Officer Timothy Merrill Arrested for Assault, Vandalism

An Arizona police officer was arrested on multiple charges in downtown Nashville on Wednesday night.

Timothy Reed Merrill, age 32, was charged with assault, vandalism and public intoxication.

A police affidavit said Merrill, who was in town for training, had caused issues at Dixieland Delights on Broadway and then allegedly punched the front window of the store. The employee told officers that Merrill had been asked to leave the store because he was harassing a cashier and became disorderly.

He was detained outside a bar along Broadway after security there came to help. The affidavit said Merrill tried to run from a security officer and fell down. While the security officer tried to handcuff him, Merrill allegedly kicked the man in the head.

Once police took him into custody, they smelled alcohol and noticed he had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.

Merrill’s bond was set at $8,000.

Retired Officer Joseph Ferrante Out on Bail for Child Porn Found Drunk Outside Liquor Store

A retired Peabody cop, out on bail in a child pornography case, was found parked outside a liquor store swigging from separate bottles of vodka and cranberry juice Tuesday morning, police said.

As a result, Joseph Ferrante, 60, of 30 Bresnahan St., Peabody, is being held in custody without bail after a Peabody District Court judge revoked his bail in the child porn case.

According to a police report, Ferrante begged Patrolman Patrick Berardino not to arrest him after Berardino spotted him in a rented Hyundai idling outside of A&L Liquors on Foster Street at 10:25 a.m.

“Pat, please don’t arrest me,” Ferrante allegedly asked the officer. “They will revoke my bail, and I will go to jail.”

Before he approached Ferrante, Berardino watched him drink from the two bottles, one a 200-milliliter (6.8 ounces) bottle of vodka and the other a 16-ounce bottle of cranberry juice. Ferrante then got out of his car holding the two nearly empty bottles and stumbled toward a Dumpster, police said.

Police said Ferrante nearly fell while doing field sobriety tests. There is no indication in court papers that he took a Breathalyzer test.

Ferrante was arrested at the scene and arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Peabody District Court, where Judge Richard Mori not only revoked his $5,000 bail in the child porn case but set additional bail of $500 in the drunken-driving case.

Ferrante is also charged with violating the city’s open container ordinance. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.

In November, he also pleaded not guilty to charges that he stored and shared child pornography on his home computer, which was connected to an online file-sharing service frequently used by pedophiles. Those charges came after an investigator from the Internet Crimes Against Children unit of the state police linked his IP address to one that was offering explicit images of boys.

He is due back in court on April 16 for a probable cause hearing in the child pornography case and a pretrial hearing in the drunken-driving case.

Officer Kyle James McCartin Arrested for Robbing Store

Tuscon Police Officer, Kyle James McCartin, was drunk and belligerent when he walked into a Giant Gas Station wearing his bullet proof vest and began pointing his pistol at the clerk.

Deputies were called to a Giant Gas Station and learned two men who appeared very intoxicated entered the store wearing bulletproof vests.

Authorities say one of the men pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the clerk twice.

The incident was caught on the gas station’s surveillance camera:

 YouTube Video of Incident

The fact that McCartin was drunk is irrelevant in this instance, however the fact that he assaulted a man with a firearm is not. The clerk did not know what these two drunk idiots in bullet proof vests intentions were.

What would have happened if the gun would have gone off?

McCartin was subsequently fired and faced 1 count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a Class 3 Felony. He originally plead not guilty as he claimed to have no memory of the incident, luckily it was caught on camera.

In October of last year McCartin changed his plea to guilty.

Now on to your daily dose of above the law injustice. McCartin plead guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; a charge that carries a sentence of 2 to 21 years.

And exactly how many of those 2 to 21 years will he be serving behind bars? Zero.

Instead, his actions, like the majority of unjust actions committed by members of the state, will remain unaccountable.

Yes, McCartin, who drunkenly and negligently endangered the life of an innocent man will not see one hour behind bars.

Instead, his actions, like the majority of unjust actions committed by members of the state, will remain unaccountable.

Ask yourself this question. Had McCartin not been a cop, would he have spent time behind bars?

Yes, McCartin, who drunkenly and negligently endangered the life of an innocent man will not see one hour behind bars.
Instead, his actions, like the majority of unjust actions committed by members of the state, will remain unaccountable.
Ask yourself this question. Had McCartin not been a cop, would he have spent time behind bars?

Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/drunken-cop-caught-camera-pulling-gun-gas-station-clerk/#Z4TGHHhdKbM1fcOu.99

Yes, McCartin, who drunkenly and negligently endangered the life of an innocent man will not see one hour behind bars.

Officer Kenneth Bielik Charged with Disorderly Conduct

A Youngstown police officer is due in court this evening on charges of disorderly conduct and failure to desist after being arrested late Monday for allegedly interfering in the investigation of a fight at a gas station.

Kenneth Bielik, 29, of Austintown, was issued a summons on the charges following an incident at Sheetz gas sation at the corner of Mahoning Avenue and Route 46.

Youngstown Police Chief Robin Lees said Bielik is not on suspension because the investigation into the officer’s behavior just began and he wants to wait to see what happens in court.

According to a police report, Austintown officers were called to the gas station just after 11:30 p.m. Monday for a large fight. When they arrived, they saw a man, later identified as James Bielik, 31, shoving another man, Andrew Irwin, against a brick wall outside the gas station.

After seeing James Bielik shove Irwin a second time, officers ordered them to separate, and they complied. Irwin told officers he was confronted by James Bielik inside the store and was pushed out the double doors into the parking lot by James Bielik, who is the YPD officer’s brother.

Officers said James Bielik was very drunk and he told officers he thought Irwin was bothering his sister, which prompted the confrontation.

While Austintown officers were trying to interview James Bielik, Kenneth Bielik kept trying to interrupt despite repeated warnings to step away, the report states.

The report states that at one point, Kenneth Bielik yelled “I work for YPD. I am a police officer. What are you going to arrest me for?” Austintown officers noted in the report that Kenneth Bielik appeared very intoxicated, smelled strongly of alcohol and had glassy and bloodshot eyes.

After being told he would be arrested for disorderly conduct and obstructing official business if he did not walk away, Bielik had to be restrained by a friend, the report states.

As officers were trying to question a woman at the scene about what happened, Bielik continued to walk over and interject his comments. After being given several warnings and continuing his aggressive behavior, Austintown officers arrested Bielik for disorderly conduct and failure to desist.

At first, Bielik refused to be handcuffed, but he later complied, the report states. Once at the Austintown police station, Bielik calmed down and said he was upset because of a comment made toward his sister and he was defending her, the report states.

James Bielik was issued a summons for disorderly conduct after Irwin refused to press charges for assault, the report states.

Officer Richardo Rodriguez Arrested for Public Intoxication

An Odessa Police Department officer has been placed on administrative leave after, the Odessa chief of police said, he was arrested and charged with public intoxication in a North Texas town.

Officer Richardo Rodriguez was placed on administrative leave with pay Tuesday after checking in with OPD’s internal affairs division, Odessa Police Chief Tim Burton said. Burton also said the department will be doing an internal investigation.

Rodriguez has been a patrol officer with the department since December 2012.
The arrest happened Saturday around 2:02 a.m. after Rowlett police officers were called out to a Whataburger at 8700 Lakeview Parkway in Rowlett, in reference to a driving while intoxicated call, Burton said. The driver of the vehicle, who was unknown as of press time, was charged with driving while intoxicated while Rodriguez was charged with public intoxication.

Public intoxication is defined by the Texas Penal code as “an offense if the person appears in a public place while intoxicated to the degree that the person may endanger the person or another.”

Attempts to get the police report from the arrest from the Rowlett Police Department were not successful Thursday.

Burton said placing officers on administrative leave pending a criminal charge was “standard procedure,” and that police officers should be held to a higher standard when it comes to following the law.

However, Burton said that in a department “made up of humans,” there are going to be times people make mistakes.

“Occasionally, with an organization this size, we’re going to have incidents,” Burton said.
Burton said he could not comment on what it takes for an officer to be dismissed from the police department, saying each case depends on “circumstances and the nature of the charges."

The incident is not the first time officers have showed up to a late-night call that involved Rodriguez.

On Jan. 27, Odessa Police officers were called to IHOP, 2973 JBS Parkway, in reference to a “disturbance” that involved Rodriguez, Maria Baeza and two other men.

One of those men, 38-year-old Jose Antonio Estrada, was charged with public intoxication and was treated at Medical Center Hospital, a previous Odessa American article stated.

The same article also stated 31-year-old Homer Gomez, of Decatur, was also charged and released on bond.

Rodriguez was not charged in connection to the case and was being investigated by the internal affairs investigation, a previous article stated.

Rodriguez was also investigated by the police department’s Professional Standards Unit in March after he and another officer, Cpl. Joshua Aguilar, reportedly illegally searched a home in the 100 block of West Mable Street and arrested a man they believed to be someone else.

Both officers were issued written reprimands and ordered to complete additional training.
Burton said while Rodriguez has been reported on in the news for several incidents, Odessa residents should not be quick to judge the department as a whole for the work they do because of one person’s actions.

Burton also said that it was too early to decide Rodriguez’s fate with the department, pending the outcome of both the internal and Rowlett investigation.

“We have to remember, a charge is just that,” Burton said. “Everyone is entitled to a fair and objective investigation as to what occurred.”

Officer Lauren Fanning Arrested for Intoxication

A Louisville Metro Police officer who is still on her probationary period with the department was arrested early Saturday following an incident at Molly Malone's Irish Pub on Shelbyville Road, police said.

Officer Lauren Fanning, 24, of Spring Hill Court in Crestwood, was booked into Metro Corrections at 3:29 a.m. Saturday, and released about five hours later on her own recognizance, according to jail records.

Fanning was charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place, second-degree disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, third-degree assault on a police officer and fourth-degree assault. She is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Monday.

Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said Fanning, who was hired in June 2009, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Mitchell said he wasn't sure what led to the charges against Fanning.

 

Officer Jamey Woods Arrested for Assault

A second deputy with the Chesapeake sheriff's department is out of a job after being arrested.

Jamey Ray Woods, 35, resigned from the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office on Wednesday morning, said Sgt. David Rosado, a spokesman for the office.

Woods, a deputy since August 1997, was arrested Saturday night at the Oceanfront after a confrontation with his girlfriend, said Officer Adam Bernstein, a Beach police spokesman. The incident occurred at 11 p.m., at the Quality Inn & Suites on Atlantic Avenue, the site of the Polar Plunge Festival Center earlier that afternoon. Woods was not involved with the event, which raises money every year for Special Olympics Virginia, event spokeswoman Holly Claytor said.

Woods was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault and public intoxication. He has been released on $2,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in General District Court on March 22.

Officer Michael Dawson Arrested for Public Intoxication

Oklahoma City police say an off-duty officer is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into his arrest on New Year's Day.

Authorities say Logan County sheriff's deputies found Michael Dawson crawling out of a wooded ditch along a rural road while intoxicated and clothed only in a T-shirt, shorts and a single shoe.

Oklahoma City police Capt. Patrick Stewart alleged Monday that Dawson, an 11-year veteran patrol officer, was drunk and kicked out the back window of the patrol car during the incident.

Stewart says he was booked into the Logan County jail on a misdemeanor public intoxication complaint. He has not been formally charged.

A deputy at the Logan County jail said Dawson was released from custody on Friday. She didn't know if Dawson had a lawyer.

Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com

Sgt Mike Dawson Arrested for Public Intoxication

An Oklahoma City police officer is arrested for an incident, early New Years Day. Sargent Mike Dawson was arrested for public intoxication. He's an 11-year veteran of the OCPD. Dawson was found walking a rural road in Logan County wearing a t-shirt and shorts. He said he had been in an argument with his girlfriend. Logan county sheriff's found no signs of a physical altercation, but they did notice he was drunk.

Captain Patrick Stewart with the OKC Police Department said, "At that time, while he was in the back seat of the vehicle he did kick the window out of the back seat of the patrol vehicle."

Dawson is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of Oklahoma City's investigation.

More Information

Homeland Security Officer Denise Bermudez Arrested for Public Intoxication

A 33-year-old employee of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested on New Year's Eve and charged with being intoxicated in public, as well as battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence.

Denise Bermudez was at the parking garage on Channelside Drive when a deputy saw her "causing a disturbance while she was intoxicated," according to a report by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

She grabbed the deputy's arm "in an aggressive manner" and disregarded commands to let go, the report states.

Former Officer Stevie Perry Shows Up at Jail Drunk

A former Detroit police officer who pleaded no-contest to stealing $27,000 from an auto-theft tip line showed up drunk Friday at the Wayne County Jail, where he is serving weekends, a prosecutor and jail officer told a judge today.

Wayne Circuit Judge David Groner was disturbed, especially after learning that Stevie Perry had also violated jail rules on Nov. 13 when he tried to sneak a cell phone,iPod and Tylenol pills into the jail in a sealed plastic bag in his underwear.

Perry, the department’s 2001 officer of the year, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor theft charge in October in exchange for dismissal of five felonies, if he agreed to make full restitution by his Jan. 27 sentencing date. As part of his deal, Perry was granted permission to begin serving his 32 days in jail on weekends before his sentencing date, and receive two years of probation.

A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such during sentencing.

Wayne County Sheriff’s Lt. Pat Owen, who oversees the jail’s work release and tether program, said Perry was visibly drunk when he was dropped off at the jail Friday. Groner said his blood alcohol level was more than double the legal limit of .08 for a Michigan motorist to be charged with drunken driving.

Owen said Perry was held in the jail’s segregation unit for the weekend and released at 9 pm. Sunday, as his agreement states.

Perry’s lawyer Paul Bernier said his client was very sorry for his actions.

“What he did was unacceptable and he knows that and he accepts that,” Bernier told Groner. “It did happen and he apologizes.”

Groner said he was also concerned that he never learned about the Nov. 13 jail violation, in which Perry was also placed in segregation for the weekend after trying to sneak in the cell phone and other items.

“I’m pretty amazed you would conduct yourself like that given the fact that you were a police officer all these years,” Groner said.

The judge also wondered whether Perry received special treatment due to his police officer status because the Nov. 13 violation never landed Perry in court.

“If the average Joe does something like that, I guarantee you I would have heard about it,” Groner said.

In the end, Groner ordered Perry to submit to Breathalyzer tests before he enters the jail each weekend. If he tests positive for alcohol of commits any other violations, Groner told Owen to hold him past the weekend.

Perry, who resigned as part of his plea deal, was accused of depositing reward checks from the tip line into his personal bank account between June 2007 and November 2008. As an officer, Perry investigated auto thefts.

Former Sheriff Mark Frisbie Arrested for Drunk Driving

Former Putnam County Sheriff Mark T. Frisbie was arrested late Friday.

Frisbie, 38, was booked into the Putnam County Jail and charged with misdemeanors operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and public intoxication, Sgt. Rich Myers of the Putnamville Post of the Indiana State Police said.

Frisbie was pulled over by Indiana State Police Trooper Michael Wood on U.S. 231 at Tennessee Street in Greencastle.

"He was driving erratically," Myers said. "He went off to the right on the road, then he went left of center. When he turned onto 231 from Veteran's Highway, the turn was abrupt."

Myers declined to reveal what Frisbie's exact blood alcohol content was at the time of the arrest.

"We don't release the results of testing," he said. "What I can say is that (Frisbie) was over the legal limit, which is .08 percent."

Frisbie was arrested without incident, Myers said.

Sgt. Tyler Turner of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department said Frisbie posted a $3,000 surety bond and was released from jail at about 5 p.m. Saturday.

"The reports had all been forwarded to the prosecutor," Turner said.

Frisbie is currently on federal probation. He was convicted in November 2008 of federal program theft, and entered the United States Penitentiary satellite camp in Atlanta, Ga. on Feb. 2. He was released from the camp on March 31, and served four months on home detention before beginning his two-year term of probation.

Frisbie could have been sentenced to 10 years and prison and been assessed a $250,000 fine for the federal charge. He pled guilty to that count in August 2008, a week after he resigned as Putnam County Sheriff.

Putnam County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Justin Long said he was unsure how the new charges would affect Frisbie's federal probation.

"That will be up to his federal probation officer," Long said. "In the grand scheme of things, these are pretty minor charges. They may not do anything."

Frisbie will be in Putnam County Circuit Court at 9 a.m. Wednesday for an initial hearing on the new charges.

Officer Christian Cathey Arrested for Drunk Driving

Police say an off-duty Memphis police officer was arrested for DUI after he drove into the gate of a driveway.

According to a police affidavit, 24-year-old Christian Cathey was driving a Jeep Wrangler when he hit the gate of a driveway in the 8400 block of U.S. Highway 70, early Friday morning, November 27, 2009. The police document states when officers arrived at the scene, Cathey was asleep in the driver’s seat of his running Jeep, parked in the backyard of the home.

Officers say in the police document, when they awoke Cathey, he had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech and smelled of alcohol. Cathey told officers that he drank four cups of beer earlier Thursday evening. Police say Cathey performed poorly on a field sobriety test and refused to take a blood alcohol test.

Cathey has been charged with Driving Under the Influence and Public Intoxication.

According to a Memphis police spokesperson, “Officer Cathey has been routinely relieved of duty until further investigation.”

Chief Randy Rizzo Arrested for Public Intoxication

Atlantic Beach police chief Randy Rizzo admitted he drank ''too many beers'' and that led to his arrest Wednesday morning by Horry County officers outside a pool hall.

Rizzo, 39, of Conway was charged with public disorderly/public intoxication and was later was suspended from his position, according to Town Manager William Booker.

''That officer had every right to charge me,'' Rizzo said. ''I'm guilty. I'm not going to deny the fact. I'll pay like anyone else.''

Rizzo was arrested soon after the officer, Scott Calderwood, saw Rizzo drive his truck in a parking lot. Rizzo said he told the officer he was moving his vehicle to a safer place and had called his wife to pick him up, but got a verbal altercation with another officer that led to his arrest.

''I was trying to be a good Samaritan and not do anything illegal,'' Rizzo said. ''Unfortunately the officer got upset with me.''

Rizzo was booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center at 3:04 a.m. and released at 4:03 a.m. after posting $262 bail.

Booker said he spoke with Rizzo on Wednesday morning before suspending him.

''He told me he was guilty of having too much to drink,'' Booker said. ''He said he was guilty. People here are pretty disappointed this happened.''

Atlantic Beach Town Councilman Donnell Thompson said ''wow'' when he learned of Rizzo's arrest.

''I would expect Booker to make the right decision,'' Thompson said of Rizzo's future.

It was not immediately known if Rizzo will be paid during the suspension, Booker said. ''I'm leaning toward it being unpaid,'' Booker said.

Booker said he plans to talk with Horry County officials before determining the length of the suspension.

''They just have to determine if I can do this job because of this charge,'' Rizzo said.

Despite telling officers at the scene he was drinking, Rizzo was not given a field sobriety test at the scene, said Sgt. Robert Kegler of Horry County police.

''The officer made the decision he made,'' Kegler said. ''Not every traffic stop is the same.''

The suspension leaves Atlantic Beach with three police officers. Booker said he would speak to the officers before determining if the town needs to ask Horry County police for patrol assistance.

Calderwood reported he saw Rizzo walking from Break Room Billiards to the parking lot of the Food Lion at the intersection of S.C. 544 and Myrtle Ridge Road at 1:45 a.m., according to an incident report.

Rizzo was ''extremely unsteady on his feet and appeared almost to fall,'' the report shows.

Rizzo entered a Dodge Ram truck near the Sonic on S.C. 544 when Calderwood approached Rizzo. Rizzo closed the truck door, started the vehicle and drove it to Break Room Billiards, the officer reported.

Calderwood reported that he asked Rizzo if he had too much to drink and Rizzo replied, ''No.''

Rizzo began slurring his words and told the officer he had been drinking.

Rizzo asked Calderwood twice if he knew who he was and the officer replied that he did and that ''it didn't matter,'' the report shows.

The report shows that Rizzo told Calderwood he would call his wife to pick him up, but later Rizzo got back in the truck and drove past the officer's vehicle.

Rizzo disputes he was in his vehicle twice and that's what led to the argument and his arrest.

''I didn't get in my vehicle twice,'' Rizzo said. ''I may have gone out once to get cigarettes or something.''

Rizzo said he was moving his truck closer to Break Room Billiards because he felt it would be safer there overnight.

The officer reported that he stopped the vehicle in the parking lot and that Rizzo attempted to exit. Rizzo was asked if he was carrying a ''duty weapon,'' the report shows.

The officer's supervisor arrived and Rizzo became ''loud and upset'' before he was arrested.

Calderwood reported that Rizzo asked ''why I was doing this to him.''

''I would have charged me just like anyone else,'' Rizzo said.

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

Reserve Officer Adam Goldstein Arrested for Being Drunk in Squad Car

A Lawrence Township school board member has been dismissed as a Fortville reserve police officer after driving a squad car in full uniform while allegedly drunk.

Adam Goldstein, 39, of Geist, an unpaid officer in training in Fortville, was charged with public intoxication at the Geist Marina early Sunday morning and later charged preliminarily with drunk driving, police and the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office said today.

Goldtstein and his wife, Karen, were stopped by an Indiana Department of Natural Resources officer while boating on the reservoir at 11 p.m. Saturday and cited for failing to have working navigational lights, said Conservation Officer Dave Dungan.

Apparently angry at the citation, Goldstein drove home, put on his police uniform and gun, then drove to the Fortville police station, where he took a squad car, Fortville Police Sgt. Derek Shelley said. No one else was at the station at the time.

He drove the car to the Geist Marina to confront the DNR officer who ticketed him, became unruly and was arrested for public intoxication, Shelley said.

Dungan said he gave Goldstein a breathalyzer test, which he failed, and he was later charged with drunk driving.

Goldstein was elected to his first term on the school board in 2008. He is also the former owner of Automotive Service Group in Lawrence. He began his reserve officer training Feb. 28 and was in the field training segment, in which he rode around with a full-time officer on patrol.

Training officers have keys to the squad cars, Shelley said.

Sgt. Mark Lykken, Deptuy Justin Krohmer & Mother Arrested at Kenny Chesney Concert

A sheriff's deputy and his mother face charges of disorderly conduct after the deputy vomited on people at a Kenny Chesney concert in Fargo and refused to leave, authorities say. Police Sgt. Mark Lykken said Stark County Deputy Justin Krohmer, 26, and his mother, Susan, 47, whose husband is the Ada, Minn., police chief, were arrested after the Saturday night incident.

Lykken said Justin Krohmer was asked to leave the Fargodome about 11 p.m. Saturday after vomiting on people in front of him, but he refused to do so.

Susan Krohmer is accused of pulling and pushing officers, screaming profanities and of trying to prevent an officer from escorting her son out of the concert.

Justin Krohmer appeared in Fargo municipal court Monday and his mother appeared Tuesday. Both face another hearing July 2.

Justin Krohmer joined the Stark County Sheriff's Department on Dec. 15 at an annual salary of $39,621, said Kay Haag, the county's deputy auditor. Earlier, he was a McLean County deputy.

No phone listing was available for Krohmer and he could not be reached for comment. The number for Susan Kromer was unlisted, and a message at her husband's office was not returned.

Stark County Sheriff Clarence Tuhy said that as of Tuesday, Justin Krohmer was still a deputy and he had no reports on the Fargo incident.

"I'm waiting for reports so I can review them, " the sheriff said.

Officer Kenneth Kapton Accused of Firing Gun into Air While Drunk

A Swissvale police officer resigned after being accused of firing a gun into the air behind his Penn Hills residence while intoxicated.

Kenneth Kapton, 57, handed in his letter of resignation to Swissvale Council on Wednesday night.

Kapton is charged with two counts of prohibited acts related to marijuana police seized from his home, disorderly conduct and violating a municipal ordinance prohibiting firearms and air guns, according to a criminal complaint.

Following the May 7 incident, Kapton underwent a psychological evaluation and was placed on administrative leave, officials said.

Kapton is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on July 6.

Dallas Chief Fires 4 Officers

Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle fired four police officers Monday morning, including a lieutenant who internal investigators concluded made a series of heated, profanity-laced calls to Waxahachie school officials.

Kunkle has fired 66 officers since he became chief in June 2004.

Dallas police Lt. Paul Wisdom's troubles began last May when he used a city phone to leave a profane message for David Nix, the principal of Waxahachie High School. Nix told investigators that he had a previous confrontation with Wisdom and that he was concerned about his and his wife's safety.

Wisdom told investigators that he didn't intend the message as a threat but only to express his displeasure.

Internal investigators concluded that he violated department policy when he used a city phone to leave a profane and intimidating message while on duty. In September, Wisdom was told he'd be suspended for three days over the incident.

On the same day that Wisdom received that suspension, he left another series of profane and intimidating messages for Nix and other school officials, police records show.

Wisdom told investigators that he made the second round of calls after his supervisor gave him a copy of the criminal trespass warning that had been issued by the school district. He also said he regretted the profanity he used in the voice mail, but said he felt like he had been baited into making the phone calls.

"I'm very disappointed in Chief Kunkle's lack of judgment and foresight," Wisdom said Monday after he was fired.

His wife, Velmea Wisdom, says her husband is being treated unfairly and that there are other officers, including supervisors, in the department who have done worse things and haven't lost their jobs.

She is a former Dallas police officer who is currently running for the Waxahachie school board.

Also fired:

•Police Officer Daniel Hageman, who was indicted last month after being accused of shooting at a woman's vehicle in Garland in what prosecutors say was a road-rage incident. Hageman, hired in 2001, is charged with deadly conduct in the May 2008 incident, a third-degree felony.

He has denied firing his weapon at the car. "I'm being falsely accused," he said in a brief interview after being fired. "I don't want that job back. I think the chances of me appealing are pretty slim."

•Senior Cpl. James Sims, 45, was fired after internal investigators concluded that he didn't pay his debts and that hot checks were written on his bank accounts. Two landlords obtained civil judgments against him after hot checks were written for his rent, records show.

Sims told internal investigators that he was having financial trouble and that he did not write all of the checks. He also stated that he unknowingly wrote hot checks on a closed account.

Sims said he plans to appeal his firing but declined to comment further. He was hired in 1988.

•Officer Jeffrey Fowler faces a felony charge of intoxication assault for an incident last month in which Fowler hit another car while driving near the intersection of Midway Road and Bonham Street. Takiyan Brown, a passenger in his pickup, was critically injured, suffering fractures to her skull, pelvis, ribs and spine as well as a lacerated kidney and liver, court records state.

When police arrived at the scene of the accident, Fowler smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes, slurred his speech and was unsteady on his feet, records state.

In mid-January, Fowler was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication while he was off duty and riding in a vehicle that was involved in an accident in the Oak Lawn area on his 28th birthday. He was hired in 2007.

Fowler declined to comment.
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http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Dallas-Police-Chief-Fires-Misbehaving-Officers.html

Judge Felts Recieves PULBIC REPRIMAND for Pleading Guilty to Drunk Driving

The Indiana Supreme Court has decided a public reprimand is the appropriate disciplinary action for Allen Circuit Court Judge Thomas J. Felts who pleaded guilty to drinking and driving last year.

July 18, 2008 Judge Felts was arrested in Marion County for Operating a Motor Vehicle with an alcohol content of at least .15, which is a misdemeanor. He was also arrested for public intoxication, also a misdemeanor.

In August, Judge Felts plead guilty to the OWI charge and the state dropped the public intoxication charge. A judge sentenced Felts to one year in jail and suspended the sentence for the time served. Judge Felts was also ordered to serve one year probation, have his driver's license suspended for 90 days and attend alcohol treatment.

Judge Felts could have faced a suspension or even lost his seat on the bench.

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http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=9992373