Archive
Shoplifter slashes LP agent with box cutter www.privateofficer.com
Redding CA July 11 2010 A suspected shoplifter allegedly used a box cutter to slash an agent who helped wrestle the man to the ground outside ShopKo in Redding on Saturday afternoon.
A second loss prevention agent also was injured in the violent struggle with Nathan Totten, 27, of Redding, police Sgt. Jay Guterding said.
Totten, who allegedly attempted to steal clothes from the store, was booked into the Shasta County jail on suspicion of robbery, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and drug possession, Guterding said.
Totten had methamphetamine with him when he was apprehended, Guterding said.
Police were called to the store on Lake Boulevard about 3:15 p.m. after getting a report that two plainclothes loss prevention agents were attempting to detain a shoplifter.
The agents, Tom Trueb, 45, of Redding and Jimmy Robinson, tackled Totten on the sidewalk in front of the store, Guterding said. Trueb suffered two deep cuts to both hands from the box cutter in the struggle, Guterding said.
Robinson suffered scrapes and cuts. Both men later sought medical treatment.
“The Redding Police Department staff would like to recognize these agents for their service and dedication, and we wish them a speedy recovery,” Guterding said in a press statement.
Totten was being held in lieu of $75,000 bail.
Barrow County fire cheif arrested for stealing cable www.privateofficer.com
Metro Atlanta GA July 11 2010 The recently hired fire chief for Barrow County has been arrested for allegedly stealing cable television.
Barrow County Fire Department Recently hired Barrow County fire chief Daniel Towne was arrested on Thursday for allegedy stealing cable television from the city of Cairo, the GBI said.
Donald Towne, 40, is one of five accused of theft following a 7-month investigation, according to the GBI. The investigation centered around finance records in the southwest Georgia city of Cairo, where Towne previously worked, the GBI said.
All five were arrested on Thursday, according to the GBI.
Towne’s wife, Tiffany Fowler, 30, was also arrested and charged with five counts of theft by taking and five counts of computer theft. Investigators believe Fowler used her position with the city government to obtain cable television service for five people without paying for it, according to reports.
Others arrested include: James Whigham, 68, charged with two counts of theft by taking; Christine Tuning, 30, of Tallahassee, Fla, who was charged with one count of theft by taking and one count of false statements; and Allan Womble, 29, who was charged with one count of theft by taking.
Barrow County commissioners voted May 25 to offer the job to Towne, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. He agreed to a salary of $63,000 a year.
The investigation into the thefts continues, the GBI said.
Towne, who previously served in the Coast Guard, began his fire service career in 1986, according to his biography on the Barrow County fire Web site.
Source:AJC
Casino patron charged after 3 year old wanders away www.privateofficer.com
HARVEY, La. July 11 2010
A Baton Rouge woman was arrested after Harvey police said her 3-year-old child was found wandering alone in a casino parking lot Saturday morning.
Erica Williams, 27, was arrested Saturday afternoon. Police said someone called 911 to report a child left in a vehicle at the Boomtown Casino on Peters Road in Harvey.
Police said Second District Patrol Officer Brad Stanifer met with Boomtown security officers and learned that a 3-year-old boy was brought into their security office by a patron who found the child wandering in the parking lot near a red car.
The witness reported that the child appeared overheated and had urinated on himself, police said.
Stanifer said he also learned that a woman, identified as Williams, had walked into the security office to inquire about her missing son just before 12 p.m.
Police said when questioned, Williams admitted leaving her son in her car while she went into the casino two hours earlier. She told police that she went to check on him at about 11:30 a.m. and realized he wasn’t there.
Williams told investigators that she left the keys in the ignition with the air conditioning fan on, the engine off and the windows rolled up.
The child was examined by EMS and turned over to child protection. He was then placed in the custody of his grandmother, who officers summoned to the scene, police said.
Williams was arrested and charged with one count of child abandonment.
Two dead as man crashes truck into mall www.privateofficer.com
GREELEY, Colo. July 11 2010
– The Weld County Coroner has identified the two women killed at the Greeley Mall after a pickup truck drove into the Visionworks store Saturday.
Kimberley Fletcher, 32, of Greeley was a customer in the store. Jennifer Hudgens, 23, of Pueblo was a store employee and student at the University of Northern Colorado.
Witnesses said a 19-year-old man from Evans, drove his white Chevy pick-up truck, at around 30-40 mph, into the glass storefront without braking.
“The [driver's] foot was on the accelerator, all the way until it entered the building,” said Greeley Police Cpt. Juan Cruz.
One witness inside the store, who asked to remain anonymous, said at first he thought a bomb had exploded.
But then he realized, amidst all the smoke and dust, that there was a truck in the middle of the store.
He said the wheels of the truck were still spinning and the driver would not take his foot off the gas pedal.
An eye doctor had to get into the bed of the truck and break the window to get inside, he added.
During the chaos, a 9-year-old boy was heard crying that his mother was under the truck.
His mother was identified as Fletcher, who died at the scene.
The 9-year-old was also injured after being struck by shards of glass. He is believed to be the son of a security guard and Fletcher.
“He doesn’t know she’s dead yet. He’s at the hospital with his son who was the little boy who was taken by ambulance earlier. It’s hard,” said Rebekah McClure of Evans.
“I don’t think it’s an accident, there are too many pillars over there for it to accidentally have happened. He meant to hurt somebody in there.”
Police say there are multiple theories to why the truck crashed. They range from medical reasons to vehicle malfunction.
The cause of the accident is under investigation. Authorities do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor.
Metro DC bus passengars driven by imposter driver www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC July 11 2010 Metro customers boarded a bus Friday afternoon as normal: paying their fares, swiping their SmarTrip cards and plopping down in their seats.
They were unaware, however, that the driver was an impostor.
William Jackson, a 19-year-old District resident, apparently fooled workers and passengers alike. Authorities said he wore a standard-issue Metro bus driver’s uniform, made his way into the Bladensburg bus garage in Northeast and drove off, pretending to be a driver assigned to the B2 route, which goes from Bladensburg Road to Anacostia.
Four miles later, the bus crashed into a tree and several cars.
The driver initially fled. Jackson was later arrested and charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and fleeing an accident, Capt. Ronald A. Pavlik Jr. of the Metro Transit Police Department said on Saturday.
“He simply had a fascination with buses,” Pavlik said, recounting what Jackson allegedly told investigators.
Metro is initiating a “top-down review” of Metro’s procedures, Pavlik said, to figure out how someone was able to take the bus.
The incident is a reminder of Metro’s long list of safety problems, including bus drivers striking pedestrians, workers being hurt or killed, and the deadly Red Line crash a year ago.
The crash led to a scathing Federal Transit Administration audit of Metro that depicted its safety department as dysfunctional and reinforced criticism of its oversight agency, the Tri-State Oversight Committee, as lax.
In this case, Metro protocol requires that employees entering the bus facility show a form of identification to a security guard before they can proceed, Pavlik said. However, investigators believe that the impostor must have been “waved through” by the guard on duty when he arrived at the facility Friday afternoon, he said.
After passing security, the impostor boarded a bus, which didn’t require a key to start, and left the station to drive the B2 route.
He had driven about four miles when he struck a tree at 4:15 p.m., near the intersection of 17th Street and Massachusetts Avenue SE, Metro said.
After the crash, authorities said, the passengers fled. Metro has been unable to identify them.
But the impostor continued driving until he was intercepted at 14th Street and Potomac Avenue SE by District police responding to a 911 call from a witness to the accident.
He ran from the bus. Police apprehended Jackson two blocks away at 16th Street and Potomac SE.
It appears that the impostor drove the B2 route from the facility on Bladensburg Road to a stop near the Potomac Avenue Metro station.
Source:Washington Post
Twin brothers police Alabama www.privateofficer.com
Twin brothers Stephen and Jonathan Ledbetter both serve as police officers in departments in Talladega County, Stephen in the Sylacauga Police Department and Jonathan in the Talladega Police Department.
“I guess our interest in it goes back to our uncle. He was a police officer in Birmingham for a very long time,” Stephen said.
The two can still remember what a treat it was to see their uncle in uniform and wearing his duty belt and his on-the-job stories the family still occasionally shares, though he died 10 years ago.
Stephen got into the law enforcement field first, which helped pique Jonathan’s interest in becoming a police officer. It gave Jonathan at least some idea of what he was getting into before training at the police academy.
Training involves a lot of physical activity, officer ride-alongs, and learning state laws and proper police procedure over the course of several months.
“The training for me wasn’t that bad because before I was a police officer I would ride with Stephen in Sylacauga. I got a feel for what police work was actually like before I got started,” Jonathan said.
Now that both serve as police officers, they have found advantages to sharing the same profession.
“He’ll call and say he just did this and he’ll tell it to me in 10 (radio communication) codes, and I can talk right back to him,” Jonathan said. “Not only are we twin brothers, it’s almost like we have our own language.”
They also enjoy being able to take some of their continuing-education courses together and can swap work stories with each other without having to catch the other up on minor details of the job.
Perhaps the funniest story the pair have experienced involved a case of mistaken identity. The brothers look very much alike.
Jonathan said, “I was dispatched to a call for a person who had a stolen tag. I went out and did the report for the person, and I told that person that it was highly likely she would get pulled over because she didn’t have a tag. I told her to show her tag receipt and say that she had called the police and had a report made about a stolen tag.”
Later that same evening in Sylacauga, Stephen recalled, “I pulled over a car with no tag. It was the same person. She looked at me and asked, Didn’t you work in Talladega today?’ I said, No, you must be talking about my brother.’ I noticed she was looking quite confused when I was walked up to her car.”
Jonathan said when he goes to the metro jail he sometimes gets puzzling comments from inmates who confuse him with his brother.
Though they work in different departments, they share a passion and enjoyment for their work.
“It can be boring and can involve a lot of paperwork, but about a tenth of the job is adrenaline rush, and that makes up for everything else,” Stephen said. “You also make an impact on a person’s life. Even if it’s just one person a night or a week, you hope your actions are helping a victim out.”
Jonathan agreed and added that both of them can keep each other’s spirits up after a tough day.
“Since we are brothers and live together and work in the same field, we can reward each other with a ‘good job’ if we don’t get it from the public that day,” he added
Source:AL.com
Hospital security will not face charges in death of man www.privateofficer.com
Darnell Myres, 43, of Manchester, went to Community Medical center on April 27 to get stitches in his lip after a fight with his girlfriend. Police said he had an altercation with guards and was taken to Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, where he died May 2.
The Atlantic County prosecutor’s office, which took over the case because Ocean County prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford has a relative who works at the hospital, determined Myers died of a heart attack related to his scuffle with guards.
“The absence of traumatic injury to Mr. Myres demonstrates that the death was not the result of force used against him,” said assistant prosecutor Murray Talasnik. “The stress of physical resistance triggered a heart attack due to pre-existing conditions including an enlarged heart, intoxication and obesity.
“As a result, there is no evidence to support a criminal prosecution against any of the security officers for any form of criminal homicide in connection with the death of Darnell Myres,” Talasnik said.
The hospital determined Myres was intoxicated and asked him to take off his clothes and put on a gown to reduce the likelihood of him trying to leave the hospital while drunk, the prosecutor’s office said.
But Myres refused and fought with guards and a nurse, authorities said.
During the struggle, he was given a sedative injection to calm him, and eventually was placed in a bed with restraints before suffering a heart attack. Hospital workers administered CPR, but he did not regain consciousness.
Dallas Episcopal teacher arrested for student relationship www.privateofficer.com
John Nathan Campbell, a former history teacher at the Episcopal School of Dallas, has been arrested on a charge of improper relationship between educator and student.
“Evidence indicates he was involved intimately with one of his students,” Dallas police Sgt. Warren Mitchell said Thursday after the arrest. The relationship is thought to have occurred over several months in 2009.
The arrest of Campbell, 34, was not a surprise to the ESD community because he had been named in a lawsuit filed two months ago by the parents of a 16-year-old girl who formerly attended the private North Dallas school.
In the suit against ESD, the parents, represented by attorney Charla Aldous, alleged Campbell engaged in “felonious sexual predatory acts” with their daughter over a seven-month period. They claim the school failed to protect the student and later forced her to withdraw, victimizing her a second time.
Neither Campbell nor the parents of the victim could be reached for comment.
“We are relieved that this man has been arrested and hopefully he will never be allowed to do again to another child what he did to my client,” Aldous said. “This whole case is very tragic.”
Chrysta Castaneda, attorney for the school, said: “Episcopal School of Dallas is extremely saddened by these events. As soon as ESD learned of the prohibited relationship, its leaders took immediate and appropriate action and Mr. Campbell was separated from the school within 48 hours.”
The charge of “improper relationship” is a second-degree felony and carries a possible punishment of two to 20 years in prison.
Source:Dallas News
Florida security guard charged with drug trafficking www.privateofficer.com
Orange County Fla July 10 2010 A man who told authorities he was a security guard at a pain-management clinic was arrested this week on charges of possessing and trafficking hydrocodone, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Douglas Robert Neth, 52, who identified himself as a member of the Imperial Klans of America, was arrested after a deputy stopped a car Tuesday on Roush Road for window tint that appeared to be illegal.
A deputy found a brown pill bottle wrapped in a torn envelope on the floorboard where Neth was seated. An arrest report said there were 22 hydrocodone pills inside.
Neth also had $27,399 in cash on him, the arrest report said.
Neth told a deputy he was a security guard at A Stop Pain Management Clinic, the arrest report said.
When asked about the money, Neth gave varying accounts of why he had it. One version, the report said, was that it was the night deposit from the pain clinic.
Neth told the deputy he was taking the cash to Titusville so it could be deposited into the bank by the clinic owner, whom he identified as “Mrs. Billy Aldridge.”
State health department records do not show a listing for Aldridge or a pain clinic called A Stop Pain Management Clinic
Neth was booked into the Orange County Jail and released Wednesday after posting $50,250 bond.
Source:Sun Sentinel
Union school teacher charged with sex with teen boy www.privateofficer.com
Tulsa OKla July 10 2010
A Union school teacher accused of sexually assaulting a boy bonded out of jail tonight on $50,000 bond. Jail records show Curt Edward Carson, 48, bonded out at 6:45 p.m. on one count of Lewd Molestation involving a 13-year-old boy.
Carson is also a former volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
FOX23’s Abbie Alford was the first to learn this information and reports on the crime Carson is accused of doing while in the volunteer program.
Union Public Schools says Carson has been teaching Special Education at Union’s 6th and 7th Grade Center for the past two years.
According to the District’s website he states he’s been teaching for eleven years.
Police believe in 2002 and 2003 he abused a boy he mentored while in Big Brothers Big Sisters while the boy was 12 and 13-years-old.
The alleged abused happened seven years ago but police say it didn’t exceed the statute of limitations.
Sex Crimes detectives say between 2002 and 2003 Carson molested his “lil brother” ten to fifteen times in Carson’s home.
Detectives say this week they set up a phone sting with Carson and the alleged victim who is now an adult. This morning he was arrested at a coffee shop near 71st and Garnett.
Arrest records show Carson admitted that he “touched the victim, who was 13 at the time…that it shouldn’t have happened.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma emailed this statement:
“Big Brothers Big Sisters is aware of the arrest of a former volunteer with our organization in connection with charges that he abused the child he mentored. We are alarmed and deeply saddened by reports of any child being harmed and disturbed by accounts that our program may have been exploited. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma continues to cooperate with the investigation and we are not able to discuss or speculate about any specifics.
The integrity of our program is extremely important and to achieve the highest quality standards possible, we work to constantly review and strengthen our screening and background check systems as new best practices in the industry emerge.
Big Brothers Big Sisters makes child safety our priority. We have zero tolerance for abuse. Our volunteers and staff undergo thorough screening and background checks and we provide ongoing professional support for our children and families.”
The organization wouldn’t release information on how long he had been with the volunteer program but that his match had ended.
Union Public Schools says because of his arrest Carson has been suspended with pay.
On the District’s website Carson states he taught Social Studies and Special Education.
Police say no other victims have come forward but is encouraging any potential victims or if you know someone who could be a potential victim to report it to police.
Tulsa Public Schools confirms Carson was a teacher at Clinton Middle School and Hamilton Middle School between 2001 and 2005. He resigned from the District in 2005.
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services tells FOX23 News Carson was approved to be a foster parent in 2007.
Tulsa police say he is a foster parent, however, DHS wouldn’t release those details but says if a foster parent is charged with lewd molestation of any child then any foster children in is his or her home would be removed.
Source:FOX23
Christian Life teacher charged with having sex with minor www.privateofficer.com
Authorities say from November of last year through February of this year, Born had an inappropriate relationship with someone under the age of 18. Now, authorities are not yet confirming whether the child was a student at Christian Life or whether it was a male or female.
Parents at Christian Life have been notified of the incident via a letter. The principal of Christian Life says the alleged incident surfaced in March, which is when the part-time teacher was let go. While the principal says it was quote “A regretful incident” he and the Winnebago County State’s Attorney assure us that students are safe.
“In any cases involving children, obviously there’s a level of anxiety with parents, I myself being a parent, and what I can tell them is that administrators at the Christian Life schools, have done everything properly when this came to their attention by notifying the appropriate authorities.” Said Winnebago County Deputy State’s Attorney Marilyn Hite Ross.
Born is charged with three counts of ‘criminal sexual assault, three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and three counts of indecent solicitation of a child. If born is convicted on all charges and counts he could spend more than 80 years in prison.
Born is still in the process of being transferred to Winnebago County. Officials say he’ll likely appear before a judge next week.
Source:WIFR.com
SUNY security officers given lay-off notices www.privateofficer.com
Council 82 President Chris Mesley said that the 14 workers were told to clean out their lockers.
They’ve been reassigned for three weeks to other locations. After that point, the layoffs will take effect.
One guard is a member of Council 82. The 13 others are members of the New York State Corrections Officers and Police Benevolent Association.
Mesley says they’ve received no formal word from the state on the layoffs. But they’ve been told laid-off workers are meeting with the Civil Service Association to discuss their options.
Mesley believes that the layoffs could be the tip of the iceberg, leading to more widespread employee cutbacks before the new governor takes office.
NJ corrections officer sues police over false arrest www.privateofficer.com
NEWARK NJ July 10 2010 — A Department of Corrections officer says Newark police framed him on a drug charge two years ago, causing him to contract scabies after spending a night in a city jail, according to a lawsuit filed in Essex County Superior Court.
Luis Velasco, a 33-year-old corrections officer with the state’s Juvenile Justice Commission, said he was denied due process and falsely arrested after Newark Police Officer Gregory Hamilton planted a bag of crack cocaine near him outside a South Ward apartment complex in October of 2008, according to the suit.
Velasco was suspended for seven months, according to the lawsuit, and lost his health insurance for a period of time.
“Mr. Velasco’s life was ruined and he wants to reclaim his reputation. He wants the city to have to account for what happened to him, said Velasco’s attorney, Jeffrey Patti.
The president of the city’s police union said the allegations are baseless, describing Hamilton and his partner Beverly Gravely as veteran officers with clean disciplinary records.
“You have two officers at 4 a.m. doing what they’re supposed to be doing, patrolling,” said union president Derrick Hatcher. “I think (Velasco) is just looking for monetary gain.”
Hamilton, Gravely, Fifth Precinct Captain Felipe Gonzalez, Police Director Garry McCarthy and the city of Newark are also named in the lawsuit.
Department officials referred media inquiries to a city attorney, who declined to comment.
According to the lawsuit, Velasco drove a friend to a Newark apartment complex on Oct 4, 2008 and was parked in a building lot when Hamilton and Gravely approached him. Hamilton ordered Velasco to exit the vehicle and handcuffed him before placing two glass pipes and a metal brillo pad inside, according to the suit.
Velasco explained he was a corrections officer and argued that the paraphernalia wasn’t his, according to the suit, but was ignored by both officers. The lawsuit contends that Hamilton planted a bag of crack cocaine near Velasco’s boot while he was handcuffed, and that Gravely ignored the Velasco’s pleas for help.
The police report tells a different version of events, in which the officers find Velasco slumped over inside his car. The report said Velasco was holding the drug paraphernalia when Hamilton approached him and that he smelled of alcohol.
The report includes that Velasco said he was a corrections officer. Hamilton was searching Velasco for a weapon when he located the drugs, according to the report.
Following his arrest, Velasco was housed at the city jail on Green Street, where the lawsuit alleges he endured “filthy squalid living conditions … where he was devoured by bed bugs.” The 33-year-old was diagnosed with scabies the day he was released from lock-up, according to the suit.
The corrections officer filed a report against the officers, but Hatcher said an internal investigation did not result in disciplinary action. The criminal charges against Velasco were dismissed by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office for lack of evidence in 2009, according to court documents.
Velasco had to surrender his badge after the arrest, but was reinstated once the drug charges were dismissed. The 33-year-old maintains that the arrest should never have happened.
“The word crack or crack dealer should not be mentioned with my name. It basically ruined my life, for the rest of my life,” he said.
Source:NJ.com
Antioch police lay off community service officers www.privateofficer.com
Late last month 17 full-time employees were given layoff notices, including 11 community service officers who work for the Antioch Police Department.
City officials say the non-sworn officers investigated crime scenes, took burglary reports and booked suspects—jobs a sworn officer will now have to do.
Antioch police Chief Jim Hyde says the loss will be felt by the public because the cuts will require that at least one officer will have to be taken off patrol to deal with the other duties.
City officials say the cuts came as Antioch deals with a $2.9 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year
Miami police chase kills five www.privateofficer.com
Police said five people were killed in a crash in southwestern Miami-Dade County on Thursday, shortly after they tried to defraud a bank.
Witnesses said they saw a silver car speeding east on Southwest 152nd Avenue.
“The girl was driving like 100 mph,” said witness Raul Leal.
Police said the car was moving so fast because the four men and one woman inside were driving away from a bank where investigators believe they had tried to commit some type of fraud.
“It was a fraud that was in progress that the bank noticed and notified the authorities,” said Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, of the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Police said an officer was following the car, which stopped at one point, but then it took off again.
“As the officer got off the vehicle and approached them, they immediately made a U-turn and fled at a high rate of speed. The officer lost sight of them,” Zabaleta said.
Then, the car crashed on Southwest 152nd Avenue. From Sky 10 overhead, the vehicle appeared to have gone through a fence and slammed into a tree.
One person was ejected from the car, and the four others were trapped inside, police said.
“It was all on fire and everything,” Leal said.
“The vehicle caught on fire. There were plainclothes detectives in the area that were responding to the original location when they saw the car engulfed in flames,” Zabaleta said.
Officers tried to save the lone survivor, but she died at the scene, police said.
Investigators have not said what kind of bank fraud they believe the crash victims committed, nor have they said at what bank the incident occurred.
JC Penney employee charged in theft www.privateofficer.com
NATICK, Mass. July 9 2010 – A JC Penney employee has been accused of giving friends and family unauthorized discounts at the Natick Collection Mall.
According to police, store security discovered the crime after monitoring the employee.
Police said when security confronted her Friday she admitted to undercharging at the register.
20-year-old Seana Berardi had allegedly given out coupons and discounts totalling $12,000 dollars.
Her alleged 90 percent discounts brought her before a judge on larceny charges, where she pleaded not guilty to cutting the cost for friends and family.
She was released without bail after being arraigned in Framingham District Court.
She is due back in court for a pre-trial conference in the beginning of August.
Source:Whdh.com
Wal-Mart employee nabbed by security for theft www.privateofficer.com
19-year-old Michael Hylman is facing charges of theft in the case.
He was arrested June 29th after store security said Hylman was observed rolling a shopping cart of merchandise out to his car.
After examining other surveillance tapes they found Walmart Worker other days when the Terre Haute man repeated the drill, rolling a shopping cart load of goods to his car without stopping at the cash register first. Hylman told detectives he wanted to sell the items to pay his bills
Woman uses small children to steal at Target www.privateofficer.com
Spartanburg SC July 9 2010 A security worker at Target told authorities he saw a woman steal more than $1,300 worth of merchandise on Friday with the help of one of the four young children who was with her.
At about 8 or 9 p.m. Friday, the woman entered the store at 8199 Warren H. Abernathy Parkway with four small children, all younger than age 12, and filled three shopping carts with several items before proceeding to the checkout line, the employee told authorities.
As she was talking to the cashier, an incident report states, one of the children pushed one of the carts out of the store without the items having been paid for.
The woman then told the cashier she had to go to the bank and would be right back, according to the report. The woman then left the store without paying for the items.
Among the items taken, the security worker reported, were a Nintendo DS Lite, a PSP and PlayStation 3 game console, four Nintendo DS games, seven CDs, various cosmetics and nearly $500 worth of clothing.
The security worker provided the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office with surveillance video of the shoplifting.
Facebook message leads to arrest of couple in child murder www.privateofficer.com
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. July 9 2010 – A Facebook message led investigators to a couple suspected in the death of a girl whose body was found in a vacant Colorado home, authorities said Thursday.
Hanif Sims and his girlfriend, Monique Lynch, both 29, were arrested Wednesday in Henderson, Nev. The El Paso County sheriff’s department issued arrest warrants Thursday for both on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death.
The two were being held in jail on $500,000 bond each. The sheriff’s office has started extradition proceedings to return them to Colorado.
Investigators had been looking for the couple since the body of Sims’ daughter, 9-year-old Genesis, was found May 14 in the crawl space of a town home in Monument, about 50 miles south of Denver. The cause of death hasn’t been determined.
El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said detectives tracked a Facebook message, which the couple wrote to a Colorado Springs TV station, back to a motel. He said the two were sleeping when Henderson police arrived.
An arrest warrant was issued for Sims in June for suspected second-degree assault and misdemeanor child abuse. Deputy Teresa Murphy said the warrants issued for the pair were sealed.
Lynch had been arrested on a probation violation out of New Jersey, and it’s unclear if she would be sent to that state first.
Maketa said the couple have cooperated with investigators.
“We’re getting some good information that helps us fill in the blanks in this case,” he said.
A couple claiming to be Hanif Sims and Monique Lynch told KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs that they found Genesis unconscious in the bathroom and hid her body after having a ceremony with prayers and flowers.
KRDO-TV reported the couple called the station Monday, saying they wanted to give their side of the story before turning themselves in. The station said it confirmed their identities using details from its investigation into the case.
The woman claiming to be Lynch said the couple moved Genesis to a bed and tried giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She said they decided to bury her in the crawl space two days later.
The couple moved out of the home early last year. Investigators believed that Sims and Lynch lived in a Los Angeles homeless shelter from March until December 2009.
The couple’s two other children weren’t with them when they were arrested.
Lt. Lari Sevene of the sheriff’s department said the couple left the children with a friend in California, and that the boys were later taken into custody by the California Department of Human Services.
Source:AP
Wayne County teacher arrested for student sex abuse www.privateofficer.com
FAIRFIELD, IL July 9 2010 - A Fairfield, Illinois, Physical Education teacher is accused of having sexual contact with a teenage student.
Authorities report that 29-year old Haven Kirkpatrick faces eight counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
She was arrested Wednesday afternoon at her parents home in Carmi then taken to the White County Jail.
She’s waiting to be transferred to Wayne County, and is being held on a $100,000 bond.
Former NBA player, security guard commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
Lexington KY July 9 2010 Police and Fayette County coroner Gary Ginn have confirmed that former UK basketball player Melvin Turpin, 49, committed suicide Thursday at his home in the Masterson Station subdivision in Lexington.
Turpin died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a news release from the Lexington-Fayette County Coroner’s Office. Ginn said Turpin was found by a family friend.
Turpin, a Lexington native who attended Bryan Station High School, was working at UK Hospital as a security guard.
Turpin’s sister, Margaret Burrus, said he had recently be diagnosed with diabetes and that keeping it under control was “rough.”
Burrus also said Turpin’s wife, Kerry, who was away Thursday receiving medical treatment, had heart problems and had undergone several surgeries.
Turpin played basketball at UK from 1981 to 1984 after transferring from a prep school in Virginia. He was part of a duo often referred to as the “Twin Towers” with former UK standout Sam Bowie. He is most remembered for his performance in Knoxville, Tenn., in January 1983 when he scored 42 points in the Cats’ loss to the Volunteers.
Turpin was the sixth pick by the Washington Bullets in the 1984 NBA Draft —the same draft as Hakeem Olajuwon and Michael Jordan — but was immediately traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Turpin retired after a tough five seasons in the NBA.
UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart released the following statement: “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Melvin Turpin. Our hearts and prayers are with his family and friends as they mourn their loss. The University of Kentucky and the Big Blue Nation will forever remember Melvin and all his contributions to our basketball program.”
Check back at kykernel.com for more information as it becomes available
LCCC Security officer named top cop www.privateofficer.com
Collins was recognized for his heroic efforts by being named one of America’s “Top Cops” by the National Association of Police Organizations. He was presented with a plaque during an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. in May.
Collins was on duty with the Sheffield Lake Police Department in June 2009 when he and his partner responded to a request for a welfare check on a young woman. After knocking on the door with no response, the officers entered the home through an unlocked door. During a search of the residence, Collins found the 27-year-old woman hanging from a sheet in a closet. She had no pulse and was not breathing.
“I knew we had a small window of time and had to act fast,” recalled Collins.
The officers quickly cut the sheet from her neck and began CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The woman began breathing and a faint pulse returned just as paramedics arrived on the scene. She was transported to the hospital where was treated and evaluated.
“I feel fortunate that we could save her. I hope she was able to recover and get the treatment she needed,” Collins said.
Collins and his partner, Sergeant James Mariner, were nominated for the Top Cops award by Sheffield Lake Police Chief Larry Shepherd and the Ohio Police Benevolent Association. Their case was one of 50 cases that received the prestigious recognition during the event, which was hosted by John Walsh from the television program “America’s Most Wanted.”
On LCCC’s campus, Collins was commended during a security staff meeting and continues to receive ample praise from his colleagues.
“Ken did everything he was trained to do and he was able to save a life,” said Keith Brown, LCCC Director of Campus Security. “He has tremendous heart and he has shown that through the quality of work he demonstrates on campus and in the community.”
Collins has worked at LCCC for 11 years and been on the Sheffield Lake force since 2001. He said he enjoys working with the variety of people he encounters on LCCC’s campus.
“I love working at LCCC and I feel humbled by the attention I’ve received,” Collins said.
Woman doused security agent in pepper spray to escape www.privateofficer.com
Shirel Jean Smith, 20, of San Francisco was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of robbery, possession of tear gas without a permit and giving a false name to police, said Twin Cities police Sgt. Michael Norton. Bail was set at $50,000.
The incident occurred around 7 p.m. Tuesday at Nordstrom, where the security staff spotted a woman trying to steal the accessories. When a loss prevention officer tried to place the woman under citizen’s arrest, she sprayed him with oleoresin capsicum, commonly known as OC spray or pepper spray, Norton said.
Twin Cities police arrived and arrested the woman, who initially gave them another name. The jail confirmed Smith’s identity through fingerprints.
Source:Marin News
Louisville man charged with 8 murders www.privateofficer.com
Louisville KY July 8 2010 A Louisville felon has been indicted in connection with eight unsolved murders dating to 1996 — many of them connected to drugs.
Ricky Kelly, 39, has been charged with eight counts of complicity to murder, as well as cocaine trafficking, police said at a press conference held Wednesday after a grand jury returned the indictment.
He also was indicted on charges of complicity to kidnapping, first-degree robbery, first-degree assault and being a persistent felon.
Kelly was transferred to Metro Corrections from the state’s Green River Correctional Complex, where he was serving time for assault and weapons convictions, to await arraignment.
Police wouldn’t comment on Kelly’s relationship to the victims, saying they are releasing few details while the investigation continues. But court records and past Courier-Journal stories indicate that several of the victims had a history of drug use or trafficking.
Lt. Barry Wilkerson, head of the Louisville Metro Police Department’s homicide unit, said investigators are trying to determine if Kelly is linked to other unsolved murders. The murders were classified as cold cases because they all were more than 2 years old.
“We’re going to follow every lead,” he said.
The indictment charges Kelly in connection with three murders in 1996, two in 1998, two in 2005 and one in 2006.
Police said they discovered the link between Kelly and the homicides after overhauling the department’s cold-case unit two years ago. Wilkerson said cold-case detectives were able to piece together information that linked the eight victims to Kelly.
“This was good investigative work,” he said.
The first victim was Gail Duncan, who was killed in front of her 9-year-old daughter on April 11, 1996, a month before she was to testify against four western Louisville men in a federal cocaine-trafficking trial, according to Courier-Journal stories.
The murder, which a deputy coroner described as “a well-organized hit,” occurred when a masked gunman shot Duncan at least five times as she sat in her car in front of her home in the 800 block of South 39th Street. The gunman sped off in a car with no license plate.
Three months later, Deron Cole, who had pleaded guilty in the same case in which Duncan was to testify, was killed at his mother’s home in the 2300 block of West Chestnut Street while awaiting sentencing, according to Courier-Journal stories.
Cole, who reportedly had been a go-between for Duncan and other co-defendants in the trial, was shot once in the back with a shotgun.
Cole’s sister, Suwanda Cole, had been shot and killed the previous month, but her death has not been tied to Kelly.
John Sanders, the third victim, was fatally shot on DuValle Drive on Oct. 21, 1996.
Kelly also is charged in the July 1998 murder of Charles Lewis, who was found dead from several gunshot wounds in an apartment building in the 1400 block of South Fourth Street. He was serving 30 days of home incarceration for complicity to traffic cocaine at the time.
Just a few days later, Blair Kidwell was shot to death in the 1900 block of Dumesnil Avenue after being charged with complicity to murder in a 1990 shooting. His co-defendant was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 40 years.
Craig Jones died behind his home in the 100 block of North 46th Street from multiple gunshot wounds on July 8, 2005.
Lajuante Jackson was killed a month later in the 700 block of Clay Street in the Sheppard Square housing complex when two hooded men shot Jackson.
The eighth victim, Warren King, was found shot to death in his car in the 3500 block of Virginia Avenue under the Shawnee Expressway overpass July 13, 2006.
According to the indictment, Kelly also kidnapped and assaulted King before his death.
Kelly’s prior convictions include a 1995 guilty plea to wanton endangerment after a drive-by shooting at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that left one man wounded in the hip.
He also was convicted in 1998 on charges that included assault, trafficking in a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, according to court records.
Kelly’s most recent conviction was in 2002 for drug trafficking and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.
He received parole in 2004, but it was revoked two years later.
Police Chief Robert White said he is pleased with the hard work and dedication cold-case detectives put into solving cases, and the results speak for themselves.
With Kelly’s indictment, the cold-case unit has now closed 23 cases since 2009, either by arrest or determining that the perpetrator is dead.
White said anyone who is connected to eight homicides shows a “total disregard for life.” And he said he hopes that other indictments will come on these homicides.
Though the cases date back 14 years, he said the indictment clearly sends a message that police will continue to hunt for closure.
“It sends a message to those out there who have committed crimes and thought they had gotten away with it … this department is committed to aggressively solving cases,” he said.
THE VICTIMS
Gail Duncan , killed in the 800 block of South 39th Street on April 11, 1996
Deron Cole , killed in the 2300 block of West Chestnut Street on July 24, 1996
John Sanders , killed on DuValle Drive on Oct. 21, 1996
Charles Lewis , killed in the 1400 block of South Fourth Street on July 1, 1998
Blair Kidwell , killed in the 2900 block of Dumesnil Avenue, July 3, 1998
Craig Jones , killed in the 100 block of North 46th Street on July 8, 2005
Lajuante Jackson , killed in the 700 block of Clay Street on Aug. 19, 2005
Warren King , killed at the Shawnee Expressway and Virginia Avenue on July 13, 2006
Source:courier-journal.com
Campground security guard arrested for lewd acts www.privateofficer.com
According to a police report, Joseph Hemingway, 39, gave two sisters and a friend a ride back to their campsite from a restroom.
The girls stated he made comments that made them nervous and lewdly touched them after he stopped the cart to take pictures with the girls.
The teens said Hemingway hung around their campsite for hours.
Source:WESH.com
US Coast Guard helicopter crash kills three members www.privateofficer.com
LA PUSH, Wash. July 8 2010- A Coast Guard helicopter crashed off the Washington Coast Wednesday morning, killing three of four crew members on board.
Rear Adm. Gary Blore, Commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District, said the fourth crew member was at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Officials said the patient is awake and alert.
None of the crew members’ identities have been released.
Petty officer Nathan Bradshaw in Seattle said a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crashed in the waters off James Island near La Push, about 100 miles west of Seattle on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The helicopter, Bradshaw said, lost contact with the Coast Guard around 9:30 a.m.
Bradshaw said officials have not determined what may have caused the helicopter to go down. But a witness told KOMO News the helicopter struck power lines.
“The helicopter came in low… it swerved a little bit and then it hit power lines and… the propeller came off and it just fell apart,” said Inga Banks. She said there were four power lines stretched across the water, each identified by orange markers.
Quileute tribal member Rio Jaime told the Peninsula Daily News that he saw the helicopter clip the power lines with its tail, sending it down to the water.
“It took us a little bit to realize that really happened,” he said. “It was like in the movies.”
Capt. Salvatore Palmeri later confirmed the helicopter was in the water and there were power lines down across the beach. He said the power lines were originally set about 250 feet off the ground, and are marked on navigational charts. Palmeri said it is routine for their helicopters to fly at low altitudes over water.
Two crew members were plucked out of the water by tribal members of the Quileute Nation. A third crew member was located about 2½ hours later.
Darryl Penn, the harbormaster for the Quileute Nation in La Push, heard the crash and saw the wreckage. Penn said he and his cousin raced out to the wreckage on a small boat and were able to reach two of the members, who were “pretty banged up.” He found one of the crew members in the water, wet suit on, and the other in the wreckage.
“You know, these guys are out here for us, for the guys who fish,” Penn said. “When they go down, it’s scary.”
Bradshaw said the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter took off from Astoria, Ore., and was heading to Sitka, Alaska. Bore said the helicopter was a brand new model and was in transit to Alaska from the east coast. It had stopped in Astoria for routine fueling and service.
The Coast Guard deployed a MH-65 Dolphin and another MH 60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and response crews to search for the missing crew members. Dive teams from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and the National Parks Service were en route and Quileute tribal response teams are providing additional assistance, officials said.
The MH-60 Jayhawk is a twin-engine helicopter with a crew of four, similar to the Army UH-60. Petty Officer Kip Wadlow in Washington, D.C., says it is primarily used for search and rescue and homeland security missions. An MH 60 Jayhawk helicopter crashed in the Utah mountains in March. All five crew members survived.
Casino security quickly nab robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
Atlantic City NJ July 8 2010
By: Brett Davis/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
www.privateofficer.con Authorities say that an Absecon man who tried holding up a local casino was quickly taken into custody by the casino security staff. The man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after he tried to rob the main cashier cage at Resorts Atlantic City but got away with nothing, State Police said.
The man arrived at Resorts at about 4:46 p.m., approached the casino cage and handed the cashier a plastic bag with a handwritten note saying to put all the $100 and $50 bills in the bag, and “Don’t make me do something I will regret,” State Police spokesman Trooper Brian Polite said.
John Pannell, 25, of Absecon, was quickly apprehended by casino security and taken into custody and charged with robbery, Polite said. He was taken to the Atlantic County Justice Facility on $75,000 full cash bail.
The State Police Casino Investigations Unit handled the case, Polite said.
No one was injured.
Security officer carjacked by robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
Woodbridge NJ July 8 2010
By: Brett Davis/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
http://www.privateofficer.com/ A man trying to escape after attempting to rob a furniture store carjacked a nearby mall security officer Wednesday morning, police said.
The events started unfolding at about 9 a.m. at the Bob’s Discount Furniture store on Woodbridge Center Drive in Woodbridge.
Police say the man walked into the store and tried to hold it up even shooting a store employee before running away.
Authorities say that the man then ran through a nearby apartment complex and ended up at the Woodbridge Center Mall, near Route 1.
At that point police say he pointed his gun at the security officer and carjacked him taking the private security vehicle from the guard and drove off.
Police say that the security officer was not injured and that were still searching for the man.
Veteran Chicago officer gunned down with own gun www.privateofficer.com
Chicago IL July 8 2010 A veteran Chicago police officer assigned to a special unit to tamp down youth violence was shot to death Wednesday afternoon as he left an Englewood police building in a dangerous stretch of that South Side neighborhood.
Authorities said an assailant took Officer Thor Soderberg’s gun and fatally shot him.
Those who knew the 43-year-old officer, normally an instructor at the police training academy, were horrified to learn of his death.
“If your son or daughter came on the job, he’s the guy you’d want to train them,” said Assistant Deputy Superintendent Matthew Tobias, who once ran the academy. “He understood what the oath meant. He understood what a privilege it was to wear the uniform of a Chicago police officer.”
Englewood residents who live near the scene of the shooting, however, weren’t surprised that such a brazen act could happen at a police facility outside their doorsteps.
“This neighborhood is exactly what it is, it’s wild,” said Cheri Ricardo, who lives across the street from the police building. “They still shoot up and down the street when they want to.”
Assistant Superintendent James Jackson said Soderberg was in uniform when he left the facility about 3:45 p.m. at 61st Street and Racine Avenue and walked to a parking lot, where he got into a struggle with a 24-year-old man. The younger man took the officer’s gun and shot him, then ran off and attempted an armed robbery not far away, police said.
Jackson said police in the facility heard gunfire, chased the suspect and exchanged shots with him, eventually shooting him. The suspect’s injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where uniformed and plainclothes officers stood guard. The suspect is a convicted felon with many arrests, a police source said.
Soderberg was the second police officer killed in Englewood in the past 13 months. Officer Alejandro “Alex” Valadez was killed last June after responding to an early-morning report of gunfire.
An 11-year veteran, Soderberg had recently been working at the Englewood building as part of a weeklong police detail called Operation Protect Youth.
The class he teaches at the training academy is set to graduate next week. Officials said Soderberg dropped in to check on his class earlier Wednesday on his lunch break.
Friends said Soderberg was married and had no children.
“I want people to know that he’s a great man and gave the Chicago police a great name,” said Mazen Istanbouli, a DePaul University professor and close friend of the officer. “He was a giver. He never thought of himself and always thought of others.”
Istanbouli, who is blind, said he and Soderberg had known each other for about three years and met because they shared a love of running. He said the officer helped him train and competed by his side in triathlons in New York and Chicago, running, biking and swimming alongside him and serving as his guide.
The two most recently ran together this spring at a race for fallen police officers in Chicago. Istanbouli said he brought up Soderberg’s name earlier Wednesday because he wanted the officer to accompany him at an upcoming bicycle race.
Istanbouli recalled Soderberg’s humility, particularly after they ran a race and Istanbouli tried to thank him: “He said, ‘I’m doing this for you, not for me. I don’t need the medal. I’m doing it for you.’ He helped me out with training and he helped me out throughout the process with swimming and running and biking, the whole thing. We did everything.”
Tobias, who knew Soderberg from the training academy, said he had served as a combat engineer in the Army and described him as “a solid, tough copper willing to go out there. He understood the job.”
Mark Donahue, president of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police, said: “It’s quite apparent that not only have we lost a brother-in-arms, but the entire population of this city has lost someone that, had you known him, you’d be very proud to call him one of your own as well.”
Police officers and family gathered outside the slain officer’s South Side home Wednesday evening. Officers guarding the door said relatives would have no comment.
Soderberg’s body was taken to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, where an autopsy is scheduled Thursday.
The Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates shootings involving Chicago police officers, were gathering evidence at the scene, its spokesman, Mark Smith, said late Wednesday.
“I don’t know what to say. It just makes me sad,” said Ald. JoAnn Thompson, 16th, whose ward covers the area around the station. “That one individual does not speak for this whole ward. And I know there’s a lot of crime, but there’s still a lot of good people here, too.”
Ricardo, the Englewood resident who lives near the shooting, said she felt bad for the officer, who she believed was doing his job to protect people in the neighborhood.
“The police officer’s family has to bury that man, but he was just doing his job,” Ricardo said. “If they shoot a police officer right there in their backyard, what do you think they would do to me and my kids? It’s sad.”
Source:Chicago Tribune
Former Prince George officer admits to bank burglary www.privateofficer.com
Eddie L. Smith Jr., 42, who had been on the county force for 16 years, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt to breaking into a bank with intent to commit felony larceny.
Prosecutors said Smith was in uniform and driving a marked police cruiser when he met an associate June 9, 2009. Smith drove himself and the other man to a Temple Hills bank and gave the man the saw and instructions on how to cut open the safe.
Smith “used his position as a Prince George’s County police officer to facilitate this offense,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah A. Johnston said in court.
Earlier, court records say, Smith had told co-defendant Earl Blake that he “had a job for him.” The pair went to a SunTrust bank branch on Old Branch Avenue in Temple Hills. Blake has also admitted his role in the crime.
Smith, according to court documents filed in Blake’s case, disabled the burglar alarm by cutting the lines on a telephone pole outside the bank.
Then Blake, carrying the saw Smith that had given him, headed inside through an unlocked front door, court records say. He adjusted the surveillance cameras inside, then started sawing. Smith stayed outside.
About 3:30 a.m., the bank’s alarm company received a report of a fire alarm, according to the plea agreement. As firefighters headed to the scene, they noticed that a police cruiser that had been parked nearby followed them into the parking lot.
Smith hopped out of the cruiser and told the firefighters that he had checked the building and that it was secure, court records say. But moments later, one of the firefighters spotted someone in the bank, and the man fled through a rear door.
Smith ran to the back of the bank, in apparent pursuit of the man, and returned shortly after, court records say. He drove off without talking to the firefighters or contacting a police dispatcher.
When firefighters went in, they found the saw near the damaged safe. Prosecutors said there was about $40,000 inside.
Prince George’s Police Chief Roberto L. Hylton said Tuesday that he “does not tolerate wrongdoing” in the department. “Bad cops have no place in our profession; they tarnish the good work that is being done by the rest of our employees,” he said.
Blake, 53, of Capitol Heights, pleaded guilty to breaking into a bank with intent to commit felony bank larceny. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 12.
Smith is scheduled to be sentenced in October. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
