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NY Guards protest at Bank of America www.privateofficer.com
In the merger transition, about 130 former Merrill Lynch security guards in December faced a steep increase in their health care benefits, leaving many unable to afford coverage, said Joe Eisman, organizing coordinator with a Service Employees International Union local. Another 30 lost their jobs. The changes came when guards were shifted to a security firm used by Bank of America, G4S Wackenhut, from a firm used by Merrill, Securitas.
More than a dozen SEIU representatives, mostly activists from Charlotte, held signs, chanted and called on new CEO Brian Moynihan to restore the guards’ benefits.
Bank spokeswoman Nicole Nastacie said SEIU has “misrepresented” Bank of America’s role. “The guards are not bank associates or participants in our benefit programs,” she said.
In a statement, G4S Wackenhut said all officers were offered health benefits. The company said its family plan was more expensive than a union program but that its employee-only program was less expensive. Officers who lost their jobs either chose to leave on their own or didn’t meet necessary qualifications, the company said.
Though the guards are employed by a third-party firm, Bank of America is responsible for the contract that ultimately funds the officers’ salaries and benefits, Eisman contended.
The guard switch is one of many changes as the two companies have come together since Jan. 1, 2009. The number of workers involved is small compared to Bank of America’s total workforce of more than 280,000.
SEIU has been a frequent critic of Bank of America in recent years, holding rallies in Charlotte to protest layoffs, executive pay practices and consumer banking fees. The national union in the past has expressed interest in organizing tellers and loan officers, but this protest was held by a local that represents security officers, janitors and doormen, Eisman said. Bank of America, according to its latest annual report, has no U.S. employees subject to collective bargaining agreements.
Eisman fired up the group by contrasting $11-per-hour security worker wages with the billions in bonuses doled out to bankers this year.
Taking the bullhorn from him, security guard Denizia Joseph, who said she lost her benefits in the changeover, belted out her testimonial.
“Our children can no longer go to the doctor without dipping into our pockets,” said Joseph, 42, who has four children, ages 5 through 22, and a thyroid condition herself that requires regular medication. “We can barely afford it.”
The bank declined to comment on whether Moynihan was in Charlotte on Tuesday.
Charlotte NC teacher charged with rape of student www.privateofficer.com
A magnet school math teacher has been charged with raping a Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools student at a language academy in south Charlotte.
John Patrick Bush, 27, was charged with first-degree rape of a victim under 13, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. He was arrested about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and released on $75,000 bond.
Police said the alleged rape took place on Sept. 1 at Smith Academy of Languages, a school on Tyvola Road near South Boulevard that offers language immersion classes for children from kindergarten to eighth grade.
The incident came to light after the student told her parents about the alleged crime, police said. Police haven’t released more details about how the crime occurred
Bush had been working at Smith as a math teacher since January 2007.
He is suspended with pay pending the results of an investigation, said Cynthia Robbins, a district spokeswoman. Robbins said she didn’t know when district officials first learned of the alleged rape.
She said Bush, who did not have a prior criminal record, passed a background check that the district conducts on all teachers
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Pregnant teenager shot-killed at bus stop www.privateofficer.com
Police said Tiffany Wright, 15, was 32 weeks pregnant when she was shot in the head on Mallard Creek Road between Sugar Creek Road and Harris Boulevard in north Charlotte. Doctors were able to deliver her baby, which is currently being treated at Carolinas Medical Center.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe said a relative had just walked Wright out to the bus stop and walked back home. The relative then heard at least three gunshots and went outside to find teen lying in the street just before 6 a.m.
Wright attended Hawthorne High School, an alternative school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Monroe was unable to say if Wright was targeted. He said a witness reported a car speeding away from the scene, but did not have a good description.
Officers closed Mallard Creek Road and set up a perimeter around the neighborhood to search for the gunman. Detectives said that although they didn’t make any arrests, they are following several promising leads.
Officers from a number of CMPD units are still on the scene talking to residents, collecting evidence and following leads.
Anyone with information is asked to call 704-432-TIPS.
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Charlotte police officer charged in fatality crash www.privateofficer.com
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Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Martray Proctor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with a March fatal wreck that killed a 20-year-old woman.
Defense attorney George Laughrun told the Observer that Proctor turned himself in at the Mecklenburg County jail about 12:30 p.m. He was under a $10,000 bond this afternoon.
Proctor, 24, was driving a CMPD patrol car on the night of March 29 on Old Statesville Road when he collided with a 1991 Ford Escort driven by Shatona Evette Robinson of Davidson. Robinson was killed in the collision, and three passengers in the car were injured, as was Proctor.
Multiple witnesses told investigators that Proctor did not have his emergency blue lights on, and CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe said Proctor was driving more than 90 mph with the siren off. The speed limit on that part of Old Statesville Road is 45 mph.
Monroe said Proctor was driving to assist another officer who had made a routine traffic stop. N.C. law and department rules dictate officers obey posted speed limits unless their vehicle’s blue lights and siren are activated.
Court records show that Proctor has been cited three times for speeding. In two of the cases, court records show, Proctor was stopped by police who accused him of traveling 86 mph in 60 mph zone and 63 mph in a 35 mph zone. The offenses were reduced, but court fees and a fine were paid, records show.
In the third case, Proctor was cited for driving 30 mph in a 20 mph zone in 2003 in Cleveland County, records show. He paid a fine and court costs, records show.
Proctor, who works in the department’s north division, has not had any complaints lodged against him and has never been disciplined by his superiors since becoming an officer, officials said.
CMPD said it conducted a background check o Proctor in February 2007 and hired him the next month. The agency looks into the driving histories of all prospective officers during background searches, officials said. A history of speeding tickets does not automatically disqualify a candidate from becoming an officer. But offenses such as driving while impaired, negligent accidents, incidents of road rage and recent violations could disqualify a job candidate, they said.
Sworn officers are not required to inform the department of speeding tickets they receive on their own time. If their license is suspended or revoked or if they are cited for a crime more serious than speeding, such as drunken driving, they must inform the department within 48 hours of the incident.
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Bishop Anthony Jinwright charged with tax crimes www.privateofficer.com
The leader of two Charlotte-area churches was accused Tuesday of evading several hundred thousand dollars in taxes while spending lavishly on travel and luxury cars – including a $175,000 Bentley GT he leased from 2005 to 2008.
A federal grand jury in Charlotte indicted Bishop Anthony L. Jinwright on 14 counts – including filing false tax returns, tax evasion, mail fraud and making false statements to federal agents.
Jinwright, 52, heads Greater Salem City of God in west Charlotte and Greater Salem at the Lake in Cornelius. Together they draw about 2,000 people, said an official at the Charlotte church.
Jinwright, who also owns funeral homes in Charlotte and Pineville, has written a book about partnering with the Holy Spirit called “Rise Up: Breaking Free into Anointed Living.” His church Web site advertises a radio show called “The Wright Word,” which airs Sundays at 6:30 a.m.
The indictment says Jinwright and his wife’s expenses were too great for the income listed on their joint tax returns from 2001-2006.
“Defendant accumulated a number of luxury assets and enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle which far exceeded his reported taxable income for those years,” the court document said.
On Tuesday, Jinwright’s Lexus SUV – with a vanity plate reading “JIN’S SUV” – was parked in a reserved spot at the Greater Salem City of God off Brookshire Freeway.
Bishop Alan Porter, who said he was the church’s executive pastor, told an Observer reporter at the church that Jinwright was unavailable for an interview about the charges.
“We have no comment at this time,” he said, adding: “Trust in God.”
Indictment numbers
The 16-page indictment says Jinwright failed to report $875,000 in taxable income for him and his wife, Harriet Porter-Jinwright. She is listed on the church Web site as a co-pastor, but is not charged.
The indictment alleges Jinwright owes from $200,000 to $400,000 in unpaid federal and state income taxes.
The indictment also details salary and reimbursements of $3.1 million for Jinwright from the church from 2001-2006. It also lists more than $400,000 in income from speaking engagements and book sales.
Jinwright’s personal expenditures include $198,000 in total car lease payments from 2001 to the present, according to the indictment. The vehicles listed: a BMW 530i, a Mercedes-Benz S550V, five Lexus vehicles and a Maybach 57 – billed as a luxury sedan with a 550-horsepower engine and worth about a quarter of a million dollars.
Led church since 1981
Jinwright has led what is now Greater Salem City of God since 1981. He incorporated A.L. Jinwright Ministries in 2001.
Every year, church members celebrate his latest anniversary as pastor with a service that has drawn other prominent black pastors as guest speakers.
A Wilmington native, Jinwright also leads Pastors International Consortium, which is scheduled to have its 2009 conference next week at Nations Ford Community Church.
In 1998, he was elected first vice president of the General Baptist State Convention, which represents about 2,000 black Baptist churches in the state. Since then, his church has removed Baptist from its title.
Founded in 1874 as Salem Baptist Church, Greater Salem City of God has been at its current spot in west Charlotte since 1913.
For almost a decade, the church has talked about moving to a site on Rozzelles Ferry Road. It did purchase 54 acres and broke ground in June 2007 on what was touted as the future home of a new church facility, as well as senior citizen housing, a drug rehabilitation center and assorted businesses.
But two years later, the site is only dirt and grass and a sign announcing the project.
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Street race kills teacher, daughter in NC www.privateofficer.com
Cynthia Furr was passionate about many things: British literature, motherhood, her faith, even kickboxing.
That’s how friends and colleagues remembered her Sunday, a day after she and her 2-year-old daughter were killed in a car accident police believe was caused by two other drivers racing each other along N.C. 49 in Steele Creek.
Furr, 45, was on her way to sing at a program at Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church, where she was the longtime choir director. The impact of the crash left sheets of music scattered along the street.
Furr died at the scene. Her daughter, McAllister, died at a hospital.
Steve Price, the surviving husband and father, was not involved in the accident.
Less than a half-mile away, church members had seen the aftermath of the wreck and comforted each other after learning Furr and her daughter had been involved. Neighbors from the RiverPointe subdivision, where the family lived, gathered near the crash site to grieve.
The tributes to Furr and the toddler, known affectionately as Mackie, continued Sunday.
“(Furr) did very much live her faith,” said Nancy Nutter, who had known Furr since they were fourth graders at Steele Creek Elementary. “She was open and caring to her students and the folks she came into contact with. She was always ready and willing to lend an ear, was a very compassionate person and definitely will be missed.”
A graduate of Olympic High School, Furr also earned degrees from Queens University of Charlotte, Winthrop University and the University of South Carolina, where she received a Ph.D in English education.
Furr returned to Olympic to teach English, before joining Winthrop seven years ago. She taught writing and British literature.
Anna Hassell took a class in Shakespeare with Furr in spring of 2007, and said she never missed a session.
“She was such a strong force; a classic, classic woman,” said Hassell, who graduated from Winthrop last year. “She was a mother to me. She was a mentor as a Christian woman, a feminist. I loved the lady so much.”
On Sunday, flowers sat outside Furr’s office, and visitors signed a memory book.
Furr also advised would-be English teachers and taught a kickboxing class at Winthrop and a local gym. A 2005 university profile said she is certified in martial arts.
The family tends cows at a farm in Chester County, where they also have horses. She and her husband had talked of retiring there.
Mackie a dream come true
“This is Mackie’s mama, and you’ve reached the house where Mackie lives.”
That message greets callers to the home of Furr and Price, with a promise that messages will be returned when they “get too dirty or too tired to play.”
Friends said Mackie’s birth was a dream come true for the couple, who took to parenthood quickly. Price is a co-owner of Price Brothers plumbing in Charlotte and met Furr when the two were students at Olympic.
The toddler looked like her father but had many of her mother’s mannerisms, friends said.
Mackie “was a smart kid like her mother,” said Reena Lizardo, a family friend who occasionally watched the toddler.
Mackie was adored by her extended family members and was doted on as the only grandchild in the family. Her grandmother cared for her during the day while Furr worked, Nutter said.
Colleagues at Winthrop recalled seeing the toddler at their faculty meetings.
At church, Mackie often would mimic her mother. One time, when Furr was leading the children’s choir, Mackie knelt on her knees as she did.
Motherhood, said Pastor Bob Jack, gave Furr “a new glow about life.”
Sunday’s church services were dedicated to Furr and Mackie. The choir, which Furr had led for about 20 years, performed music she had been preparing for an Easter program.
Friends said Furr had a wonderful voice, and spread her love of music by directing the choir. She was so inspiring, she could make a rock sing, Jack said.
Funeral services had not been announced Sunday, but tributes to the family flowed freely from friends and colleagues.
“I know that even as we all grieve for her that she would tell us to live our lives,” said John Bird, an English professor at Winthrop. “She lived her life to the fullest every day. That doesn’t console me for this loss, but it does tell me what she would have told – to live my life.”
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Charlotte NC distribution center for heorin www.privateofficer.com
Heroin-related arrests have jumped. And while officials have not seen an increase in drug-related violence, they worry that could change.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2009 National Drug Threat Assessment identified Charlotte as one of 230 cities where Mexican traffickers “maintain drug distribution networks” to sell cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines and heroin.
John Emerson, assistant special agent in charge for the N.C. bureau of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, would say only that “multiple” cells operate in Charlotte, but at least three have been shut down in the past two years.
One was run out of a small house on quiet Mary Jo Helms Drive until it was busted last year. Israel Hernandez, 21, ran a nearly million-dollar business from the family neighborhood, preparing black tar and dispatching couriers to deliver it to suburban customers waiting outside public places like Office Depot and Walgreens.
In September 2007, authorities arrested seven men and seized $114,000 and 24,000 doses of heroin hidden in the garage of a southwest Charlotte house less than two miles from Steele Creeke Elementary.
In another investigation, dubbed Operation Black Gold Rush, federal and local authorities busted Jairo Nunez, 27, for leading 13 people in a Charlotte black tar ring. The same organization was also active in South Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, California, Ohio and Arizona.
The cartels don’t discriminate among customers. They sell their drugs to low-income users and uptown bankers, police and treatment officials say. And they’re increasingly selling to young people – “teens in high schools,” said Capt. Mike Adams of the CMPD’s vice and narcotics unit.
Statewide, heroin seizures increased 77 percent last year, according to the DEA.
Heroin abuse is also surging. On average, last year, the McLeod Addictive Disease Center in Charlotte had seven to eight new people a day seeking methadone treatment. Ronnie Bradley, the center’s program manager, said they now get 15 to 20.
“The past two, three months, especially – it’s been crazy.” Bradley said. “Yesterday, our doctor in Gastonia saw 17 methadone clients.”
Made from poppies in western Mexico, the drug gets its name from its color and texture. One officer described it as being like “a warm tootsie roll.” And at $12.50 a dose, it’s about half the price of other available forms.
Federal drug-enforcement officials said the increase in drug trafficking is a direct correlation with immigration.
Charlotte has one of the country’s fastest growing immigrant populations. An estimated 390,000 illegal immigrants live in North Carolina, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
While most immigrants are not involved in drug trafficking, federal authorities say the growing Latino community allows traffickers to blend into the community and conceal their activities.
Maudia Melendez, head of Jesus Ministry, a group that advocates for immigrants, said it’s unfair to attribute drug problems to immigration.
“Drugs have been a problem in the United States for years,” she said. “We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of immigrants. The ones who are smuggling the drugs are maybe half of one percent. Most people probably don’t even know about the drugs.”
Charlotte has seen nothing like the violence that engulfs much of northern Mexico – more than 7,000 have died since January 2008. But law enforcement officials here say they’re working to protect Charlotte from the violence that other cities have seen.
Adams, the CMPD captain, likened the Mexican drug organizations to a Fortune 500 company.
They have managers and distribution supervisors. They have strict rules and keep detailed budgets, including planning for annual losses.
At the time of his arrest, Hernandez made $2,000 to $7,000 a day delivering heroin, according to court records.
“It’s a business,” Adams said. “To them it’s about money. It’s all about the money.”
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Mall security fails to notify police of attack http://www.privateofficer.com
newschannel36 — A woman narrowly escaped being attacked at a SouthPark Mall parking deck and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say no one ever told them, including mall security.
It’s the ritziest place to shop in Charlotte, but police say SouthPark Mall is not immune to crime.
A woman was in her car at the top floor of the Dillard’s parking deck when police say two men surrounded her car.
Police tell us the woman did just about everything right. She leaned on her horn, locked her doors, and drove away without getting hurt. It’s the mall’s actions they’re concerned about.
She managed to get away and notified mall security. But no one called the police, not even mall security.
“We don’t know what went amiss out there but we know we didn’t get the call,” said Sgt. David Nowlan, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department,
“Does that alarm you?” NewsChannel 36 asked.
“Yes. Obviously it does,” he replied.
Police say they didn’t find out about it until days later when an e-mail circulated around the community got to them and police called mall security.
“And we’ve spoke to them out there,” Nowlan said. “Obviously you can have all the radios and phones in the world, but if you don’t talk to each other it doesn’t do any good.”
What was their explanation as to why they didn’t notify CMPD? “They’re trying to track this down themselves,” Nowlan said.
We’re trying too. We were referred to a public relations person in Atlanta who told us she would try to find us some answers. She hasn’t yet.
Police say it’s always important to call 911, not just mall security.
Two teenage boys were shot in a Southdale mall parking lot Friday evening during a fight that Edina police called gang-related.
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Mother accused of trying to kill sick infant www.privateofficer.com
Mother accused of trying to kill sick infant http://www.privateofficer.com
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said they were called to the Levine Children’s Hospital at CMC on Tuesday after doctors determined an 11-month-old girl that had been hospitalized for two weeks had just been abused.
The girl’s mother, 21-year-old Meredith Stilwell, was taken into custody. Police said they have evidence that she tried to suffocate the toddler.
Investigators have not speculated on a motive.
Stilwell’s husband, Scott, said he is standing by his wife. He said she has taken care of their daughter, Alexa, through her many health problems.
The toddler’s family posted on the Caring Bridge Web site that Alexa has cerebral atrophy, which means her brain is not growing as it should.
A family update Tuesday says Alexa was being treated for an infection, couldn’t maintain her own body temperature, and was fussy and weak. The site says she was originally admitted to the hospital for vomiting, trouble breathing and seizures after a failed surgery.
Meredith Stilwell is charged with attempted first-degree murder and felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. She is being held in the Mecklenburg County Jail without bond.
Her daughter remains hospitalized.
Police said they are still investigating.
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Atlanta police capture suspect in NC crime spree www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta police capture suspect in NC crime spree http://www.privateofficer.com
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/ – Authorities in Atlanta Georgia captured a man police called an extremely violent and dangerous criminal.
Taj Pittman who was wanted for multiple bank robberies is also now also wanted for kidnapping his ex-girlfriend and shooting a man in Cheraw South Carolina.
Police said that they thought he was in Union or Mecklenburg County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Authorities suspect he is driving a white 2008 Ford Focus with N.C. license plate 155-XRL.
But overnight, authorities in Atlanta captured Pittman.
Atlanta Police Department’s Auto-Theft Task Force were scanning license plates in downtown Atlanta, when they came across Pittman’s car.
“He was on the phone, standing about 2 feet away from the car,” said Officer James Polite Jr., of the Atlanta Police Department.
Officers closed in and arrested Pittman without incident, although Polite said they did find a handgun in Pittman’s car.
Polite said FBI agents in Atlanta are questioning Pittman.
Cheraw, S.C., police said Pittman forced his way into a home on Agerton Street at about 11 p.m. Monday. They said he tied up his ex-girlfriend’s mother with duct tape, pistol whipped and shot Charlie Brown in the neck, and then pistol whipped and kidnapped his ex-girlfriend, Jessica Malachi, at gunpoint.
Brown is in stable condition at a Chesterfield hospital.
Union County authorities said Pittman dropped Malachi off at the Wal-Mart on Highway 74 in Indian Trail at about noon Tuesday and then took off. She was not injured.
Pittman is accused of robbing the Wachovia bank on South Cannon Street in Kannapolis in November and the SunTrust Bank in Concord in June.
Pittman, was being pursued by FBI agents in December when agents said they he shot at them several times and fled into some nearby woods. Police searched using helicopters and K-9 teams but could not locate him.
He had been arrested Nov. 21 in Charlotte for a bank robbery in Kannapolis. But he posted $110,000 bond and was released from a Cabarrus County jail on Tuesday.
Pittman is also wanted on two federal bank robbery charges and one state bank robbery charge. Monday, the North Carolina Bankers Association offered a $5,000 reward for his arrest.
Pittman now faces attempted murder of federal agents, bank robbery, and other charges in North Carolina and kidnapping and attempted murder in South Carolina.
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Charlotte NC school police want agency designation www.privateofficer.com
Charlotte NC school police want agency designation http://www.privateofficer.com
The school system wants the state to grant CMS LED countywide jurisdiction. The plan involves 16 officers, who are separate from school resource officers.
It’s a move CMS officials say is crucial to dealing with complex school safety issues. It would also make the school system the first in the state to have its own independent law enforcement agency.
Superintendent Dr. Peter Gorman lists it as one of his key initiatives on the CMS 2009 legislative agenda.
“We think our officers should be standalone,” Gorman said.
Right now, CMS LED officers are part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department reserves, allowing them countywide jurisdiction. A contract with the City of Charlotte is set to expire this year, but city officials haven’t said if they are for or against a new contract.
Either way, Patrol Officer Robin Cooper said student safety could be in jeopardy without the agreement.
“Our jurisdiction would only be on school property, and that could be a problem,” Cooper said. “They could be across the street from the school and there would be nothing we could do about it.”
CMS LED Director Bud Cesena said countywide jurisdiction could help keep schools safer.
“If a we get a report, for example, that a child had a knife or a gun on a bus, oftentimes, the deputy director and I, or one of my detectives will make a home visit,” Cesena said. “That’s going to make that a lot different.”
Cesena says countywide jurisdiction lets his officers visit homes, monitor registered sex offenders and patrol bus stops.
He says he’s already got the support of all area chiefs of police and the Mecklenburg County sheriff. They each signed a letter requesting state approval
“This is a win-win situation for Mecklenburg County,” Cesena said.
CMS said the initiative is a technical matter and won’t cost the school system anything. Cesena said the move will not affect personnel or school resource officers.
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Gas lines long, fuses short causing public safety concerns www.privateofficer.com
Gas lines long, fuses short causing public safety concerns http://www.privateofficer.com
With long lines and short fuses, several fights broke out in the metro area and in one case a man pulled a handgun when someone cut in front of him while waiting in line for gas.
“We are going to start a riot,” yelled a customer who identified herself as Catirra.
Police had to step in at a Wal-Mart gas station on Sardis Road North because a fight almost broke out when Catirra allegedly cut in line.
“It made me angry,” said customer Gloria Houston. “I’ve been sitting here for five hours.”
Wednesday night people started lining up at gas stations after fear spread because of the ongoing fuel shortage in the Southeast.
What ya’ll want us to do, walk?” questioned Catirra. “Where are we supposed to go?”
Police forced Catirra to leave at the request of gas station management. People clapped and cheered.
Private security officers and police from across the area have been brought in to keep the peace as many gas stations are dry and those who do have gas are flooded with angry customers waiting in line for hours.
Wednesday night at the same southeast Charlotte Wal-Mart gas station, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer broke his wrist when he tried to tackle a belligerent customer.
“People are impatient, not wanting to cooperate, wanting to do their own thing, wanting to be first, wanting to argue,” said Larry Barger of Delta Company Police, a private security firm.
Some Exxon gas stations around Charlotte hired private security to control traffic and keep customers safe.
“It’s a mad house,” said Barger. “We’ve got reports that people are pulling guns on people. We got a report of a guy beating another car with a baseball bat this morning.”
Area police do not know how many arrests of unruly drivers have been made but officers say it’s been numerous.
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Startled bus driver plows into house www.privateofficer.com
Startled bus driver plows into house http://www.privateofficer.com
According to authorities, the bus driver had just dropped students off at the Northwest School of the Arts and was on her way to pick up another group of students when a 15-year-old boy, who had fallen asleep on the bus, awoke and startled her.
Police released the bus driver’s name Tuesday evening. Investigators said Kendria Exum swerved and ran into the front of a house in the 1500 block of Norris Avenue near Statesville Road just before 7 a.m. Both Exum and the student, the only ones aboard the bus at the time, suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital. They were treated and released, Charlotte Mecklenburg School spokeswoman Kathleen Johansen said
A man answered Exum’s door Tuesday evening. He said Exum knew police are not charging her.
The homeowner, 81-year-old Virginia Rann, was inside and had just gotten up when the bus crashed but she was not injured. She said she usually sleeps on the couch in the living room, which was rammed by the bus, but she had already gotten up for the day.
“I just saw something come through my doors. I jumped up and this thing went to my couch where I had been sleeping at,” she said.
Firefighters rescued Rann and took her out the back door of the home. She said it’s a miracle she wasn’t hurt or killed.
“I always say, ‘Lord, take care of me.’ He took care of me for 81 years. I always trust in the Lord,” Rann said.
Charlotte Fire Department Capt. Mark Basnight said Rann’s family had been urging her to move because they felt it was unsafe for her to live alone. Because the house is a total loss, she’s now being forced to move, which family members said makes the wreck somewhat of a blessing in disguise.
After the bus was towed away, Rann’s relatives were allowed to go back inside and remove her valuables. They said they got what Rann said she couldn’t be without – her church hats.
Johansen said the bus driver was surprised by the presence of the student because she did not do a thorough search of the bus after the first drop off, which is required by CMS. She said the driver will undergo a drug test and be suspended with pay pending the outcome of an investigation, per CMS protocol. The driver has worked for CMS since 2000.
School officials said that they will be sending out a reminder to all bus drivers to remind them to check their buses for students after each route.
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Father, son die in plane crash www.privateofficer.com
Father, son die in plane crash http://www.privateofficer.com
Emergency workers in North Carolina have identified the two people who died in a plane crash Tuesday after taking off from Bowman Field as a father and son from Florida.
Duane Anthony Moorer Sr., 49, and Duane Anthony Moorer Jr., 22, died after the twin-engine Piper PA-23 crashed about five miles south of Highlands, N.C., said Warren Cabe, director of Macon County Emergency Services. The men were from Miramar, Fla.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, which occurred about 3 p.m. in a wooded area. The plane was en route to Hazlehurst, Ga.
FAA records show the plane was registered to a Yan Venter Ministries Inc. in Rogers, Ark., but McCabe said the plane had recently been purchased by Midwest Atlantic Inc. in Miramar.
There were no published listings for the company, and it was not known why the men were in Louisville.
Witnesses told The Asheville Citizen-Times they heard what sounded like the engine stalling and saw debris falling off the 1955 Piper PA-23 plane in the moments before it went down.
Calls seeking further information about the investigation were not immediately returned by the FAA and the NTSB last night.
Trish Burke, a spokeswoman for the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, which oversees Bowman Field and Louisville International Airport, said she did not know why the plane was in Louisville.
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Police swarm apartments, arrest MS-13 gang members www.privateofficer.com
Police swarm apartment complexes, arrest M-S 13 gang members http://www.privateofficer.com
Charlotte N.C. June 25 2008Police from several departments, federal agents and agents with the U.S. Attorney General’s office swooped down onto several Charlotte North Carolina apartment complexes in a pre-dawn raid.
Law enforcement officers looking for 26 suspects named in a federal indictment surprised everyone including neighbors as police cars, unmarked vans, SWAT teams and K-9 teams stormed apartments in the city of Charlotte and Mint Hill looking for members of the MS-13 gang wanted on 55 counts including robbery, drugs and four murders.
One of the raids happened in a pretty unassuming, working-class neighborhood off Scaleybark Road. The raid took place at the Southgate Apartment complex and police were able to pick up numerous wanted felons at that location.
Not long after, agents swarmed around the Victoria Lake apartments on the East side and off Margaret Wallace Road in the Mint Hill community. There, officers were able to nail more suspected gang members as they continued their hunt.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney General was in Charlotte to announce the crackdown.
He talked about the raids throughout North Carolina that netted 26 alleged members of the MS-13 gang.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s made his way to the Queen City to personally announce the raids and arrests giving everyone inside details and saying that this was not just small potatoes but an investigation that has lasted almost five years and is a result of cooperation between local, state, federal and El Salvadorian law enforcement agencies.
Federal prosecutors said the gang MS-13 is more like a business. According to the unsealed indictment, the alleged gang members paid dues and even taxed people who wanted to deal drugs in MS-13 nightclubs. By day, most worked as construction workers, roofers and restaurant employees. But by night it was all business of a different kind. Plotting murders, selling drugs and building their empire.
Most of the alleged gang members have been arrested before, but had gotten out only to reoffend again. But that will not be the case this time police say.
With the gang members being charged with federal crimes, most face at least twenty years in prison while others will face alife sentence.
The Grand Jury charges tell a story of beat-ins, turf wars and club shootings.
Often, the more violence gang members displayed, the higher they rose up the ranks of MS-13.
MS-13 gang members are accused of four murders between Charlotte and Greensboro, major drug trafficking, armed robberies and other illegal activity
U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert said, “We recognize taking out any indivdual group does not solve the problem, but it does send a strong signal that if you engage in criminal activity, you run the risk of federal prosecution and a massive federal sentence.”
We’ve seen signs of MS-13′s presence here in Charlotte in the past. This MS-13 graffitti was found at the Southgate Apartments near Scaleybark last August.
Just to give you some background on this gang, M-S stands for La Mara Salvatrucha.
It is a combination of two violent groups in El Salvador and was formed by El Salvadorian Immigrants in the 1980s.
While MS-13 still has major operations in El Salvador, the U.S. Attorney General’s office says the gang has a big presence in Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and of course, here in the United States.
Law enforcement say that the gang built a strong presence in Charlotte because of a growing Latino community with plenty of young teenagers and because Charlotte has fast become a distribution point for the drug trade.
Many of the leaders — often called “shot callers” or “voices” — are in prison in El Salvador, the indictment said. But prosecutors claim gang members paid dues at their meetings and often sent cash to those in prison, at times wiring money at the request of a leader.
U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert said there were about 8,000 gang members in North Carolina, including about 1,000 in Charlotte.
Charlotte NC has new police chief www.privateofficer.com
Charlotte NC has new police chief http://www.privateofficer.com
Monroe will have his hands full overseeing CMPD’s 2,000 employees, which is twice the number of employees in Richmond’s Police department.
Charlotte City councilman Warren Turner said Monroe was the best candidate for the job because of his record speaks for itself.
“His track record of success, being successful with gangs, being successful with street crimes, being successful with bringing the homicide rate down,” said Turner. While in Richmond, Monroe created a dedicated homicide unit. As a result, the homicide rate plummeted 33 percent to a 26 year low in a city that was once in the top five for most murders nationwide.
Monroe also held city-wide problem solving sessions where citizens and police worked together to craft plans of action to address crime issues. Those sessions helped Monroe create more accountability within Richmond’s police department.
As chairman of the council’s public safety committee, Turner is also looking forward to working closely with Monroe who will be the city’s first African-American police chief.
Turner said, “It’s not going to be easy. It’s not going to be something that happens overnight. This is not Christmas and we can’t expect Santa Clause to drop in and give you this wonderful gift.”
Monroe embodies the qualities and characteristics identified in the profile developed for the next Chief of Police. These included offering the citizens of Charlotte-Mecklenburg aggressive and effective leadership and programming needed to address potential increases in crime rates; a strong commitment to customer service; dedication to policing that involves the community; and understanding of the importance in managing crime, public order and traffic safety issues.
Additionally, the next Chief of Police will have broad experience in all areas of municipal policing including patrol, criminal investigation and administration with an established record of effectively managing the activities and functions of a police department, all of which Monroe’s has had experience.
“Rodney Monroe personifies every aspect of the ideal Police Chief especially as a strong communicator, says City Manager Curt Walton. “He also has an extraordinary passion for law enforcement and prevention that makes a community a better place to live.”
When City of Charlotte officials conducted a site visit in Richmond, VA, they were consistently informed by citizens, business and civic leaders that they have the highest degree of respect and admiration for Monroe. His talents, skills and attributes include being a team player, inclusiveness, high-integrity, building rapport with citizens, intelligence, collaboration, promoting change, accessibility and toughness when necessary.
Monroe began his policing career in 1979 as a police officer with the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, rising to Assistant Chief of Police, the department’s second highest sworn rank. In May 2001, he became Chief of Police for the Macon, Georgia Police Department, and in 2005 was recruited to the City of Richmond to lead the Richmond Police Department.
As Police Chief of the City of Richmond he created a dedicated homicide unit and started the Cooperative Violence Reduction Partnership (CVRP) with prosecutorial and correctional agencies. During his tenure as Chief the number of homicides in Richmond decreased by 33 percent and Richmond was no longer on the list of top five cities with the highest murder rate during his tenure, representing a 26-year all time low.
“The chance to be the next Chief of Police of Charlotte-Mecklenburg is one of a lifetime, says Rodney Monroe. “I have admired all that Charlotte has accomplished and respected CMPD from afar, and now I have the opportunity to take a great organization to the next level creating an even safer community for citizens.”
Chief Monroe will begin his position here in Charlotte no later than June 16, 2008. The exact date is yet undetermined, so as to give Chief Monroe and the City of Richmond time to work out the details for the transition.
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Thief Turns Gun On Security by; Rick McCann www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE N.C. Oct. 16, 2007
Police have identified the man who allegedly robbed the Nordstrom store at SouthPark Mall on Monday and then went on the run while officers on foot and in the air tracked his whereabouts. Police say that Monday afternoon a man they now know to be James Fields entered the store and officers say that Fields immediately headed for the fine jewelry department where he began stealing a quantity of jewelry from the department store.
When security personnel approached Fields, they say he pointed a handgun at them and then fled on foot.Officers chased the suspect into a neighborhood off Park Road, just north of Fairview Road but was not able to locate him. Charlotte police spent several hours combing the area with police dogs, shotgun toting officers and a helicopter above but could not capture him.
Fields is still on the loose.
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