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Officer arrested, accused of on-duty sex with detainee www.privateofficer.com
EDMONDS WA June 9 2012
An Edmonds police officer was arrested Thursday morning for investigation of having on-duty sex with a woman he’d detained.
The Edmonds Police Department asked Everett police to investigate allegations that stemmed from a May incident involving a Seattle woman, 28.
Everett investigators are recommending criminal charges against Edmonds police officer Daniel Lavely, Everett police officer Aaron Snell said.
Edmonds police learned of the allegations on May 9.
Snell said the investigation looked into Lavely’s actions while he was on-duty May 6.
He allegedly stopped the woman for jaywalking on Highway 99 in Edmonds. She was released, but Lavely allegedly contacted her later that evening.
“During this second interaction it was alleged that Lavely took temporary custody of the female, put her in his patrol car and drove her to a remote location where the two had sexual intercourse,” Snell said. “The female reported the incident a few days later to law enforcement.”
Lavely was booked into the Snohomish County Jail around 11 a.m. Thursday.
The investigation has been forwarded to prosecutors.
First-degree custodial sexual misconduct is a Class C felony. According to state law, it can occur “when the victim is being detained, under arrest, or in the custody of a law enforcement officer and the perpetrator is a law enforcement officer.”
Edmonds police Sgt. Mike Blackburn said Lavely was immediately placed on administrative leave and his law enforcement authority was suspended after the allegations surfaced.
He said Lavely, 46, has been employed with the Edmonds Police Department for seven years and was assigned to the patrol division.
Source:weeklyherald.com
NYPD officer charged with robbery of drug dealers www.privateofficer.com
NYPD officer charged with robbery of drug dealers www.privateofficer.com
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn accused Jorge Arbaje-Diaz of committing of a least one robbery while on duty and in his New York Police Department uniform. They also claimed in court papers that the officer made “post-arrest admissions,” but didn’t elaborate.
Arbaje-Diaz pleaded not guilty Friday at his arraignment.
The arrest “brings dishonor to the proud reputation of the thousands of law enforcement officers in New York who put their lives on the line every day to protect their residents and communities,” U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell said in a statement.
Arbaje-Diaz, 30, was arrested and suspended from the force shortly after midnight Friday following a tour as a transit officer in the Bronx. In court, the officer’s lawyer asked prosecutors for details of his client’s statements and results of a search of his home. But he didn’t comment on the case.
The officer was among three men arrested Friday in an ongoing investigation by the NYPD, the Drug Enforcement Administration and New York State Police. Ten other suspects were charged earlier this year in what officials described as one of the more brazen and lucrative robbery operations in recent memory. All 13 are from the Dominican Republic.
The spree netted more than 1,650 pounds of cocaine worth $20 million and $4 million in cash since 2003. At least 100 people were injured.
Investigators say the gang paid informants to provide the names and whereabouts of traffickers around New York City, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida. After that, it conducted surveillance for days or even weeks, sometimes using satellite tracking devices.
Once the crew had a fix on its targets’ daily routines, it would use fake squad cars equipped with lights and sirens to trick their victims into stopping. They would invade homes the same way, then handcuff the inhabitants and haul them away at gunpoint.
Arbaje-Diaz — “a vital and active member” of the gang — once “left patrol still wearing his NYPD uniform and carrying his official firearm, badge and handcuffs to meet members of the crew and carry out a robbery,” court papers said. “He used his status as a police officer … to illegally demand access to the homes of his victims.”
During interrogations at dingy hideouts, the bandits allegedly bound their victims with duct tape, beat them and held guns to their heads to get them to reveal information. Using bathtubs, they simulated drownings by repeatedly submerging victims’ heads, court papers said.
One victim told investigators that during a 2005 abduction, two gang members “applied a pair of pliers to the victim’s testicles and threatened to squeeze the pliers if the victim did not talk,” the papers said.
Arbaje-Diaz was ordered held without bail. If convicted of robbery, drug dealing, firearms possession and other charges, he faces a minimum of 45 years in prison.
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Police officer arrested for aiding wife’s prostitution business www.privateofficer.com
Police officer arrested for aiding wife’s prostitution business http://www.privateofficer.com
As he left the Johnson County Jail after posting bond, Lee had a message for his former colleagues at the department.
I love the police department and I have done nothing wrong,” Lee said.
Lee, 30, was fired on Wednesday after the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office released details of the allegations against him and charged him with aiding in promoting prostitution.
Among those allegations, police said Lee often wore his IMPD uniform while collecting money for the operation prosecutors said involved his wife, Lori Vernon-Lee, 36.
Lee was isolated from the rest of the jail population as he waited to be bailed out, 6News’ Cheryl Jackson reported.
When Lee bonded out of jail, Lori Vernon-Lee was still there. She was charged with five counts of promoting prostitution.
Police said Lee’s home, in a neighborhood full of children, was home to an escort service at which numerous sex acts were offered in exchange for money.
“Not what we would expect to find across the street,” said neighbor Jim Conners. “It was pretty shocking.”
Conners and his wife, Marie, said the alleged illicit business put everyone in the neighborhood in danger.
“We were wondering what happened to the kids,” Jim Conners said. “They had little kids, and I know they are going to miss their mommy and daddy.”
“He is supposed to be the one to protect us, and then you find this out and you say, ‘My gosh, he is not doing his job.’”
Jerry McCory, 56, a former employee of the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, was charged with patronizing a prostitute in connection to the same operation. He resigned from the department last month
Police officer arrested for kidnapping fellow officer www.privateofficer.com
Police officer arrested for kidnapping fellow officer http://www.privateofficer.com
A Bridgeport police officer was arrested Wednesday, accused of kidnapping a fellow officer.
Police said Andre Orbegozo, 32, of Naugatuck, abducted an Ansonia woman from the front of her home and forced her to a heavily wooded area behind Ansonia High School.
Orbegozo appeared in Derby Superior Court Wednesday and his bond was doubled from $250,000 to $500,000.
Ansonia police said they went to Griffin Hospital at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday after getting a call from Bridgeport police stating that a police officer had assaulted another officer, according to a news release from Ansonia police.
Orbegozo hit the woman in the head with a gun, causing a laceration, police said. The victim was able to convince Orbegozo she needed medical attention and he took her to Griffin Hospital for treatment, police said.
Police are calling the incident domestic violence. Orbegozo was charged with second-degree assault and second-degree kidnapping with a firearm.
The victim has not been identified.
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