Corporal Rogers was a 27 year veteran of the Aiken Department of Public Safety and a lifelong resident of Aiken County.

Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:

Director of Public Safety Charles Barranco
Aiken Department of Public Safety
251 Laurens Street NW
PO Box 1177
Aiken, SC 29802

Phone: (803) 642-7620

FORT LAUDERDALE Fla Jan 28 2012 — As Fort Lauderdale police responded Wednesday to a 911 call of shots fired, they witnessed a man mortally wound himself through the glass-enclosed lobby of the Runaway Bay Condominiums.
The 10:25 a.m. shootings happened at 1625 SE 10th Ave., Fort Lauderdale Det. Travis Mandell said.

The suicide victim was identified as Eugene “Gene” Schlanger, 73, a ninth-floor resident, Mandell said. Schlanger was pronounced dead after being taken to Broward General Medical Center.

Officers also discovered the body of a 36-year-old man whom Schlanger had killed in the L-shaped lobby, Mandell said.

Homicide and crime scene investigators have been trying to sort out the connection between the men and establish a motive.

From 2006 until Sept. 30, 2011, Schlanger worked for the city of Fort Lauderdale as an economic development manager in its real estate division, city spokesman Chaz Adams said. Schlanger oversaw properties owned by the city and was laid off as part of a municipal reorganization, Adams said.

Schlanger was a real estate broker whose license was up for renewal on March 31, 2013, but its status was “inactive,” according to state records.

What little is known about the murder victim was not revealed by police late Wednesday, but speculation was simmering among the building’s neighbors.

Debra Yorkin was just returning from the supermarket with her 16-month-old daughter and was about to use the side service entrance to unload her groceries.

“Normally I park underneath in the garage and if I did, unfortunately, I would have been in the midst of all the drama that had taken place,” Yorkin said.

She told police she lived there and wanted to go in but an officer said, “You don’t want to go in that building right now.”

The murder victim was slumped in a chair in the lobby, police said.

There was a bullet hole near the base of a plate-glass window on the north side of the lobby.

“Pretty insane,” Yorkin said.

Shortly after the shooting, a screaming woman was seen running from the lobby, down a hallway and through the pool area, Yorkin said.

“I don’t remember exactly what she said but there was a woman screaming by the pool, which was fenced in, so you couldn’t exactly see [her] face,” she said.

But Yorkin recognized the woman.

“I’ve seen her in the building, but not with this other guy,” she said. “I’ve never seen [the murder victim] before.”

She also recognized Schlanger.

“I just know him from the hallway,” she said. “He’s just an elderly man I knew from the building [but] I didn’t know anything personal about him.”

Karen Koach, who lives on the sixth floor, also knew of Schlanger; many residents have been there a long time.

“It’s a small building,” she said. “We all see each other, we know each other, we know the families of people who live here and it’s a very friendly building, so we’re very saddened by it.”

Koach and her husband were stuck inside their condo for about two hours immediately after the shooting.

“It’s very traumatic,” she said.

Source:Sun Sentinel

BETHLEHEM, Pa. Jan 28 2012Police found an unconscious woman in a Sands hotel room, the victim of an apparent beating.

Sands security officers responded to a probable domestic call in the Sands hotel in Bethlehem on Monday. The officers heard a woman in distress in the room; when a man answered the door, he said everything was fine and slammed the door, police said.

Police said a person in the room next door heard yelling and a man threatening to kill a woman.

Bethlehem police officers arrived and broke into the room. They found an unconscious woman in the shower with water running on her. She appeared to be injured, police said.

A man in the room, Nicholas Mullins, 27, of Lock Haven, Pa., told police the woman assaulted him.

The woman was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital and admitted for treatment.

Officers were able to interview the victim in the hospital on Tuesday and she said her boyfriend, Mullins, repeatedly assaulted her and forcibly put a pillow over her face to silence her, police said.

She suffered traumatic injuries to her head and brain, as well as her body, police said.

Mullins was arrested in Pottsville on Wednesday and charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and terroristic threats.

Mullin was committed to the Northampton County Prison on $150,000 bail.