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Bridgeton High School enforcement officer suspended, security guard arrested www.privateofficer.com
BRIDGETON NJ May 16 2013 — Police were called at 9:30 a.m. on May 6 to Bridgeton High School for an incident.
At that time, education enforcement officer Leo Marquez told them he was assaulted by both a juvenile and a school security staff member.
Marquez told them he was in the area of the school gym when he saw the juvenile with other juveniles.
He said the juvenile assaulted him and he defended himself. He added that the security guard, Alexis Rodriquez, also assaulted him and he arrested him.
The altercation was broken up and the juvenile was arrested and taken to the nurse’s office and later to Inspira Health Center, in Bridgeton, where he was treated.
The extent of his injuries is not in the report, although a cousin said he received five stitches.
The police report stated he suffered some physical injury to his face.
The police report said Rodriquez was placed under arrest for assaulting Marquez while apparently trying stop further altercation.
Marquez faces no charges at this time.
Both the juvenile and Rodriquez were released on summonses, one to juvenile court and the other to municipal court.
At Tuesday night’s board of education meeting, Marquez asked to speak before the board in open session.
Marquez admitted he had been suspended and cited his nine-year record as a security officer, saying he “had only a couple of blemishes.
“I had an altercation with a student on May 6 here in the school and I have been suspended,’’ he said.
“I have been an officer here for the past nine years.
“I was aggravated by two different people.
“I don’t know what my current status is, and I don’t know if I’m going to get reinstated and want to make sure everything is clear.
“Maybe I should have handled the incident differently, but when you’re a police officer, you respond right away.
“I think I should be OK.’’
Board President Angie Edwards told him the entire board had not been apprised of the incident, so it would not be discussed at the meeting.
In response to a question, Edwards asked a reporter before the meeting if he had seen a videotape of the incident.
She indicated she had.
When contacted by the South Jersey Times after the incident, Director of Security Bob Stevens said it was a personnel matter and would be handled in-house.
He gave no further information.
A phone call to Stevens Wednesday morning asking if Marquez was suspended with pay was not immediately returned.
Source- nj.com
Security guard, two other stabbed at Annapolis Elks Lodge www.privateofficer.com
Annapolis MD April 30 2012 Three people were injured in a triple stabbing at an Annapolis Elks Lodge on Sunday morning, and police say they’re searching for two suspects in the case.
Anne Arundel County Police say that the incident happened just after 1 a.m. at the Elks Lodge at 2517 Solomons Island Road. The stabbing happened during a party at the facility.
Police say three people, including a security guard, were stabbed. They were all taken to a shock trauma center and are currently in stable condition.
Two suspects are being sought in connection with the stabbing.
Police describe them as:
-a black male in his 30s, standing 5-foot-9 with a medium build, wearing a brown leather jacket and white pants
-a black male with a slim build, possibly with a gold tooth
Anyone with information is asked to contact Anne Arundel County Police.
Security guard, 5 others injured at nightclub shooting www.privateofficer.com
Dolton IL June 27 2011 Six people were injured in a shooting at a south suburban nightlub early this morning.
The shooting happened about 1 a.m. at Mr. Ricky’s 141 Club, 14141 Chicago Rd. in Dolton. Police confirmed the shooting took place in the nightclub but provided no other details. Among those injured was a security guard at the club, witnesses said.
Six people were shot inside the club as customers broke glass to escape, officials said. Witnesses said at least two people were seen firing weapons.
Injuries and Wounds People from the nightclub took cover behind parked cars to shield themselves from the gunfire, witnesses said.
“Somebody broke a window out with a chair and that was basically everyone in the back’s escape route because the front door was crowded,” Jamar Johnson, a patron, said.
In 2009, two people who had been at Mr. Ricky’s earlier in the evening were shot and killed near the nightclub in separate slayings, one in February and one in November.
The club owner has told the Tribune in the past that there are close to fifty security cameras both inside and outside the club.
Thirty squad cars and five ambulances responded to the scene along with Illinois State Police.
No one is in custody in the shootings.
Georgia susbstitute teacher pregnant with student’s twin babies www.privateofficer.com
Police said the teacher, Rene Frank, 27, also told them she is pregnant with twins and the 17-year-old student is the father.
Channel 2′s Tom Jones was in the courtroom for Frank’s first court appearance.
Jones said Frank walked in and immediately began crying.
A judge denied bond for Frank, at which point Jones said she began to cry again. Frank is charged with sexual assault against a person under supervision in a school.
According to police documents and an arrest warrant, Frank taught math at Charles Drew High School in Riverdale. Officers said the 17-year-old student told a teacher he was involved in a sexual relationship with Frank. That teacher told the principal and police were called.
Officers said they questioned Frank and she admitted the allegations were true. Police said she told officers that the student’s father asked her to give his son a ride to school and that’s when the relationship progressed. The sex took place in Frank’s car off campus, police said.
Students at the school said they heard about the relationship, but not the pregnancy.
“It’s crazy. Nasty,” said Drew High School student David Grier.
A parent of another Drew High School student was disgusted after hearing about the allegations.
“Well, it’s kind of sickening, you know. You send the kids up here for education and then this type of thing going on in the schools,” parent Carlotta Thornton said. “It’s crazy. If I was the parent, I’d be upset. I would be totally upset.”
According to police records, another Drew High School student told police he also had a sexual relationship with Frank, but Frank denied that. Police said their investigation continues.
Frank’s attorney, Meg Strickler, said her client is innocent until proven guilty, and people should let the court process work.
A Clayton County School System spokesman said he couldn’t comment because it is a personnel issue. Frank told police she is now unemployed.
The 17-year-old student’s mother said the relationship with the teacher has had an adverse affect on him and that he is trying to get his life together.
Source:WSBTV
Security guard, bar customer charged with rape www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN Feb 4 2011 A former security guard and a regular customer at a downtown nightclub were indicted in the aggravated rape of a 19-year-old woman inside the club on May 22.
Former Graham Central Station security guard Antonio Hamm, 28, and Marris Wynne, 40 were charged with raping the woman early that morning at the Second Avenue nightclub.
Hamm and Wynne are accused of raping the woman in the basement, according to the investigation.
According to police, after the woman was separated from friends, Hamm approached her while she was at the second floor bar. Hamm told her she was too intoxicated to stay and said he would escort her out, got into the elevator and they went to the basement.
Wynne arrived and is accused of raping her shortly after Hamm went back to the bar. Wynne took the victim back to the elevator to the main floor, where the woman went back to her friends. She reported the rape the next day.
Wynne was arrested on Jan. 17 when he reported to his parole officer on a grand jury indictment charging him with four counts of aggravated rape. Hamm was indicted and arrested on Jan. 28. He was charged with two counts of aggravated rape.
Graham Central Station owners cooperated with investigators and has hired new security and management. Detectives are investigating whether other women were victimized.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Sex Crimes Unit at 862-7540.
Source:Tennessean
Pickens County Ga. teacher arrested www.privateofficer.com
Pickens County Sheriff’s Office have charged Laura Dene Lyles with two counts of sex assault, two counts of sodomy and four counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor.
Investigators were contacted by the superintendent’s office regarding allegations of sexual misconduct. Pickens County Sheriff’s Office began investigating.
Investigators say the sexual encounter occurred on the Pickens County High School campus.
The student attended Pickens County High School.
Houston armored car guard shot, car set ablaze www.privateofficer.com
At least two gunmen struck shortly after 11:30 a.m. when the Triple D Security armored car pulled up to a Kroger store in the 6300 block of Telephone.
Customer Keith Mallard said he stopped in at the supermarket to use their ATM machine when he heard another security guard cry out, “Code blue, code blue.”
“The next thing I heard was, ‘boom, boom, boom’ and we all ran to the back,” Mallard said, still shaken from the ordeal.
Mallard followed other customers to the back of the store when he was stopped by a group Houston firefighters who were shopping there. When he told them about the robbery and gunfire, the firefighters raced to the front of the store with Mallard close behind them.
He saw the guard on the ground in front of the store with what appeared to be bullet wounds to his chest and abdomen. He was up and alert and he was talking, Mallard said.
The guard was taken to an area hospital in unknown condition.
Mallard said the scene was chaotic inside the store.
“It was terrible, terrible. Everybody was just running,” he said.
Police at the scene said the gunmen fled and remain at large. It wasn’t known how much cash they might have gotten away with.
A car parked behind a Discount Tire Company store adjacent to the supermarket was set ablaze soon after the hold-up. Police believe it may have been the one the gunmen used when they staged the violent hold-up.
Elizabeth Russell, a regular customer at the Kroger store, said she was talking to her daughter on a cell phone when she heard the “code blue” alarm.
“I said, ‘I’ve got to go. There’s a robbery,” Russell said in the parking lot while she was loading groceries into her car.
Russell followed a crowd of store employees through the store toward the rear exit.
“It all happened so quick. I didn’t get scared then … it was after the fact,” Russell said.
Man gets 18 years prison for assault on security officer www.privateofficer.com
Saying he heard no evidence that Jarrid Bloom wanted to change his ways, U.S. District Court judge Ralph Beistline sentenced Bloom to 18 years and four months in federal prison.
“You have never made a wise choice in your life,” Beistline said, chastising Bloom during Friday’s sentencing hearing. “You were destined to be shot, beat up or incarcerated.”
The judge called Bloom a “petty thief” who has spent five of his six adult years behind bars. Bloom had been out of jail only 21 days when he was caught by security guard Louis Maloney breaking into cars in the parking garage at the federal courthouse on July 7.
“If you had just said, ‘Oh, you’ve got me’ and walked out with the security guard you’d probably be out of jail by now,” Beistline said. “You escalated it at every point along the way, and now you’re facing decades in jail.”
Bloom, who had been in Alaska for only eight days after moving to Fairbanks from Reno, Nev., started a fight with Maloney after the security guard found a small tinfoil cube of marijuana on him during a search. Bloom punched Maloney a half dozen times in the face, breaking his eye socket, before wrestling the guard’s gun away. Holding Maloney at gunpoint, Bloom took the guard’s baton and wallet before pointing the gun at a car and shooting the tire. He ordered Maloney to wait 40 seconds before doing anything and fled on a bike.
Fairbanks police caught Bloom on his bike outside the courthouse. He had Maloney’s baton and wallet, and the gun was located nearby.
Bloom pleaded guilty in October and struck a plea deal with the state.
Bloom received 10 years for using a handgun during a violent crime and the rest of the time for assaulting a law enforcement officer. He also was ordered to pay $10,500 in restitution to Maloney and will face five years of probation when he gets out of prison. Three other felony charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement.
Maloney, who underwent surgery in August to repair his eye socket, spoke at Friday’s sentencing hearing. He said he thought Bloom was going to kill him.
“I figured death was imminent,” Maloney told Beistline. “My biggest fear was what he would do with my duty weapon to someone else.”
Maloney, who is undergoing physical therapy as a result of injuries to his shoulder suffered in the fight, said the incident with Bloom continues to haunt him. He still has a hard time sleeping, breaks out in cold sweats and is “always on guard.”
Addressing Bloom, he told the 24-year-old to “count his blessings.”
“If this had happened on my property or in my house, the outcome would have been very different,” Maloney told Bloom.
Maloney, who works full time for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was working as a part-time security guard at the time of the incident. He said he missed a month of work at his regular job and hasn’t been cleared to go back to work as a security guard yet, forcing his wife to take a part-time job in addition to her full-time job.
Bloom, dressed in orange prison garb, apologized to Maloney and said what he did “was the worst decision of my life.” He couldn’t explain why he made that decision.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said, dabbing tears from his eyes with a Kleenex. “I can’t explain a motive. I went crazy.”
Bloom’s attorney, federal public defender M.J. Hayden, asked for a prison term of 15 years, noting that Bloom had a lengthy criminal record but was not prone to violence. Bloom previously was convicted of felony counts of grand theft auto and possession of a stolen vehicle in Nevada.
“He doesn’t have a history of violence,” she said. “This was a horrific offense, but it was not something he planned. It was a case of unfortunate circumstances that pulled together all at the same time.”
U.S. Assistant District Attorney Stephen Cooper recommended a sentence of more than 20 years, citing his “extensive” criminal history, which began when he was 13 years old.
“We’re dealing with somebody who is recidivist on a grand scale, and he’s only 24 years old,” Cooper said.
Bloom will serve his time in a federal penitentiary in Nevada.
Nine gang members charged with smash and grabs www.privateofficer.com
Officers acted quickly after a group of thieves rammed a Ford Taurus through the entrance to the Focus Clothing Store downtown, ransacked the shop and escaped with $50,000 worth of designer jeans.
The same group then did another smash-and-grab at the E-Z Shop Food Mart on Sylvan Road in southwest Atlanta, police said.
After finding two stolen cars in the Sylvan Road area, police converged on a home in the 700 block of Dill Avenue, Deputy Chief Calvin Moss told the AJC.
“They got over there and found some of the stolen items scattered about outside the residence and found the nine subjects inside,” Moss said. “A search warrant was obtained for the house, and additional stolen property and a quantity of narcotics was found there.”
Moss said the quick arrests resulted from months of investigation.
“Our gang unit has been tracking some individuals for quite some time,” he said. “They know the areas to go to, and they simply followed up on some of the leads they were able to develop from the crime scenes.”
Moss identified the adult suspects as Jarquez Hood, 20, and Deaundrae Williams, 17. The seven juveniles range from 14 to 16 years old.
The smash-and-grab at Focus, on Peachtree Street near Alabama Street, happened just after 2:30 a.m. and was captured by a store surveillance camera.
Owner David Song told the AJC he was shocked because he recently installed a new iron gate over the front glass.
“I never thought about something like this happening,” he said.
Song estimated the thieves caused an additional $20,000 in damage.
Moss said the suspects stole three cars in southwest Atlanta early Sunday to use in the burglaries. Police found a green Ford Taurus and a silver Jeep Liberty but continue to look for a green Pontiac Grand Prix, tag no. BWD-1097.
Anyone who has seen the Grand Prix should call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.
Moss said the suspects could be responsible for other recent smash-and-grabs.
And he urged the public to help police combat gangs.
“We really are soliciting input from law-abiding citizens who know these people,” Moss said.
Police believe 30 Deep started in the Mechanicsville neighborhood near Turner Field. They say the gang has committed commercial burglaries from Buckhead to Gwinnett County, and that members sell drugs, stolen high-end jeans and expensive electronics.
One member is charged with the January 2009 murder of John Henderson, the popular bartender at Standard Food & Spirits in Grant Park.
“What makes them different is they are persistent,” Sgt. Archie Ezell, a member of the Atlanta Police Department’s gang unit, told the AJC last month. “They will go out and do a crime and they don’t mind doing two or three burglaries a night. They’re always on the move, always wanting to do some kind of crime.”
Shotgun toting robber holds up armored car www.privateofficer.com
ASPEN HILL, Md.Dec 24 2009
According to police a man held up an armored truck outside an Aspen Hill bank Wednesday morning and then vanished.
Officers said that the man was carrying a shotgun as he approached the driver of an armored car outside of a Wachovia Bank in the 3800 block of International Drive.
The suspect is described as a black male, 25 to 30 years old, between 6 feet and 6 feet, 3 inches tall, with a heavy build and a goatee. He was wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans.
The man fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. No one was injured.
Anyone with any information about the incident or the suspect is asked to call the Montgomery County Police Robbery Section at 240-773-5100, or submit a tip anonymously at 1-866-411-TIPS.
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Security-bouncer stabbed breaking up fight www.privateofficer.com
A 29-year-old Elyria man was stabbed in the leg and chest yesterday morning after trying to break up a fight inside Benchwarmers Sports Bar and Grille. One man has been arrested in connection with the stabbing, while someone who fired a gun during the fight is still on the run from police.
Officers were called to 11 Lake Ave. around 2:30 a.m. after a fight broke out in a hallway that connects Benchwarmers to Mardi Gras Lounge. Brian Helke, who works as a security-bouncer at Benchwarmers, tried to break up the fight, but was punched in the eye and knocked to the ground, according to an Elyria police report.
After the fight broke up, Helke was approached by Frederick Ferris, who began fighting him and ended up on top of him. Ferris allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed Helke in the chest and leg before fleeing out a Lake Avenue exit, police said.
Ferris was stopped a few minutes later as he was walking on Middle Avenue near Ely Square. No weapons were found on him, but a black-handled kitchen knife was later discovered at the north end of Ely Square across from the Lake Avenue intersection, police said.
Ferris was charged with felonious assault and tampering with evidence.
Later on, officers were called back to the bar after workers found a shell casing and a handgun magazine. A bullet hole was also found in the wall, which police believe was fired during the fight. A gun was found discarded in a sewer on Washington Avenue, outside of Mardi Gras Lounge, police said. The gun, which is listed as stolen through the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office, was taken from an Eaton Township home in December 2008.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Elyria Police Department at (440) 323-3302.
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Argument at assisted-living facility leads to murder www.privateofficer.com
An argument in an assisted-living residence at 270 E. Second St. between two men in wheelchairs turned violent in the early hours of Sat., Dec. 19, and one of them stabbed the other to death, police said.
The suspect, Felipe Rivera-Cruz, 51, plunged a folding knife four times into the chest of the victim, Ronal Garcia, 24, at 4:12 a.m. in a second-floor hallway of the four-story Barrier Free Living residence between Avenues C and D, according to the complaint filed by the Manhattan district attorney. Garcia was taken to Beth Israel Medical Center with several other stab wounds in addition to the four fatal ones, and was declared dead soon after.
The stabbing, which staff members saw in progress on a surveillance monitor, followed an argument an hour or so earlier when the victim had made fun of the suspect, according to reports. Police also responded to the earlier call, but said it was just an argument with no injuries and neither party wanted to file charges. However, a New York Times report quoted a witness as saying the suspect had sustained a cut on his forehead during the earlier incident, and the victim had phoned his family in the Bronx between the first and second calls.
A security guard, who got to the scene too late to prevent the stabbing, observed the folding knife in the suspect’s hand, took it from him, and then called 911, the complaint says.
The nonprofit Barrier Free Living residence, operated under contract to the city, is one of the few that are completely accessible to wheelchairs. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeless Services said the city is investigating the circumstances of the stabbing.
Rivera-Cruz was held on charges of second-degree murder and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon pending a Dec. 24 court appearance
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Wal-Mart settles with girl fondled in SC www.privateofficer.com
The State reported Thursday that Wal-Mart agreed last week to pay a girl an undisclosed sum after she was fondled by an employee who was a registered sex offender in 2004 at a store in Orangeburg.
The newspaper reported that Wal-Mart began conducting criminal background checks on new hires at its stores within weeks of that incident.
A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., Daphne Moore, would not discuss the Dec. 16 settlement on Wednesday. But Moore said the matter has been resolved.
The family’s attorney, David Massey of Columbia, said he’s glad the lawsuit has been resolved.
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Security officer assaulted in robbery www.privateofficer.com
Brett Davis/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
NETWORK
http://www.privateofficer.com
Police responded to an incident at a local dollar store and say that three people were arrested Wednesday after a robbery.
Police said that the three are accused of stealing from a west side Dollar General Store.
Officers responded to the store at around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and found a security officer in a battle with several people.
Investigators said that two men and one juvenile walked into the store at 6901 North Mesa, and the two men tried stealing a few items.
When approached by a security officer, the group began assaulting the officer and tried to flee.
All three were arrested and now face robbery charges.
Police have not yet released their identity.
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Cincinnati police officer killed in Afghanistan www.privateofficer.com
Hundreds attended the visitation Tuesday morning for Tech Sgt. Anthony C. “Tony” Campbell, who was killed while trying to disarm an improvised explosive device last week. The Air Force Tech Sgt. was serving in Afghanistan as an explosive ordinance disposal specialist.
Campbell, 35, had been serving as a Cincinnati police officer for just a few weeks before he was deployed.
“He was my best friend and a wonderful husband and father,” said his widow, Emily Campbell.
Campbell’s statements came from a program given to those who attended the visitation at Florence Baptist Church at Mt. Zion.
“He dedicated his life to his country,” Campbell’s statement continued.
Hundreds upon hundreds stood in line for a chance to express their sympathy for the family.
The 1992 Boone County high school graduate had his mother sign his enlistment papers at the age of 17 so he could join the Air Force.
In 2009 he became a Cincinnati police officer and served at downtown’s district one headquarters before he was deployed to Afghanistan.
In an additional statement Emily Campbell thanked the community for their support at this most difficult time.
“On behalf of the Campbell family I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation for the outpouring of love and support we have received over the last week. The love that has been shown for my husband, Anthony, myself, and our grieving family has gone beyond my imagination,” Campbell said.
Campbell also leaves behind three children.
His 2-year-old son saluted his father before the service began.
During the funeral, Campbell was remembered by his best friend, Chris Webster.
“Anthony Campbell Junior was a father, a husband, a son, a grandson, a brother, an uncle and a friend,” said Webster, Campbell’s Best Friend. “He was a union brother to two of the biggest families in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Police Department and the Plumbers and Pipe fitters Local 392 and a member to an even bigger family the United States Air Force. I’ve known Tony for 24 years and trust me when I say Tony was doing exactly what he wanted to do.”
Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher also paid tribute to Campbell.
“Tony put himself in harms way so that other people could be protected. Other people in a community much larger that what we experience here in the Greater Cincinnati area in fact his community was the entire world and I think that’s something that speaks volume about his character, his tenacity and about his commitment to duty,” said Chief Tom Streicher of Cincinnati Police. “In my estimation, each and everyone one of us owe him a debt of gratitude for his loyal service to his community and to his country.”
Air Force commanders posthumously awarded Campbell the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and the Combat Action Medal.
Tech Sgt. Campbell was escorted to the Veterans Cemetery in Williamstown where he was laid to rest.
“Tony Campbell was a great American, Tony Campbell is a hero in our minds, and he will live in our hearts forever,” said Streicher.
Pot store guard fired for being “over aggressive” www.privateofficer.com
The dispensary owner said he was let go for being “over-aggressive and scary.” The dispensary’s owner said Earth Cann has hired two new guards who are “nice and professional.”
Former security guard George Covarrubias was hired to keep an eye on the parking lot of Earth Cann Wellness Center in Lake Forest Here he’s shown outside the dispensary in October.
Club owner Shannon Saccullo immediately posted warning signs – telling club members that marijuana prescriptions must remain in a sealed bag until they are taken home – and hired Covarrubias to enforce the dispensary’s rules.
In a short time Covarrubias made sure there was no smoking and loitering around Earth Cann or other businesses. He stopped “drug deals,” he said. He also developed a rapport with nearby businesses and introduced himself, asking for their worries and input.
Covarrubias said he suspended about eight people from use of the club – including one he characterizes as a good customer.
Covarrubias said he also called police when it seemed that violations of the zero tolerance policy were taking place outside his area of patrol.
In one case Covarrubias said he caught a club member packing a bowl of marijuana and smoking it.
“He buys a quarter pound at a time and at $300 an ounce, he spends $1,200 each time,” said Covarrubias. “I set high standards for the place and was professional,” he said. “They treated me like I was an old gang banger. I got spit on, almost got knocked down by speeding cars and got flipped off.”
Covarrubias said he is disappointed by his removal.
Saccullo said she received countless complaints about Covarrubias’ aggressive behavior.
“People were coming into the club saying ‘your security guard is really obsessed,’” she said. “I told him to mellow out and be nice to people. He was not approachable and polite. I want people to have a positive experience in the club and not to be hassled.”
Since November police have not gotten reports of any problems associated with the dispensary.
Vickie Simpson, executive director of Us Too Center which focuses on special needs children, is familiar with the dispensary and located in the neighboring business park.
“Before the security guards people would speed through the parking lot and we saw multiple drug transaction right in front of our door,” said Simpson. “Now we have no problems at all.”
Earth Cann’s membership has grown to more than 2,500 now, almost 1,000 more since late October.
In November the dispensary won a lawsuit against its landlord, which tried to evict the business, when a judge rejected the landlord’s argument that the dispensary should be forced to close because it allegedly violated a city zoning rule.
David Welch, an attorney who represented Earth Cann, called Superior Court judge’s ruling a victory in the medical marijuana battle.
City officials – who on Sept. 1 announced that complaints had been filed against 35 people associated with 14 dispensaries.– said the tenant-landlord dispute will have no affect on the city’s legal efforts to close down dispensaries citywide.
“If the landlord takes action to remove the tenant and they are removed, that’s one less dispensary the city would have to close,” said Jeff Dunn, a partner with Best, Best & Krieger, representing the city in its legal action against the dispensaries.
“The city has taken legal action to close all storefronts in Lake Forest. But if the landlord doesn’t do it, it won’t change what the city will do. Nothing has happened that will affect the city’s process to move forward.”
Dunn said all dispensaries – now more than 20 – could be shut down by early next year.
But Saccullo remains optimistic and hopes the city will agree to regulate a few of the dispensaries that a re running legitimate businesses.
“Things are great,” said Saccullo adding that club members are bringing in cans for the needy for the holidays. “I have a book of 100 testimonials of what medical marijuana is doing for people. I’ll be the poster child for how a business liker this should be run. I’m very proud of it.”
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Blufton teacher charged with sexual misconduct with minor www.privateofficer.com
The 36-year-old former Bluffton-Harrison schools teacher Tracey Pace faces sexual misconduct charges.
Police in Bluffton say Pace performed sexual acts on a teenager from January to March in 2007.
She was not a teacher at the time.
Pace is also charged with sending pornographic pictures to a minor in 2007.
Pace has been arrested and is being held in the Wells County Jail on $30,000 bond.
Pace is on administrative leave from her teaching position.
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Florida cop busted for DUI accident www.privateofficer.com
But that goal and his law enforcement career were endangered by his arrest this weekend on charges that the off-duty officer drunkenly crashed into two different vehicles, then drove away.
Green, 30, was arrested early Saturday on charges of driving under the influence/crash, DUI involving property damage and two counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage.
Both incidents took place on Fourth Street N about 10 p.m. Friday, according to St. Petersburg police.
The first crash took place as Green attempted to pass a vehicle near the 3500 block of Fourth Street.
Both vehicles were headed north. Green drove over the raised concrete median while passing a 2009 Honda sedan, police said, and struck the driver’s side mirror of that vehicle.
The Honda’s driver was not injured, but police said the officer didn’t stop after the collision.
Instead, Green continued north on Fourth. Police said Green’s vehicle struck another vehicle at 38th Avenue N and Fourth Street. Police said no one was injured in that crash, but that Green kept going.
After the incidents, officers searched the area and found Green’s damaged vehicle parked outside his Shore Acres home.
Green, who was off duty, was still inside the vehicle, according to police. His blood-alcohol level tested at 0.179 and 0.173. Florida law presumes a driver is impaired at 0.08 or greater.
He was arrested and booked into the Pinellas County jail about 3:30 a.m. Saturday. He could not be reached for comment Monday.
Green, a graduate of Lakewood High School and the University of South Florida, has been a patrol officer since November 2005. His personnel file shows nothing but positive reviews.
His file also showed that he has never been disciplined by the department. Green was involved in three crashes while driving his police cruiser, according to records, but only one incident was declared “preventable.” He received a warning for that incident.
According to police, he was placed on administrative duty pending an internal investigation. After the investigation, a chain-of-command board will determine any disciplinary action.
Shoplifter captured after stabbing Wal-Mart agent www.privateofficer.com
Officers learned that a security guard, Terry Edward Counts, of Vanceboro, had been cut by a man trying to take shoes from the store. Counts told officers he followed the suspect out of the store, and the man turned around and attacked him, cutting his arm repeatedly.
The suspect fled the scene on foot, and thanks to citizens who provided officers with information on his movements, police pursued him across Highways 17 and 70 to Egret Circle in the Woodland Crossing Apartment complex. As part of the New Bern Police Department’s Holiday Task Force, numerous officers were already in the immediate area, which allowed for a rapid response time. The suspect, Randolph Jones, Jr., of 728 Cedar St., was apprehended within 10 minutes of the call to police.
Counts was taken to Carolina East Medical Center and then airlifted to Pitt Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Jones has a criminal history that includes larceny, assault, trespassing, common law robbery, shoplifting and felony breaking and entering. He was charged with Larceny and Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill Inflicting Serious Injury.
He was placed in the Craven County jail under a $150,000 bond and scheduled to make a first appearance in court December 28, 2009.
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$5 Million taken in armored car robbery www.privateofficer.com
The spokesman for the FBI office in San Juan, Harry Rodriguez, said that the six or seven criminals came on Monday morning to the company facilities, where they overpowered several guards charged with the custody of the vehicle’s shipment.
The robbers unloaded the money and fled in the vehicle they arrived in without injuring any of the Ranger American employees.
Police chief Jose Figueroa Sancga said that he will cooperate with the FBI to solve the case as quickly as possible, noting that practically 100 percent of armored car robberies in Puerto Rico end with the arrests of the criminals.
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Three friends guilty in Wal-Mart employee murder www.privateofficer.com
Timothy Smith, Anthony Howe and Amber Talbot, who pleaded guilty to murder and conspiracy in the October 2008 death of 25-year-old Christopher Gray, sat at adjoining tables in court as the victim’s family members tearfully remembered him and berated his killers.
“Just remember that night,” said David Kemp, 33, Gray’s brother. “I hope it eats you and eats you and eats you until can’t take it (any) longer.”
Smith and Howe each got 40 years to life and Talbot 25 to 50 years for taking the Groton, Vt., man to a mobile home under the pretext of watching movies. There, Smith, 24, and Howe, 19, who are cousins, stabbed and strangled him as they stood around a campfire.
Gray, an aspiring auto mechanic whose buoyant personality helped him overcome a low IQ, attention deficit disorder and a speech impediment, became a target after wooing Talbot, 18, who also worked at the Woodsville Walmart.
Her boyfriend, Michael Robie, 19, became enraged when he heard about it and plotted revenge, enlisting the other three from his cell. Robie, who was heard discussing the attack in tape-recorded telephone calls from jail, has pleaded guilty to assault and conspiracy.
He is awaiting sentencing.
On the night Gray went missing, Walmart surveillance video showed the three picking him up after work at the Woodsville store, before they drove to Talbot’s home. “He was only there because he wanted you to be his friend,” his father, Michael Gray, told them Monday.
Talbot hung her head, her brown hair falling in her face, as Gray’s “mom,” legal guardian Annie Crowley, 38, of Groton, Vt., chided her as the one who lured Gray.
“Are you more than just a stupid girl that who caught up with the wrong crowd?” she told Talbot, standing at a podium in the hushed courtroom. “I think so. I believe all the young men involved are your victims.”
Crowley, who had been his guardian for about two years before his death, broke down in tears as she read her statement. “How am I supposed to live with myself, knowing that I was his guardian? I was supposed to be looking out for him,” she said.
Shirley Kingsbury, Gray’s aunt, stood by the podium as Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin read her statement for her.
“You are despicable human beings,” he read from her statement. “My heart is broken forever.”
Smith, who had confessed to the killing in a handwritten letter to Gray’s family after the slaying, apologized again Monday.
“I see Chris every time I try to sleep. No matter how many times I say I’m sorry, I can’t bring him back. But I wish I could. That night, I should’ve told Chris what we planned on doing, and not to come,” Smith said.
Before the sentencings, Gray’s family and friends threw an appreciation luncheon for police and prosecutors from Vermont and New Hampshire who cracked the case.
A dozen uniformed officers and plainclothes detectives received lapel pins from Crowley in an informal ceremony before sitting down to a buffet lunch at a community organization’s office in nearby Wells River, Vt.
“It was my honor to work on this case,” said Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Lucy Carrillo, as she stepped up to have Crowley pin her.
“We just felt it was important that they be recognized for the work they put into it,” said Crowley. “I felt Chris would have appreciated that and would have wanted us to be grateful,” she said
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Security helps nab burglar in the act www.privateofficer.com
Athens Police arrested Nicole Anne Chavez, 26, of 19260 Airfield St., Lot 54 in Athens on a charge of third-degree burglary, records show.
A security guard at Oakview Apartments on U.S. 31 North saw two people carrying copper from the construction site about midnight and approached them, said Lt. Floyd Johnson. One of the suspects fled in a vehicle and the other fled on foot, prompting the guard to call police, Johnson said.
A few hours later, Officer Neal Muse saw Chavez walking on North Jefferson Street and stopped her because she fit the description of the suspect described running from Oakview Apartments, he said.
Muse and Lt. Trevor Harris questioned Chavez, and she admitted taking copper from the apartments, Johnson said.
She was transferred to the Limestone County Jail, where she remained in lieu of posting a $2,500 bond, records show.
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Pierce County deputies ambushed, kill gunman www.privateofficer.com
The officers killed the gunman before they were rushed to the hospital. One was listed in stable condition, the other was in critical condition in the intensive-care unit.
Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said the sergeant and a deputy were shot at around 8:45 p.m. Monday while responding to an altercation between David E. Crable and his brother near Eatonville, a rural community in the Cascade foothills. The home is about 15 miles west of Mount Rainier National Park and 50 miles south of Seattle.
Crable, 35, shot the two officers before he was killed when they returned fire, Troyer said, adding that the gunman has a history of “terrorizing” his family. The names of the officers were not immediately released.
Troyer said the officers were met at the door by Crable’s brother, Troyer said. When the deputies entered the house, Crable opened fire from upstairs, hitting one of the officers multiple times.
“This issomebody that was laying in wait for our guys,” Troyer told reporters near the shooting scene. “There’s not much we’re going to be able to do when somebody is hiding and arming themselves and we have somebody else inviting us into the residence and the second person opens fire on us.”
Crable’s family tried to help the wounded officers by providing first aid, Troyer said. Deputies said the brother was cooperating with investigators and did not call him a suspect.
“It looks like people that were in this residence went out of their way to help our people,” he said.
The shooting comes three weeks after four Lakewood police officers were shot and killed at a coffee shop before their shift. After a two-day manhunt, suspect Maurice Clemmons was shot to death by a Seattle police officer. The Thanksgiving weekend attack on the officers occurred about 17 miles northwest of Monday’s shooting scene.
A month earlier, Seattle Officer Timothy Brenton was killed as he sat in his patrol car Halloween night. Christopher Monfort, 41, has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder in Brenton’s death.
“Most people of the community as we have seen in the last few weeks have a tremendous regard for (law enforcement),” Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said at the scene late Monday. “But there are people in the community that don’t come from there, and that’s the people we deal with day after day.”
After Monday’s shooting, the deputy was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said he was in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
The sergeant was taken to Madigan Army Medical Center and was in serious condition, Troyer said. Madigan spokeswoman Julie Calohan said he was in stable condition early Tuesday.
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UMC employee forced to resign after Tweet To Governor www.privateofficer.com
Tuesday, December 15th Governor Haley Barbour put a message on Twitter stating he was looking forward to hearing the legislature’s ideas on trimming state expenses.
Jennifer Carter, a former administrative assistant for UMC’s nursing school, tweeted the following to Governor Haley Barbour,
“Schedule regular medical exams like everyone else instead of paying UMC employees over time to do it when clinics are usually closed.”
Carter was referring to an incident she heard about three years ago when she claims the Governor came to the Pavilion on a Saturday and had it specially staffed for a check up.
“I wasn’t really jabbing at him. That’s just what people do on Twitter,” said Carter.
Two days later Carter was contacted by UMC’s Department of Compliance for violation of HIPAA Laws.
“I was told I would be suspended for three days without pay until the paper work could be done. I was strongly encouraged to resign,” said Carter. She did resign.
Carter doesn’t believe her Tweet broke any privacy laws that protect patients. Attorney Terris Harris specializes in health care law and does not represent any parties involved. He said just because the Governor is a public figure doesn’t mean his health information can be public knowledge.
“Without a specific statutory exception than any provision of his health care would be in my opinion a violation of HIPAA laws,” said Harris.
Attorneys for WLBT tell us according to federal regulations and the health and human services website, only health-care related entities are covered by HIPAA. Carter never was involved with the Governor’s health care, but was employed by UMC.
“If the Governor wants to do something with the budget and stop job losses, causing a single mom to lose her job eight days before Christmas really doesn’t help the matter,” said Carter.
University Medical Center sent us this statement, “Disclosing a patient’s protected health information is a policy violation that we take very seriously. We will do whatever is necessary to protect the privacy of our patients. An investigation of this matter was pending and the employee resigned, so we consider it closed.”
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Teacher Billy Ray Smith arrested for sexual assault www.privateofficer.com
Officers started the investigation over a week ago after the Department of Human Services received a tip.
Public information officer Carrie Wyrick says the victim and Smith both attend the same church in Durant, and that’s where the instances took place. She says the victim and Smith came in for voluntary interviews last week
“Based on information given both by the victim and the suspect there was enough to make an arrest. The investigation is far from being over, it’s going to be a long process just because there are different jurisdictions involved and trying to gather information from a lot of different locations,” said Wyrick.
Wyrick says the victim reported the abuse has been going on for at least two years. So far no reports of assault have been filed in Coleman, Oklahoma, or at the school where Smith teaches. But Police are looking into it.
“We don’t know how long he’s been doing this so it’s a possibility once the story runs and more victims come forward saying “hey he did this to me too,” I mean that’s always a possibility or this may be a singular occurrence, just typically it’s not,” said Wyrick.
Billy Smith is currently charged with three counts of sexually abusing a child and forcible sodomy, which are felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Smith was arraigned in a Bryan County Court room Monday afternoon to be formally charged. And Wyrick says they expect additional charges will be filed as the investigation continues.
Serial bank robber captured in Charlotte www.privateofficer.com
Michael Gene Terrelonge, 41, recently admitted his involvement in a total of 17 bank robberies and indicated that he is the “Bearded Bandit,” Charlotte police said Tuesday morning.
Police also said that his partner, Latries George Murphy, 40, has been implicated. The string of robberies that Terrelonge admitted his involvement in date back to the summer of 2004, police said.
The end for the ‘Bearded Bandit’ appeared to come on Oct. 1 when Murphy and Terrelonge were arrested by CMPD officers minutes after fleeing from the armed robbery of the Wachovia Bank at 10210 Couloak Drive, police said.
They bonded out on their state charges and were placed into the CMPD Electronic Monitoring Program. The United States Attorney accepted the case for federal prosecution and both men were federally indicted on December 15, 2009, police said.
Terrelonge and Murphy were arrested on December 18, 2009, based on the federal indictment.
CMPD Detectives, as part of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, led this extensive investigation, police said. Police also said it is important to note that this investigation is in its early stages and is ongoing.
Additional charges against both Terrelonge and Murphy will likely follow, but it is important to note that they have been formally charged with only the robbery of the Wachovia Bank at 10210 Couloak Drive, on October 1, 2009, police said. The cases involved are listed at the end of this story.
Authorities say that a bank in the Southpark Area of Charlotte was robbed Friday, July 3 by the ‘Bearded Bandit’ who — at that point they throught — had robbed 11 banks in 3 years.
At that point, FBI officials thought they may have made a break in the case with the July 3 robbery.
According to authorities, shortly before 9:30 a.m. on July 3, The Bank of Granite at 3920 Sharon Road, was robbed by a man wearing a mask, carrying a hand gun. The person also had a beard, which was fake, authorities said.
A witness noticed a portion of the robber’s neck that was not covered by make-up, the FBI reported. Detectives believed from that robbery and information that he was a white man, not a Hispanic or black man.
Witnesses had given different descriptions in the other robberies linked to the “Bearded Bandit” because he is covering his exposed skin with make-up. He’s also using a wig, fake facial hair, glasses, a hat, gloves and a padded suit to disguise his true identity.
The FBI said the robbery on July 3 was the 11th robbery linked to the Bearded Bandit in the last three years. He has used a weapon in all the robberies, and even threatened customers forcing them to the floor.
Here is a list of all of the ‘Bearded Bandit’ robberies, according to police:
Bank
Address
Date and Time
BB&T
101 Queens Road
06/29/2004 10:46
US Airways Federal Credit Union
2830 Boyer Street
07/30/2004 09:56
Clearview Federal Credit Union
2830 Boyer Street
07/07/2005 09:14
RBC Bank
14925 John J. Delaney Drive
08/09/2005 09:16
RBC Bank
230 E. W.T. Harris Boulevard
10/19/2005 09:08
Wachovia Bank
1527 W. Morehead Street
12/30/2005 09:11
First Citizens Bank
7837 Pineville Mathews Road
06/05/2006 09:29
RBC Bank
1000 East Boulevard
11/01/2006 09:34
Clearview Federal Credit Union
2830 Boyer Street
06/05/2007 09:25
First National Bank (Gastonia)
529 South New Hope Road
04/03/2008 09:21
RBC Bank
14925 John J. Delaney Drive
10/20/2008 09:11
RBC Bank
1000 East Boulevard
10/30/2008 09:45
SunTrust Bank
7801 Pineville Matthews Road
01/06/2009 09:06
Wachovia Bank
10210 Couloak Drive
11/25/2008 10:13
Bank of Granite
3920 Sharon Road
07/03/2009 09:19
RBC Bank
1000 East Boulevard
08/20/2009 09:14
Wachovia Bank
10210 Couloak Drive
10/01/2009 09:13
Nashville uses “Beet Juice” to melt snow from roads www.privateofficer.com
The Tennessee Department of Transportation will begin using beet juice this winter to help remove snow and ice from state roads and interstates.
TDOT said in a news release Monday that beet juice mixed with salt and salt brine will be spread at various locations across the state.
Beet juice is a byproduct of the beet after the sugar has been extracted.
The department is also evaluating the effectiveness of larger snow plows and some new tools for applying salt and deicing agents.
TDOT currently has more than 160,000 tons of salt and more than 1.1 million gallons of salt brine ready for use. The department has budgeted more than $12 million this year for snow and ice removal operations across the state.
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Atlanta’s Buckhead area victim of another smash-grab www.privateofficer.com
cbsatlanta.com
Earlier this week, Atlanta Police arrested six members of the 30 Deep gang. Many of the men arrested, police said, are connected to a rash of smash-and-grab burglaries across the metropolitan Atlanta area.
Burglars made their own entrance into Seven Over Escape, smashing through glass to break into the store. The owner would not comment about the burglary that happened in the early morning hours on Sunday.
Police said the six men arrested are implicated in a smash-and-grab burglary at Georgio’s Big and Tall store at Greenbriar mall, a Radio Shack on Metropolitan Avenue and eModa in Midtown.
The owner of Georgio’s spoke to CBS Atlanta News Sunday about the arrests and how he thinks Atlanta Police are handling these cases.
“You know, only a few members were arrested, the rest are still at large. I am not surprised that another store was hit. Police are not doing enough to capture criminals. There will be a lot more of them [smash-and-grabs], especially in the next 10 days or two weeks, especially during the holidays it happens more often, always does,” Ellie Karam said.
The robbery at eModa at the end of November put the store’s owner over the edge. The store now sits vacant and empty, not from thieves, but from workers packing up shop and closing down.
“I am thinking about getting out of Atlanta, it’s not worth my time. I blame security in the building of that complex and the police department they have a camera right in front across the street aiming at my complex and my store. They are not quick enough, they are not preventing it there is not enough going on preventing this from happening they are not scaring these guys at all they are not catching enough people,” Dan Kogan said during an interview in November 2009.
Police have not commented on whether the latest robbery is affiliated with a local gang.
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Police nab man wanted for running down security agent www.privateofficer.com
Algernon Maurice West, 26, of Lakeland, was arrested Friday and is being held without bail in Clark County, Nev., on a charge of attempted first-degree murder.
West gave a false name after being arrested for jaywalking by Las Vegas police, but officers discovered his identity via his fingerprints, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.
West was sought in an incident Dec. 4 at the Walmart at 1110 Causeway Blvd.
Hillsborough deputies said West and Eunessa Lawson tried to buy an $898 laptop using stolen checks from a Lakeland burglary. When asked for identification, they made a disturbance that drew the attention of loss prevention officers.
Lawson struck the officer who detained her, deputies say.
West got into a black Chevrolet Avalanche and struck another loss prevention officer with the vehicle, running over her with both right-side tires, deputies say.
The officer was treated at Tampa General Hospital and released.
Detectives will begin extradition proceedings to return West to Hillsborough.
Lawson, 32, of Lakeland, was arrested on charges including grand theft, uttering a forged instrument, resisting arrest, obstructing or opposing an officer and giving a false name to law enforcement.
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Muscle Shoals teacher arrested for sex with teen www.privateofficer.com
Amanda Watkins has been charged with second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy. She was transferred to the Colbert County Jail. Bond was set at $15,000. Watkins posted bond and was released on Monday.
Dr. Richard Gardner, Sheffield’s Superintendent of Education, said Watkins teaches 8th grade English at Sheffield Junior High. Gardner said the accusations involve a student who is currently in the 9th grade. He said the teen was a student in Watkins’ class last year.
Superintendent Gardner said Watkins has worked for Sheffield City Schools for at least six years and that she is considered an excellent teacher. He said that the status of her employment would be determined once the facts of the case are clear.
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