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Newark teacher arrested for indecent exposure www.privateofficer.com
NEWARK, Del. – May 21, 2013 — A teacher and baseball coach from Appoquinimink High School in Middletown, Delaware has been arrested for alleged indecent exposure.
Charles C. Word, 31, of Newark, was arrested for the incident on Sunday morning.
According to Newark Police, Word was driving his silver Dodge Charger on South Chapel Street near Delaware Avenue when he allegedly stopped to ask a 22-year-old woman for directions.
Police say the woman approached the vehicle to find Word’s pants were down and his genitals were exposed.
The woman walked away, police say, but Word pulled up a second time and tried to talk to her.
The woman said she was going to call police and that’s when Word drove away, investigators said.
Officers used surveillance video to get the registration number of the vehicle and were able to identify Word as the driver.
Police found him at his home on Sandalwood Drive and took him into custody without incident. He was arraigned and released on $4,000 unsecured bail.
Appoquinimink High School posted a message on its website about the incident. The statement said Word has been placed on administrative leave.
Furthermore, school officials say, Word is not allowed to teach, coach or be on school premises.
The statement also made it clear that the charges against Word do not involve any students.
Source-WPVI
Former Newark police officer sentenced for conspiring to steal cash, drugs and weapons www.privateofficer.com
Darius Smith, 41, of Newark, was sentenced to three years of probation by Superior Court Judge Peter V. Ryan in Essex County. Ryan also ordered Smith to pay a fine of $5,000 and permanently barred him from public employment in New Jersey. Smith was previously terminated from his job on the police department. The Division of Criminal Justice will refer the conviction to the board of the New Jersey Police and Firemen’s Retirement System for any appropriate action regarding Smith’s pension.
On May 11, an Essex County jury found Smith guilty of conspiracy, official misconduct, and theft following a trial before Ryan. The indictment against Smith charged him with second-degree conspiracy, which carries a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison. The jury found him guilty of that count, but Ryan ruled that because the jury returned a third-degree verdict on the underlying offense of official misconduct, the conspiracy verdict also had to be treated as a third-degree conviction. The state intends to appeal that ruling. Under New Jersey law, there is a presumption against imprisonment for a third-degree crime if the defendant has no prior convictions for indictable crimes. Smith has no prior convictions.
Deputy Attorneys General Cynthia Vazquez and Philip Mogavero tried the case for the Division of Criminal Justice. It resulted from an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice and the Newark Police Department. The prosecution was conducted by the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau and the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau.
Smith, who had been a Newark officer since 1993, was indicted on Oct. 1, 2004. He was suspended upon indictment. The indictment charged that from April 2003 to March 2004, Smith and other Newark officers engaged in criminal acts, including official misconduct and theft, as part of a conspiracy to “shake down” criminal suspects. The jury found, by its verdict, that Smith, while on duty in Newark’s West District, stole money, drugs and weapons from purported drug dealers, criminal suspects and others. However, the jury found that the benefit he obtained from that conduct was under $200, making the official misconduct charge a third-degree offense and the theft charge a disorderly persons offense
Source:njtoday.net
NJ CVS shoplifting turns violent www.privateofficer.com
Arrested were Cheryl D. Luck, 50, of Rahway and Carla D. Nulls, 43, of Newark. The incident took place Thursday, July 12 about 6:30 p.m. Hillside police responded to the drug store on a report of two women shoplifting. Sgt. Joseph Cocuzza observed one women detained by store personnel and another running away as she tossed an item away.
Cocuzza ran after the woman and apprehended her moments later. Police learned that a store employee watched Nulls loading her pockets with merchandise. As he approached her, she began to run for the door. The employee then attempted to prevent Nulls from leaving.
As he did, Luck jumped on his back while Nulls began to struggle with him, police said. When Luck heard the police were called, she began to run from the store when Sgt. Cocuzza arrived. Both were arrested and transported to Hillside police headquarters. Recovered from the women was $59.62 in merchandise.
Luck is charged with robbery and resisting arrest and Nulls with robbery. Each was being held at the Union County Jail on $50,000 bail.
Newark police officer accused of falsely reporting stolen car, collecting $10K in insurance money www.privateofficer.com
TRENTON NJ June 30 2012— A Newark police officer has been charged with falsely reporting that his sports utility vehicle was stolen and fraudulently collecting $10,791 in insurance reimbursement, the state Attorney General’s Office said today.
Suliaman Kamara, 30, of Newark, allegedly filed the report with his own department in 2009 stating his GMC Yukon had been stolen when, in fact, he knew it had not been, the office said in a news release.
He then filed a fraudulent insurance claim with his insurer, Liberty Mutual Insurance, the office said. Nearly three years later, a representative of the company spotted the SUV parked outside Kamara’s house, the office said.
Kamara surrendered to detectives from the State Police Official Corruption Bureau today for processing, the office said. He was charged yesterday with theft by deception and tampering with public records or information.
Kamara was released after being processed on the charges. An attorney for Kamara, Anthony Iacullo, said his client was innocent and will be exonerated.
“Officer Kamara did nothing that was wrong or inappropriate and he is looking forward to his day in court to establish his innocence,” Iacullo said.
The Newark Police Department could not immediately be reached for comment.
Kamara was hired by the Newark Police Department in July 2008, but was laid off in November 2010. He was rehired in March 2012, but has since been suspended, the office said.
If convicted, Kamara faces a maximum five years in prison. State Police Sgt. Sgt. Lisa King led the investigation for the State Police Official Corruption North Unit , the office said.
Source:nj.com
Three Galloway police officers injured-six arrested in bar fight www.privateofficer.com
Galloway NJ April 28 2012 Six people were arrested and four others, including three police officers, were injured, following a large fight outside JD’s Pub early Friday morning, April 27, Galloway Police said on Friday.
At 1:34 a.m., one officer from the Galloway Township Police Department and two officers from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Police Department were dispatched to the pub in the Smithville section of the township for a security detail, police said. Officer Raymond Casanova was on patrol in the area, and observed a large crowd on location, police said.
Diandre C. Brown, 22, of Sicklerville and listed as a senior forward on the men’s basketball team on Stockton’s website, was removed from the pub for causing a disturbance inside. He continued to cause a disturbance, prompting several officers to report to the scene, police said.
Officer Kerry Baerman was attempting to arrest Brown when Brown head butted Baerman in the face, police said. Following a scuffle with police, Brown was taken into custody, and was charged with aggravated assault on police, resisting arrest, failure to disperse and obstruction of justice. His bail was set at $25,000.
As Baerman was transporting Brown to the police station at around 2:09 a.m., he was nearly involved in a head-on collision near Pitney Road and Quail Hill Boulevard when an oncoming vehicle crossed the center line. He avoided the collision and then stopped the vehicle, police said.
As a result of that incident, Michael Gallagher, 31, of Galloway, was charged by Officer Ronald Gorneau with driving while intoxicated, refusal to submit to breath samples, reckless driving and failure to maintain lane.
After returning to the police station, Baerman was transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Mainland Campus as a result of being head butted, police said.
Meanwhile, several patrons had exited the pub and converged on officers who were attemtping to disperse the crowd, police said. Two males, including one listed as Brown’s teammate on the Stockton basketball team, aggressively approached police after being told to disperse. Officers attempted to place Brown’s teammate, Ibn Moye, 22, of Beachwood, and Devon E.Gibson, 21, of Newark, under arrest when they fled on foot, police said.
In his attempt to escape, Gibson knocked an uninvolved 22-year-old female to the ground, where she was knocked unconcious as a result of a laceration to her head. She was transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Facility Mainland Campus, police said.
Casanova pursued Gibson, and in the process, suffered injuries to his knee and ankle. He was transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Mainland Campus, police said.
Officers were able to capture Gibson and Moye, police said.
Gibson was charged with failing to disperse, aggravated assault for pushing a female and causing injury while attempting to flee police, and aggravated assault for the injury to Casanova. His bail was set at $25,000.
Moye, listed as a sophomore guard from Toms River on Stockton’s website, was charged with failure to disperse, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice. His bail was set at $10,000.
As the disorderly crowd continued to grow, more officers were called to the scene, including two from Stockton, three from Absecon, two from Pleasantville and four State Police Officers. The crowd continued to taunt the officers and refused to disperse, resulting in three additional arrests, police said.
Chauncey O. Hunter, 27, of Atlantic City; Justin A. Wilson, 23, of Willingboro; and Amir N. Hopkins, 21, of Camden were all charged with failing to disperse and obstruction of justice, and bail was set at $5,000.
All six of those arrested were transported to the Atlantic County Justice Facility, while officers remained on the scene for two hours, police said.
A third Galloway Police Officer, John Mooney, was also treated at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Mainland Campus for a shoulder injury.
All three officers have since been discharged, according to a spokesperson from AtlantiCare.
“We are waiting for all the facts from police, but we do have judicial policies in place that hold students to a higher standard of conduct both on and off campus,” a Stockton College representative said Friday afternoon. “We are fully cooperating with Galloway Police.”
Brown attended high school at Camden County Tech. He played in 29 games during the 2011-12 season, averaging 14.7 points per game, 23 steals, 49 assists and 171 rebounds.
For his career, he averaged 11.3 points per game, 133 steals, 135 assists, 31 blocks, and 609 rebounds.
Moye played in 38 games in two years on the team, including 25 as a sophomore and has a career average of 8.5 points per game. For his career, he also has 104 rebounds, 42 assists and 39 steals.
