Men plead guilty to scamming West Virginia casino www.privateofficer.com

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. Nov 30 2012 (AP) – Two men from North Carolina and New York have pleaded guilty to using counterfeit credit cards to obtain thousands of dollars in cash advances at a West Virginia casino.

Carlo Gause, 38 of Wilmington, NC, and 38-year-old Dwayne Fleming of Brooklyn, N.Y., each pleaded guilty Wednesday to use of a counterfeit access device before a federal magistrate in Martinsburg.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld said Thursday that Gause agreed as part of a plea deal to pay $155,300 in restitution to Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. Fleming agreed to pay $34,000 in restitution.

The incidents occurred in 2010.

Each defendant faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. They remain in custody pending sentencing.

NC teacher charged with 40 sexual crimes against students www.privateofficer.com

SPENCER, NC Sept 18 2009 (WBTV) – A North Rowan High School teacher has been charged with more than three dozen counts of sexual activity involving three students, Spencer Police said Wednesday.
Police said they were first alerted to the case on August 12, when the Spencer Police Department was notified of possible inappropriate conduct of a teacher with a student at North Rowan High School.
Police said the investigation revealed that a teacher had been having sexual relations with three female students, all minors, with the first incident taking place in May of 2008 and the most recent incident occurring in August of 2009.
Following a month-long investigation, Matthew Miles Price, 28, of Harrison Street in Spencer, was charged in the case on Wednesday, police said.
The case file was reviewed with the District Attorney’s office in August, police said.
On Tuesday, a search warrant was conducted on Price’s residence. During the search, with the assistance of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, evidence was seized, police said.
Also on Tuesday, a search warrant was served on Price for his personal physical evidence.
Price was arrested Wednesday on 40 counts of sexual activity with a student. He was taken before a magistrate and received a $120,000 bond.
Shortly before 5 Wednesday afternoon, Price posted bond and was released from the Rowan Detention Center. He walked out of the jail with his lawyer, got into a truck and left.
Price and his attorney appeared in Rowan County court Thursday morning and the case was continued until November 4.
According to Rowan/Salisbury Schools spokeswoman Rita Foil, Price was hired by the district on July 27, 2004 as a PE teacher and track coach at North Rowan High School. Foil said Price resigned on August 12, 2009, for personal reasons which is the same day police launched their investigation into the allegations.

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Police round up unlicensed NC guards www.privateofficer.com

Greensboro, NC July 3 2009
wfmy.com — From concerts to nightclubs, to big family-friendly events… any crowded place you go is bound to have security people.
But are they really protecting you?
2 Wants To Know discovered sometimes those security people, or bouncers, could be breaking the law.
They’re supposed to be properly trained and licensed.
WFMY News 2 got an exclusive look at what Greensboro police are doing to ensure your safety.
Undercover police hit club after club checking to make sure the security is properly licensed.
They arrested more than a dozen people without a license, mostly charging them with being part of an unlicensed security company, and being unarmed security for a fee.
The penalties are citations, and the bouncers were released that same night with a written promise to appear.
Police conducted a previous sweep in April 2009 that netted 17 bouncers.
Some of the arrested bouncers have previous felony convictions; including assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, drugs and sexual battery.
“You could be driving down the street, there could be shots fired,” says Lieutenant D.L. Willoughby. “If they haven’t had adequate training in the use of firearms… an innocent person’s going to be hurt, and they have been hurt.”
Also in April, police responded to a fight outside the downtown Greensboro club Inferno. An injured man went to the hospital and was in a coma.
Police continue to investigate a bouncer in the case.
In February, 2007 a bouncer fired a shot into the air outside the Red Rooster in Winston-Salem.
Police say the shot spurred more gunfire. A bullet struck and killed Winston-Salem officer Howard Plouff.
“It all goes back to training,” says Willoughby. “If these people are not trained adequately, they are a threat to everybody.”
And the safety threat spills out into the rest of the community.
“If we have to respond in full force to a club situation, it’s drawing our resources away from other areas of the city where to respond to this situation… it’s a huge public safety issue,” says Willoughby.
At the end of the latest sting, police arrested 15 men, each charged with being an unlicensed security guard. These charges are misdemeanors.
About half the clubs police checked did not have any security problems with the law.
That night all the arrested men made a written promise to appear and then were released. Police insist they’ll keep hitting all Greensboro clubs until they’re sure people are safe.

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Charlotte teacher arrested for indecent liberties with student www.privateofficer.com

CHARLOTTE, NC June 12 2009 (WBTV) – A middle school band instructor has been charged with taking indecent liberties with a student at a Charlotte high school, police said.
Richard Priode, 44, of Green Lea Court in Charlotte, teaches band at Sullivan Middle School in Rock Hill, police said. The relationship between the two happened while Priode taught at South Mecklenburg High School in 2007.
Priode, who was arrested early Thursday morning, faces a felony charge and was held on a $25,000 bond in the Mecklenburg County Jail.
The incidents allegedly occurred at South Mecklenburg High School, where Priode used to teach, police said. The incident allegedly was reported in April, but Priode was still able to secure a job in the Rock Hill School System.
Elaine Baker of the Rock Hill School System said the schools conduct a thorough background check on every potential employee. However, nothing showed up on Priode’s background check.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools says, Priode worked for the district for two school years from 06 to 08. He was given a thorough back ground check as well. No red flags popped up. Then CMS tells me Priode simply left a year ago for a new job. The job was the one at Sullivan Middle School.
CMPD contacted the school district’s personnel department this morning to let them about the case.
Rock Hill School District tells me CMPD notified them today of the arrest of Priode. CMPD says they didn’t inform them sooner because they don’t notify employers about situations like this until they have probable cause to proceed with the case.
Rock Hill Police says they were never informed of any current investigation on Priode.

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Man dead after shooting NC police www.privateofficer.com

KINGS CREEK, N.C. May 28 2009 wsoctv.com– Investigators in Caldwell County said a man who shot two deputies, an 8-year-old girl and her father was found dead from a gunshot wound after deputies fired back.
The shootings happened early Thursday morning in the Kings Creek community. Investigators said the entire incident was sparked by a dispute over a dog.
Andra Tolbert, a neighbor, told Eyewitness News reporter Dave Faherty that the suspected gunman’s dog attacked two children two years ago. Investigators confirmed this for Eyewitness News.
Tolbert said that early Thursday morning, the children’s father shot the dog, and the animal’s owner fired back, hitting the father and one of his daughters.
Deputies said they were called to the home on Grandin Road just before 11 p.m. Wednesday because of the argument over the dog.
When the first officer arrived, he was shot outside the home, deputies said. A second officer arrived to help the first officer.
While three other officers tried to get the father and his two daughters away, a second officer was shot. At that point, the two remaining officers fired back at the gunman.
Eventually, a SWAT team was sent in to get the father and his daughters away from the area safely.
One deputy was airlifted out of the Hickory Airport to Carolinas Medical Center. That deputy is expected to be released later Thursday night or Friday morning. The other was treated and released from Caldwell Memorial Hospital.
Emergency officials said the girl was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. Her father was airlifted out of the Hickory Airport to Carolinas Medical Center. Neither of their conditions have been released.
The suspected gunman was found dead at about 6:30 a.m. in his yard near Kings Creek Elementary School. Deputies said it appears the shooter died from a gunshot wound that was not self-inflicted.
The State Bureau of Investigation is now investigating the shooting, as is standard protocol for officer-involved shootings.
Classes at the Kings Creek Elementary School were delayed until 11 a.m. as crews wrap up their investigation.
Libby Brown, the community services director for Caldwell County Schools, said school officials got the call about the situation early Thursday morning. School officials then started making plans at around 3 a.m. to delay classes as teams searched for the gunman.
Brown said school officials decided at 5 a.m. to delay classes for three hours, starting at 11 a.m. Faculty and staff were also asked to stay at home since the parking lot was full of deputies, investigators and SWAT teams.
Extra counselors will be brought in to the school, Brown said. She said any time there is an emergency at schools which could stress or upset students, counselors are brought in.
The names of the victims and the suspected gunman have not been released.

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Police pursuit of shoplifters ends in death www.privateofficer.com

CHARLOTTE, NC May 23 2009 (WBTV) – A police chase resulted in fatal vehicle crash in northeast Mecklenburg County Friday afternoon.
According to a spokeswoman with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD), officers with the Concord Police Department were pursuing a vehicle involved in a theft from the Concord Mills mall into Mecklenburg County.
The suspect vehicle struck another vehicle head-on at the intersection of Polk Road and Mallard Creek Church Road.
A passenger who was in the car that was struck by the speeding vehicle died at the scene.
In addition the fatal victim, at least five people were injured and transported to the hospital. Two of those people suffered life-threatening injuries.
The intersection of Mallard Creek Road and Polk Road was closed throughout the evening rush hour according to fire officials as officers with the CMPD are investigating the crash.
Police have not released the name of the victim yet.

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North Carolina teacher charged with stalking student www.privateofficer.com

NEWTON, N.C. May 15 2009 – Authorities in Newton have arrested a high school teacher and charged him with stalking a male student.
The Catawba County Sheriff’s Office arrested John Michael Donadio and charged him with stalking a male student at school.
Neighbors say they don’t believe Donadio would ever do anything inappropriate. But the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office is investigating allegations that Donadio stalked a student at Fred T. Foard High School.
Administrators at the school say the minute they heard of the allegations they took Donadio out of the classroom and suspended him with pay.
The superintendent is being very tight-lipped and would not discuss the arrest or the teacher.
We do know that Donadio has taught special education at the school for several years.

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Second driver charged in drag racing deaths in Charlotte www.privateofficer.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. April 30 2009 — A judge set bond Wednesday for the second driver charged in a deadly street racing crash.
Carlene Atkinson, 44, turned herself in to police Tuesday.
Police said she was racing 20-year-old Tyler Stasko earlier this month when Stasko crashed into another car, killing a woman, her 2-year-old daughter and a boy in his car.
Atkinson is facing three counts of second-degree murder.

The judge set bond at $3 million.
Stasko bonded out of jail last week.

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Charlotte police nab hospital theft suspect www.privateofficer.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. April 19 2009 — Police have identified a woman that has been accused of stealing from patients at Carolinas Medical Center numerous times and other area businesses.
Investigators said that the woman they identified asTywana Mobley, 46, was captured on security video and has arrested and charged with two counts of credit card fraud and one count of larceny in connection with crimes at Carolinas Medical Center, schools and other local hospitals.
Investigators believe Mobley also walked into Sterling Elementary in Pineville and tried to steal from an assistant principal. No charges have been filed in that case.
Police captured Mobley Friday afternoon and say that she may also face additional charges. Anyone who knows anything about this incident should call CrimeStoppers at 704-334-1600.

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Teen with gun causes scare at NC hospital www.privateofficer.com

HENDERSON, N.C. Mar 27 2009 foxnews— Henderson police charged a man after a local hospital was put on emergency lockdown for more than an hour Thursday afternoon.
John Christopher Cole, 17, of 315 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Greensboro, was charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and underage possession of alcohol.
Maria Parham Medical Center employees saw on a security monitor that a man had retrieved a firearm from an automobile shortly after 12:30 p.m. and was running toward the physicians’ entrance to the hospital, police said.
Hospital officials notified police and placed the building on lockdown, allowing officers to conduct a floor-by-floor search.
The man wasn’t found in the building, but investigators identified him as a Kerr Vance Academy student, police said.
Investigators went to the school and detained Cole, who turned over a BB gun to them, police said.
At one point, about a dozen police cars were parked outside the hospital, and two were blocking the ambulance entrance.
The lockdown ended shortly before 2 p.m., and police left the hospital.

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Suspect in North Carolina murders commits suicide www.privateofficer.com

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. March 18 2009 wsoc.com– A suspected opium smuggler facing charges in the Catawba County slayings of a mother and her three children killed himself after a police chase in Utah that ended with his crashed car in flames, authorities said Wednesday.
The sheriff of Catawba County said they believe people in the house were also involved in opium trafficking, which lead to the slayings.
Chief Deputy Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect killed himself after a high-speed chase in Washington County, Utah, late Tuesday. Reid said officials with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said the man fatally shot his girlfriend, who was in the vehicle, then turned the gun on himself.
Catawba County Sheriff David Huffman identified the man as Chiew Chan Saevang and the woman as Yer Yang of Long View.
Saevang was wanted in last week’s killings of Lisa Phan and her three children — 20-year-old Melanie, 18-year-old Pauline and 3-year-old Cody — at their home north of Conover. Phan’s husband and the children’s father, Brian Tzeo, was at work when his family was killed.
Investigators are not sure if Yang was involved in the homicides, but they had interviewed her in the case.
Saevang’s vehicle, a green 1994 BMW 325 with North Carolina license plate XVY-3743, was spotted in Utah seven minutes after a national alert from authorities in Catawba County, who had learned the suspect may have been driving through the state headed toward California.
Washington County sheriff’s deputies tried to stop the BMW around 2 a.m. EST, 11 p.m. in Utah, and the vehicle hit another car, then drove up an embankment and came to a rest on the hillside.
While deputies were approaching, the BMW caught fire. They pulled Saevang and Yang from the vehicle, and then determined they were already dead. Huffman said he got confirmation of the identities of the people in the car at 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Reid said North Carolina officials had been preparing warrants against Saevang for murder as well as a charge of conspiracy to traffic opium. Warrants were also being prepared for Yang for accessory after the fact to murder.
Huffman said Saevang had been arrested on drug charges in Catawba County in 2004. He served 46 months in federal prison.
Huffman said someone in the family’s home was involved in opium trafficking, but he would not elaborate.
According to The Spectrum newspaper in Utah, the family had received a shipment of opium from Thailand, which was smuggled in through the mail. It was worth $160,000 to $200,000. The paper reports the family knew Saevang and let him into the home.
It also reports Saevang and Yang had taken cooked opium from the family’s house up to Wisconsin before.
State Bureau of Investigation officials said Tzeo could face opium trafficking charges. Authorities would not say whether he will be allowed to travel to California for his family members’ burials.
Huffman said some investigators are currently in Wisconsin following up on leads in the case. He said the vehicle originally believed to have been involved in the slayings, a Toyota Camry with partial tag PT24, was found in that state. He said investigators knew late Tuesday that the Saevang had left Wisconsin for California, and Utah authorities spotted his vehicle just minutes after an alert went out.
Huffman said a significant lead in the case came from a call after “America’s Most Wanted” aired a segment on the homicides Saturday.
Investigators armed with a search warrant went through the home where the family was killed and found a clear plastic bag containing a “suspected controlled substance.” They also took away cash, computers, cell phones, a knife and a pistol.
Investigators found the victims after a friend of Pauline’s called 911 on Thursday morning, screaming and sobbing as she told the operator Pauline had just been pulled into her home and stabbed by a man. The friend had picked up Pauline for school that morning, but they went back after the friend said she had seen a suspicious man outside the house.
Tzeo has said he and his wife had separated and that he had an affair but they were still living together and trying to work things out.
He and his wife each reported in their separate bankruptcy filings that they owed tens of thousands of dollars in debts, according to court documents. He filed in July 2007, and the case was settled and closed that same November.
She filed in January of this year, still reporting the couple to be separated and listing her sole dependent as a 3-year-old son. Court filings in the case continued until the day she died.
Visitation for the slain family members is scheduled for Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Jenkins Funeral Home in Newton. They will be buried in El Sobrante, Calif.

NC police release details, sketch in murder of mother, children www.privateofficer.com

CONOVER, N.C. March 16 2009

wsoc.com — Investigators have pursued more than 100 leads, many after a television show detailed the search for a suspect in the slaying of a woman and her three children in their North Carolina home, authorities said Monday.
Catawba County Sheriff David Huffman said deputies will hold a press conference Monday afternoon to discuss the leads and update the public on the status of the investigation.
“We’re looking at several different individuals and options,” Huffman said.
Authorities have said that a broadcast of “America’s Most Wanted” on Saturday night triggered a number of tips from people who recognized a sketch of the suspect or said they knew someone who knows the suspect.
The case started Thursday when a teenage girl called 911 to report that a man was stabbing and beating her friend. When authorities arrived, they found Lisa Saephan and her three children — 20-year-old Melanie, 18-year-old Pauline and 3-year-old Cody — dead inside their home near Conover, a town about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte, .
Authorities say Brian Tzeo, Saephan’s husband and the children’s father, had left for work shortly before his family was killed.
Huffman declined to say if there were any promising leads, saying that investigators planned to gather their information Monday.
“This has been a 24-hour deal since Thursday morning, so we’ve got some guys that are sort of out of it right now,” Huffman said. “We’re going to pull all of our information together, then we’re going to give them a couple hours of downtime.”

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Police investigate North Carolina quadruple murder www.privateofficer.com

Police investigate North Carolina quadruple murder http://www.privateofficer.com

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. Mar 13 2009 — A teenage girl watched helplessly as her friend was pulled into her home and attacked in a quadruple homicide early Thursday, investigators said.
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Catawba County sheriff’s deputies said the teen saw a man run around and into the back of her friend’s home on Gristmill Drive off Houston Mill Road north of Conover when she went to pick her up for school. She told authorities that as they were driving to Bunker Hill High School, she told 18-year-old Pauline Chao — identified by family members — what she had seen, and Chao asked her to go back to the house.
When they arrived at the home shortly before 7 a.m., Chao opened the front door. Investigators said the man inside reached out, pulled the girl in and attacked her.
The friend drove off and called 911. Meanwhile, residents of the Millstone neighborhood said they heard screams.
When officers arrived, they found Chao, along with her mother, Lisa Saephan, her sister, 20-year-old Melanie Saephan, and her brother, 3-year-old Cody Saechao, all dead of gunshot and stab wounds. Family members provided their names to Eyewitness News.
Investigators said their father left for work early in the morning and was working out of the area when the attack happened. They said he has been ruled out as a suspect.
The man believed to be the killer was seen running behind the home after the slaying. The back door of the house was left open. Investigators found a gun in bushes a short distance away just after noon, and they believe it is connected to the killings.
Authorities said they are looking for a man in his late 30s or early 40s, who is about 5 feet 4 inches tall, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans or sweatpants. They said the man is either Hispanic or of Asian decent.
The man is believed to be in a black or dark blue newer model Toyota Camry with the partial license plate P24. It was parked about two blocks from the house. The license plate is from out of state and has red, white and blue lettering.
Investigators said the killer has likely left the immediate area.
“In this particular situation, we have put all resources out. We pulled our men off the roads and out of the office and we’re checking every lead that we can,” said Sheriff David Huffman.
The sheriff said he doesn’t believe the attack was random, but that the killer knew the victims. Investigators have not speculated on a motive.
The State Bureau of Investigation is assisting local authorities in the investigation.
For several hours after the homicides, four nearby schools were on modified lockdowns, which meant that all exterior doors were locked and there were no outside activities for students. Those schools are Lyle Creek Elementary, Oxford Elementary, River Bend Middle and Bunker Hill High schools.
Family, Friends Grieve For Slain Family
Several family members went to the home to grieve on Thursday, and church members gathered to pray nearby.
“They didn’t do anything wrong,” said Tiffany Faephan, a cousin of the three children. “I mean, I don’t know what they could have done to deserve this. No one deserves this.”
People began leaving flowers outside the crime tape late Thursday afternoon, while neighbors said they are in shock.
“It doesn’t make sense to us at all. We don’t know what’s wrong,” said Seng Satern, who has known the family for seven years.
“This is really unreal,” said Nai Saevang, another cousin of the victims. “This whole thing — I just can’t believe it.
Classmates of the sisters said they spent the day trying to find out what happened by texting friends and family. They said the only thing they knew for sure was that many had lost a friend.
Natasha Millsaps attends Catawba Valley Community College, where Melanie Saephan was one of her good friends.
“I was like, ‘No, not Melanie,’ I just talked to her the other day,” she said.
Samantha Keoshkhao, who goes to Bunker Hill High School where Chao was a senior, said the teen was a great friend.
“I was friends with her since like the sixth grade. She was funny, outgoing, and she was really laid back,” she said.
By noon Thursday, students, teachers and administrators had all heard the news about the slaying, but no specific details.
Students said everyone was scrambling to get any information they could while coping with the tragedy.
“There’s a lot of people who are really overwhelmed by it because they never thought something like that would happen around here,” a classmate said.