Monday, October 05, 2009

Officer James Mansberger Arrested for Public Intoxication

A suspended Fort Wayne police officer has been arrested, for the second time in a week.

33-year-old James Mansberger was taken into custody in Mishawaka on charges of public intoxication and leaving the scene of an accident early Sunday.

This, after mansberger was arrested last Wednesday on drinking and driving charges in Antwerp, Ohio.

He was suspended from the Fort Wayne police force in July for failing to file a report after he crashed his squad car.

He resigned on Friday.

YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjsxGFND2vg

Officer Anthony Santo Arrested for Sexually Assaulting Minor

An 18-year veteran of the Norwalk Police Department has been placed on administrative leave after he was arrested Friday by Greenwich Police for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor.

Officer Anthony Santo, 42, turned himself into the Greenwich Police Department on a warrant for second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.

Greenwich Police said the arrest stems from a three-month long investigation into the sexual assault of a minor and would not divulge further details about the arrest.

Norwalk Police Chief Harry Rilling said the arrest is related to an incident that occurred five or six years ago at a home in Greenwich. He could not give details of the arrest because the investigation is ongoing.

Rilling said the department will await the outcome of the criminal investigation before deciding whether to take further action in the matter.

"He's been a member of the department for quite some time," he said. "We've never had any complaints about him from the community or his fellow officers."

Sources close to The Hour said the sexual-assault victim may have only recently revealed the allegations to police. Under Connecticut state law, the statute of limitations to file a rape charge is 30 years after the incident occurred.

Friday's arrest marks the third time in three years that a Norwalk police officer has been charged with sex crimes.

Former Lieut. Thomas Cummings was arrested in January 2008 on multiple charges stemming from accusations of inappropriate sexual contact with two teenage boys.

Former officer Ray DeCamillo was recently released from prison after serving a nine-month sentence for sexually assaulting a 20-year-old Norwalk woman while on duty in 2006. He registered on the New Canaan sex-offender registry in September.

Trooper Daniel Martin in Trouble Again for Using Excessive Force

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper who was suspended after being involved in a scuffle with an emergency medical technician in May was put on paid administrative leave Sunday in connection with another incident.

MultimediaPhotoview all photos Troopers Daniel Martin and Tommy Allen were placed on administrative leave after a Holdenville man filed a complaint after he was arrested on Saturday.

"Basically, there was a traffic stop last night and out of that an individual was jailed and the guy apparently contacted the department today wanting to file a complaint," said patrol Capt. Chris West. "Based on the nature of the complaint and what Martin went through (previously), we thought we'd just go ahead and pull him off and investigate."

The Holdenville man was not a party in the initial traffic stop, West said, and got involved during the incident.

"It was another individual that got involved," West said. "We'll know more tomorrow."

West didn't identify the man filing the complain, but Khristopher Douglas told KWTV-9 that he was on a friend's property when the troopers pulled up. Douglas said they demanded that he move away from the house and toward the street. When he did, he said he was thrown to the ground, beaten with a club and arrested.

"He (Martin) started beating me with the nightstick and the other officer jumped on my back and put a knee in my back and I was getting hit with the nightstick," Douglas said.

This is the second time this year Martin has been investigated for his actions. In July, Martin was suspended for five days after an investigation of a May 24 scuffle with emergency medical technician Maurice White Jr.

In that incident, Martin pulled over an ambulance in Paden after the driver, Paul Franks, failed to yield to Martin's patrol car while responding to a call of a stolen vehicle. Martin later pulled the ambulance over, saying Franks gave him an obscene gesture, which Franks denies.

White approached Martin from the back of the ambulance. Martin said White kept getting in his way, and finally Martin tried to arrest White for obstructing an officer. That sparked the first of two scuffles as Martin said he tried to arrest White but the paramedic threw up his arms to resist the arrest.

A cell-phone video of the incident was placed on YouTube.

Martin was previously the chief of police at Fairfax in Osage County from March 1999 to July 2000, which ended with his firing. He also served in the Stillwater Police Department from October 2000 to March 2007.

Carlos Rodriguez Dies After Being Tasered by Deputies

A man died after sheriff's deputies used a Taser stun gun to subdue him during an altercation at an apartment complex in Norcross. Twenty-seven-year-old Carlos Rodriguez died yesterday at a hospital from injuries he received during a fight with two deputies.

Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Stacey Bourbonnais says the deputies first went to the apartment complex to serve an unrelated eviction. But they noticed Rodriguez, who appeared heavily intoxicated.

The sheriff's department says that when deputies approached him, he became combative and got into a fight with them. Authorities say another man tried to subdue Rodriguez by using a chokehold. An autopsy is pending and the two deputies were placed on paid administrative leave while the incident is being investigated.


http://www.portcityunderground.com/?p=102546

Highway Patrol Officer Richard Handwork Arrested for Cruelty to Child

A California Highway Patrol officer has been arrested in Northern California on suspicion of child cruelty and spousal abuse.

The California Highway Patrol says 44-year-old Richard Joseph Handwork of Yuba City was arrested Friday at the CHP office in Yuba City on suspicion of inflicting corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant and suspicion of willful cruelty to a child.

Authorities did not release details about the alleged crimes.

Capt. Jim Young, commander of the Yuba-Sutter CHP office, said an internal investigation is under way. Handwork has been placed on administrative duty until it is completed.

Handwork was released from the Sutter County Sheriff's Department on $50,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 2.

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Other Information:
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/chp-87275-handwork-office.html
Information from: Appeal-Democrat, http://www.appeal-democrat.com/

Officer Glenn Coyne Arrested for Sexual Assault

A Grand Junction police officer accused of burglary and sexually assaulting a woman while he was off duty, has been released from jail after posting bail.

Glenn Coyne was being held on $250,000 bond after his arrest Thursday on suspicion of first-degree assault and first-degree burglary. The 35-year-old officer has been fired after two years on the force.

Authorities say Coyne is accused of assaulting a woman who called him for follow-up help after Coyne and other officers went to her house on an unspecified family matter. Authorities say the alleged assault happened after Coyne's shift at 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Coyne's home phone is unlisted, and it wasn't clear whether he had an attorney.

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Information from: The Daily Sentinel, http://www.gjsentinel.com/

Lt Manny Escoto Charged with Contempt of Court

A Uintah County police lieutenant has personally apologized to the judge who filed a contempt-of-court complaint against him.

Naples Police Lt. Manny Escoto has been accused by 8th District Judge A. Lynn Payne of disregarding instructions given to him after the judge signed a search warrant in late July. On Wednesday, Escoto told Payne he misunderstood the judge's decision to limit the scope of the search warrant in question. He offered to resign immediately from the police force as a demonstration of his remorse.

Payne, who said he'd never held an officer in contempt in his 22 years on the bench, rejected Escoto's offer, saying that wasn't what he wanted. He made Escoto promise not to resign.

In a Sept. 15 complaint, Payne said Escoto appeared in his chambers seeking a warrant to access information on a cell phone. Authorities were investigating allegations that an unnamed juvenile had engaged in sexual activity with a 12-year-old girl. They believed the phone contained text messages, images and videos related to the juvenile's alleged sexual activity with other possible victims, according to the search-warrant application.

"Although the proposed warrant only requested the search of the cell phone, it was apparent to the court that Lt. Escoto also sought authority to search the records of Alltel Inc.," Payne wrote in his complaint, noting the cell-phone company was not a party in the case.

"The court informed Lt. Escoto that the court would not authorize a search of the records of Alltel Inc.," Payne continued, "and that an investigative subpoena would have to be issued to obtain the records."

Payne said he called the prosecutor involved in the investigation, Mike Drechsel, and spoke with him while Escoto was still in the judge's chambers. Payne said he reiterated the need for a subpoena to access phone-company records, and Drechsel agreed to prepare the required paperwork.

The judge noted that the conversation with Drechsel took place on speakerphone, allowing Escoto to hear what was said by both parties.

"The court signed the warrant, and when handing the warrant to Lt. Escoto, the court asked Lt. Escoto if he understood that the warrant only authorized the search of the cell phone and did not authorize him to search the records of Alltel Inc.," Payne wrote. "Lt. Escoto indicated that he understood."

The judge said Drechsel later informed him that Escoto had served the search warrant on Alltel, which Payne said was done "without the authority of the court" and "in violation of the court's specific directive not to do so."

Naples Police Chief Mark Watkins said he has conducted an informal investigation into the judge's allegations against Escoto, his second in command.

The chief said Escoto maintains that he believed Payne had authorized him to serve the warrant on Alltel "that one time" for the purpose of securing text-message records, which are only accessible for 10 days. Watkins said the lieutenant believed that the judge's order that a subpoena be secured for phone-company records would apply to future investigations.

"He follows the rules," Watkins said. "That's what leads me to believe there was a misunderstanding."

Payne has set an Oct. 28 date for a hearing on the matter.