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Shoplifter pulls gun on Sears security agent www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifter pulls gun on Sears security agent http://www.privateofficer.com
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com Authorities are looking for a man that they say pulled a gun on a security officer and threatened to shoot him.
The security agent, a 42-year-old Bronx resident, told police the incident happened at around 7 p.m. yesterday as the man left the store with five pairs of work boots he didn’t pay for.
Police said that the suspect is a 5-foot-8, 180-pound Hispanic man in his mid-30s with black hair and a mustache, and wearing a cast on his right leg.
Anyone with information about the incident has been asked to call Yonkers police at 914-377-7724.
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Fleeing shoplifter assaults loss prevention officers www.privateofficer.com
Fleeing shoplifter assaults loss prevention officers http://www.privateofficer.com
A Weymouth woman was arrested after allegedly stealing $450 worth of merchandise from the Sears store. Police say she assaulted two store security officers with her car as she drove off.
Joanne M. Zanca, 33, is charged with larceny of property valued at more than $250, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault with a dangerous weapon.
On Tuesday, store security personnel approached Zanca on the top level of the South Shore Plaza parking garage after she left the Sears store with stolen merchandise hidden in shopping bags, police said.
Police said Zanca tossed the stolen items from the open door of her Pontiac Grand Prix when confronted by one of the security officers. She then put the car in reverse and almost hit the other officer, police said.
As she kept backing up, she caught one of the security officers between the open car door and the door frame, dragging the officer about six feet.
Police officers Ronald Solimini and Brendan McLaughlin searched the side streets near the shopping center and saw the Grand Prix, abandoned, at Joseph and Alfred roads. Zanca was later found in the nearby home of an acquaintance, police said.
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Ex-Sears employee sent to prison over theft www.priavteofficer.com
Ex-Sears employee sent to prison over theft http://www.priavteofficer.com
A Baraboo man convicted of theft from his employer has the threat of 18 months in prison hanging over his head after his sentencing hearing Thursday.
Jered A. Leatherberry, 27, appeared in court for sentencing in a 2006 case of felony theft from the Sears Grand in Baraboo. He originally escaped a criminal conviction and incarceration by accepting a deferred prosecution agreement.
However, he violated conditions of his agreement, leading to Leatherberry having it revoked and being convicted of the crime in November.
According to court documents, a Sauk County deputy was called to the Sears store in West Baraboo in December of 2006 due to an employee theft.
The store’s loss prevention officer said Leatherberry, who worked in the electronics department, had been stealing merchandise for about three weeks.
He provided the officer with a list of stolen property that included seven Ipod music players, two PlayStation game units, three digital cameras and a portable Nintendo video game, records state.
The value of the stolen items was about $3,660, the documents state.
Leatherberry told the deputy he stole the electronic devices and sold them to cover his own debts.
In court Thursday, the judge imposed 18 months of state prison time followed by 24 months on supervised release.
However, he stayed the incarceration if Leatherberry stays out of trouble during three years on probation. He must also take counseling again.
In November, Leatherberry was ordered to serve 90 days in jail for two misdemeanor counts that stem from the Sears Grand thefts.
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Police seek suspect who pulled gun during shoplifting incident www.privateofficer.com
Police seek suspect who pulled gun during shoplifting incident http://www.privateofficer.com
Visalia police are seeking a suspected male shoplifter who drew a handgun on security personnel trying to apprehend him Saturday at the Sears store at Sequoia Mall on Mooney Boulevard near Caldwell Avenue, police reported.
Employees with the loss-prevention department at Sears and Sequoia Mall security staff made an attempt to detain the unidentified man, who abandoned $400 worth of tools he had reportedly taken from a store just before noon Saturday, police reported.
The suspect then ran to his vehicle, and the security teams attempted to stop him inside the vehicle, when the suspect “pointed a handgun at them, threatening to shoot them,” police reported.The suspect then drove away. No description of the vehicle or the suspect was immediately available. Police are investigating the incident.
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Shoplifter stabs security officer www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifter stabs security officer http://www.privateofficer.com
A plainclothes security officer was stabbed at Westfield Southcenter mall Sunday night by a shoplifter he tried to detain, Tukwila police said.
The security officer, who suffered minor injuries to his hand and arm, was treated at an area hospital and released.
Police said the incident occurred around 6:18 p.m. at the Sears outlet at the mall. After stabbing the guard, the shoplifter fled on foot but was taken into custody later in a nearby restaurant parking lot, police said.
The suspect, a 46-year-old Monroe man, remained in custody late Sunday night.
The stabbing occurred 15 days after Diaquan Jones, 16, was killed and Jermaine McGowan, 15, was wounded in a shooting that shut down the mall for several hours.
Barry Lee Saunders Jr., 21, has been charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the Nov. 22 incident. He was arrested in Portland Nov. 26.
Saunders has waived extradition and could be arraigned in King County Superior Court as soon as this week. A lawyer representing Saunders has said his client thought he was acting in self-defense and to protect his brother when he fired a handgun in the crowded mall.
That shooting stemmed from a fight that began after gang signs were flashed, according to police.
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Shoplifter pulls gun on store agents www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifter pulls gun on store agents http://www.privateofficer.com
Investigators say the man, described as being in his late teens or early 20s, struggled with security personnel before pulling out a handgun and fleeing from Meadowood Mall.
The suspect also lost his shirt and shoes in the scuffle, and police say the stolen items were left behind.
Police say a 16-year-old girl who was with him was arrested by security agents without incident Sunday night on charges of robbery and possession of a controlled substance.
Investigators now are seeking the male who will also be charged with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.
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Police arrest 2 in credit card fraud www.privateofficer.com
Police arrest 2 in credit card fraud http://www.privateofficer.com
According to officers, the two racked up quite a bill and were able to get away with their haul. Johnson, 20, and Lee, 18, spent $3,680.08, according to a report.
But then the next day, deputies say, they returned to the Sears with a friend, Tilliasha Philadelphia Williams, 17, and went on another shopping spree, spending $1,691.53 and using the same stolen credit card.
This time they were caught by loss prevention personnel, deputies said.
Johnson, of 13747 Susan Kay Drive, Tampa, and Lee, of 10613 Altman St., Tampa, both were charged with 10 counts of uttering a forged instrument, 10 counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, five counts of grand theft – all felonies – and five counts of petty theft, a misdemeanor.
An arrest affidavit states that Williams was arrested and charged with a felony, but no further details were available because she is a minor.
Johnson and Lee were taken to Orient Road Jail. Bail for both was set at $51,250 bail.
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Sears loss prevention agents arrested for stealing from store www.privateofficer.com
Sears loss prevention agents arrested for stealing from store http://www.privateofficer.com
Gabriel Herrera, 19, of the 600 block of East Quince Street, and Ruben Marchand, 30, of the 1700 block of Magnolia Road, were charged with theft.
Herrera was charged July 30; Marchand was arrested July 1. Both were issued summonses and released.
Company loss prevention representatives investigated their own and found that Herrera and Marchand had been involved in the thefts and they were fired from their jobs after they admitted to stealing the items between early March and the end of May, authorities said. The two men agreed to repay the store, according to a police report.
Corey Rasion, the store’s loss-prevention manager, told police Herrera admitted stealing three television sets, a Blu-Ray DVD and two T-shirts. The total value of the items was $3,454.96.
Herrera told police he moved surveillance cameras to avoid detection as he left the store with the merchandise.
When he was arrested, Herrera told police he no longer had the items and would not say what happened to them.
Marchand admitted to stealing three televisions, valued at $2,199.97, according to police.
He told police he gave the televisions away as gifts, but would not say to whom, according to the report.
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Shoplifter gets no sympathy from judge www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifter gets no sympathy from judge http://www.privateofficer.com
Norvella Brown, 48, was arrested at 2:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Anderson police.
Monday, she pleaded with Judge Ken Mattison to allow her time to pay the $1,087.50 fine so that she could get out of jail and keep her job as a “chef at Hardee’s.”
“You have an extensive record of thievery all over this part of the world,” said Judge Mattison in denying her request.
According to the incident report, Ms. Brown used wire cutters Friday to remove security wire from the purses and attempted to hide the purses in a rack of clothes when confronted.
Monday, Ms. Brown begged the judge to trust her.
“I don’t trust you,” Judge Mattison said. “You’re a thief, ma’am.”
At that, Ms. Brown returned to her seat in the Anderson Municipal Court, sobbing at a level that caught the judge’s attention.
“Ma’am, please be quiet,” he said. “This is not your first rodeo.”
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Cop pleads guilty to sex crimes www.privateofficer.com
Former cop pleads guilty to sex crimes http://www.privateofficer.com
Darren Dempsey, 39, of Mansfield, who is also known as Darren Seligman, appeared in New Haven federal court Thursday and pleaded guilty to one count of using an interstate facility to transmit information about a minor.
Dempsey will be sentenced June 18.
The FBI arrested Seligman at the East Windsor Police Department, where he was an officer. Dempsey has been jailed since his arrest in October and resigned from the police department Nov. 9.
U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Connor said the prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which tries to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation.
Professional wrestler sentenced to life in prison www.privateofficer.com
Professional wrestler sentenced to life in prison
Forty-two-year-old Harrison “Hardbody” Norris of Cartersville was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Atlanta.
Prosecutors say Norris ran a scheme to force women into prostitution.
Norris was convicted last November of numerous charges including conspiracy, commercial sex trafficking and witness tampering.
Four other people were previously sentenced in the case, two for having roles in the scheme and two for lying to investigators.
Norris has claimed he just ran training camp for women to become professional wrestlers
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Student arrested for having homemade taser at school www.privateofficer.com
Student arrested for homemade taser at school http://www.privateofficer.com
Police said a 14-year-old student who goes to the Morgan High School student is accused of attempting to fire the device at another student. Police said the device was made entirely from a disposable camera.
Sometime during class the school resource officer was made aware of the camera and came to investigate. That’s when the officer decided that it was a little more than a prank and took the student into custody.
But the teen’s father said that the school and police are blowing the incident out of proportion.
The boy’s father, Bret Haughwout, said that his son hadn’t modified the camera in any way, that he had just opened it up.
“All he did was bring a disposable camera, take it apart, demonstrate that if you press this button you get shocked,” Haughwout said.
The student has since been charged by the school resource officer with possession of a weapon at school, breach of peace and attempted assault.
“When dealing with electricity, you can cause injury or harm. We want to stress that these aren’t toys,” said Sgt. Jeremiah Dunn of the Clinton Police Department.
Officers said no one was injured in the incident.
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Man arrested for filing dog’s teeth down www.privateofficer.com
Dog owner arrested for filing dog’s teeth down http://www.privateofficer.com
Security News Magazine/www.privateofficer.com
Police that the man is accused of filing a dog’s teeth almost to its gums.
The dog, named Lucas’ was absoultely abused by the owner, Chris Barnett, who now faces felony charges of aggravated animal cruelty. Joy Percell, who testified at the preliminary hearing Tuesday, said she witnessed the filing on Feb. 16.
She said she was working on a dairy farm where Barnett was renting a home. She said what she was sickening.
“I saw him strike the dog several times in a row and then whatever this thing was he had in his hand, he put in the dog’s mouth and then he began to run it back-and-forth through the dog’s mouth. … Its head was jerking back and forth,” she said.
During testimony, some Warren County Humane Association representatives wept.
Maxwell Vincent, who rented the dairy farm, testified to what happened after the beating.
“He picked the dog up about chest high and said, ‘See, it’s alive.’ When he picked it up, a lot of blood came out of its mouth. And then he picked it up about chest high and then he tossed it back down on the ground,” he said.
Vincent said that Barnett told him that he filed the dog’s teeth because he was chewing on some wire fencing around the home.
While the defense tried to explain Barnett’s behavior, the judge was not sympathetic.
“It was just a sadistic beating,” said General Sessions Court Judge Larry Ross. “You don’t teach a dog to not chew by beating him and then filing his teeth off.”
The case was bound over to a grand jury.
Aggravated animal abuse charges could mean a $3,000 fine and two years in prison if a conviction is reached. The allegations of abuse of Lucas the dog garnered worldwide attention.
The Warren County district attorney said the office has received hundreds of phone calls from around the country in support of Lucas. A Web site has also been set up.
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Arrests made for threats on security officer www.privateofficer.com
Arrests made in threat on securiy officer incident http://www.privateofficer.com
Ntl Assoc. Private Officers
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Police responded earlier in the week to the Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital to assist the security officer because he said several people had threatened to assault him.
When officers arrived the suspects had fled but the security officer said that he felt great bodily harm would have come to him had he not gone into a hospital building and secured the door.
The four male suspects were faired to have been local gang members and could have been armed the security officer said.
Police investigated the threats further and were able to make arrests in this matter.
Four people have now been charged in this incident.
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www.privateofficer.comTeacher charged with benefits fraud www.privateofficer.com
Teacher charged with benefits fraud http://www.privateofficer.com
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www.privateofficer.comSecurity guard arrested for posing as police www.privateofficer.com
Security guard arrested for posing as police officer http://www.privateofficer.com
Justin Wayne Henson worked for a private security firm called California Housing Patrol and was responsible for watching over a Victorville apartment complex, officials said.
But the San Bernardino man is suspected of pretending to work for a much better known CHP — the California Highway Patrol.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials said Henson, driving a Crown Victoria equipped with red and blue lights, stopped a driver and collected personal information, and later harassed patrons at a High Desert roller rink.
Henson, 25, whom deputies suspect is a San Bernardino gang member, was arrested at his Pumalo Street home Wednesday night. He was held on charges of false imprisonment and impersonating a peace officer to benefit a criminal street gang, officials said.
During a search of his home, detectives found police computers, scanners and radios, lighting equipment and uniforms resembling those worn by officers in the Sheriff’s Movement Against Street Hoodlums, or SMASH, team, said Deputy Josh Conley, a member of the Sheriff’s Department’s gang team.
Henson is suspected of wearing a green shirt with shoulder patches and a cloth badge last Saturday near Victorville’s Holiday Skate Center. He had stopped a car in the area, taken the driver’s license and copied the personal information into a notebook, Conley said.
After letting that driver go, Henson pulled into the skating rink’s parking lot and used his car’s public address system to tell patrons to leave, Conley said. When an employee asked whether Henson was with the CHP, meaning the California Highway Patrol, he said yes, Conley said.
“He just looked suspicious,” Holiday Skate Center manager Dasha Luke said by phone Thursday. “We have a lot of kids at our facility, and we just wanted to verify he was an officer of the law. Apparently, he wasn’t.”
Someone wrote down the license-plate number of Henson’s black Crown Victoria. The car appeared to have been spray-painted by hand, officials said.
Henson was found in the area that night and questioned, but he was not arrested.
Sheriff’s detectives in Victorville gathered more evidence and obtained a search warrant for his home, then arrested him Wednesday. He was taken to jail, and bail was set at $50,000.
“He could have made a lot more contacts that we don’t know yet,” Conley said.
Conley said a motive has not been determined.
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www.privateofficer.comPolice want to ban “hoodies” www.privateofficer.com
Police want to ban “hoodies” http://www.privateofficer.com
At a Friday afternoon news conference, two cadets modeled the hoodies the police were going after. One was adorned with logos of the rap duo the Insane Clown Posse, and the other was designed to look like an Egyptian sarcophagus.
Unlike ordinary hooded sweatshirts, which zip up to the neck, these garments zipped all the way to the top of the head. Designs were printed on the fabric covering the face, and the shirts had eyeholes cut into them.
I’m almost to the point of outrage concerning the hoodies,” Police Chief Phillip Garrett said. “I don’t think these should be sold. The only reason you would buy one is to disguise your identity.”
The Police Department is looking into writing an ordinance outlawing the sale of the clothing, Garrett said.
The chief also asked that parents go through their teenagers’ closets and cars to see if they own any hoodies. Even if they are not committing a crime, kids wearing the outfits could put themselves at risk of being mistaken for criminals by police, Garrett said.
“I don’t want anybody to get hurt, the child or the police officer,” Garrett said. “But that’s going to happen at some point if this doesn’t slow down.”
Deputy Chief Jim Barber said the hoodies are not just offering camouflage to hardened criminals. Normally good kids are committing crimes because the hoodies give them a feeling of invulnerability, he said.
“This is what’s motivating people who otherwise would not commit crimes to commit some very serious crimes, armed robbery in particular,” Barber said.
But while the hoodies have been worn in a number of recent crimes, Barber said, robbers wearing hoodies are not part of an organized gang.
“There is no hoodie gang,” he said. “There is a hoodie garment that seems to be motivating people to do a lot of things they otherwise wouldn’t.”
Mobile has a mask ordinance that outlaws people covering their face in public outside of Mardi Gras activities. But police officials said it doesn’t apply to the hoodies until they are zipped up, and by then it’s often too late.
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Attorney indicted for million dollar theft www.privateofficer.com
Attorney indicted for million dollar theft http://www.privateofficer.com
A federal grand jury indicted a former employee of a Baltimore County law firm and accused him of stealing $1 million from his employer and then setting the offices on fire to cover his tracks, prosecutors said yesterday.
George Michael Perez, 32, of Dundalk faces wire fraud, arson and money laundering charges in connection with alleged thefts from Wittstadt & Wittstadt P.A., and the three-alarm fire at the firm’s former offices at 40 S. Dundalk Ave., according to the indictment.
A message left with Mark H. Wittstadt, the firm’s managing partner, was not immediately returned yesterday afternoon. The firm focuses on real estate law, specifically foreclosures and evictions, according to its Web site
According to the indictment, the firm deposited profits from the sale of foreclosed properties in an escrow account at First Mariner Bank, which could be managed via online banking.
Perez, who worked in the firm’s accounting department, would meet monthly with Wittstadt to review account statements. At those meetings, Perez supplied his boss with altered Microsoft Excel spreadsheets that showed normal activity to conceal transfers into Perez’s personal bank account at Bank of America, according to the indictment.
From Dec. 12, 2005, to April 12, 2007, the indictment alleges, Perez made 14 wire transfers totaling $1.04 million from the First Mariner account to his personal one, and then set fire to the office on April 23, 2007, 11 days after the last transfer.
The fire, which was reported about 1:30 a.m., caused an estimated $800,000 in damages to the six-story building, said Donna Welsh of the Baltimore County Fire Department.
The fire was started “at multiple points” and brought under control at 3:44 a.m., she said. One firefighter was taken to Mercy Hospital with minor injuries.
Perez faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each of the 10 wire fraud counts; 10 years for each of the five money laundering counts; and a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison for arson, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for Maryland.
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Mother charged with shoplifting with son www.privateofficer.com
Mother charged with shoplifting with son http://www.privateofficer.com
A Drummonds mother apparently has been enlisting her 13-year-old son as her shoplifting sidekick, police said this week.
In early March, an Atoka liquor store’s surveillance camera captured Melissa Rodriguez, 32, sneaking bottles of alcohol to her son, who stashed them under his jacket, investigators said.
Wednesday, police charged Rodriguez — who has many aliases — with theft under $500 and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She was released from the Tipton County Jail on $5,000 bond.
The mother’s arrest stemmed from a purse-snatching investigation in Munford, police said.
On March 21, two boys stole an elderly woman’s purse in the parking lot of Fred’s on Munford Avenue, said Munford Police Chief Jim Harger. “They said, ‘Hi,’ then stole her purse.”
Someone recognized the boys and called police, Harger said. Investigators tracked down the boys, 13 and 14, and found the woman’s purse and wallet.
Thursday, the boys were being held on theft charges in Memphis juvenile detention, police said. They have a court hearing in Tipton County Monday. Tipton does not have a juvenile detention facility.
Rodriguez may be charged with helping her son and the other boy in the purse-snatching, Harger said.
This week, a Tipton County Sheriff’s investigator recognized the 13-year-old boy from the shoplifting at Atoka Wine & Spirits. The teen faces charges in that case, Atoka police said.
Investigators said the mother and son may be linked to other shoplifting cases.
Contact Sherri Drake at 529-2510. To read more stories on the Web by this reporter, go to commercialappeal.com, click on Contact Us at the top of the home page and then click on her name.
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Walmart shopper arrested for voyeurism www.privateofficer.com
Walmart shopper arrested for voyeurism http://www.privateofficer.com
Police say that they were called to the store after the husband of one of the women saw a man following his wife and taking pictures. He confronted the man and dialed 911.
Police say that Ernest Anye, 36, was using a camera to take about 30 pictures of parts of the women’s bodies as they shopped at the Wal-Mart on Shreveport-Barksdale Highway Saturday night, police said
Police Department spokeswoman Kacee Hargrave said Anye told officers he intended to use the pictures for self-gratification.
Police have seized the camera.
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www.privateofficer.comPolice capture shoplifting ring leader www.privateofficer.com
Police capture shoplifting ring leader http://www.privateofficer.com
Aiken SC April 2 2008 An Aiken County man who has made a habit of running from police had an unexpected visit from South Carolina, Georgia and City of Aiken law enforcement officers Friday morning, according to officials.
William M. Fields, 37, of Warrenville, was captured shortly before noon at the Georgia Inn on Belair Road in Columbia County, said a spokesperson with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Fields waived extradition late Friday and Aiken Public Safety brought him back to Aiken and is now being held at the Aiken County detention center.
For several months in 2006, Fields was listed as one of Aiken Public Safety’s Most Wanted suspects on allegations he was the leader of a well-orchestrated shoplifting ring.
After narrowly escaping arrest several times, Aiken Public Safety investigators said the man contacted them in August 2006 and said he would turn himself in, but police gave the suspect a deadline to surrender, and that day came and went, officials said.
Shortly after that, while still on the run, Fields contacted the Aiken Standard to take issue with the Public Safety’s description of him as the “ring leader” behind the operation.
“I’m not saying I wasn’t involved … I might be accessories to one or two of the charges they’re talking about, but I ain’t never walked out of the store with stuff,” he said in September of 2006.
Fields was able to avoid capture until December 2006 when Public Safety, working with a number of other local and state agencies, including Aiken and Edgefield counties sheriff’s offices, arrested him after a footchase near a mobile home just outside of North Augusta in Edgefield County.
He was jailed but was out on a $75,000 bond when his case went to court in December 2007.
The day after the jury was selected, the Warrenville man skipped out on his trial, and police, once again, began searching for the man.
On Friday the chase came to an end, officials said.
“Our investigation led us to Columbia County and he was picked up immediately,” Aiken Public Safety Detective Kirk Owen said. “He didn’t put up a fight.”
Fields is accused of stealing merchandise valued at more than $7,000 from the Target on Whiskey Road in June 2006 and, along with a man and two minors, is accused of stealing an estimated $1,500 worth of goods from an Aiken Bi-Lo grocery store the following month, according to arrest warrants.
Public Safety officers spent several months in 2006 looking for Fields, eventually arresting a number of his alleged cohorts.
He is charged with felony shoplifting, shoplifting of more than $1,000 and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Other charges may be pending.
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www.privateofficer.comArmed shoplifter scares shoppers www.privateofficer.com
Armed shoplifter scares shoppers http://www.privateofficer.com
.“Don’t make me pull this out!” Mark W. Coburn, 33, of Boston, allegedly warned security personnel while reaching for his waist. The officers backed off and Coburn bolted from the department store, according to police.
Boston police officers responded and combed the area near the store and was able to locate a male subject that matched the description of the shoplifter.
Police arrested the suspect at the corner of Clarendon and Stanhope streets, charging him with shoplifting and armed robbery, police report.
Police did not say whether or not they recovered a weapon from Coburn.
Alert mall officer aids in burglary arrests www.privateofficer.com
Alert mall officer aids in burglary arrests http://www.privateofficer.com
Township police said they received a call at 7:19 a.m. Thursday from Crystal Brown, a security officer at the Route 1 mall, advising that through security cameras she was watching three people break into the Piercing Pagoda kiosk.
While individual stores are not open for business at that hour, the mall itself is open for use as an exercise venue by so-called “mall walkers,” police said.
Brown told police she had watched on the cameras as the suspects walked around different parts of the mall in what police believe was an effort to blend in with the exercise-seekers.
Lawrence officers, aided by West Windsor officers, quickly secured the mall’s exits. Two of the suspects — Dantay Robinson, 38, of Philadelphia and a 17-year-old male whose name was not released — were detained as they tried to leave by Officers Robert Loveless, Richard Laird, Ronald Buchanan and Thomas Everist, police said.
The final suspect, Jerome Faison, 39, of Philadelphia, was followed on the surveillance cameras by Brown and, after a brief foot chase, was arrested by Sgt. Timothy Drew and Detective Joseph Lech, police said.
Police said the trio had stolen about $470 worth of jewelry from the kiosk.
All three were charged with burglary, theft, and possession of burglary tools, police said, noting that Faison was also charged with resisting arrest and both he and Robinson were charged with employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime.
Lech and Officer Ed Budzinski are continuing the investigation.
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School Teacher, 8 Others Arrested In Sex Sting At Sears www.privateofficer.com
School Teacher, 8 Others Arrested In Sex Sting At Sears www.privateofficer.com
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. Nov. 3 2007 — A high school teacher and a former city commissioner were among nine men busted in a sex sting at the Volusia Mall in Daytona Beach. Security officers at Sears called police after they witnessed several men engaging in lewd behavior inside a men’s restroom.
What is scary is that these are people that we trust to be political leaders, we trust with our children,” said Chief Michael Chitwood of the Daytona Beach Police Department.
Police received a tip from mall security and the information was confirmed when they read several posts on Craigslist.org. Detectives arrested former Daytona Beach city commissioner Michael Shallow and David Behringer, a teacher at Sea Breeze High School, Thursday.
The arrests came after a 10-hour stakeout of the men’s restrooms at the Sears store in the Volusia Mall. A total of nine men are accused of lewd and lascivious behavior and exposure of a sexual organ.
“This is a clandestine sub-culture event where there are certain signs that we wouldn’t pick up on unless you knew what they were,” Chief Chitwood said.
According to undercover officers, the suspects would go into the bathroom as Sears and tap their feet or zip their zippers up and down several times and even look under bathroom stalls, seeking others to join in sexual misconduct. Police learned the men used the restroom as a place to meet from websites like Craigslist.org.
“There was an incident that occurred on October 29th where security saw this guy doing his business. They kicked the door in and threw him out of Sears. That incident made Craigslist,” Chief Chitwood stated.
Police said two of the nine men arrested were registered sex offenders, including one who was previously caught masturbating in the restroom of a daycare center. All of them were booked into the Volusia County jail with bail set at $1,000.
“We’re coming up on the Christmas season. You’re out there shopping at the mall. Your kid wants to run into the bathroom and you’ve got a bunch of sick perverts that are in there doing their thing,” Chief Chitwood said.
Sea Breeze High School teacher David Behringer resigned Friday after his arrest and the school district accepted his resignation.
Eyewitness News found that the Sears bathroom is not the only store named online for sexual activity. Eyewitness News also found a Macy’s and a JC Penney’s bathroom mentioned. The list goes beyond parks and a few department stores, though. Skydive DeLand, the bathroom at a New Smyrna Beach convenience store and the parking lot at a Home Depot in Port Orange are named as places for men to hook up.
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Lancaster area store security round up shoplifters www.privateofficer.com
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Lancaster area store security round up shoplifters www.privateofficer.com
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. Oct. 23, 2007 – Stopping and arresting suspected shoplifters kept the security staff at the East Lampeter Township Wal-Mart store and township police busy this past weekend.
Five men and women were arrested for retail-theft offenses at the 2034 Lincoln Highway East store on Saturday and Sunday, police said.
They were:• India Jeanine Matthews, 28, of 38 Garden Court Apartments. Security officers saw her fail to scan merchandise at the store’s self-checkout at about 6 p.m. Saturday, police said. The woman would pass the items over the scanner, but not scan them, police said. She allegedly left the store without paying for $29.54 worth of clothing items, police said.Matthews was charged with retail theft and turned over to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s department on an existing bench warrant.•
Stephanie Corinne Torres, 30, of 720 6th St. Police said she placed an envelope over the scanner and then passed merchandise over the envelope, which blocked the scanner from recognizing the merchandise.The security staff detained Torres at about 8 p.m. Saturday after she allegedly tried to take groceries, pet food, and toys having a total value of $26.95, police said. She was cited for retail theft and released to Lancaster City police on several existing warrants.•
Gerald Paul Allison, 22, of the 1300 block of North Colebrook Road, Manheim. He allegedly tried to take a $169 Phillips DVD player from the Wal-Mart store shortly before 9 p.m. Monday, East Lampeter police said.Allison ran from store employees, but was caught and found with hypodermic needles, police said. He was charged with misdemeanor retail theft and possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.•
A 16-year-old East Lampeter Township boy who allegedly left the Wal-Mart store at 2:35 p.m. Saturday without paying for computer flash drives and a set of earphones valued at $61.81, police said. The boy was cited for summary retail theftand released to a guardian.• A 15-year-old Leola girl who allegedly left the store at 8 p.m. Sunday without paying for two packages of perfume, valued at $42.75, that she concealed in her purse. She was cited for retail theft and released to her mother.Last Wednesday, East Lampeter police arrested a Wal-Mart employee for suspected theft.
Police said store security saw Tonya Ann Smith, 35, of 63 S. Franklin St., remove money from her register and place it in her pocket.Store management reported that the theft had been ongoing for some time with the amount exceeding $500. Smith was processed and released with theft charges being filed against her, police said.In other shoplifting incidents:•
Lancaster state police received word Saturday afternoon that a man and two women had left the Valley View Country Store, 3622 Old Philadelphia Pike, at Intercourse, without paying for a “large amount of antique items.”The theft was reported at 2:30 p.m. The man and one woman were young adults. The other woman looked to be about 50, police said.•
Shortly after 6:30 a.m. Saturday, West Hempfield Township police received word that a shoplifting suspect was fighting with employees at the Redner’s Market store at Columbia Avenue and Prospect Road.Police arrested Samuel Leonard Warren Jr., 39, Lancaster, at the scene. He was committed to Lancaster County Prison on a probation detainer, and Officer James Gardill is charging him with retail theft.•
Lancaster police arrested Mary E. Sterling, 79, of 13 Apple Lane, Mountville, and a 17-year-old girl for retail-theft offenses Sunday afternoon at the Sears store, Park City shopping center.Sterling allegedly failed to pay for six necklaces and four bracelets valued at about $152, Officer Joseph Graczyk said. The 17-year-old allegedly concealed two pairs of jeans, valued at about $40, in a baby stroller, Officer Jerry Hess said.•
At about 4:45 p.m. Saturday, a man ran out of the LIDS Outlet store, on Stanley K. Tanger Blvd. (Tanger Outlet Center) without paying for three baseball bats, valued at $93.97 that he grabbed from a display, East Lampeter Township police said. He was last scene fleeing in a teal Dodge Stratus.
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