Chicago cop faces charges in beating

A Chicago Police officer has been relieved of his duties after allegedly severely beating two patrons at a north suburban lounge early Saturday morning.

The off-duty officer, Gerald Callahan, 42, was charged with two counts of battery after fleeing the scene of the alleged attack at Chambers Seafood Grill & Chop, at 6881 N. Milwaukee. in Niles.

Callahan has a history of alleged erratic behavior -- keeping his job only after the Police Board rejected former Police Supt. Phil Cline's move to dismiss him in 2006 for threatening his fellow officers.

Niles police were called to the restaurant at about 1:50 a.m. Callahan had fled, police there said. But he was arrested a few blocks away at 2:30 a.m. Sources told WLS-Channel 7 he was found by Niles police passed out in bushes.

Niles police said Saturday night that Callahan had attacked a 61-year-old Morton Grove man and a 50-year-old Niles woman.

"According to ... witnesses, Callahan attacked the two victims for no apparent reason," Niles police Sgt. Tom Davis said.

The man suffered lacerations and bruises to his head and face, while the woman suffered lacerations on her arm and lip, Niles police said.

The incident raises the specter of several incidents in the last year in which Chicago Police officers have been accused in alleged bar brawls or of beating people -- including the infamous February 2007 videotaped beating of a female bartender by a brawny officer.

Police Supt. Jody Weis had looked forward to closure on the bar beating saga, which he called "a very, very sad chapter" for the department.

After Callahan was arrested, the suburban department learned he was a Chicago Police officer.

"The Chicago Police Department was notified," Davis said.

Chicago Police officials said late Saturday night that Callahan was relieved of his police powers and the incident is under investigation.

In 2006, Cline had sought Callahan's dismissal for a 2004 incident in which he allegedly threatened several other officers, allegedly saying he would dump them in a garbage can, and swearing he would rip one officer's "f---ing head off."

Released on bond after the Niles incident, Callahan is due in court at 9 a.m. on June 17.

Detroit Police Officer arrested after High Speed Chase

An off duty Detroit Police officer, who was allegedly driving drunk on his motorcycle led police on a high-speed chase that ended in a crash.

Police said the officer was spotted weaving through traffic on his motorcycle at high speeds. When police attempted to stop him, the driver accelerated to speeds above 100 miles per hour, ran traffic signals and led them on a chase.

The officer lost control of the motorcycle and crashed near Grand River and Telegraph Road on the city's northwest side. He was not seriously injured.

The officer was arrested and faces drunken driving charges.

Police are not released the officers name. However, the officer confirmed to police that he has been on an unpaid suspension, but he did not say for how long.

NYPD sergeant accused of Molesting Boy

A sergeant assigned to New York City's Police Academy has been jailed on $500,000 bond after being charged with sexually preying on a child for six years.

Manhattan prosecutors said Friday that 38-year-old Jaime Katz is charged with criminal sex act and endangering the welfare of a child.

Katz is a 10-year police veteran and a former president of the Gay Officers Action League.

Prosecutor's spokeswoman Jennifer Kushner says the abuse began when the boy was 12.

Kushner says some of the encounters occurred in Katz's Rockland County house and at a relative's home in Bergen County, N.J.

Katz's lawyer, Andrew Quinn, did not immediately return a call for comment.

His next court appearance is May 21.

Oklahoma Teen Bitten Between Legs By K9 Cop

Oklahoma City police are facing allegations of brutality, after a 15-year-old boy claims officers used a K-9 to help arrest him and then bite him between his legs.

15-year-old Mark Adkins is now facing several charges after taking a joy ride in stolen car and getting into a short pursuit with police in southwest Oklahoma city. But along with the charges he's now facing an uphill battle with his health after being captured by a K-9 officer that tore away flesh along with his scrotum.

Mark says "the doctors told me they didn't think they would be able to stitch me back together."

Mark's mother, Michelle, says "he was in trauma for 7 to 9 days and I've just never seen anything like this done to a minor."

Capt. Steve McCool of the Oklahoma City Police Department says "obviously they're not trained to bite in this particular area of the body."

Officers say Mark was not handcuffed when the dog attacked, and claim the animal was just doing what it was trained to do.

Capt. Steve McCool says "you had the officer on top of the individual, they're on the ground, the guy's resisting, the dog is trying to assist the handler with this aggressive behavior the best he can."

Mark says "I can't explain how painful it was. It was like being tied up and eaten alive."

But Mark says he was no longer resisting. His mother now hopes legal action will help the police admit they were wrong.

Michelle says "there are some good officers out there and there are some bad ones, but I think in order to clean it up let these officers take responsibility for what they do to the public."

Police are still investigating the incident and as of Thursday, neither the dog nor his handler has faced any disciplinary action.

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Of course they are not going to recieve any disciplinary action. In their eyes the kid deserved what he got and they are probably still laughing about what happened. Personaly I don't think dogs should be allowed to attact another person because some lazy ass cop didn't want to take the bad guy down using his own strength.
I hope he sues and wins!!

Boston Officer Sentenced to 26 Years

Roberto "Kiko'' Pulido, the rogue Boston police officer who enlisted two fellow patrolman in a brazen scheme to escort trucks bringing cocaine into the city, was sentenced today to 26 years in federal prison by a judge who said the defendant had disgraced his badge.

"The people who wear that badge have a sense of honor,'' US District Judge William G. Young said, staring at Pulido, the ringleader of one of the most notorious police corruption scandals in recent Boston history. "You are ... dead to that sense of honor.''

The sentence was what a federal prosecutor had sought and six years longer than that recommended by Pulido's public defender, who said her client's abuse of steroids contributed to his crimes.

Pulido, who pleaded guilty in the middle of his trial in November to drug trafficking charges, apologized to both the Boston Police Department and the MBTA Transit Police, of which he had previously been a member.

"It was my lifelong goal to be a Boston police officer,'' said Pulido, wearing a khaki-colored jumpsuit and white sneakers. "No one is more disappointed than myself.''

Two rows of the courtroom were filled with supporters and relatives of Pulido. Most of them wore white T-shirts emblazoned with a photograph of a smiling Pulido beneath the words "Kiko We Love You.''

Michael K. Loucks, the first assistant US attorney in Massachusetts, who watched another federal prosecutor argue for the harsh punishment, said afterward that Pulido "deserves every second of that sentence.''

Pulido's guilty plea came on the fourth day of his trial in US District Court in Boston, capping an extraordinary police corruption scandal whose reverberations are still being felt.

In the previous two days, jurors heard a swaggering, expletive-spewing Pulido in two dozen conversations secretly recorded by the FBI as part of a carefully constructed sting that began in late 2003 and culminated with the arrests of Pulido and fellow officers Carlos Pizarro and Nelson Carrasquillo in July 2006. All three officers belonged to a police motorcycle unit.

Pulido and the two officers plotted an audacious scheme with men they thought were drug dealers to protect trucks that brought 140 kilograms of cocaine to Boston. The three officers did not know that the drug dealers were undercover FBI agents and that the cocaine had previously been seized by the government.

On April 23, 2006, Pulido and Carrasquillo monitored Police Department radio channels while a transfer of 40 kilograms of cocaine took place at a garage on Washington Street with the undercover FBI agents, according to prosecutors.

Then on June 8, 2006, the three police officers guided a truck containing about 100 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated wholesale value of more than $2 million from Western Massachusetts to the city, prosecutors said. The officers were paid a total of $51,000 by FBI agents posing as drug dealers.

The three officers were arrested in Miami in July 2006 by federal agent. Shortly before the arrests, the officers had arranged a deal to protect another shipment of 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and five kilograms of heroin.

The secret tape-recordings also featured Pulido allegedly running numerous other rackets involving identity fraud, fraudulently obtained store gift cards, steroid sales, and prostitution. Pulido was never charged in those schemes.

Jurors also saw a surveillance photograph of Pulido in a congratulatory embrace of an undercover agent posing as a drug dealer called Big Manny in an Atlantic City casino. Pulido hugged the phony drug dealer after receiving a softball-sized wad of $15,000 that bulged in his pocket.

Although the government had only presented part of its case against Pulido, the tapes and photographs had already made the defendant seem more like a grade B movie crime boss than a crimefighter.

Pulido pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and 1 kilogram of heroin and two counts of attempting to aid and abet the distribution of the cocaine. He pleaded no contest to a fourth charge of carrying a gun in a drug-trafficking crime.

In a Globe interview from a New Hampshire jail shortly after his plea, Pulido said he was pumped full of steroids when he suggested to undercover agents in Atlantic City that he knew a good way to transport cocaine into Boston.

He said a steroid addiction made him exaggerate many of the statements he made on the surveillance tapes and called many of his comments pure fantasy. In his mind at the time, he said, he was playing a role in a Hollywood movie. He even recited lines from "Training Day,'' the film about a corrupt officer.

"Anyone who knows me knows that I was acting,'' he said. "It was pure puffery.''

Pulido's co-defendants, Carrasquillo and Pizarro, were recently sentenced to 18 years and 13 years, respectively, after pleading guilty last year.

Authorities in March also charged an acquaintance of Pulido with helping to plant drugs and a gun on an innocent man and then breaking into his apartment to steal a safe containing $18,000 as part of a conspiracy with the rogue officer.

In addition, as many as a dozen Boston police officers have been summoned before a federal grand jury investigating steroid use and after-hours parties -- an offshoot of the probe that led to the convictions of the three officers, three law enforcement officials familiar with the case told the Globe in March.

Officer Thomas Chickos Arrested for Helping Thief Steal

Former city police officer Thomas Chickos is accused of acting as a lookout while on duty as a friend stole some large equipment. The 26-year-old was a probationary officer at the time the thefts took place.

Shelton police say cell phone records linked Officer Chickos to 28-year-old Jason Dennis, who is accused of the thefts. Dennis has pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny in the thefts that occurred in May 2007.

Officer Chickos surrendered Monday night, and is free after posting a $5000 bail.

Chickos was still a probationary officer when he resigned in June 2007 before an internal affairs investigation.

Maricopa Police officer placed on unpaid administrative leave

A Maricopa Police officer arrested for allegedly having sex with three minors in Kings County has now been placed on unpaid administrative leave by the City of Maricopa.

But as we discovered, today's action is based on separate issues here in Kern County. The decision is based on the fact Ferguson has three temporary restraining orders against him from three different women in Kern County.

"If one is found and made a permanent restraining order, that could restrict him from carrying a firearm, he would be unable to perform his duties as an officer," said Maricopa Police Sgt. Louie Pennie.

The 30 year old has been on paid leave from the Maricopa Police Department since April 27Th, 2008. In a separate issue from Kern County, Ferguson is facing 12 felony counts of allegedly having sex with three minors in Kings County.

Ferguson remains in jail in Kings County with bail at $500,000. The temporary restraining order cases in Kern County are scheduled to be heard in court in Bakersfield next week.

NOPD Officer Arrested for Beating and Stealing from Citizens

A New Orleans police officer was arrested Thursday morning on charges he beat two people and stole a wallet while on duty.

Officer Rydell Diggs, 31, a seven-year veteran of the NOPD assigned to the 2nd District, was booked into the Orleans Parish jail on two counts of aggravated battery, one count of theft and one count of malfeasance in office, according to jail records.

The charges against Diggs allege that he committed aggravated battery with a police baton on a man and aggravated battery with pepper spray on a woman.

The charges resulted from a complaint brought to the Police Department's Public Integrity Bureau, the department's internal investigative unit, police said. The complainant accused the officer of taking $300 and beating the man during a traffic stop on Aug. 7, 2007, at Monroe and Hickory streets in West Carrollton.

Diggs was a patrolman assigned to the 2nd District, which covers a wide swath of Uptown. NOPD spokesman Bob Young said the time between the complaint and the charges are because of the extensive work required in developing the case.

"It took time to develop witnesses in the case," Young said.

As of Thursday, Diggs was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case and final review by the police superintendent, according to police.

The charges against Diggs have been accepted by the Orleans Parish district attorney, according to jail records. The case, however, has not been allotted to a criminal court judge and a court date has not been set.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office declined to comment.

Diggs' criminal case file was not available Thursday, according to the magistrate clerk's office.

He was released on his own recognizance Thursday via an order by Judge Laurie White, according to court records. That means he did not have to pay bail or show up for a first appearance in magistrate court.

Officer Sean Moran Fired after Being Charged With Attempted Murder

Duxbury

Sean Moran, who has been charged with assault and attempted murder on his girlfriend, a Milton police officer, has been fired from the Duxbury Police Department.

In Town Manager Richard MacDonald’s written decision to fire Moran, he stated that Moran violated the police department’s rules by committing acts that are arrestable offenses.

“In doing so, Officer Moran has made a mockery of his badge and the responsibilities it signifies,” MacDonald stated.

MacDonald went on to state that Moran’s actions undercut the reputation and morale of the department.

“The public cannot place confidence in police officers who themselves violate the standards to which they are required to apply to others,” he stated.

Moran, 30, was arrested Nov. 9 after he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend by smashing her head against a highway overpass fence and used his fists to smash the dashboard of the vehicle she was driving. At a dangerousness hearing in November, Norfolk County Judge Mark Coven ruled that Moran was a danger to his girlfriend and ordered him held without bail.

During the hearing, Quincy Police Sgt. Joseph Lencki testified that Moran’s girlfriend called a friend and stayed outside until the friend arrived because she was afraid of what he would do to her.

On Jan. 17, Moran was indicted by Norfolk County Superior Court on charges of intimidation of a witness, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (a gun), malicious destruction of property exceeding $250; three counts of assault and battery, and one count of threatening to commit a crime. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for the most serious charge, armed assault with intent to murder.

On Feb. 7, Moran pleaded not guilty to all charges. On May 5, he was released on $10,000 bail after the 90-day dangerousness statute under which he was being held expired. Prosecutors asked for bail to be set at $100,000 cash, but the court set bail at $10,000. Moran is required to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet on his ankle, and he will reside at his parents’ home in Duxbury.
Moran has been on administrative leave from the Duxbury Police Department since he was arrested, at which time the department immediately confiscated his badge and gun.

MacDonald based his findings for firing Moran on a document prepared from a hearing conducted by attorney Charles M. Sabatt, who MacDonald designated as the hearing officer for Moran’s disciplinary hearing.

Sabatt concluded that Moran committed four violations specified by Police Chief Mark DeLuca, leading to his finding that Moran’s actions granted punishment or dismissal. The four violations were conduct unbecoming of an officer, neglect of duty, criminal conduct and absence.

In his decision, MacDonald found the that first two items in Sabatt’s conclusion warranted enough reason for Moran’s dismissal, and that the other two items were not necessary to support to his decision that Moran violated department policy.

“My decision was based on the facts as presented to me by the hearing officer,” MacDonald said. “This whole situation is unfortunate.”

The first violation in Sabatt’s report stemmed from the incident which led to his arrest, and the second referred to an Oct. 18, 2007, incident in which Moran allegedly removed his girlfriend’s loaded duty weapon and threatened to kill her and kill her and himself if she reported the incident.

The third violation in Sabatt’s report cited further incidents of alleged abuse by Moran, and the final violation was Moran’s unexcused absence from his duties as a police officer while incarcerated. Sabatt stated that Moran’s incarceration was caused by his own misconduct, which does not excuse him from his duty.

A disciplinary hearing for Moran was held on Jan. 24, and continued on April 1 at the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office. Moran, who is due back in court June 17 at 2 p.m., has the right to appeal his firing.

Moran’s lawyer, Daniel O’Malley, could not be reached for comment.

FBI Agent Says Police Officer Feared Being Labeled a 'RAT'

Arthur Bruce Tesler said he didn't object to lies to get a search warrant and helped cover up the crime after an innocent woman was killed, because he feared retribution from Atlanta police if he became a "rat," an FBI agent said Tuesday.

"He said in 2003 he had tried to report an officer who was involved in excessive force," FBI Agent Joe Robuck told the Fulton County jury Tuesday. "All that resulted in his co-workers thinking of him as a rat and Mr. Tesler being transferred to a less desirable position in the Atlanta Police Department."

The prosecution rested at noon in Tesler's trial in Superior Court. where he faces charges including lying in an official investigation and violating his oath of office for his role in the narcotics raid that resulted in the death of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston on Nov. 21, 2006.

Tesler's two co-defendants, Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith, have already pleaded guilty.

They faced more serious charges, including murder, and agreed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

They have not yet been sentenced. Junnier testified last week and his sentence of up to 10 years is dependant on his cooperation.

He testified that Tesler, 42, participated in the coverup but he wasn't the main instigator of the illegal warrant or the coverup scheme, which Junnier blamed on Smith. In a surprise, the prosecution did not call Smith to testify.

FBI agent Robuck was the main witness Tuesday morning and he described a coverup that reached above Tesler and his two co-defendants. The three detectives briefed their sergeant, Wilbert Stallings, that they were changing their story about which officers witnessed an informant buying crack cocaine at Johnston's house at 933 Neal Street after Johnston was shot to death by narcotics unit officers.

"Sgt. Stallings was told there had been a change in the story and his comment, according to the investigation was, was 'Just pick one and stick to it," Robuck said.

The FBI agent described a police narcotics division that repeatedly lied to get warrants and planted evidence in investigations. Stallings, 44, was later convicted and is in prison on charges from another drug investigation that was turned up during the FBI investigation of the Neal Street case.

Robuck interviewed Tesler twice in the FBI investigation of police actions in getting a no-knock warrant to search for a reputed large stash of cocaine owned by a drug dealer, named "Sam," whom police believe operated from 933 Neal Street.

They had arrested a low-level dealer earlier that day who they said claimed to have seen a kilo of cocaine – 2.2 pounds — in the house that day, Nov. 21, 2006.

Instead, Johnston was waiting with a gun when officers broke down her door without announcing they were police. She fired one shot and was killed in a massive return fire.

Tesler, who was covering the back of the house and did not fire his pistol, was so shaken by the killing that he couldn't write his report, Robuck said.

Tesler told such a detailed lie about how he and his partners met with informant Alex White in the afternoon of the raid that he came across as very credible, Robuck said.

"His demeanor was very convincing," the FBI agent said.

The story matched the one that had been told by his partners. Smith, who lied to the magistrate to get the warrant, prepared a script for the detectives to go over to get their stories straight in the days following the shootings, Robuck said.

"Did you ever give [Tesler] a chance to come clean and tell the truth?" prosecutor Peter Odom asked Robuck of the first FBI interview with Tesler on Dec. 7, 2006.

"He said he didn't think there was anything he wanted to correct," Robuck said.

But White, the informant, had contacted the FBI to tell them he was being pressured to lie for the officers and Junnier, unknown to Tesler and Smith, soon confessed to the FBI.

On Dec. 21, 2006, Tesler told the FBI he would cooperate and gave them a lengthy interview after the holidays on Jan. 4, 2007.

Tesler said he went along with the cover-up story — that a reliable drug buy had been made at the house earlier this day — because "he was the low man on the totem pole," Robuck said.

"Did he ever express the concern that no one would believe him over a senior member of the team?" asked Tesler's lawyer, William McKenney, who was at the interview.

"He did say that," Robuck said.

Tesler said he knew Smith had lied to get the warrant when it was read to the eight-member narcotics team shortly before it raided the Johnston house.

He blamed Smith for planting marijuana in Johnston's basement to help justify the raid and claimed he had shaken his head "No" and walked out of the basement when Smith showed him the dope.

But he acknowledged going along with Smith's claim that cocaine seized from the low-level dealer earlier that day had been the cocaine bought from the Johnston house.

Tesler also was with Smith when they destroyed the rest of the marijuana seized earlier in the day at a different location because part of it was planted at Johnston's house and the samples could be linked through testing, Robuck said.

"They destroyed evidence," Odom said.

"Correct," Robuck said.

Mexico Officer Kills Federal Officer

A police officer and four other people with suspected ties to a powerful drug cartel have been arrested in the assassination of Mexico's acting federal police chief, authorities said Monday.

The three men and two women belonged to a criminal cell believed to be acting on the orders of the Sinaloa drug cartel, said Gerardo Garay, the anti-drug coordinator for the federal police. The drug trafficking organization had been a key target of operations led by Edgar Millan Gomez, who was gunned down inside his Mexico City home last week.

The alleged leader of the cell, Jose Antonio Montes Garfias, had been assigned to a federal police unit in the northern state of Sinaloa since February but never reported to work during that period because he was on medical leave, Garay said. He is suspected in the killing of another federal officer days before Millan's death.

Officials at the attorney general's office could not say if lawyers had been assigned to the five suspects.

Garay refused to say if other federal officers were suspected of involvement, saying only that investigators were not ruling out any possibilities.

Millan was the highest-ranking of four senior officers killed since May 1 in attacks the government has blamed on gangs resisting its crackdown against drug trafficking. The assassinations have prompted stepped up calls from the Bush administration for Congress to approve a US$1.4 billion (euro910 million) proposal to help fight drug crime in Mexico and Central America.

Garay said a lone hit man waited inside Millan's Mexico City home and sprayed him with bullets shortly after the officer opened the door and turned on the lights. Millan's bodyguards immediately captured the alleged hit man, Alejandro Ramirez, who was found with keys to Millan's apartment. The other four suspects were tracked down hours later, Garay said.

Millan was responsible for coordinating drug trafficking operations between federal police and soldiers. He had recently announced the arrest of 12 suspected hit men tied to the Sinaloa cartel. He was named acting chief March 1 after his superior was promoted to a deputy Cabinet position.

Garay said Montes had suspected ties to top Sinaloa cartel leaders known as the Beltran Leyva brothers, although he refused to give any evidence, citing security reasons. One of the brothers, Alfredo Beltran Leyva, was arrested in Sinaloa state in January.

Montes was found with a list of license plates of five vehicles belonging to federal police commanders, including Roberto Bravo Velasco, an inspector gunned down in front of his home days before Millan was killed.

Before being assigned to Sinaloa, Montes had worked as an anti-drug officer in Mexico City's International Airport, Garay said. He had a notebook with detailed information on drug trafficking at the airport, and Garay said federal investigations into those operations may have been a key motive for Millan's killing.

The other three suspects were accused of providing logistical help for the plot, including vehicles and radios.

Since taking office in 2006, President Felipe Calderon has sent more than 25,000 troops to drug hotspots. Cartels have responded with unprecedented violence, beheading police and killing soldiers. Drug-related violence killed more than 2,500 people last year alone in Mexico.

The Bush administration reiterated its appeal Monday for Congress to approve the law enforcement aid package known as the Merida Initiative.

"We are shocked by the escalating violence against Mexican law enforcement officials," said U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, calling recent attacks "a brutal reaction to President Calderon's determination to fight organized crime."

Officer Jeff Pelo on trial for Rape

Four times between the winters of 2002 and 2005, a blue-eyed man wearing a ski mask and dark clothes crept quietly into the bedrooms of women in Bloomington, Ill., and raped them.

He told the women — all in their 20s and single — that he'd studied them, tracking their habits. He threatened one woman's family if she resisted, reciting their address lest she doubt he knew where to find them.

"I've been watching you," prosecutors say the rapist told another victim as he held a knife to her throat on a December night in 2002.

On Monday, jury selection is expected to begin in the trial of the man prosecutors say was the attacker: Jeff Pelo, a 17-year veteran of the Bloomington Police Department and married father of three.

Pelo, 43, who has pleaded not guilty, faces 28 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and four counts of home invasion. If convicted of all the charges, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

His lawyers have argued that police have held the wrong man behind bars the past 22 months.

They say the charges are based on shaky identifications from women who saw only a man in a ski mask in their darkened bedrooms and who were asked more than a year later to identify him.

Prosecutor Mark Messman and defense attorney Mike Rosenblat of Chicago declined to discuss evidence or other details of the case as they prepared for trial, saying they didn't want to further complicate the process of seating a jury.

The rapes were scattered over 26 months, the first occurring in December 2002, the next in April 2003 and the last two in January 2005. There was little initial indication that they might be connected, only speculation.

"There was talk, but it seems like anytime there was talk, something else would happen, would shift the focus away from it," Messman recalled.

But in December 2005, after an FBI report found strong similarities between the crimes, Bloomington police asked the public for help catching the man they came to believe was a serial rapist.

In June 2006, Pelo, a well-paid sergeant at the time, was arrested and charged with attempted burglary, after another woman called police to report a late-night prowler.

Police say that when an officer found Pelo on foot outside the house just after midnight, he tried to walk away until the officer drew his gun.

"He had a blank stare on his face," Officer David Ziemer testified during one court hearing. "I was yelling 'Stop!' and he wasn't complying with me. I thought it was going to be a deadly force situation."

Pelo finally did stop, and told the officer he was in the neighborhood looking for a house to buy his mother-in-law. The house where he was arrested wasn't for sale.

Pelo faced burglary and stalking charges, but a month later the other charges were added after three of the four women identified Pelo from photos as their attacker. Two of them also said his voice was that of the man who'd raped them.

Pelo has been in jail since, held on $1 million bond. He continued to receive his $81,000-a-year salary until he resigned last November.

After he was charged, his wife, Rickielee, told reporters: "I know without any doubt in my heart that my husband is completely innocent of all these charges."

Messman said there are inherent problems in convincing a jury that a longtime police officer is capable of the sort of vicious, calculated crimes Pelo is charged with committing.

That said, "There are things about him being a police officer that make it more likely that he did," Messman said.

Messman declined to elaborate, but court records indicate that investigators believe Pelo used personal information from police reports and databases to stalk the women.

Other evidence includes a bag containing a ski mask, rope and a pry bar that investigators found in the home where the Pelos lived when he was arrested. Police have said the gear appears to have been used in at least one of the attacks.

Another police search turned up pornographic images of bondage and rape on Pelo's home computer.

The FBI and State Police have tested a human hair found on a pillow case in the bedroom of one of the women, a hair attached to a piece of duct tape used to bind one woman, and cat hair found on the ski mask taken from Pelo's garage.

Ex-police officer arrested on kidnapping, assault charges

A former Pearl River police officer has been arrested on charges of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend and taking her forcefully for a drive in his car last Friday.

According to Pearl River Police Chief Bennie Raynor, ex-policeman Joseph Ciruti Jr. broke into the apartment of his ex-girlfriend, held her at gunpoint, handcuffed and shackled her before forcing her into his car and driving her around Slidell.

Raynor said the girlfriend eventually convinced Ciruti to let her go and to check into a hospital for psychiatric help.

When Ciruti got out of the hospital, Raynor said he was arrested.

Ciruti is in the St. Tammany Parish jail in Covington on charges of second-degree kidnapping, aggravated burglary and aggravated assault.

Officer Fratticcioli Arrested for Distribution of Prescription Drugs

Officer Nicholas A. Fratticcioli who recently graduated from the Trenton Police Academy has been suspended after his arrest on official misconduct and distribution of a prescription drugs.

The 24-year-old was arrested Wednesday night at the city’s police headquarters. He is accused of distributing more than 100 doses of muscle relaxants.

He has been suspended without pay, and is free on a $25,000 bond.

Officer Charles Porter Beats Boy Severely

Officer Charles Porter, a 12-year veteran of the Denver Police Department was arrested Thursday on a felony charge of second degree assault after using excessive force against a 16-year-old boy.

The teenager, Juan "Willie" Vasquez suffered a lacerated liver, broken ribs, kidney injuries and still has a tube in his back.

He has also had two surgeries. A Denver Health physician said Vasquez sustained, "serious bodily injury to his internal organs."

Vasquez claims when he was lying on the ground, an officer stood on his back and jumped up an down three to five times causing him pain.

Lt. Ronald Saunier said that an investigation into the excessive-force case is ongoing and that a decision on formal charges is not expected from the Denver district attorney's office until later this week.

The Denver chapter of the Latino Peace Officers Association, which is composed of more than 80 Denver police officers, has asked Police Chief Gerry Whitman to turn the case over to the FBI for investigation of possible civil-rights violations.

Porter, who has declined comment, has had a past discipline issue.

Safety Manager Al LaCabe last year suspended Porter for 30 days without pay for failing to notify police dispatchers that his partner had shot a suspect on March 29, 2007. A police supervisor eventually made the proper notifications in that case.

Independent monitor Richard Rosenthal, who oversees police internal investigations, had pushed for a harsher penalty for the failure to notify dispatch of the shooting.

In a report on the incident, Rosenthal, without naming Porter, said he thought a harsher penalty of a 60-day suspension was warranted, in part, because Porter originally made a misleading statement to the dispatcher that he and his partner were investigating a one-car crash even after the shots had been fired.

"The officer was deceptive in his communication with dispatch, incomplete in his communication with his supervisor and, as such, put numerous lives in danger," Rosenthal wrote in the report. "In addition, his actions had a negative impact on the integrity of a well- thought out and long-standing officer-involved shooting investigation protocol."

For the recent assault allegations, Porter was booked by the Denver Sheriff Department and posted bond Thursday.

Durant Officer Arrested for Burglary

Police Officer Lieutenant Johnny Rutherford has been arrested for second degree burglary.

On Tuesday a warrant was issued for Officer Rutherford arrest after the OSBI uncovered Rutherford may have been involved in a burglary at Morrison Drugs back in November.

Rutherford is also facing misdemeanor charges after court papers show he broke into his brother-in-law's home, a crime his brother-in-law says was never formally reported.

Dewayne Wingfield, Rutherford's brother-in-law, says, "I called police whenever the incident happened, but I did not do anything beyond that. I filed no police report."

Lt. Rutherford had taken personal time for reasons not related to this crime. Now he's been place on administrative leave.

Lt. Rutherford he says he has not contacted an attorney yet, so he did not want to talk on camera. He also says he's not as bad as everyone is making him out to be.

Officer Rutherford is currently free on bond.

City officials refuse to talk about the arrest, and are keeping his name off the daily report being released to the media.

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Now don't all criminals say its not that bad?
Watch them try to sweep this one under the rug.

San Antonia Officer Breaks his Own Son’s Jaw

Police Officer Jorge Isaac Garcia has been charged with injury to his own disabled son.

According to the release from SAPD:

"The victim, the officer's son, was treated at a San Antonio hospital for a broken jaw. Through the investigation process, Cibolo Police applied for, and was granted, an arrest warrant, charging the officer."

"Officer Garcia was taken into custody by SAPD without incident, and then turned over to Cibolo Police."

"Garcia will be placed on administrative duty, pending the outcome of both the criminal and administrative investigation."


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Now WTF is wrong with this cop?!! Been taking a few to many steriods? What a Jackass!!

15 Philly Officers Beat Suspects

Philadelphia Police officers are investigating several of their own officers after a video surfaces showing several officers kicking and beating three suspects after being pulled from a car during a traffic stop.

The scenes were caught on tape by a TV helicopter crew on Monday. The footage shows three police cars stopping a car. About a dozen officers are seen gathering around the vehicle and pulling three men out. Some of the officers hold two of the men on the ground. Both are then kicked repeatedly, while one is seen being punched and struck with a baton. The third man is also pulled out and kicked.

The city's police commissioner on Tuesday said the video ''certainly does not look good'', but stressed the force did not want to ''rush to judgment''.

The officers were responding to a report of a shooting nearby, police said.

The commissioner told reporters that the suspects ''had been observed involved at a triple shooting at the time''.

Philadelphia officers have been on edge since Saturday, when an officer was fatally shot with an assault rifle after a robbery.

One of the robbery suspects was fatally shot by police, another was arrested on Sunday and a third remains on the run.

The officer was the third one slain on duty in the city in the last two years.

An attorney for one of the men said he did not know what preceded the traffic stop in the city's Hunting Park neighborhood, but that the video showed an unjustified police beating. He went on to say that police told him all three men would be charged with aggravated assault.

Video...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/07/police.beating/#cnnSTCVideo\

Police Officer Garry Ferguson Arrested for Forcible Rape of Under Aged Girls

A Maricopa Police Officer from Bakersfield, California has been arrested for sexual misconduct with three minors.

Lemoore police said they arrested Officer Garry Ferguson, 29, late Friday night at a relative's home in Rosedale on an arrest warrant from the King's County district attorney.

Ferguson was in a King's County court Monday morning and pleaded not guilty to a total of 12 counts in three separate cases.

Charges include forcible rape, unlawful intercourse with a minor and oral copulation. The King's County district attorney said two of the girls are 14 to 16 years old.

They said Ferguson met one of the girls while taking a karate class in King's County and started a relationship with her.

The most serious charges against Ferguson are from a relationship they say he had with a 13-year-old girl.

The King’s County District Attorney’s Office said Ferguson knew the minor for a while and eventually developed a relationship with her that lasted for a few years.
Ferguson's bail is set at $300,000.

According to Maricopa police, Kern County has an ongoing investigation on Ferguson. The Kern County district attorney has not confirmed the investigation.

Maricopa police said the chief of police and city manager will be discussing whether Ferguson will be terminated. They said an action will be taken sometime this week.

Federal Court says Charges against Officer will be Upheld

Federal Appeals court has upheld the conviction and sentence of an Atlanta, Alabama police officer for lying about a prisoner who was injured during an arrest.

A federal judge sentenced Officer Jason Hardy Hunt, who was a narcotics detective for Prichard, Alabama, to five months in prison and just five months of home detention.

The suspect James Woodard became agitated and argued with officers back on March 22, 2005 when he was being detained, and searched. Officers tried to arrest him after he cursed and threatened them. Officer Hunt threw Woodard to the pavement, injuring his head.

Hunt reported that Woodard grabbed him first, and repeated the falsehood to an FBI agent almost a year later.

On appeal, Officer Hunt said the evidence was insufficient to convict him of deliberate falsehood and that the short 10-month sentence was excessive. (Poor little baby...go cry now.) A three-judge panel of the 11the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed in an opinion filed Monday.

Trial begins for the 92-year old Woman Killed in botched Drug Raid

The attorney for a former police officer charged in a botched drug raid in which an elderly woman was shot to death described a renegade Atlanta narcotics unit that routinely planted drugs and lied to obtain search warrants.

Former officer Arthur Tesler's unit often took illegal shortcuts, ignored department policy and carried bags of drugs in their squad cars, defense attorney William McKenney said Monday in opening statements for Tesler's trial on charges of lying to help cover up misconduct in the raid.

Kathryn Johnston, 92, was killed November 26, 2006, shot 39 times as plainclothes narcotics officers busted into her home using a "no-knock" warrant. Johnston fired one shot from a pistol as police were breaking down her door, but she did not hit any of the officers.

Tesler's trial is likely the only one in the Johnston shooting because former officers Jason R. Smith and Gregg Junnier have already pleaded guilty to state manslaughter and federal civil rights charges. They are expected to testify against Tesler.

A prosecutor argued Tesler was also responsible for Johnston's death because he knew his colleagues lied to obtain the warrant. Tesler is charged with violation of oath by a public officer, making false statements and false imprisonment under color of legal process.
"This case is about drugs, deceit, death and disgrace," Fulton County prosecutor Kellie S. Hill told the jury.

Hill began her statement by showing a photograph of a smiling Johnston while the recorded sound of 39 gunshots was played for jurors. Tesler didn't show any emotion while it was played.

On the day Johnston was killed, prosecutors said that Smith, Junnier and Tesler were told by a man they arrested earlier in the day that drugs were being sold out of Johnston's house. But they violated department policy by not using a confidential informant to verify the information, Hill said.

Instead, Smith lied to a magistrate to get the warrant, swearing that he had gotten the information from a department-approved confidential informant. The trio is accused of telling the same lie to the rest of the narcotics unit, which helped them bust through Johnston's door.

The officer's lawyer argued that Tesler was in the backyard of the home when the shooting happened. Tesler, a rookie in the narcotics unit, was pressured by his superiors to cover up their misdeeds, McKenney said.

"Arthur Tesler was manipulated, controlled and exploited by two senior officers," McKenney said.

After the shooting, Smith planted three bags of marijuana in the basement. Prosecutors said the trio met secretly five times to coordinate their story for federal investigators looking at the shooting.

The fatal shooting prompted wide criticism of the police department, a shake-up of the narcotics unit and a review of how officers obtain and use no-knock warrants, which are intended to keep drug suspects from having time to destroy evidence.

Police Officer Arrested for Having Sex with COWS

A South Jersey police officer already in jail after being accused of molesting three children, has now been charged yesterday with four counts of animal cruelty for having sex with barnyard animals, authorities said.

Patrolman Robert Melia, 38, was suspended last week by the Moorestown Police department after authorities raided his Moorestown home and seized a computer and pornographic materials.

Police say that several others were also arrested during their investigation in what police say was porn movie making involving minor children, animals and others.
Melia and Pemberton filmmaker Heather Lewis, 32, were charged April 13 with the sexual assaults of three girls at Melia’s house. The assaults occured on multiple occasions during the last five years, said a spokesman for the Burlington County Prosecutor’s office said.

Melia is being held on $510,000 bail at the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly. Lewis, who is charged with aggravated sexual assault and criminal sexual contact, is being held on $300,000 bail at the Women’s Detention Center in Pemberton.

The animal cruelty charges were filed after an examination of the seized materials, authorities said.

An investigation is continuing. Police said they were investigating four incidents involving cows.

Authorities say other charges may be forthcoming and possible others will be arrested in this case.

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Now this is one sick ass motherfucker who needs to be locked up for the rest of his life. Hope he gets fucked in the ass daily while in prison.

Ex-Cop Arrested for Offering Money to Suck Underage Girls Toes

Former Munhall, PA police officer Michael Curtin has been charged with trying to solicit sex from several underage girls and offering them $1000 to suck their toes.

Curtin’s began hanging around the underage girls in January 2006, and also supplied alcohol to at least three teenage girls. The girls also accused Curtin of touching them inappropriately.

Using MySpace to contact more underage girls, Curtin would offer them $1000 to allow him to kiss their feet and suck their toes.

"The parent had felt that her daughter had some contact that she felt wasn't quite right with a person who they believed to be police officer in Munhall," said Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt.

In the MySpace postings, police said Curtin actually mentioned in one solicitation, "I'm a Munhall cop."

Curtin is charged with corruption of minors, unlawful contact with minors and criminal solicitation of indecent assault and prostitution from the MySpace probe of his alleged foot fetish.

That probe led to additional charges, involving corruption and the endangering of three additional underage girls. He's accused of indecent assault against two of them, and providing girls alcohol and letting them drive his car.

Former Steel Valley High School student Sarah Chalfont said she remembers when Curtin used to patrol outside of the school.

"He was really lurky. You know, he was always standing around and looking around at people and usually the cops that were up there weren't like that. You're taught to trust an officer and then for someone that you trust to hurt you and scar you for life like that, it's really sad."

As far as they know, police said they believe all of the alleged activity happened while Curtin was off duty.

In order to post bond, Curtin must first clear a screening by the jail's behavioral unit. The Munhall Borough Council voted unanimously to fire Curtin in February.

On Wednesday, Curtin's attorney said the officer's dismissal was partially related to the allegations that are surfacing now, but he declined to comment further.

Investigators suspect that some of the activity involving the girls occurred at Curtin's Munhall home, according to the complaint.

Curtin is currently being held in Allegheny County Jail on a bond of $100,000.

Woman Moves Out of State to Feel Safe from Judge

Kalisha Nolen who accused Judge Jesse Harris of exposing himself has moved to Nashville, Tennessee so she will feel safe. "I knew that once he saw the police report ... he would know that I had done this and that it would be public record," she said. "I was already afraid of him ... It was not safe for me" to stay in Oklahoma, she said.

Now, she said, "I am not afraid to stand up to him. I have had it once and for all."

Miss Nolen, 32 dated Judge Harris for 5 years, but had left him a year before the alleged exposure occurred back on March 9. Nolen said she met him in 2002, when she worked as a process server during a high-profile molestation trial.

She said she broke up with him in 2007 "because of all the womanizing.”

She said she gave a Tulsa police detective access to her medical records and even took a lie-detector test, "because they said it would help them make a solid case.”
The police affidavit alleges that Judge Harris pulled up outside Nolen’s motel room and, as she looked out the window of her room, asked questions about Nolen's friend.

Nolen said she had called Judge Harris earlier that morning, seeking legal advice for the friend. The police affidavit alleges that as he sat in his car outside the motel room, Harris asked Nolen about her friend's looks and suggested they have group sex. At one point he exited the car and exposed his penis through the fly of his pants, Nolen told police. The judge continued to expose himself after the second woman exited the motel room, the affidavit quotes Nolen as saying.

During a police interview, Harris admitted having a conversation with the women outside the motel room but denied any exposure or explicit sexual conversation, according to the affidavit.

Harris has been a judge since 1986 and has been a trial judge in criminal cases longer than any other Tulsa County judge.

Nolan now lives in a “protective environment” and is receiving counseling, services for domestic and sexual assault.

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Men have got to learn how to keep their little thingy in their pants.

Former Officer Lawrence Epps Arrested for Robbing Credit Union

Lawrence Epps, 46, of Jackson, Mississippi was arrested Thursday for holding up a downtown credit union and taking just $8,000 last week.

Jackson Police Department had obtained an arrest warrant for Epps on April 25 just a few hours after the Mississippi Employees Credit Union on South West Street was robbed. Witnesses told police the robber walked into the bank, handed the teller a note demanding money and fled with $8,000. It was the fifth reported bank robbery in the metro area in a month.

Epps of Jackson eluded capture for a week while staying in the metro area, authorities said.

"There are places where you can go and disappear, and people help you probably," Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance said. "It just took us about a week to find out exactly where he was.”

Vance said JPD is not looking for anyone who may have harbored or assisted Epps.
"But if it turns out that that was the case, then we will actively pursue those individuals, as well," he said.

Scott would not comment on whether investigators went to Epps' home during their search for him or whether the money has been recovered.

Neither marshals nor JPD investigators said that they knew why Epps was downtown, but they said they believe Epps may have been flushed out of hiding by the attention he was getting.

"I do know that the Police Department, the FBI and the Marshals Task Force have placed a lot of pressure on Mr. Epps and some of his associates," Griffin said. "And that possibly could have led to him seeking assistance somewhere else."

Epps was a six-year burglary detective and former president of the police officers union before being fired in 1999 after he tested positive for cocaine use. In a Civil Service Commission hearing in November 1999, Epps denied smoking crack in the presence of then-Internal Affairs Detective Deric Hearn. Epps' termination from JPD was upheld by the commission, and a Hinds County Circuit Court judge denied Epps' appeal in 2001.

"It is always a slap in the face to those of us in law enforcement to see one of our own go bad," Flowers said.

"It is a testament to the scourge of crack cocaine in our society. It is very sad," Vance said. "Police officers are held to a higher standard and higher expectations, and he betrayed that. Even more than that, he betrayed himself and his family."

He is being held at the Madison County jail on a $150,000 bond. If convicted he could face up to 20 years in prison.

Minden, Louisiana Officer Accused of Stealing Gas

Officer Craigburke Bunknor is accused of using a department gasoline card for his own personal use. According to the records he used a gas card that was assigned to the schools resource officer, and another officer’s PIN number to put $400 worth of gas into his personal vehicles and charged it to the city. Officer Buchnor did this on 10 different occasions, and was recorded on security camera twice.

Minden Police Chief T.C. Bloxom said he noticed a discrepancy in the fuel usage for Bunknor fuel card when he was reviewing the departments expenses for the month.

Officer Bucknor was arrested by detectives when he arrived for duty at the police department at 10 p.m. He was booked into Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center on a charge of felony theft.

Bucknor has been suspended without pay.

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Guess the gas prices are getting a little to high for everyone. Almost don't blame him.

Officer Alvin Bland Arrested for Attempted Murder

Officer Alvin Bland, 29, of Birmingham, Alabama was identified as the suspect in connection with the attempted murder of a 28-year-old male victim, which occurred on Monday, April 28, 2008, at approximately 3:30 p.m., at Denmark Avenue and Quebec Drive.

Officers responded to Oregon Street and 7th Avenue Wylam to investigate a report of shots fired. Upon arrival, officers were met by the victim who stated that he and a male suspect were reportedly involved in a verbal altercation that led to the suspect firing a rifle at him. There were no injuries.

Officer Bland has been employed with the Birmingham Police Department for five years and is assigned to the South Precinct. He was booked into the city jail at 9 p.m. Monday and held there on a 48-hour extension until a warrant was obtained Wednesday.

He is currently being held on a $60,000 bond in the Jefferson County Jail.

Former Boston officer pleads guilty in federal drug case

A former Boston police officer pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges that he conspired to extort $265,000 on behalf of drug dealers while in uniform and that he threatened to kill the man who supposedly owed them the cash.

Jose A. "Flaco" Ortiz, 45, formerly of Salem, also admitted in US District Court in Boston that he participated in a related scheme to distribute cocaine he obtained from the victim. In brief and barely audible remarks in court, he denied personally threatening the victim, but said he relayed warnings from Colombian drug dealers that the victim "might be in some kind of danger" if the man did not pay the debt.

Ortiz, who spent 21 years on the force before his firing last May, is the fifth Boston officer to plead guilty to federal charges since September. All the cases, including one involving three officers, revolved around drugs.

Ortiz could spend the rest of his life in prison if US District Judge Rya W. Zobel issues the harshest possible sentence. But federal prosecutors are recommending a prison term of 11 to 14 years, because Ortiz has admitted his guilt and waived his right to appeal if he receives the lighter sentence.

"It's not a happy day for law enforcement" when a police officer pleads guilty to a crime, First Assistant US Attorney Michael K. Loucks said after the hearing, which was handled by another prosecutor.

But Loucks praised Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis for helping federal authorities pursue cases of police corruption. "No matter what organization, there are always going to be people who commit crimes," Loucks said.

Ortiz's lawyer, Scott A. Lutes of Providence, said his client changed his plea because he wanted to take responsibility for his misdeeds. "He candidly admits his guilt and feels terrible about it," said Lutes.

Supporters of Ortiz filled a bench near the front of the gallery in the courtroom. As they have at Ortiz's previous hearings, several wore white T-shirts saying, "I [heart-shape] you Ortiz."

Ortiz, dressed in a khaki jumpsuit from the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, R.I., made no eye contact with them during the hearing.

The case against Ortiz stems from an investigation by law enforcement authorities that began in late 2003 or early 2004, according to Assistant US Attorney John T. McNeil. At the time, a man identified only as Victim A in court papers told authorities that two drug dealers approached him and asked if he knew anyone who might want to participate in drug trafficking.

At the advice of law enforcement officials, Victim A introduced the drug dealers to a man whom he believed to be involved in the drug trade, McNeil said. Days later, the drug dealers told Victim A that that man had stolen from them. The dealers blamed Victim A for the theft and said he owed them more than $200,000.

The matter became a police corruption case in August 2006 when, in a startling twist, Ortiz showed up at Victim A's job in the Boston area, McNeil said. Wearing his uniform, badge, and holstered handgun, Ortiz told the victim that he was there on behalf of Colombian drug dealers who would kill Victim A and his family if the man did not pay his debt. Ortiz later said the debt totaled $265,000.

In March and April 2007, Victim A paid Ortiz $6,000 in three installments while law enforcement officials secretly recorded the transactions, McNeil said. On May 2, the victim gave Ortiz $4,000 in cash and 4 kilograms of cocaine in a parking lot in Revere, a deal that the officer said would settle the debt. Ortiz was again dressed in uniform.

Moments later, an FBI SWAT team arrested him.

A search of Ortiz's police locker a week later found $7,000 in cash, including $700 that had been provided to the victim by law enforcement officials, authorities said.

Phoenix Officer Arrested for Sexual Exploitation of Minor

Phoenix, AZ

Veteran police officer Richard Michael Polk has been arrested following an investigation into Internet child pornography. Officer Polk is a 26-year veteran officer who is currently a homicide detective.

Court documents say investigators found downloaded videos at Officer Polk’s home depicting children, under the age of 15, engaging in various sex acts. Online banking services were linked to purchases of child pornography, police said. He also used online file sharing service to distribute images.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement initially became aware of Polk's activities through their cyber crimes enforcement. They shared information with Phoenix Police officers, who continued to investigate through their internal affairs department. Phoenix Police's investigation leading up to Polk's arrest lasted six months.

A search of his Surprise home Wednesday revealed several removable thumb drives with about 20 videos, half of which showed children no older than 15 in various sexual acts, the court documents said.

The drives, along with computers and other evidence seized during the search, will undergo further analysis as the investigation continues. Thorough investigation is necessary when technology is involved, Gonzales said. The department also applies a high standard of scrutiny when dealing with its employees.

“We take every investigation seriously,” Gonzales said. “He was treated as any other citizen would be treated in the circumstances of the investigation.”

He has been released on a $250,000 bond, but must stay away from minors and may only see his own child under supervision.