BIRMINGHAM, Alabama May 26 2012– A Birmingham police officer has been arrested in connection to a recent series of Warrior arsons, said Warrior Fire Chief Clay Neely.

Curtis Thornton, a resident of Dana Road in Warrior, has been charged in connection to at least two recent arson fires in Warrior, Neely said.

Specifics of those charges are not available, but they are felonies and have been turned over to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

There have been five fires in Warrior since late April and Thornton has been the suspect for some time, Neely said.

One was set in an abandoned mobile home that had already been damaged by a previous fire. The other one was set in an out building, Neely said. All of the Warrior fires were set on property adjacent to where Thornton was staying on Dana Road.

Neely declined to say if the case was connected to a series of arsons in Birmingham.

“I don’t know what Birmingham is charging him with,” Neely said.

A press conference has been called for 3 p.m. at the Birmingham Police Department. Capt. Henry Irby said officials will discuss a joint investigation with Warrior Police and Fire and the State Fire Marshal’s Office, but declined to provide additional information.

A spokesman for the state fire marshal’s office said he could not provide additional information.

Thornton is a 2009 graduate of the Birmingham police academy.

West Precinct Capt. Jerry Wiley said Thornton works the morning shift, but he did not know the officer well.

“We’re all shocked and surprised,” Wiley said. “We investigate criminals, sometimes they wear blue uniforms.”

Source:AL.com

NASHVILLE TN May 26 2012 (AP) – A measure to require drug testing as a condition for receiving welfare has been signed by Gov. Bill Haslam.

The legislation – which passed the Senate 24-9 and 73-17 in the House – requires new welfare applicants to undergo a special screening process. If suspicion is raised after the screening, then the applicant would be drug tested.

The proposal differs from an original version that would have required blanket testing.

The state’s attorney general opined that approach would violate applicants’ rights not to be drug tested unless there is suspicion they are using drugs.

Haslam told reporters Thursday that he’s comfortable with the legislation because the Department of Human Services will develop the rules for the testing, and the state attorney general must make sure the process is constitutional.

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev.May 26 2012 – Seventy non-violent inmates have been released from the North Las Vegas Jail after dozens of workers called in sick over the weekend.

Forty-nine workers at the jail called in sick, causing significant problems staffing the facility. Jail officials submitted a list of inmates that were deemed safe for release and a judge signed off on it earlier this week.

According to a police spokesman, the jail was planning to release a certain number of inmates to plug an $18 million budget hole. However, rumors began to surface that layoffs were coming, and nearly 50 workers called out sick.

Because of the lack of staff, officials went to a judge to get an emergency order to release the inmates. They say they had to release the inmates because they did not feel they could safely staff the facility.

Source:8newsnow.com

Washington DC May 26 2012 U.S. Marshals are looking for a man with an extensive violent, criminal history who was accidentally released last week.

Carter Tillery was serving a 30-year-federal sentence for armed robbery and was supposed to remain in prison until 2036. However, he was mistakenly released after being transported from a federal prison in Hazelton, WV to the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville on May 17th.

The Marshals Service is warning the public that Tillery poses “a significant risk to the community” and asking for help locating him.

Tillery is from Prince George and was sentenced for his role in a robbery at the Swan Cleaners in Petersburg. He was found guilty in 2011 of using a sawed-off shotgun to rob a female clerk at gunpoint. He forced her to undress, tied up her hands and took $100, a laptop and some keys. He was considered a career criminal due to an extensive list of prior convictions.

Tillery is a 32-year-old black man, who stands 5’11″ tall and weighs 150 pounds. He has brown eyes, black hair and dark skin. He has a tattoo on his left arm. Marshals say he should be “approached with caution.”

If you have information on his whereabouts contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 202-307-9100.

Punta Gorda Fla May 26 2012 A shoplifter at Punta Gorda Walmart intended to use a waiting taxi as her getaway car, sheriff’s deputies say.

 Lizette Marie Sepulveda, 29, of the 22000 block of Nyack Avenue, is charged with grand theft in the incident. Authorities also charged her with smuggling contraband into a correctional facility after reportedly finding a glass tube with opiates in her duffle bag.

Sepulveda is a convicted felon with 24 arrests, the Sheriff’s Office says.

On Monday, Sepulveda took a taxi to the Walmart and asked the driver to wait, deputies reported. A store manager later told them Sepulveda put a television and plants in a cart and left without paying.

The manager approached Sepulveda as she was putting the $455 worth of stolen items in the cab, an arrest report states. Deputies say Sepulveda ran but they located her at a gas station across the street.

The thefts were recorded on surveillance video, the Sheriff’s Office says.

Source:Herald Tribune

Atlanta GA May 26 2012

Unscrupulous vendors and employees in cahoots with them are in every business and the claims industry is no exception.

“…[A]ny business entity or even a non profit entity that engages the service of vendors in the conduct of their business is vulnerable to some kind of a loss, if the employee engages in things with the vendor in a collusion matter to effectively steal money from the employer,” according to Steve Balmer, product manager for crime insurance products for Travelers Bond & Financial Products.

Balmer said his company has identified a growing trend whereby employees are stealing through vendor relationships.

Vendor service companies may resort to fraudulent deals and kick-back schemes with a company’s employees to ensure the business relationship is maintained. This type of an arrangement can damage a company’s bottom line if left unaddressed and business owners should adopt best practices to secure a financial safety net in the event employees are engaging in vendor fraud, he said.

“We insure companies, businesses, government entities, non profits. We insure those kinds of entities for losses they suffer as a result of employee theft. So my observations are based on what we’re seeing in claim trends relative to employees stealing from and causing theft losses to their employers,” Balmer said.

While Travelers’ customer base doesn’t focus on insurance carriers, Balmer admits carrier claims departments are vulnerable.

“I just wanted to explain that from the context of the insurer, and in claims in particular, who might be engaging vendors to perform work for them, the fact that they’re doing that creates some vulnerability because wherever there’s an opportunity for an employee to somehow cause the employer to send out money that the employee can get their hands on, certain employees will exploit that,” he said.

Employee Vendor Theft Schemes

Balmer said there are a number of schemes that an employee can engage in to steal money from an employer. One way is to set up a fictitious company.

“One [scheme] we would refer to as a ghost vendor, that being a vendor who doesn’t exist,” he said. “You give it a real name. You give it a real location, or it could be a made up location. But you give some authenticity to that vendor, and now you authorize payment to that vendor. The employee meanwhile, is on the other end receiving the check because they’ve created a vendor…The check comes in…it’s deposited…That’s one example,” Balmer said.

A former adjuster with the Louisiana Oilfield Contractors Association (LOCA), a self-insured workers’ compensation group, allegedly did just that. As part of his responsibilities, he reviewed cases for possible fraud. If there was suspicious activity, he would hire a private investigation firm. In July 2007, the adjuster created a fictitious private investigation firm, Legal Risk Management Consultants, and used this company to bill LOCA $297,772.09 for phony investigations. He used a portion of the money fraudulently obtained to purchase a local health club. In 2010, he was sentenced to a 46 month prison term and ordered to pay restitution.

Balmer described another more common scenario involving a real vendor.

“That real vendor engages in a collusion effort with the employee, either by perhaps offering the employee a bribe to engage the vendor’s services, in which perhaps the employee authorizes overpayments to the vendor or payments to the vendor for work that isn’t done,” he said.

In this scenario, the vendor can approach the employee and vice versa.

“For example, the vendor might come in to the employee and say, ‘I’m going to increase my bill 15 percent. If you authorize the payment, I’ll kick back 10 percent of that 15 to you,’” he said.

“Or it’s possible the employee could actually initiate that themselves, by going to the vendor and saying, ‘…if you want to do business with us, this is the way it’s going to work,’” said Balmer.

That’s just what happened when three former employees of Tristar and their wives embezzled over $1 million from the third-party administrator of workers’ compensation claims for Los Angeles County.

Christian Ramirez, Hugo Ramirez, Javier Ramirez, Maria Ochohey, Sandra Orozco and Dominique Boudreax pleaded guilty to one count each of claims adjuster fraud and theft by extortion in 2010.

The Ramirez sons worked in Tristar’s claims department as adjusters while their father, Javier, worked as a data entry clerk releasing payments authorized by his sons. The three referred transportation and investigative business to four companies owned by their wives and mother – Transco Transportation, owned by Dominique Boudreaux; Universal Transportation Services, owned by Christian Ramirez; Paramount Transportation, owned by Maria Ochoa; and On-Call Investigations, owned by Sandra Orozco.

These companies would bill Tristar for services not rendered or would subcontract out the services, submit bills higher than the industry standard, and pocket the difference.

Regardless of the type of scheme involved, they can be difficult for businesses to discover, Balmer said.

“If there are not sufficient controls in place, the only way they’re discovered many times is by accident because the employee or the vendor…makes a mistake,” Balmer said. “Perhaps the employee is away on vacation or is not available when a vendor sends in a faulty invoice, and somebody else has to approve it. Then they look into it, and they say, ‘Oh, this doesn’t look right.’ They do some investigation. Next thing you know, they discover that the invoice is inflated in some way. That’s discovered by accident,” he said.

According to Balmer, businesses should be on the lookout for these schemes in order to prevent them.

“The best way is to never have what’s happened in the first place by having some appropriate controls in place, which serve as a deterrent to the employee being able to set up a scheme in the first place,” he said.

Balmer recommended the following controls be put in place to deter employee vendor theft schemes:

•Vendors should be fully reviewed, approved, and vetted by someone other than the employee who is responsible for payment. The decision is not solely in the hands of one individual.

•There should be an approved vendor list that has details of the service that’s being provided by that vendor and the location of the vendor.

•Spot audit checks should be done to ensure the vendor who’s been contracted with is actually doing what they’re contracted for. The audit process should be done by somebody other than the employee who engaged the service or is responsible for the oversight of the vendor.

•There should be documented levels of authority for engaging vendors.

•There should be some sort of purchase order system where vendor payments cannot be made without appropriate documentation and invoices.

•There should be consistent application of controls in place throughout the organization, whether there are multiple locations or not.

Balmer points out that while there may be a vendor scheme in play, an employee may have no role in it.

“Certainly… you could be swindled by a vendor and have no employee theft,” he said.

Balmer has seen trends emerge as a result of the poor economy.

“I would say, over the last seven or eight years, the types of schemes are evolving from the old, more common loss activity from years ago where you had losses caused by people who had direct access to checks,” he said.

It’s not just the employees who are suffering as a result of the economic downturn. Vendors who have seen business slow may resort to these kinds of schemes as well.

“The fact is that vendors who become desperate for business will engage in practices that wouldn’t be either ethical or honest or legal for that matter,” said Balmer.

According to a report on embezzlement published earlier this year, the economy is not the only reason for the increase in employee theft. The report describes a yearning for a grander lifestyle as another reason for the increase. The 2011 Marquet Report on Embezzlement highlighted the following statistics:

•Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Montana, Virginia, Iowa and Idaho had the highest embezzlement propensity factor;

•Companies in the financial services industry sustained the greatest losses;

•The average loss was $750,000;

•The average scheme lasted almost 5 years;

•64 percent of the incidents reported involved females;

•The most common scheme involved forged or unauthorized checks

“In terms of the most effective methods of embezzlement, vendor fraud, which accounts for more than twice its percentage in losses as compared to occurrences, tops the last as it did in last year’s report,” stated Christopher T. Marquet in the report.

Balmer said that while a loss may appear very small at first, added up over time it could be become a considerable sum.

“In general, you could have an employee who receives a very small kickback …but let’s say that transaction is repeated and, perhaps, a certain amount of that kickback is a very small amount, maybe it’s a $1000. But let’s say that that type of transaction is now repeated many times over. In that circumstance even though the employee might have received a very modest kickback, however one defines that, but the amount of overpayment and therefore a loss to the employer could be very substantial,” he said.

“What makes these losses problematic is just that. The amount of money that the thieving employee could actually receive could be very small in relation to the amount of loss that the employer sustains because of overpayments,” Balmer said. “It’s not like the employee might have stolen a million dollars, maybe they were into this kickback scheme and only received a few hundred bucks, the fact is that they were still dishonest.”

Source:Claims Journal
By Denise Johnson

St Louis Park MN May 26 2012 A Minneapolis woman has been charged with stealing more than $1,500 from a Home Depot store in St. Louis Park where she worked as a cashier.

Danielle Latrece Holloway, 27, is charged with one count of felony theft, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, signed by St. Louis Park Police Detective Matthew Riley, Holloway was working at the Home Depot store at 5800 Cedar Lake Road on May 6 when she entered a code on her cash register for a deposit of $1,200.

Surveillance video caught Holloway entering the information, and then placing the cash by the side of her register rather than handing it to a supervisor, according to the complaint.

Shortly afterward, video captured a man choosing a bottle of pop and then paying for it at Holloway’s register. When Holloway handed the man the change for his purchase, she also handed him the $1,200 in cash that she had placed beside her register, according to the complaint.

The man was identified by police as Holloway’s husband.

Near the end of Holloway’s shift, surveillance video caught her entering another deposit code for $540, then taking the money from the drawer and placing it beside her register, the complaint charges. Holloway then put the cash in her pocket and threw away the printed receipt, according to Riley’s account.

After Holloway left the store after her shift, a supervisor checked her employee locker and found that it had been cleaned out. Although she was scheduled to work the next day, she didn’t show up for work, and an unidentified man called the store and told them she had been in an accident and wouldn’t be in that day.

Police tracked down the man seen in the surveillance video taking the cash from Holloway, and he agreed to allow officers to search his home. They found the clothes he had been wearing when he was captured on video; when he was asked if he had been involved in the theft, he denied it, but then admitted, “OK, I did it,” according to the complaint.

Holloway’s husband told police that Holloway had called him and told him to come and pick up some money, and that they had used the money to pay bills, according to the complaint. When Holloway arrived home, she was arrested.

Holloway is free on a $5,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in her case is scheduled for June 21 in Hennepin County District Court.

Hollywood Fla May 26 2012 City Manager Douglas Hewett was charged with driving under the influence after leaving a gay strip club in Northeast Miami-Dade on Easter Sunday.

The arrest came to light Friday.

Hewett had been on the job just six weeks when the incident occurred.

“At the time of the incident, I advised each member of the City Commission who expressed their concerns about this serious matter,” Hewett wrote in an e-mail Friday, declining to elaborate further.

According to the Miami-Dade police report, just after 3 a.m. April 8 an officer saw Hewett enter the left turning lane and then swerve back into his original lane. He was pulled over at 156th Street and Biscayne Boulevard.

“I immediately noticed the defendant had red bloodshot watery eyes, slurred speech and the strong smell of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath,” the officer wrote in the report.

According to the report, Hewett had just left Swinging Richards, a gay strip club in North Miami Beach.

Hewett told the officer he had drunk two Coors Light beers; two breath samples showed his blood-alcohol level was .145 and .139, significantly higher than the .08 legal limit.

Hewett, who was hired Feb. 27 out of a slate of six finalists, makes $172,000 a year. He came from Fayetteville, N.C. and was lauded by the Hollywood Commission for his energy and fresh ideas.

According to city spokesman Jaime Hernandez, Hewett was absent from work April 9 for a personal day.

“Given the nature of this incident, I’ve retained an attorney,” Hewett wrote. “On his advice, I’m unable to discuss the facts of this case at this point. However, I deeply regret how this may negatively reflect on the City of Hollywood. I look forward to resolving this matter and continuing to serve the city.’’

Source:www.miamiherald.com

Wilton CT May 26 2012  Police arrested a 19 year-old Norwalk man for possession of drugs at Wilton High School after campus security found the man in the woods near Wilton High School on Thursday, May 24, at around 2 p.m., police reports state.

Reports say that Mykhaylo Kunytskiyy, of Stone Crop Lane in Norwalk, was “not a student at Wilton High School and had no business on school property.” Police said that Kunytskiyy told police that he was at Wilton High School to meet a couple of friends; however, police then found out that Kunytskiyy had a warrant out for his arrest in Norwalk due to a second-degree failure to appear in court. Kunytskiyy was “arrested and then found to be in possession of suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia and possession of narcotics that are not prescribed to him,” the report states.

Wilton Police took Kunytskiyy into custody and charged him with possession of drugs near a school zone, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, loitering near the school, and failure to appear in the second degree, according to the arrest report. He was held on a $3,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in court today.

FARGO, N.D.May 26 2012 — A former assistant bank manager faces charges that she stole more than $4,000 from a customer’s accounts.

The Fargo Forum reports (http://bit.ly/JLne82 ) that Becky Ann Sorum could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine if she’s convicted of the Class C felony theft charge filed Friday in Cass County District Court.

The 26-year-old Sorum had worked at Bank of the West in Fargo since April 2009. Court records say she’s accused of making nine withdrawals totaling $4,200 from two separate accounts belonging to the same customer. The thefts allegedly occurred between December and March 5.

The newspaper reports that Sorum denied the allegation to in-house investigators, blaming the withdrawals on a faulty scanner. She resigned before a scheduled follow-up interview. Attempts to reach Sorum were unsuccessful.

CHAPEL HILL NCMay 26 2012 – A woman shot multiple times outside Mary Scroggs Elementary on Kildaire Road in Chapel Hill Friday afternoon has died.

The call came in about shots fired at 2:04 p.m. She was taken to UNC hospitals where she later died.

Witnesses described the shooter as an adult male. Chapel Hill Police Chief Christopher Blue said his officers stopped a man matching the suspect’s description in a car headed north on Hwy 15- 501 at Raleigh Road and took him into custody.

Blue said officers were questioning the man and talking to witnesses.

The school was put on lockdown for about an hour until the all-clear was given. Police said no students or staff were hurt.

Source:WTVD.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. May 26 2102 — A Silicon Valley software executive put fake bar codes on Lego sets at various Target stores, bought the toys at a steep discount, then sold them online for thousands of dollars, authorities said.

Thomas Langenbach, 47, appeared in court Tuesday on four felony counts of burglary that could net him up to five years in prison if convicted. He did not enter a plea.

Authorities say Langenbach bought Lego sets at Target stores but covered their original bar codes with his own bar-code stickers to get a cheaper price.

Examples of his thefts included a $279 box of Millenium Falcon Legos he bought for $49 and a $90 Anakin Skywalker Lego set he got for $35, said Cindy Seeley Hendrickson, supervising deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County.

When police obtained a search warrant for Langenbach’s posh home south of San Francisco, they said they found hundreds of sets of the colorful toy bricks, many of which he sold on eBay under the name “tomsbrickyard.”

Authorities say Langenbach’s house in San Carlos also was filled with Lego creations he had built himself.

Eight baggies of bar code stickers were found in his car, police said.

Langenbach works for German software giant SAP. His LinkedIn profile lists him as a vice president in a Northern California division.

He was already under surveillance by Target security officers who suspected him of the scheme when they spotted him at the chain’s Mountain View store May 8. After he completed his purchases using the bogus bar codes, the store called police and Langenbach was arrested, authorities said.

“This particular crime, the way it was done, the sophistication, the amount of expenditure in time and money to do it, suggests there’s something way beyond money that motivated him to do it,” Hendrickson said.

Attempts to reach Langenbach, who is free on bail, were unsuccessful.

Source:AP

New York City NY May 26 2012 Police are on the lookout for at least two men who reportedly attached a 50-year-old security guard on Sunday, May 20, at approximately 5:00 a.m.

The victim was working at 132 Van Buren Street when at least two men approached him from behind, grabbed him in chokehold, and then foced him the ground, said police.

One of the suspects then told the man, “I’ll blow your head off,” forcibly removed his wallet, and then fled eastbound on Van Buren Street towards Marcus Garvey Boulevard.

The victim said he did not see a firearm and could not I.D. the suspects. He sustained injuries to his leg, and was transported to Woodhull Hospital.

Police conducted a canvass of the area with negative results. The investigation is ongoing.

Bellevue WA May 26 2012 Two former Hopelink employees have been charged with felony theft after allegedly stealing and reselling more than $95,000 worth of bus passes while working at a Bellevue call center.

According to charging documents, Kimberly B. Holmes, 48, and Manuel Almagro, 30, created false client accounts and modified existing accounts in order to mail hundreds of passes that were intended for Hopelink clients to addresses where Almagro would then retrieve the passes and resell them for $50-$100 each.

Almagro also admitted to stealing between $200 and $300 worth of gas cards, charging documents indicate.

Investigators say the crimes took place between May 2009 and March 2010, when both Holmes and Almagro were employed at a Hopelink call center located at 14812 Main St. in Bellevue. The charges were first reported earlier Wednesday by SeattlePI.com (click here for story).

Hopelink is a partner of the city’s Mercer Island Youth and Family Services Department in providing distressed families with essential services.

Many of the passes were sent to a Renton rental property formerly owned by Almagro, according to court documents. Two of the tenants living there eventually tipped off Hopelink to the scheme by returning a package of bus passes to the nonprofit.

Almagro’s employment at Hopelink was terminated in June 2009 because of attendance issues, according to charging documents, and Holmes was placed on leave in April 2010 and fired in June 2010 after an internal investigation by the Redmond-based nonprofit.

Glen Miller, a communications manager for Hopelink, said he is unable to comment on the criminal investigation but said the organization has taken preventative measures since disovering the bus pass thefts. Specifically, Miller said Hopelink has established an anonymous hotline for employee whistleblowers, strengthened its financial oversight system, and trained its transportation staff in “anti-fraud education.”

“We’ve taken additional precautions to prevent that from happening in the future,” he said.

Insurance covered Hopelink’s loss from the thefts, and the stolen bus passes did not impact any of the organization’s clients, Miller said.

Arraignment for Almagro and Holmes is set for May 30.

OMAHA, Neb.May 26 2012 — An Omaha man hired to monitor programs that receive money from Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett’s charitable foundation has been charged with stealing from the organization.

Omaha television station KMTV reports (http://bit.ly/KOuwTA) that Dhaval Patel has been charged with felony theft in Douglas County. He is free on $5,000 cash bond and is set to appear in court on June 15.

Police say an employee at the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation checked with a London hotel from which Patel had submitted a receipt for reimbursement and learned Patel hadn’t stayed there. A check of other expense receipts turned up what police believe was at least $36,000 in fraudulent receipts this year.

A telephone listing for Patel could not be found, and his attorney did not immediately return a message left Wednesday.

BELLINGHAM WA May 26 2012 - A man wanted in connection with an Everett homicide was arrested after he was caught shoplifting about $239 in clothing from Bellis Fair mall, police said.

Derek J. Donnelly, 31, is a suspect in the death of Luis Verduzco, a 23-year-old man stabbed to death in April, said Everett police spokesman Aaron Snell.

Verduzco was lured into a car April 23 for a drug deal by Donnelly, Sarah A. Hellerud and Lathana Neese, according to an Everett Police Department probable cause statement.

The trio planned to rob a quarter-ounce of methamphetamine from Verduzco, according to the police report. But when he refused to give up the drugs, Hellerud stabbed him in the head, then dumped him out of the car, she later told a friend. The Snohomish medical examiner determined a stab wound to Verduczo’s upper left chest killed him.

A neighbor found Verduzco’s body behind a garage at a vacant Everett home.

Hellerud, 27, of Bothell, and Neese, 19, of Arlington, were arrested in the case earlier this month.

On the afternoon of May 23, Donnelly went into the Macy’s at Bellis Fair mall and picked out eight items worth about $239 including a belt, pants and a hooded sweatshirt, said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young.

A security guard got suspicious when Donnelly, loaded up with clothes, went into a changing room, Young said.

When Donnelly tried to leave the store, the guard stopped him. Donnelly was carrying a box cutter and a pocketknife, likely used to cut off security tags, Young said.

Donnelly gave a fake birthdate and name – Robert M. Donnelly – when he was being arrested by Bellingham police officers, Young said.

Right away, the officers were suspicious.

“It didn’t match,” Young said. “It just didn’t match. Those are veteran officers, and they know when people are lying to them.”

Donnelly was booked into Whatcom County Jail as “John Doe.”

Using a fingerprint analysis, the records department at the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office found a match to the homicide suspect.

Police don’t know how long Donnelly had been in Bellingham, Young said. Everett detectives were expected to interview him Thursday.

Young said Donnelly wasn’t talking to Bellingham police.

All three Everett suspects are under investigation for first-degree murder, but no charges have been filed yet in Snohomish County Superior Court. They’re being held on lesser charges.

Source:www.bellinghamherald.com

Cottonwood AZ May 26 2012  Police say a drunk man set fire to a medical helicoper by tossing a gasoline-filled beer bottle at it Friday morning.

Video shows Richard Thomas Butts Jr., 26, buying the beer at a convenience store, going to the bathroom, then emerging with an empty bottle that he then filled with gasoline, said Jody Fanning, chief of police.

He then attached a rag to the bottle, lit it, and tossed it at the helicopter, which is stationed at Verde Valley Medical Center and did not have any passengers, Fanning said.

The blaze caused at least $200,000 in damages, police said.

Butts, described by police as intoxicated, faces charges for arson, misconduct, and criminal damage and endangerment.

 

Source: azcentral

MONROE OH May 26 2012 — Two women from Indianapolis are accused of stealing more than $800 worth of clothing at Cincinnati Premium Outlets.

The incident happened at about 6 p.m. Thursday when Monroe police received a call from a member of Valor Security.

The security guard was in a foot pursuit with a suspect, later apprehended by police in a wooded area near West Chester Marketing, police reports indicate.

The suspect is identified as Daja Jacks, 22, of Indianapolis, Ind. The security guard recovered a bag Jacks allegedly dropped during the foot pursuit containing two shirts from Gap, according to police reports.

Police also located Ebony Solomon, 20, of Indianapolis at a nearby Wendy’s.

The woman was allegedly in possession of a bag containing a pair of True Religion jeans, three pairs of True Religion shorts with the security devices attached and three shirts from Gap.

The clothing recovered by police has a value of $826. According to Monroe police, Solomon was also in possession of a stun gun and pry tool, commonly used to remove security tags from clothing.

The women were booked into Warren County Jail on charges of theft and possession of criminal tools.

Monroe police identified a third suspect as Lisa Leslie of Indianapolis. The woman remains at large and was reportedly the driver of tan get-away vehicle, according to police reports.

Source:middletownjournal.com

BOISE, Idaho May 26 2012— A former Idaho Department of Corrections officer has been arrested on suspicion of having sexual contact with an inmate while the inmate was being treated at a Boise hospital.

Sebastian Lieber was hired by IDOC last June and worked at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution south of Boise. He was placed on paid leave on April 9 and resigned April 18.

The charge of sexual contact with a prisoner is a felony.

Idaho Department of Correction’s Office of Professional Standards investigated the case before turning it over to the Ada County sheriff’s office.

Officials did not immediately say when the alleged sexual contact occurred.

Topeka KS May 26 2012 The Topeka Seaman High School family is in shock and mourning this weekend, after learning of the hit-and-run death of star student Brenna Morgart.

Brenna, who was 18, had just graduated this month. She was reported missing after she’s left the family’s home on Northwest Timberway Court between 10:00 and 11:00 Friday morning.

Her body was located near Huxman Road at 6:12pm Friday.

Authorities were called to help just before 4:00 Friday afternoon. Many concerned friends and neighbors had already searched for most of the afternoon. A request was made for KHP helicopters to look for her from above.. and by 5:30pm, the Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the Silver Lake and Soldier Township Fire Departments.

Sheriff Herman T. Jones told 13 News last night, that the parents of a 20-year old Topekan, Dustin J. Leftwich, had come to authorities saying their son had been involved in a collision. Sheriff’s investigators confirmed the report that his car had struck Morgart that morning.

Brenna’s eyeglasses were located near 69th and Jennings Road, which deputies confirmed was the spot where she was struck.

Her body was located in a wooded, closed off area of Huxman Road, quite a distance away. They determined her body was moved away from the scene of the collision and left abandoned in a field near the 6600 Block of NW Huxman Road.

Two Shawnee County CSI teams worked the crime scenes before the Sheriff confirmed Brenna’s death late Friday.

Melissa Brunner reported there was a steady stream of stunned friends coming in and out of Northland Christian Church Friday night, where the popular 18-year old was a Sunday School teacher.

Dustin Leftwich was taken into custody and transported to the LEC for questioning, before he was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. The case is still under investigation this weekend, as hit and run charges are reviewed before he’s taken to jail.

Source:KAKE.com

New Braunfels, TX May  25 2012 – What started as a simple shoplifting charge quickly escalated into an aggravated robbery charge for a San Antonio man in New Braunfels yesterday afternoon.

At a little past 2pm yesterday a 30-year old Middle Eastern man from San Antonio tried to leave the New Braunfels Wal-Mart location on Walnut Avenue with a couple of Boost Mobile devices. But he was stopped by store security before he could actually make off with those mobile devices, and that’s when things got interesting. Instead of giving up once he was caught, the man reportedly pulled out a razor blade and threatened the security guard, who was able to wrestle away the stolen goods before the suspect fled the scene.

He got into a tan passenger car and sped away, getting onto southbound I-35. New Braunfels Police officers quickly caught up to that vehicle, stopping it on the access road of I-35 near Solms Road, where they performed what’s known as a felony traffic stop (where guns are drawn and the suspect is instructed to exit the vehicle and lie down on the ground before officers approach to handcuff him).

30-year old Jawad Khalil was taken into custody and booked on an aggravated robbery charge, which is a 1st degree felony (punishable by 5 to 99 years in prison). Bond for Khalil has not yet been set and he remains in custody at the Comal County Jail

Indianapolis IN May 25 2012 In Indiana, a worker’s injuries in an accident on a public road are generally not compensable because the public road is open to the general public.

Case name: Arnold v. Rose Acre Farms, Inc., No. 93A02-1109-EX-874 (Ind. Ct. App. 03/27/12).

Ruling: The Indiana Court of Appeals held that a security guard was not entitled to benefits because his injury did not occur within the course of his employment.

Self-insurance group’s handling of claim may save company from liability (03/17/11)

Worker fails to land benefits after driving golf cart over ramp (09/15/11)

Smoking pot before feeding bears not prudent, but not fatal to claim (08/30/10)

Ignoring coexisting conditions can have nightmarish ramifications, expert warns (12/08/11)

Co-worker immunity protects errant driver from suit (09/13/10)

What it means: In Indiana, a worker’s injuries in an accident on a public road are generally not compensable because the public road is open to all members of the general public and the hazards and danger of his accident were common to everyone using the public road.

Summary: A night security guard for a farm was driving from his home to work on a public road. As he was making a left turn onto a gravel road that served as the entrance to the farm, he was struck by a truck. The collision occurred on the public road, but the vehicles came to rest partially in the farm’s driveway. The guard sustained multiple injuries, including broken bones and cognitive impairment. He sought workers’ compensation benefits. The Indiana Court of Appeals held that he was not entitled to benefits because his injuries did not occur in the course of his employment.

The guard recognized that the accident did not occur in the farm’s parking lot, private drive, or easement. However, he argued that the public road was an extension of the farm’s operating premises. He pointed out that anyone going to the farm had to use the public road to access the farm’s driveway. Although the farm’s property line went to the center of the roadway, the court found the public road was not part of its premises. The farm had no control over the use of the road even if it owned the soil underneath the road. The court also explained that everyone using a public road experienced the hazard occasioned by a left-hand turn against traffic.

The court concluded that the guard was not injured in the course of his employment when he traveled to work on a public road.

New Rochelle NY May 25 2012 Patrick Clark, an electrician working in the Buildings & Grounds department for the New Rochelle Board of Education was arrested by the Westchester County DA’s office for proposing various sexual acts he would like to engage in with what he believed to be a 15-year old girl. The “girl” was an undercover Criminal Investigator working for the Westchester County District Attorney.

Sources say that Patrick Clark was sent home from work by supervisor Anthony Rigos after the district learned of the arrest which, sources say, took place over the weekend.
Patrick J. Clark was hired April 1st, 2005. As of March 31, 2011 his salary was $87,213,

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced today that Patrick Clark, 42, of 50 Highland Avenue, New Rochelle, New York, has been arraigned on a Felony Complaint charging him with one count of Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors, in the First Degree, a class “E” Felony.

According to a statement released by the DA’s office, between April 5th, 2012 and May 8th, 2012, an investigator from the Westchester County District Attorneys office, while acting in an undercover capacity, assumed the “role” of a fifteen year old female and engaged in a series of “chat” conversations with the defendant via an internet chat room.

The undercover made it clear to defendant that “she” was a fifteen years old girl. The defendant discussed specific sexual acts, in which he would like to engage with the “15 year old girl” including digital penetration, oral sex and sexual intercourse.

Clark is the fourth school district employee arrested since 2009. Jose Martinez was arrested in 2011 on charges related to repeatedly raping a student at Isaac E. Young Middle School. Dianna Wessel was arrested in 2010 after refusing to take a breathalyzer and drug test after crashing her vehicle into three parked vehicles and then flipping her own vehicle. Vito Costa was arrested in 2009 in charges related to working a no-show job in the Buildings & Grounds department.

Clark is just the latest in a series of district employees alleged to have engaged in various sex crimes involving students and district employees: Anthony Newman (Glazier, Buildings & Grounds Department) sexually assaulted a district employee in City Hall. Donna Henry (Security Guard) transmitted a nude image of a 14-year old girl to two other district employees (her son and her daughter-in-law). Suspended for 30 days with pay, hearing, given a pay increase and relocated to New Rochelle High School.

Several school employees were referred by the New Rochelle Board of Education to the Westchester County District Attorney Sex Crimes unit. Leroy Manuel (Security Guard) engaged in a sexual relationship with a student, as a result of which she became pregnant, moved to Florida and had the baby, sources say. Robert McLean (Security Guard) engaged in sex with students. Kyle Figueroa (Security Guard) engaged in sex with students. After the Jose Martinez arrest, Figueroa was caught on camera receiving oral sex from a student in area of Room 105/106. Walter Hubbard (Janitor) was terminated after being caught multiple times viewing pornography on school district computers. Also, engaged in sex with students.

Jerome Planter (Security Guard) and Geeta Singh (Security Guard) submitted falsified residency records to New Rochelle Civil Service Commission to obtain a position with New Rochelle residency requirement.

Frank DeMasi (Carpenter/Buildings & Grounds) misappropriated school equipment, converting school van and tools for personal use. Kareem Ali (Finance/Special Education) sexually harassed a senior official in the finance department; prohibited from having direct contact with the woman and not allowed to walk past a certain point in the hallway on the second floor. Ali resurfaced again when the New Rochelle Public Library discovered $300,000 unaccounted for in 2011. He has since been reassigned to Special Education department. Danielle Carter (Security Guard ) caught stealing at ShopRite grocery store on Palmer Avenue while wearing her City School District of New Rochelle security uniform. Rasool Hassan Williams (Buildings & Grounds) murdered a man in Ohio. Williams was a repeat offender for many years, drug use, drug possession. Arrested while employed by the district. Arrested for murder in Ohio three weeks after leaving employment of New Rochelle school district, convicted, sentenced to life in prison. Len Ricci (Buildings & Grounds) hired despite felony drug arrest. Phil Carino (Janitor) hung stuffed monkey on a noose, district settled lawsuit for racist behavior. Freddie Smith (Assistant Superintendent of Schools) numerous allegations of plagiarism, Doctorate revoked by University of Virginia, Fired at his next two jobs as these issues became known. Martin Freiman (Janitor): Suspended for making racist statements to children and staff at Jefferson Elementary School, long history of similar incidents. Jimmy Bonanno, Sr. (Buildings & Grounds) misappropriated school equipment and staff; directed school district employees to perform work on his girlfriend’s house in Orange County.

The defendant was arrested and arraigned in White Plains City Court. The defendant is due back in court on May 31st, 2012. Bail was set at $2,500 cash or bond.

The defendant faces a maximum sentence of four years in state prison.

Assistant District Attorney ToniAnn Gagliardi of the Investigations Division is prosecuting the case.

LITTLE ROCK AR May 25 2012— The state Supreme Court today denied a teenager’s request to transfer his capital murder case to juvenile court.

Christopher Beverage is charged with killing a guard during an escape from the Jack Jones Juvenile Justice Center in Pine Bluff. Prosecutors say Beverage and two other teens, Nicholas Dismuke and Brandon Henderson, escaped from the facility on Jan. 30, 2010, and that during the escape Beverage and Dismuke attacked security guard Leonard Wall, who later died from his injuries.

Beverage also allegedly attacked and injured another guard, Gloria Wilburn, and stole a vehicle from a couple at a gas station.

Beverage and Dismuke were apprehended in Fort Smith on Feb. 1, 2010. Henderson was apprehended the next day in Oklahoma.

Beverage is charged as an adult with capital murder, second-degree battery, first-degree escape, theft of property and three counts of aggravated robbery.

After he was charged, he filed a motion seeking to transfer the case to juvenile court and challenging the constitutionality of a state law that allows prosecutors to charge a juvenile defendant as an adult if the defendant is accused of committing acts at age 16 or 17 that would be felonies if committed by an adult.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Wyatt Jr. denied the motion, and Beverage appealed.

In its unanimous opinion Thursday upholding Watt’s ruling, the Supreme Court said prosecutors had sufficient reason to charge Beverage as an adult and rejected arguments that the law allowing that action was unconstitutional.

Beverage argued that the state Legislature had violated the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers by dictating court procedures. In its opinion Thursday rejecting Beverage’s appeal, the Supreme Court said the statute is “a substantive law that is rooted in public policy” and therefore falls under the purview of the General Assembly, “the policy-making branch of government.”

The court also rejected Beverage’s argument that the statute violates the equal-protection clauses of the federal and state constitutions because it allows prosecutors to treat certain juveniles differently from others. The Supreme Court said restrictions that single out certain classifications of people are permissible if they have a rational basis and serve a legitimate purpose.

“Due to the well-documented rise in the violent crime rate among juveniles in recent years, the Legislature was prompted to restrict or qualify the right of treatment as a juvenile by making the option of trying juveniles as adults available to the state,” Chief Justice Jim Hannah wrote in the court’s opinion.

ORLANDO, FLA. May 25 2012— Authorities say an Alabama high school football coach and his 10-year-old son were killed in a central Florida crash.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that 38-year-old Stacy Watters pulled out in front of a box truck Thursday morning, causing the truck to hit his car.

FHP says Watters and his son, Quentin, died at the scene. Watters’s 9-year-old son Jai suffered critical injuries in the collision. He was taken to an Orlando hospital, followed by family members that had been riding in another vehicle. The family had just returned from a cruise.

The Orlando Sentinel (http://bit.ly/KOwV4Q ) reports that Watters coached at Carroll High School in Ozark, Ala., where he was hired as a physical education teacher last spring.

The crash remains under investigation. The box truck’s driver wasn’t injured.

SAN DIEGO CA May 25 2012 — A UPS delivery driver was arrested Wednesday after a woman found him in her hallway watching her bathe, San Diego police said.

Walter Flowers, 43, was on his regular route when he dropped off a package at the woman’s house on Tuxedo Road in San Carlos shortly before 1 p.m., police said.

The woman accepted the delivery from him.

She was in the bathtub about 30 minutes later when her dog, which had been outside, came into the bathroom. Confused, she peered around the corner and saw Flowers watching her from the hallway, said police Lt. Andra Brown.

The woman, who is in her 20s, chased him from the house, and he sped away in his delivery truck. He had reportedly entered the home through an unlocked back door, police said.

He was contacted by his employer and returned to the home about an hour later, surrendering to police who were taking the report, Brown said.

He was arrested on suspicion of peeping, prowling and trespassing — all misdemeanors.