Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Officer Dan Davis Arrested for Drunk Driving

ELM GROVE, Wis.

A 25-year-veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department is facing a drunken driving charge after his weekend arrest.

Elm Grove officers arrested Officer Dan Davis after finding him inside his car in a ditch on Friday night.

Davis was off duty at the time but he had his holster and gun with him when he ran off the road. That could lead to a criminal charge in the case.

The officers found Davis along Watertown Plank and Verdant Drive at about 2:30 a.m. Friday.

Police said that Davis had apparently been outside the vehicle trying to get it out of the ditch but then got back inside his car.

After officers got him out of the car, they saw he was wearing an empty holster. That’s when they said he explained that he was a Milwaukee officer.

The officers allegedly found his service gun in the snow.

Elm Grove police said he failed field sobriety tests and was arrested on charges of drunken driving.

A blood sample was taken but the results aren’t back yet.

Elm Grove Police Chief Jim Gage told WISN that Davis made no attempt to use his position as an officer to talk his way out of being arrested.

Sgt. Justin Vitrano Accused of Battery

New Orleans Police Sgt. Justin Vitrano was issued a summons Tuesday alleging one count of simple battery after Vitrano, in a marked police vehicle and in uniform, hit a 19-year-old boy in Metairie, authorities said.

"We have no motive (so far), " said Col. John Fortunato, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. "He got out of his car and began striking the 19-year-old."

The incident occurred about 3 p.m. in the 3600 block of Cypress Street, he said.

The boy, Steven Fayia, refused medical attention, authorities said.

"The New Orleans Police Department is cooperating fully with the investigation and Vitrano, if deemed necessary, will be reassigned during the investigation, " said Officer Janssen Valencia.

More Information: http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl120908tpbeat.49f0efe2.html

Former Officer Johnny Seay Arrested for Beating Woman and Keeping her Prisoner

EAST FALMOUTH

A former local police officer was arrested Monday after he allegedly beat a woman and kept her prisoner inside his house, the police said.

At 11:24 a.m. Monday, a woman told Falmouth police she had been assaulted and locked away inside a Gonsalves Lane house for five hours. Johnny Seay, 65, was arrested at his home Monday and arraigned yesterday in Falmouth District Court.

Police said the woman showed signs of physical abuse but was not taken to the hospital. She also told police Seay threatened to kill her if she reported him.

It is not known how she escaped the house, police said.

Seay left the police department in 1978 on disability, according to the Times archives.

Seay faces multiple charges, including assault and battery, kidnapping, intimidating a witness and threatening to commit a crime (murder), according court records.

He was released without having to post bail and the court ordered him to stay away from the alleged victim. He faces a pretrial hearing Dec. 11.

Corrections Officer Alan Welch Arrested for DWI

BONITA SPRINGS

A Lee County corrections officer arrested on a driving while intoxicated charge asked the highway trooper making the arrest to show some “professional courtesy” during the stop, according to the arrest report.

Alan George Welch, 47, was pulled over early last Thursday morning when an Interstate 75 driver complained his silver truck was moving erratically near mile marker 118 in the northbound lane, the report says.

Florida Highway Patrol officer Robert Ellis made the stop near the 136 mile marker.

The following is according to Ellis’ report:

As Ellis approached Welch’s truck, the corrections officer showed his Sheriff’s Office badge. Ellis asked if he had a gun, and he removed it from the truck.

Welch told Ellis he was coming from the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track in Bonita, where a combination of two beers, an empty stomach and pills for arthritis left him out of sorts.

He failed several coordination tests and blew a .173 on a breathalyzer test 90 minutes after being pulled over.

The corrections officer told Ellis the stop would ruin Welch’s 20-year law enforcement career and that the trooper didn’t understand what he was doing. At one point he asked for “professional courtesy” from Ellis, although the word “courtesy” was misspelled in the report.

“The defendant continued to say how I ruined his 20 years and that he did nothing wrong,” Ellis wrote in the report. “He said I didn’t understand.”

Welch, who has been employed by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office since February 2006, was a corrections officer at the Ortiz campus of the Lee County jail, where his responsibilities included guarding and moving inmates, jail commander Capt. Tom Eberhardt said. It’s unclear where he was earlier in his career.

Welch’s firearm, badge, ammunition, department jacket and department identification were turned over to Sheriff’s Office deputies on the night of the arrest.

Following his arrest, Welch was briefly held in the downtown jail before being released on bond, Eberhardt said.

He was placed on administrative leave, Sheriff’s Office John Sheehan said the day after the arrest.

Former Sheriff Von Thompson Turns Himself in for Swindling 91-year-old

Former Kanabec County Sheriff Von Thompson, who has been charged with four felonies and has eluded local police for more than a week, turned himself in to the county sheriff on Tuesday.

Thompson was charged in October with swindling a 91-year-old man of more than $179,000. After being judged a "low flight risk," the judge rejected a county prosecutor's request that bail be set for $25,000 and released Thompson on his own recognizance.

But on Nov. 26, a warrant for his arrest was issued after he violated terms of his release by allegedly continuing to solicit money from people. The judge recommended that bail be set at $20,000. Mora police, however, said last week that they were unable to find Thompson to arrest him.

After media reports about him being a fugitive, Thompson turned himself in early Tuesday after contacting a Kanabec County sheriff's investigator, Sheriff Steve Schulz said. "It's the first time any of my deputies saw him" since a warrant was issued, Schulz said.

Mora Police Chief Chris Olson could not be reached for comment.

Kanabec County Attorney Amy Brosnahan said her office requested bail be set at $20,000 as recommended last week but the judge set it at $10,000 instead during a hearing in Pine County. Brosnahan declined to comment further about the case.

Schulz said Thompson posted the bail later in the day and was released from jail.

Thompson's next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 16.

Former Officer Michael Johnson Jr Wanted for Rape


The Maryland State Police are seeking the public’s assistance in locating Michael Lawrence Johnson Jr., a fugitive from York, Pa. who is believed to be in the Westminster area.

Johnson, 40, is wanted for numerous charges including rape, assault and impersonating a public official, according to a police statement.

Police believe he is operating a 2006 blue Chevrolet Cobalt four door, bearing Pennsylvania registration number: MB11785.

He is described as being six feet tall, weighing 225 pounds with brown hair and green eyes.

Johnson is a former police officer in York, Pa., and authorities consider him armed and dangerous, police stated.


More Information: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-suspect1210,0,2339687.story

Anyone coming in contact with Johnson should not attempt to apprehend him but should call the Maryland State Police at 410-386-3000.

Officer Dan Jacob Davis Arrested for OWI

ELM GROVE

An off-duty Milwaukee police officer was arrested Friday for operating while intoxicated in the village, and a criminal investigation continues into allegations his gun fell from his holster while he searched for identification following a one-car accident.

Dan Jacob Davis, 51, of Milwaukee, was arrested around 2:30 a.m. Friday in the area of Watertown Plank Road and Verdant Drive. Elm Grove police officers came upon a car driven by Davis that was in a ditch, said Elm Grove Police Chief Jim Gage.

Gage said a gun fell out of Davis’ holster when police officers were searching for identification. At that point, Davis identified himself as a Milwaukee police officer, Gage said.

The gun was later found outside the vehicle where it fell in the snow, according to preliminary Elm Grove police reports.

For full story, go to the electronic version of The Freeman. Click here to access the electronic version.

Officer David Stevens Charged with Sexual Assault

A police officer has been charged with sexual assault at a Christmas party in an Elstree hotel.

The assault is alleged to have happened at a staff party at the Corus Hotel Elstree, in Edgwarebury Lane, off Barnet Lane, in the early hours of Friday morning.

The alleged victim is a man from London. David Stevens, 36, from Highgate, north London, has been bailed to appear before St Albans Magistrates Court on December 19 charged with sexual assault.

A spokesman for the hotel confirmed a party took place on Thursday evening. He added: “I am not able to give any more information on this matter.”