Archive
Kohl’s Loss Prevention agent stabbed by shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
Officers said a man was in Kohl’s shopping for a watch, other jewelry and cologne, but he left the store without paying for the items.
El Paso police spokesman Javier Sambrano said when a loss prevention officer at Kohl’s approached the man outside the store, he stabbed the guard in the lower back.
“I guess it reminds me that we need to be a little bit more careful and make sure that we look and notice who’s around,” said Alejandrina Gonzalez, who lives in the neighborhood.
Officers searched the neighborhood for the suspect but were unable to find him.
The security guard at Kohl’s was taken to University Medical Center with a non-life-threatening injury and officers said he is expected to be released.
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UPS employee nabbed by security for thefts www.privateofficer.com
Officers responded to the UPS facility located on Jefferson Rd. Dec. 8, at 3:54 p.m. to investigate a report of a theft.
Security officers of UPS had stopped one of their employees during a routine inspection of a backpack he was wearing and discovered $1,200 worth of iPods and an electronic video device.
Police said that security took Dorian Ingram, 21, of Irvington into cistody and when officers arrived that he was placed under arrest by Officer Luke Costigan.
Ingram transported to Parsippany Police headquarters where he was processed and released pending an appearance in court.
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Luggage with $200,000 stamps stolen at Chicago airport www.privateofficer.com
Antoine Shaw, 39, of the 7100 block of South Eggleston Avenue, was charged Tuesday night with felony theft, according to a Wentworth Area police sergeant.
On Nov. 18, Shaw was at Midway Airport on the Southwest Side, where police say he took luggage from the baggage claim area.
Police say Shaw twice went to pawn shops, and sold some of the stamps inside the luggage. When he went a third time, an employee alerted police, according to the sergeant. It was unclear why the employee was suspicious.
Shaw has been arrested before for swiping luggage from Midway, according to the sergeant.
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Man charged in assault on security, police officers www.privateofficer.com
Duane B. Williams of the Bronx was taken into custody Sunday afternoon after refusing to leave the property, then assaulting a Pemberton security guard and a police officer during the arrest.
Officers were called to the apartment complex on the West Side after a complaint that Williams was disorderly and would not leave.
He was charged with two counts each of assault on an officer and second-degree assault, disobeying a lawful order, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace, the SPD said.
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Middle school student raped at school www.privateofficer.com
“We’re taking this very seriously,” said Marin Trujillo, spokesman for the West Contra Costa school district. “We’re shocked and dismayed that a sexual assault could happen on our campus during school time.”
The district placed Portola Middle School Principal Denise Van Hook and Vice Principal Matthew Burnham on paid leave for at least a week while it investigates Thursday’s breach of campus safety, Trujillo said.
The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office, meanwhile, charged the 14-year-old suspect with felony sexual assault in Juvenile Court, El Cerrito police said.
Police declined to name the suspect, an eighth-grader, because of his age. They say he cornered the victim, a seventh-grader, shortly before 2:45 p.m., during the last period of the school day, police said.
The two knew each other, but not romantically. Detectives say the suspect forced a sex act upon the victim in a stairwell. At least two students witnessed the assault while passing by; one found an adult, while another physically interceded to stop the attack.
Police arrested the suspect at his home just a few hours after the attack. But how the rape happened — and what it says about school security — has rekindled fear and frustration in a community long concerned about a campus with a rough reputation.
“What’s making the kids do what they’re doing? What can we do to get them to know that this is not acceptable?” said Michelle Jawad, longtime school safety activist in El Cerrito. “I don’t think it’s going to be fixed unless everybody takes it from the middle of the list of things to be done and puts it to the top.”
On Monday morning, district Superintendent Bruce Harter attended an emergency staff meeting at Portola where teachers were told that all students had to be escorted when out of class for bathroom breaks or similar reasons.
“How could this occur? Is it safe at Portola? Those are the kinds of questions we’re hearing,” El Cerrito police Chief Scott Kirkland said. “It is interesting, the criminal mind. When a situation like this occurs, to actually do something like this … you have to be a little sick.”
Van Hook notified parents about the assault via e-mail about 11:45 p.m. Friday: “Our investigation is ongoing. All of us at Portola are committed to making sure our school is a safe place for all our students,” her note read in part.
Van Hook could not be reached for comment Monday.
Portola is being run this week by former El Cerrito High School administrator Mike Aaronian and Brenda King Randle. Students will be on break for two weeks starting next week.
The assault left the victim otherwise uninjured, police said. Both students attended school Thursday, but each was out of class for reasons still under investigation, Kirkland said.
The rape, Portola’s second high-profile safety breach in eight months, came just a few weeks after the group sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl outside the homecoming dance at neighboring Richmond High School. Police say that attack continued for about two hours before anyone reported it to authorities.
Jawad said she was “very encouraged” that students reported Thursday’s assault immediately.
“Maybe one of the good things that came out of (the Richmond High School rape) is that someone was brave enough to speak up,” she said. “Some of the students are seeing this and thinking, ‘Maybe this is not OK, and I need to report that.’”
But an upswell of campus violence last spring in El Cerrito prompted the district to sign a contract with the city police department to place an officer at Portola full time this school year, supplementing the campus’s four site supervisors. It already placed two city police at El Cerrito High School, beyond its own in-house security.
That deal came after a large group of students knocked down a teacher and threw rocks at her during a lunch period in May. Police arrested five students in connection with that attack.
“It’s like night and day,” Kirkland said of the improvement to campus safety brought about by the daily presence of a police officer. “This is very unusual.”
Last week, the school board got a lengthy presentation from district staff, county officials, police and community activists about improving safety throughout the district following the rape at Richmond High School in October. The board received various recommendations, and the district will work to prioritize and implement them in the coming months.
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School security injured by trespassers www.privateofficer.com
Police arrested two teenagers following an incident at Oliver High School.
School security noticed a student let two teenagers into the building.
The teenagers are not students at the school.
When security confronted the teenagers, a struggle broke out and the officer suffered minor injuries.
The two teenagers were apprehended and are facing charges.
The student who let them into the building is facing disciplinary action.
A gun was also discovered in some bushes outside the school.
Officials believe it belonged to one of the teenagers.
Four cops indicted in hate crimes, fatal attack on Hispanic www.privateofficer.com
Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky were charged with a hate crime for the fatal beating of Luis Ramirez while shouting racial epithets at him in July 2008.
Separate indictments accuse Shenandoah police chief, Matthew Nestor, and three officers under his command with a variety of charges, including witness tampering and lying to the FBI. The indictments were announced Tuesday at the Justice Department.
Nestor, Lt. William Moyer, and Officer Jason Hayes were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice during the investigation into the Ramirez beating. Moyer was charged with witness and evidence tampering, and lying to the FBI.
The police chief and his second-in-command, James Gennarini, were charged with extortion and civil rights violations in a separate case. The two are accused of extorting cash payoffs from illegal gambling operations, and demanding a $2,000 payment from a local businessman in 2007 to release him from their custody.
Four youths — including Donchak and Piekarsky — were previously charged in state court in connection with Ramirez’s death. A jury cleared two other teens of all serious charges, and a fourth pleaded guilty to federal charges.
Piekarsky was acquitted by an all-white jury of third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation; Donchak was acquitted of aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation. Both were convicted of simple assault, which carry possible one- or two-year prison sentences.
The May verdicts were decried by Hispanic advocates who say Ramirez’s death is part of a rising tide of hate crimes against Latinos.
The incident began when a half-dozen high school football players were headed home from a block party in the coal town of Shenandoah, which has attracted Hispanic immigrants with jobs in factories and farm fields. They came across Ramirez, 25, and his 15-year-old girlfriend in a park.
An argument broke out and the football players hurled ethnic slurs, although lawyers disputed who said exactly what. Defense attorneys called Ramirez the aggressor.
Soon Ramirez and Brandon Piekarsky were trading punches. Derrick Donchak jumped in — his lawyers said to break up the fight — and wound up on top of Ramirez. Prosecutors said he pummeled Ramirez while gripping a small piece of metal to give his punches more power; defense attorneys denied he had a weapon.
The fight wound down but the argument continued. Ramirez charged the group. He was knocked out by a punch to the face. Prosecutors said he was killed by Piekarsky’s kick to the head; defense lawyers said another teen delivered the fatal blow.
Milford police officer fired in fatal crash www.privateofficer.com
The Board of Police Commissioners fired Jason Anderson, a five-year department veteran, and suspended another officer, Richard Pisani, for 30 days without pay in connection with the incident. The board also extended Pisani’s probationary period, due to end in February, for another year.
Anderson and Pisani were heading back to Milford from a mutual-aid call in West Haven on the night of the accident. A video camera installed in Pisani’s cruiser recorded both officers speeding far above the posted limit of 40 mph. Pisani accelerated up to 72 mph and was driving at about 65 when Anderson barreled by him on the right, shortly before crashing into the teens.
He has been charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter and one count of reckless driving, and is free on $250,000 bond. Anderson is next scheduled to appear Jan. 13 in Milford Superior Court. Pisani does not face criminal charges.
Anderson was joined in the packed hearing room by Jeffrey Matchett, a retired Milford police sergeant who is now executive director of Council 15 of the Connecticut Police Unions, and Eric Brown, legal counsel for the association. After the board voted to terminate him, the officer and his brother Richard, a Milford police sergeant, moved through a crowd of family, friends and fellow officers, accepting hugs. Jason Anderson declined to comment to a reporter.
The commission’s action doesn’t change a thing, according to the lawyer for the family of David Servin, one of the 19-year-olds who died in the crash. “Whether or not they are fired or suspended is not the issue to me and my clients,” attorney Bart Halloran said before the meeting. “I think the chief and the commission have a duty to clarify what the two officers were doing that night.”
Witnesses told State Police that the two Milford officers appeared to be drag racing. A State Police investigation found Anderson was driving 94 mph when he crashed into the car carrying Servin and Ashlie Krakowski. The couple was traveling in the opposite direction and attempted a left-hand turn onto Dogwood Road in front of Anderson’s cruiser shortly after 2 a.m.
Halloran confirmed that toxicology reports show that Servin’s blood alcohol level was 0.13 when he died at the crash scene, far above the 0.02 limit for those under 21 and the 0.08 limit for adults. Although State Police have said that Servin was driving, Halloran and John Wynne, the Krakowski family lawyer, are not sure. They haven’t been able to have their experts inspect the car, Halloran said.
“But the (toxicology results) are a red herring anyway,” the Servins’ lawyer said Monday. “To have someone driving 94 miles an hour in the right lane — passing someone — is so far beyond the human experience of making a left turn. We’ve all made left turns and had it be closer than we wanted because we misjudged the speed. But this guy was going 94 miles an hour — nothing prepares you for that.”
The police commission agreed with Chief Keith Mello’s conclusion that both officers violated department policy, particularly the requirement that officers follow posted speed limits when not responding to an emergency.
“I would like to remind everyone that there are 111 police officers in this department who have and will continue to put their safety on the line to protect others,” Mello said. “With rare exception, they perform admirably and honorably and they have served this community well for decades.”
The difference in the severity of the discipline is partly due to the outcome of the incident, said Sgt. Vaughan Dumas, a department spokesman, and partly because the officers were travelling at different speeds. State statutes treat speeds above 80 mph as reckless driving violations, and below 80 as speeding infractions.
The commission voted unanimously on both officers’ discipline, spending 30 minutes reviewing the internal investigation of Anderson and nearly an hour on the report concerning Pisani. Six members voted; Chairman Carleton Giles, a Norwalk police officer, recused himself, citing his professional contact with Council 15 union officials. Labor lawyer Lawrence Sgrignari, of Hamden, represented the city on both matters.
Anderson had been on paid administrative leave since Nov. 10, the date of his arrest. Pisani had been working his regular 4 p.m. to midnight shift while the internal investigation was going on
OFFICER DOWN
Deputy Sheriff Roy Bruce Sutton Jr.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department
Indiana
End of Watch: Friday, December 11, 2009
Biographical Info
Age: 33
Tour of Duty: 1 year, 6 months
Badge Number: Not available
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Date of Incident: Friday, December 11, 2009
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Deputy Sheriff Roy Sutton was killed in a single vehicle automobile accident on Dugan Hollow Road near Madison.
Deputy Sutton was responding to a domestic disturbance call involving weapons at about 2235 hours. He met an oncoming vehicle traveling westbound on a hilly, winding section of the road when his squad car ran off the right side of the road and down a very steep embankment.
Deputy Sutton’s squad became airborne and struck a tree on the driver’s side of the car. He was wearing his seat belt, but he suffered severe head trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Deputy Sutton had served with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department for approximately 1½ years. He is survived by his wife, brother, three sisters and mother.
Agency Contact Information
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department
317 Walnut Street
Madison, IN 47250
Phone: (812) 265-2648
Please contact the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
Police Captain shot during robbery dies www.privateofficer.com
Capt. Dennis Cagle was shot once in the stomach at a grocery store in Chester County at approximately 8 p.m. on Dec. 10.
Ricky Steward — who was also wounded — was charged in the shooting with aggravated robbery and attempted first degree murder and remains in critical but stable condition.
Steward’s wife, Cheryl, was also arrested and charged with aggravated robbery.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Vegas armored car robbed in excess of $1 million www.privateofficer.com
According to Lt. Clinto Nichols with Metro Robbery, the robbery happened around 9 a.m. in front of the casino door on Sahara Ave. Police say the Garda armored truck had one driver and one guard and when the guard returned to the truck from the casino, he was robbed at gun point.
There are reports a shot was fired but no one was injured. Police say the suspect was white and had a semi-automatic gun. The suspect made off with four bags of money worth in excess of $1 million. Police say the suspect got into a gold-colored four door compact car with a driver waiting. Police say there could even be a third suspect.
At the time of the robbery, there was a report of a car fire in the hotel’s garage which diverted most of the casino security. Police do not know at this time if that was linked to the robbery.
Miami airport security nab man with gun www.privateofficer.com
Authorities say they discovered the gun when 51-year-old Eduardo Saladin-Zacarias went through the checkpoint Saturday afternoon. Saladin-Zacarias was flying to his home in the Dominican Republic.
According to a police report, Saladin-Zacarias told officers that he had mistakenly brought the gun into the U.S. on a flight on Wednesday.
The gun was confiscated and Saladin-Zacarias was charged with carrying a concealed firearm.
It’s not clear whether the gun was loaded.
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Minister charged with modern day slavery www.privateofficer.com
An Ellenwood minister and his wife were arrested and charged after authorities said they made a woman work for them and their friends for little or no money.
Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Juna Gwendolyn Babb, 54, and her minister husband, Michael J. Babb, 53, on Wednesday.
Officials said the Babbs enticed a woman to come to the United States from the Kingdom of Swaziland, Africa, by falsely promising her a lucrative, short-term opportunity to provide catering at a family member’s wedding.
Once the victim arrived in the U.S., authorities said the couple made her their housekeeper and nanny through threats of arrest and imprisonment. Officials said the Babbs confiscated her passport and return airline ticket and told the victim she owed them for the costs of her travel.
The couple allegedly required the victim to clean the homes of their friends and associates, and to assist with Michael Babb’s construction business, authorities said.
The indictment alleges that the defendants required the victim to work long hours every day of the week, for which the victim was grossly underpaid on the few occasions that she was paid at all.
“Many people are unaware that this form of modern day slavery still occurs in the United States,” said Kenneth Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations in Atlanta. “The defendants in this case used the victim’s desire for a better life to lure her into a situation where she was deprived of her basic human rights,” said Smith.
The Babbs were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy, forced labor, document servitude, which is confiscating someone’s passport and visa, and harboring an alien for financial gain.
Bond was set at $20,000.
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91 Yr old Auxiliary State Trooper Still Serving www.privateofficer.com
At 91 years of age, sworn auxiliary officer Alma Anderson still reports for duty at State Police Troop F Barracks every Friday.
She’s not out on the road, stopping crime, although she does have a badge number. She’ll file a report and make up a case docket, among other clerical duties, her eagle eye rooting out others’ mistakes. She will also joke around with fellow clerical staff, flirt with troopers, and generally make her outsized presence felt.
“They cater to me, as though I’m a little kid,” she says of her coworkers.
“It’s because we all love her,” head clerk Sharon Handy explains. “She’s very feisty, but good feisty. She keeps us on our toes.”
Before she started volunteering with Troop F, Anderson, a New Britain native, volunteered for 40 years at New Britain General Hospital, 25 of those years while working at Fafnir Ball Bearing Co., also in New Britain.
Her husband Kenny Anderson, who passed away in 2000, first became a sworn auxiliary officer, starting to volunteer for state police in the 1950s by patrolling the waters for stolen boats.
In the 1980s, Alma Anderson followed suit after she learned that help was needed processing mug shots. She offered her services, and she took the job seriously, even asking troopers the exact eye color of the arrested person: Brown or hazel?
Sometimes, she would recognize the person in the mug shot. Oh, that’s so-and-so’s son, she would think.
“Some of the kids I knew … (but) I’m not naming any names,” she said.
Anderson has three children, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. In addition to volunteering for state police, she is known to play bingo at the Elks Lodge late into the night, former state trooper Tommy Heinssen teases.
“It’s only 10 o’clock at night,” she says. “That’s not late.”
Beloved by troopers, Anderson says someone will always come over to shovel snow from her driveway on their off time.
“She’s the matriarch of Troop F. Her dedication, commitment and selflessness are unsurpassed. She’s a great lady,” said state police Lt. Scott Eckersley.
The number of auxiliary officers these days is dwindling.
The volunteer program, started in 1941 as a way of guarding the shoreline against possible invasion on the eve of World War II, continued until 1988, when state police stopped recruiting and training them because of increased training requirements.
At this time last year, there were only 56 auxiliary troopers left, the program dying through attrition.
But, at least one auxiliary trooper will be around a while yet. Dec. 4 marked Anderson’s 25th year of service with Troop F, a day celebrated with proclamations from Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, cake and a luncheon catered by Lino’s Market in Durham all what she referred to as “hullabaloo.”
And Anderson has no thought of retiring from her volunteer position.
“As long as I can keep going, I keep going,” she says.
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Kalamazoo College wants own police force www.privateofficer.com
The hearing will be held in the Paul D. Jackson Board Room, Room 3365 at KVCC’s Texas Township campus, 6767 West O Ave.
College officials say the police-force proposal is part of an effort to tighten security on campus.
If established, the agency would employ both sworn officers and security guards to patrol the Texas Township campus, the downtown-Kalamazoo Arcadia Commons campus and The Groves business-and-technology park, near I-94 and Ninth Street.
The plan will require the approval of the KVCC Board of Trustees.
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Montgomery security guard convicted in shooting incident www.privateofficer.com
When the shooting was over, it was the Montgomery security guard who was under arrest, and Friday a Montgomery County jury convicted Clarence S. Dalton, 62, of shooting into an occupied vehicle.
Prosecutors contended Dalton repeatedly sprayed an innocent customer with Mace, and then fired into his car.
Dalton, of West Coosa Street, maintains he acted in self-defense and that the alleged victim was trying to run him over with his vehicle.
The jury agreed with prosecutors, convicting the security guard of the felony offense Friday in Circuit Court Judge Tracy McCooey’s courtroom.
Dalton was working for Freedom Patrol Service when he responded to a call Oct. 20, 2008, at Pacecar convenience store on Narrow Lane Road. The store clerk suspected that a customer, who ended up being the victim in the case, was using a stolen credit card.
It turned out that the victim had permission to use his nephew’s card to fill up a vehicle that was being driven to Dothan for business reasons.
Prosecutor Calvin Williams said Dalton pursued the victim, who was attempting to leave, followed him out to his vehicle, sprayed Mace on the man as he was getting into the vehicle and continued to spray him with it once he was inside.
When the victim continued to attempt to get away, Dalton shot the driver’s side front tire and then fired into the windshield, with this bullet lodging into the front passenger seat.
Dalton, who has no prior convictions, faces the possibility of serving between two and 20 years in prison.
“This was a classic case of a security guard overreacting under the circumstances,” Williams said.
“I think it sends the message that while we appreciate security guards and security companies, they will be held accountable if they overreact to circumstance such as this. They have to keep in bounds of the law and they can’t overreact. That’s why we have the Montgomery Police Department,” Williams added.
Dalton’s attorney, Julian McPhillips argued that his client was acting in self-defense. McPhillips said the victim was hostile toward the store clerk and Dalton and that the victim tried to hit Dalton with his vehicle. McPhillips also noted that the store called Dalton and asked him to come to the store.
“Mr. Dalton was really afraid for his life,” McPhillips said.
“This is far from over. We think this case is ripe for a post-judgment motion of acquittal and, the alternative, a new trial. Really, the video itself shows the car lunging,” McPhillips added.
The victim was treated for minor injuries, including an eye irritation, after he was sprayed with the mace and then pulled out of the vehicle.
Dalton’s supervisor was not charged in connection with this case.
Police charge man with groping woman at Vassar College www.privateofficer.com
Police charged the 22-year-old man with 10 counts of forcible touching in connection with the incidents.
A female student complained to town police Thursday at 9:30 a.m. that she had just been grabbed by an unknown man on the Vassar campus. Police said two other women had also been grabbed that day on campus.
Police searched the area and found a suspect on Raymond Avenue who matched the victims’ descriptions.
Town police had been investigating a series of similar incidents around the college and Arlington area since September. Police said the man was responsible for grabbing the buttocks of seven other women since September.
Town police Chief Thomas Mauro said the investigation and arrest were a result of the victims reporting what happened to police and cooperating with the investigation.
He also commended the “proactive assistance” of the Vassar College security staff and college administration over the past three months.
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Shoplifting scuffle turns into robbery charges www.privateofficer.com
Dominique Foster, 24, also allegedly knocked a customer down while running from the store, according to an affidavit from police Sgt. Carnell Williams presented during a court hearing Friday.
Deputy Prosecutor Cymber Gieringer said an off-duty police officer asked for assistance after he saw Foster run from store security officers, who reportedly saw her take an item from one department, walk into another department, and put the item in a Walmart bag.
Williams reported that the store employees stopped Foster and asked her to come with them to the security officer and she pushed both employees and struck them in the face, causing injuries to one person.
Foster also reportedly knocked a customer down before the off-duty officer could take her into custody, Gieringer said. The item found in the bag was a DVD which was returned to the store.
Circuit Judge Rob Wyatt Jr. set a $5,000 bond for Foster, who Gieringer said had no prior convictions, and told her to come back to court Jan. 5.
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Atlanta mall robbed of high-end coats, jeans www.privateofficer.com
The thief’s biggest score was 12 coats made out of the skins of ostrich, alligator and stingray, ranging in price from $4,000 to $8,000.
The man also made off with 25 pair of Antik jeans, which cost $150 to $200 each, eight $40-vests and $400 in cash that was in the register.
A security guard got a brief look at the man, described as black and standing 5-foot-8, but could offer no more details because the security guard only got a brief look at the criminal.
According to Atlanta police the security guard responded to the burglar alarm at 2:47 a.m. Wednesday at Georgio’s Big and Tall men’s store. Seconds after the security guard parked, a Black Dodge Durrango pulled behind him and a man armed with a handgun came up to the passenger side window.
The security guard sped off.
”The security guard advised that he did not get a good look at the other suspects, because he left,” Atlanta police spokesman officer Otis Redmond told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Saturday.
Woman 98 charged with roommate’s murder www.privateofficer.com
Laura Lundquist was sent to a state mental hospital for a competency evaluation before her arraignment. Her defense attorney, Carl Levin, said she has a “long-standing diagnosis of dementia, as well as issues of cognitive impairment.”
She is believed to be the oldest murder defendant in state history, but might never go to trial because of her mental health issues.
Her roommate at the Brandon Woods nursing home in Dartmouth, Elizabeth Barrow, was found dead in her bed Sept. 24 with a plastic bag tied around her head. Police initially speculated it was a suicide, but a medical examiner ruled it a homicide after an autopsy indicated strangulation.
Barrow’s son, Scott Barrow, has said Lundquist complained to nursing home officials about the number of visitors his mother received. He also has said Lundquist had made “threatening” and “harassing” remarks to her. He declined to comment on the indictment, which was handed up Friday by a Bristol grand jury.
Bristol District Attorney Sam Sutter said Lundquist suffered from paranoia and “harbored hostility towards the victim” and thought Barrow “was taking over the room they shared.”
Sutter said Barrow complained in the weeks prior to her death that Lundquist was making her life “a living hell.” The night before Barrow was killed, Lundquist put a table at the foot of her bed to block her way to the bathroom, then punched a nurses aide who removed it, he said.
Lundquist also told Barrow she would soon get her bed by the window because she would outlive her, Sutter said.
The two women had been roommates for about a year. Scott Barrow has said he asked nursing home officials to separate the women, but they assured him the two were getting along. He said his mother told him she did not want to leave her room because that’s where she and her husband had lived for several years before he died in 2007.
A Superior Court judge, acting on a motion filed jointly by prosecutors and Levin, ordered Lundquist sent to Taunton State Hospital for an evaluation.
Sutter said the case likely won’t ever go to trial because of the possible incompetency finding and because the defense will likely involve mental health issues, which take a long time to prosecute.
Levin said that if someone is found not competent to stand trial, the state would likely move for a civil commitment.
“Her family is very saddened for the loss of Ms. Barrow, and they are also very saddened by what’s happened,” Levin said. “Without acknowledging her responsibility, it’s a sad event for both families. It just really points to the issue of mental health with the elderly.”
Prosecutors pursued second-degree murder charges because they didn’t believe Lundquist had the cognitive ability to form premeditation, which must be proven in a first-degree murder case, Sutter said.
Lundquist is believed to be the oldest murder defendant in state history, Sutter said.
“It is my intention to advance this case in a professional, ethical and humane manner,” he said.
Sutter said prosecutors decided not to file charges against the nursing home, but did not elaborate.
Brandon Woods’ chief of operations, Scott Picone, said the home was “deeply saddened by this tragic event, and our thoughts and prayers go out to both families.” He declined to comment further.
In a statement, the home said the roommates acted like sisters, walked and ate lunch together daily and said, “Goodnight, I love you,” to each other every night. The home said Barrow declined a room change in July and August.
The statement also said the home was establishing a scholarship in Barrow’s name, and Scott Barrow was chair of the scholarship committee.
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St Paul teacher arrested for student molestation www.privateofficer.com
Gagne was wanted by St. Paul police on two counts of criminal sexual conduct.
Investigators say Gagne, who was hired as an assistant basketball coach and substitute teacher two years ago, had a sexual relationship with a male student.
Investigators say the relationship began in the summer of last year, while Gagne worked as a weight room supervisor and that the two had sex on more than one occasion.
When the allegations surfaced last spring, school administrators at Cretin Derham Hall put Gagne on leave and sent a letter to parents explaining only that a female employee was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
Gagne is the granddaughter of wrestling legend Verne Gagne, who was involved in the death of a fellow resident at the Friendship Village Nursing Home in Bloomington back in January. She is also the daughter of Greg Gagne, Verne’s son and a well-known professional wrestler in his own right.
Investigators issued a warrant for Gail’s arrest at her parent’s house in Bloomington, but her father says she no longer lives there and is working out of state
Armored car guard guilty in theft of cash www.privateofficer.com
Keith Wayne Billie, 40, Konawa, pleaded guilty to embezzlement and theft from an Indian tribal organization, according to Sheldon J. Sperling, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
Sperling said Billie was a security guard for the Chickasaw Nation Enterprises Armored Car Division and stole approximately $10,000.
Billie was arrested after an investigation by Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse police and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
“The investigation revealed that the defendant feigned an illness and sent his partner inside to pick up another deposit,” Sperling said. “Once the other guard went inside, Billie used his pen to pierce a deposit bag and took a brick of money out and concealed the money in his shirt until the end of his shift.”
Once the deposits were taken to the bank, bank officials notified the Chickasaw Nation of the $10,000. shortage, Sperling said.
Billie’s plea was accepted in federal court and a pre-sentence report was ordered.
He will be sentenced following the completion of the report.
“The statutory range of punishment is not more than five years imprisonment and/or up to $250,000 in fines,” Sperling said. “A preliminary calculation of the sentencing guidelines, predicts a term of probation or up to six months imprisonment.”
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Man guilty in movie theater attack www.privateofficer.com
Steven Walter Robinson Jr., 26, was found guilty Sept. 29, 2009, of multiple felony counts, including attempted murder. Robinson did not know the two men.
According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, at 6 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2008, Robinson bought a ticket for horror movie The Signal at an AMC theater in Fullerton. Robinson wore dark clothing and sunglasses inside the theater. A theater manager asked security to watch Robinson after noticing that he appeared agitated and aggressive when asked to show his ticket.
The theater security guard saw Robinson carrying a container of alcohol and asked Robinson to put it in his car. Robinson left the theater.
About 10 minutes later, Robinson re-entered the theater and asked the concession cashier if anyone had seen or turned in a “baggie.” The cashier told him that nothing had been found.
The security guard saw Robinson carrying an AMC cup that the guard thought might have alcohol inside. Robinson refused to remove the lid of the cup for the guard. He was told that he wouldn’t be permitted to see the movie without complying with security. Robinson got a refund for his ticket and left the theater.
A box office cashier called the manager shortly after to report that a bag of hallucinogenic mushrooms had been turned in to the box office. The manager contacted the Fullerton Police Department, who sent officers to the theater.
At approximately 7:20 p.m., Robinson sneaked back into the theater. The security guard was checking the theater where The Signal was playing and recognized Robinson as one of the four people watching the movie. He returned to the lobby and informed the manager and police.
While officers were in the lobby, Robinson allegedly got up from his seat and approached Julio Sanchez, 38, carrying a double sided knife-hammer weapon. Robinson stabbed Sanchez five times in the head, arm, chest, and knee. He continued to stab and slash at Sanchez until the victim was able to run into the lobby, covered in blood, and escape.
Robinson then allegedly approached Eloy Uresti, 65, and began stabbing him in the arm as Uresti tried to protect his face. Uresti began to crawl away, but Robinson followed. Robinson hit the victim in the head with the hammer end of the weapon and continued attacking Uresti until hearing police enter the theater. Robinson fled through an exit door to the parking lot.
Sanchez suffered permanent loss of mobility in his arm. Uresti suffered nerve damage.
Robinson fled to his brother’s Las Vegas apartment to hide. He was arrested on March 7, 2008 on a $500,000 warrant and brought back to Orange County.
Investigation revealed that Robinson possessed several books about serial killers and the torture and murder of their victims. Robinson’s home computer contained MySpace postings from Robinson to friends about killing and mass murder. Robinson used the screen name “psychokiller666.
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Security agency owner, employees arrested for theft of gun www.privateofficer.com
That was when a family says three men posing as officers aggressively and illegally told to keep their hands on their vehicle while it was searched. The men who were actually security guards with Metro City Security took a handgun from the vehicle before leaving according to the arrest affidavit.
Patterson, Juan Mireles, 26, and Metro City Security owner Jose Gonzalez, 42, were all arrested and release Tuesday for theft of a firearm. Arrest warrants were then issued for Patterson and Mireles for impersonating a police officer. Patterson was taken into custody peacefully while Mireles is still at-large.
Gonzalez voluntarily contacted police in November to speak about the inappropriate actions of two of his employees.
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Toronto questions off-duty cops pay www.privateofficer.com
Employees are on the job across the city and easy to spot. They wear reflective yellow jackets and navy caps and holstered handguns. They stand on downtown street corners, sometimes leaning on a light pole or sipping a coffee.
Operating out of a city police station, this outfit, run by the police for the police, sells off-duty but armed Toronto officers as security and traffic control to municipal and provincial departments, construction firms, utility operators, community groups and funeral homes.
“Company” managers call their product “paid duty,” their customers “clients.” They are selling public property for private gain. And doing a brisk business.
Charging nearly double what an officer earns doing real police work, the company clears $24.8 million a year. If it were a publicly traded company, it would rank among the 150 most profitable in Ontario.
Taxpayers funded its startup. You paid to hire the workers and for their expensive equipment and prime office space. Think of yourselves as shareholders.
But forget about seeing any dividends.
A Toronto Star investigation has found paid duty is an unnecessary tax on the public, companies and community groups. Eliminating or modifying its use would save millions. Critics also say it cheapens police work, reducing frontline officers to overpaid flagmen.
“Who decided we actually need the officers on these particular assignments?” said city Councillor Pam McConnell, who serves as vice-chair of the Police Services Board. “When I talk to (other municipalities) around Ontario, nobody’s ever heard of putting police officers to look down holes, to make sure construction sites are patrolled. I find the whole notion … undermines their credibility.”
Paid duty officers also get this extra money for guarding prisoners in provincial custody. And McConnell was surprised to learn from the Star that officers hire themselves out as security guards for the provincial government when disability support cheques are disbursed.
Police Supt. Earl Witty says having so many paid duty officers around the city increases the force’s visibility and helps deter crime. Though Witty added the force is open to exploring a new system that could save taxpayer money.
“By having those paid duty officers out there, we have more public safety because we have more police presence,” he said, adding that it was a paid duty officer who first tried to apprehend the Union Station hostage-taker in 2004. “Are there ways of saving money? Potentially. … Is it good to re-examine things? Sure. We’re always trying to be fiscally responsible, and if somebody’s got an idea … then let’s take a look at it.”
Officers work paid duty on their days off from policing. Constables receive $65 an hour and a minimum three hours per gig. Several officers told the Star that a city “bylaw” requires their presence at many paid duty jobs. But a city solicitor said there is no bylaw dealing exclusively with the issue.
Instead, a miscellany of provincial and city rules, unevenly applied and poorly understood, loosely governs this booming private police business.
No other major Canadian city spends nearly as much on paid duty. In 2007, Toronto officers pocketed 10 times more than their counterparts in Montreal, and the year after that 16 times what Ottawa officers earned.
On a recent afternoon, an officer stood on paid duty directly outside police headquarters on College St. while a construction crew refurbished the city-owned building’s front steps. A worker said he had to hire the officer for a minimum of seven hours. At $65 an hour, plus related fees, that’s a paid duty bill of more than $500 sent to the taxpayer. Another of the crew teased the officer for wearing a balaclava with the temperature above zero. “It’s always cold when you’re doing nothing,” the worker said.
A retired police sergeant was more blunt in his assessment of what he calls a “cash cow” for Toronto cops: “There are times when you need that police expertise. But standing over a hole in the road? Like, can we get you a couch and a free cup of coffee, too? There has to be a better system.”
The Star spoke to several officers working paid duty around the city. Many declined to comment. All refused to give their names.
When asked if $65 an hour was a waste of taxpayer money, a paid duty cop standing near a city work crew on Bay St. shrugged and spread his arms wide, saying “No comment” through a mouthful of breakfast sandwich.
Several officers said they do not decide when and where paid duty is needed, that city rules require it as a condition of construction and event permits.
Another, interviewed while nursing a Tim Hortons double-double on Adelaide St., said use of paid duty is sometimes wasteful and thinks lawmakers should fix the problem. “If there was a change, I would agree,” he said.
Most paid duty requests originate from private entities, such as event organizers wanting crowd control, movie production companies required by the city to have police oversight of special effects, and funeral planners. The police force also maintains a fleet of 25 taxpayer-purchased cruisers – once used for real police work – for the sole purpose of renting them to bereaved families wanting funeral escorts.
But many paid duty requests come from entities spending taxpayer dollars. While it is difficult to determine exactly how much these off-duty officers have drained from the public purse, the Star has found taxpayers have been billed an estimated $9 million for paid duty on city infrastructure projects and special events since 2007.
The Star has also learned two provincial ministries spend taxpayer money on paid duty officers. The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services hires officers to escort dangerous or high-profile inmates. A spokesperson said the ministry spent $2.7 million on paid duty in Ontario last year but could not say how much went to Toronto officers.
And the Ministry of Community and Social Services hires officers as security guards inside a downtown Yonge St. office where many needy Torontonians get their disability cheques. An officer who said he recently worked paid duty in the social services building explained that it was due to concern that recipients may get upset and unruly over the amount of their cheques. The ministry says it spends a total of $1,200 to hire two paid duty officers once a month for security and crowd control.
Though the amount is not known, another public impact can be seen in the paid duty cost passed on to ratepayers by essential utilities – such as city-owned Toronto Hydro – that are often required by the city to hire paid duty officers to guard and sometimes direct traffic around work sites.
Citing privacy concerns, the police force would not say how many paid duty requests originated from public entities in 2008.
City officials have expressed concern for years and ordered review after review but they have done nothing to fix a growing problem. McConnell said she is concerned the public interest is being abused and plans to raise the issue at the next Police Services Board meeting on Dec. 17.
The paid duty wage is almost double what a constable with four years experience earns on duty – $37.40 an hour – patrolling a dangerous area or answering a 911 call.
In addition, Toronto Police tacks on an extra 15 per cent “administration fee” that the force says is a “cost recovery” scheme to help pay for the office and staff handling requests as well as the use of taxpayer-purchased police equipment on paid duty. “It’s at no cost to the city, to the taxpayer,” said Witty.
But when the city or a provincial ministry or public-owned entity like Toronto Hydro is doing the hiring, it does cost the taxpayer.
In 2008, the force netted $3.7 million in administration fees, which goes into general police revenue.
Police leaders say there can be no other system, that a provincial traffic safety law and other rules allow only officers to do this work.
Sgt. Don Ryan, the man in charge of paid duty assignments, said there’s a reason for this: “A civilian cannot do what we do.”
In Calgary and Ottawa, where paid duty costs are significantly lower, civilians and inanimate objects do the job of Toronto officers. On a recent afternoon, a utility company work crew set up in the middle of a busy four-lane road, right outside a Calgary police station. The crew used pylons and yellow safety lights but no officer. “(Our system) appears to work,” said police force spokesman Kevin Brookwell. “It has been working for some time.”
Backed by what police say is a legal authority, and an uncontested hold on the market – Toronto officers get 42,000 requests for paid duty annually – the officers have raised their hourly rates every year. The wage has jumped 25 per cent since 2004. The powerful officers’ union (the Toronto Police Association) – not the mayor or a city public works official or even the police force – sets the wage rate, and has done so unopposed since 1957.
“I think the system is fine,” said Mike McCormack, the newly elected head of the union, adding it keeps on-duty officers focused on emergencies while leaving the other work for off-duty cops.
The Star was given no reason why officials could not write a new law or rule allowing other, cheaper traffic authorities to do the job.
“It’s not to say others couldn’t do that work or be trained to. It’s not rocket science,” said city lawyer Karl Druckman. “I think there’s probably a way of dealing with it, to provide other people with authority to do certain things on roadways. It all could be changed.”
The Star found the rules governing the use of paid duty unevenly enforced and in some cases blatantly ignored.
While a paid duty officer in reflective yellow jacket stood watching over idle construction equipment on Adelaide St., just a couple hundred metres west at another job site – the building of the Trump Tower – a young flagman for Grascan Construction Ltd. jogged out into traffic and stopped all three eastbound lanes so a dump truck could drive into the site. The episode backed up traffic into the Bay and Adelaide intersection.
Roberto Stopnicki, a top traffic management official for the city, said such a scenario would require a police officer. “Only a policeman has this authority,” he said.
But the flagman told the Star an officer is not required. At a major development on Queens Quay, just east of Yonge, where multiple companies are working on a new office building, construction company flagmen stopped traffic in all directions on a recent morning to allow large trucks in and out of the job site. A foreman declined to comment on the absence of a paid duty officer, saying he did not want to get on the police force’s “bad side.”
An officer working a paid duty assignment on Yonge St., just north of College St., agreed that paid duty is required by the city inconsistently. While he spoke to a reporter for 30 minutes about why he is needed to help safely redirect foot traffic around the area barricaded by an Enbridge subcontractor, he paid little attention to jaywalking pedestrians. He would not give his name.
Upwright Sign Service paid $65 an hour for an officer to stand near a lift hoisting a worker level with a Royal Bank storefront sign at King and Jarvis Sts. A city official said an officer is typically needed whenever a sign company lifts something above the sidewalk.
Upwright vice-president Kip Panayiotou said of paid duty officers: “They charge an arm and a leg. I don’t feel they’re necessary.” Panayiotou estimated he pays $10,000 to $15,000 to paid duty officers in a year and that he must pass that cost on to his customers. “It can make a client shy away (from hiring us) because all of a sudden there’s an additional cost.” He is also frustrated at what he says are arbitrary paid duty rules: On Yonge St. he is required to have two paid duty officers, one at King and Jarvis, and none in Scarborough. Panayiotou would rather give his money to a crossing guard, saying, “They could do the job.”
McConnell of the Police Services Board said she does not know why crossing guards, who are regulated by the police force and get paid as much as $13.75 an hour, cannot do paid duty work.
“The people who are experienced in getting children across the street should be equally experienced at looking at a crane or telling people they can cross or stopping people from crossing because the dump truck is coming.”
In Vancouver, where construction and road maintenance proliferates in the run-up to the Olympics, work crews are allowed to use their own “flagmen” to direct traffic with “Slow” and “Stop” signs. Vancouver officers on paid duty work collect a lot less than Toronto cops. In 2007, the last year for which data is available, they got only $1.3 million.
Vancouver police Const. Lindsey Houghton said that in the case of a large city construction project with significant traffic impact, the city uses “special traffic constables” who have authority to arrest and lay charges and who carry batons and pepper spray but no guns. The special constables get paid $33 an hour, about half the Toronto rate.
Some Toronto event organizers wonder why the city requires paid duty police officers as a condition of special event permits. Yvonne Bambrick, a coordinator of Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, said in past years paid duty officers were required to stand near barricades blocking vehicle traffic.
“They really didn’t do much. You had a different one every time. They didn’t know about the event. They just stood there. They couldn’t answer any questions,” she said, adding that on-duty officers should have staffed the event. “It would have been interesting to have one of the local beat patrol hanging out and getting to know the community better.”
Joe Eustaquio feels he is getting gouged by the police.
The organizer of the Portugal Day Parade said he is required to hire paid duty police officers to watch over his post-parade festival in Trinity Bellwoods Park.
Paid duty rules say that for every four constables hired, a higher-ranked officer is needed to supervise. But Eustaquio says in recent years he has been forced to hire one supervising sergeant for every two officers. A sergeant is not cheap, earning $73.50 an hour, for a minimum of three hours, on paid duty.
“I will have eight guys policing the park and four supervisors doing nothing. The costs are ridiculous,” Eustaquio said, adding that the burden is one reason he has scaled the celebration from two days to one.
Supt. Witty said that while it is “highly unlikely” a customer would be asked to hire one supervisor for every two constables on paid duty, such a decision would be made by the police precinct in which the event is held.
The size of Toronto’s paid duty industry seems unparalleled in Canada. According to data collected by the Toronto Police Services Board, Toronto officers netted $24 million in 2007. In a distant second was Peel Region officers with a profit of $4.4 million, then Montreal officers with a comparatively meagre $2.3 million. While 2007 data was not available for Ottawa, a senior officer told the Star his officers took in only $1.5 million in 2008 and are on track for around the same amount this year.
This system has been left virtually unchanged for half a century, though in 2002 the police force set up the Central Paid Duty Office to better manage the tens of thousands of work orders coming in each year and more equitably distribute the profits to the force’s precincts. Chief Bill Blair is credited with setting up the office when he was working under then-chief Julian Fantino.
The operation seems to be running smoothly for officers as dependence on paid duty continues unabated.
At a time of recession that has hobbled many companies, Cops, Inc. has seen its profits soar about 50 per cent since the beginning of 2004. Demand is so high, Ryan needs nine clerks to handle all the work orders coming in to the third floor of 53 Division on Eglinton Ave. W.
“It’s a very costly habit in a time when there’s few enough resources to have regular workers on regular shifts,” McConnell said, “let alone these officers who are not only on overtime, but over-overtime.”
Security guard awarded $150,000 for illegal termination www.privateofficer.com
The six-person jury last week found that Miami security firm Hall Investigation Service wrongfully denied wages and fired Strachan for serving as a juror in a murder trial in April 2007.
“The irony is amazing,” said her lawyer, Michael Feiler. “I think the jury in our case understood jury service is a fundamental part of what makes our system work. They wanted to send a message that you can’t punish people for doing their duty.”
By county law, employers cannot fire workers who serve on juries, and must pay at least the first three days of their time off.
Strachan, 57, was a longtime Hall security supervisor. In April 2007, she was stationed at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza office building.
She told company owner Arthur Hall, a former police officer, about the jury summons and he became angry, saying she should skip court for work, according to her lawsuit filed by lawyers Feiler and Martin Leach.
Strachan served three days on the jury that convicted drifter Ruben Maldonado, 43, of murder for fatally beating a homeless man with a tree branch in Homestead.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice A. Butchko gave Strachan a letter vouching for her service, plus a copy of the county law protecting citizens who serve on juries.
Still, the suit said, Hall refused to pay her the roughly $400 in wages she should have earned those three days. He later accused Strachan of fraud, threatening to report her to the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office, the suit alleged.
Reached by phone Monday, Hall declined to comment. His lawyer did not return a phone call.
The jurors in Strachan’s case awarded her $30,000 for lost wages and emotional distress, and $120,000 in punitive damages. Strachan now knows the building well: She has a new job as a contract security guard at the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, 73 W. Flagler St., where her trial took place.
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Facebook upgrades security and privacy settings
Beginning Wednesday, the networking Web site is taking the rare step of requiring its more than 350 million users to review and update their privacy settings.
The new controls are designed to simplify the cumbersome privacy controls that have confounded many users. Facebook hopes the changes make people comfortable sharing even more information.
Facebook said the changes are based on user feedback — though it remains to be seen whether the shift will mean fewer surprises for people who have unintentionally shared party photos with their bosses.
As part of the changes, Facebook users will be able to select a privacy setting for each piece of content, such as photos or updates, that they share on the site — as they share it. The choices are “friends” only, “friends of friends” or “everyone,” which means not just Facebook users but everyone on the Internet. (The exception: Minors won’t be able to share their content with everyone. For people under 18, the “everyone” setting will send information to “friends of friends.”)
There is also an option to customize groups of friends — such as “college buddies” — for certain kinds of updates.
Jules Polonetsky, co-chairman and director at the Future of Privacy Forum think tank in Washington, praised how the process resembles the way people decide what to share in their day-to-day lives. He said putting the controls “when you need it, right there, is far better than putting it in a ‘privacy’ or ‘help’ location” somewhere on the site.
Facebook said that until now only 15 percent to 20 percent of its users have customized their privacy settings.
Now Facebook will be asking users to review and alter their settings through a tool that explains the changes. People will be able to keep their old settings or take recommendations from Facebook that are largely based on how they have configured their information.
As promised, Facebook is also getting rid of its geographic networks, because many of them — take “New York” or “Australia” — have gotten too big. There had been 5.7 million people in the London network, for example.
If users were previously part of such a geographic network, this location will now be listed in their profiles under “current city.”
Other networks, for schools and workplaces, are staying.
The changes have no effect on advertising on the site, said Elliot Schrage, vice president of global communications and public policy at Facebook.
But he added that by giving users such granular control over the content they share, Facebook is encouraging more sharing and a greater connection to the site.
“If users feel more confident with our service, they will use our service more,” he said. “And the more they use our services the more benefits we derive.”
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OFFICER DOWN
Deputy Sheriff Charles Douglas (Charlie) Brown Jr.
Martin County Sheriff’s Office
North Carolina
End of Watch: Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Biographical Info
Age: 38
Tour of Duty: 15 years
Badge Number: 809
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Shot and killed
Deputy Charlie Brown was shot and killed during a confrontation with a suspect in Williamston on West Main Street at 9:15 am.
Deputy Brown, along with other deputies and officers from the Williamston Police Department, had responded to reports of a man walking down the street firing a long-gun. The responding units located the man in front of a residence and confronted him. As they ordered him to drop the weapon he opened fire, striking Deputy Brown.
The other officers on the scene returned fire, killing the suspect. Deputy Brown was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his wounds a short time later.
Deputy Brown had served in the law enforcement with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and Williamston Police Department for 15 years. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Agency Contact Information
Martin County Sheriff’s Office
305 E Main Street
Williamston, NC 27892
Phone: (252) 789-4500
Please contact the Martin County Sheriff’s Office for funeral arrangements or for survivor benefit fund information.
NC Deputy shot and killed during 911 call www.privateofficer.com
A North Carolina sheriff’s deputy responding to a 911 call has been shot to death by an armed suspect.
The suspect was also killed Tuesday when he refused to obey instructions from law officers.
Police say 38-year-old deputy Charlie Brown was responding to a call about an armed suspect in Williamston, about 100 miles east of Raleigh.
When officers arrived, officials say 36-year-old Jerry Lee Pace Jr. was armed and resisting instructions. They say Pace fired his gun and law enforcement officers fired back, killing Pace.
Brown was a 15-year veteran of law enforcement. He is survived by his wife, Cindy, and two daughters.
The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident.
Ga. officer fired over Facebook posting www.privateofficer.com
A former Sandy Springs police sergeant wants his job back after he said he was fired for comments he posted on his Facebook page.
O.J. Concepcion said he was fired for posting an anti-backstabbing cartoon and said it wound up in the wrong officer’s mailbox.
“My Facebook is set on private and the public cannot read it,” Concepcion said.
When Channel 2 Action News reporter Mark Winne asked how many friends can view his Facebook profile, Concepcion said he has about 300 friends.
Concepcion acknowledged one Facebook posting on his status as:
“Orlando J Concepcion is working with the FBI this week… I smell a million dollar drug seizure coming our way soon.”
When he was asked if he believed he endangered anyone, Concepcion said, “I’m not, I just love what I do. I was so excited just being a part of the FBI task force.”
Concepcion acknowledged another Facebook posting another day suggested authorities would be raiding an area between two specific streets.
When he was asked again if he believed he was endangering anyone, he again said no.
“I want his job back, I want his name cleared, and I don’t want officers to go through this,” said Mike Puglise, Concepcion’s lawyer.
Concepcion said he is being singled out and he will be filing a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Sandy Springs Police Sergeant Said He Was Fired For His Facebook Postings.
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