BROWNSVILLE, Texas
A former South Texas police officer has pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally selling guns that wound up in Mexico.
Ramon Martinez, who at the time was a Palm Valley police officer, would buys guys from dealers and private citizens, often over the Internet, then sell them for a profit.
According to the U.S. Attorney's office, guns found in Mexico and traced back to Martinez triggered the investigation.
Martinez, 37, faces five years in prison and as much $250,000 in fines for dealing in firearms without a license. U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle set sentencing for Jan. 28.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Former Deputy Nicholas Gonzales Charged with Child Abuse
NEOSHO, Mo.
A former Newton County Sheriff’s Department deputy has been charged with child abuse.
Nicholas J. Gonzales, 26, of Neosho, was charged Thursday with one count of class C felony child abuse after an investigation by the Neosho Police Department. Gonzales is accused of striking a 22-month-old infant on Oct. 17.
Neosho Police Chief David McCracken said Saturday that the investigation began after officers were called to Freeman Neosho Hospital’s emergency room, where the infant had been initially brought before being transported to St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield. Physicians found the infant had sustained injuries that triggered suspicions of abuse.
McCracken said the infant had suffered injuries, although they were not life-threatening. The infant was still in the care of St. John’s on Saturday as far as he knew, he said.
Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said Saturday night that Gonzales had been employed by the department for a total of about two years — first as a corrections officer at the jail for one year, then as a deputy for another year. Copeland said Gonzales’ last day was Wednesday. He said he could not disclose the reasons for Gonzales’ departure, citing personnel laws.
Efforts to reach Gonzales for comment Saturday night were unsuccessful.
McCracken said Neosho police forwarded the results of their investigation to the Newton County prosecutor last week. Charges were filed and a warrant issued for Gonzales’ arrest Thursday, according to online court records.
Copeland said that Gonzales turned himself in to county authorities and was arrested. He was free after posting a $10,000 bond.
A hearing date for Gonzales had not yet been set, according to court records. If convicted, he faces a sentence of up to seven years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine.
A former Newton County Sheriff’s Department deputy has been charged with child abuse.
Nicholas J. Gonzales, 26, of Neosho, was charged Thursday with one count of class C felony child abuse after an investigation by the Neosho Police Department. Gonzales is accused of striking a 22-month-old infant on Oct. 17.
Neosho Police Chief David McCracken said Saturday that the investigation began after officers were called to Freeman Neosho Hospital’s emergency room, where the infant had been initially brought before being transported to St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield. Physicians found the infant had sustained injuries that triggered suspicions of abuse.
McCracken said the infant had suffered injuries, although they were not life-threatening. The infant was still in the care of St. John’s on Saturday as far as he knew, he said.
Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said Saturday night that Gonzales had been employed by the department for a total of about two years — first as a corrections officer at the jail for one year, then as a deputy for another year. Copeland said Gonzales’ last day was Wednesday. He said he could not disclose the reasons for Gonzales’ departure, citing personnel laws.
Efforts to reach Gonzales for comment Saturday night were unsuccessful.
McCracken said Neosho police forwarded the results of their investigation to the Newton County prosecutor last week. Charges were filed and a warrant issued for Gonzales’ arrest Thursday, according to online court records.
Copeland said that Gonzales turned himself in to county authorities and was arrested. He was free after posting a $10,000 bond.
A hearing date for Gonzales had not yet been set, according to court records. If convicted, he faces a sentence of up to seven years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine.
Officer Michael Hennessy Files Lawsuit Against City
A Fort Lauderdale police officer who alleges the department has a quota system rewarding officers for making arrests filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the city late Monday.
Michael Hennessy, 52, is seeking back pay and the reinstatement of benefits he lost as a result of not reaching his ''performance standards,'' including no take-home car, overtime or off-duty details.
The lawsuit filed in Broward Circuit Court claims that two shift captains created a scheme to inflate arrest statistics -- often by arresting the homeless on misdemeanors -- and rewarded high-producing officers with off-the-books, paid days off.
The accusations were reported Monday by The Miami Herald.
William Amlong, an attorney representing Hennessy, said the quota system is dangerous.
''It's really making the community less safe because it is taking police officers away from their jobs on patrol,'' he said. ``This is both invading the rights of the homeless, who should not be victimized, and wasting taxpayer money.''
Fort Lauderdale police launched an investigation in July to look into Hennessy's claims after he filed a complaint to administrators.
The city is conducting a separate investigation.
Neither a department nor city spokesman would comment on the lawsuit Monday.
Hennessy, a patrol officer for nearly 23 years, claims that he was reprimanded in August for failing to meet his quotas -- one ticket per day and one arrest per month. He said a supervisor banned him from taking home his squad car and working overtime and off-duty details -- and threatened to fire him ''for having low statistics,'' the suit said.
Hennessy contends that over the past year, supervisors in the north district -- which includes parts of the beach, businesses along Federal Highway and the executive airport -- have implemented schemes to boost arrest and ticket numbers.
Among them: A ''scavenger hunt'' to see which officer could make the most arrests in and around Holiday Park, an area frequented by the homeless. The winning officer was rewarded with a $50 gift certificate to the movies, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit also claims that a point system was created to entice officers to increase productivity.
An officer earned 10 points for an arrest, five for issuing a notice to appear, three for filling out a field interrogation card and one for writing a ticket. Earn 70 points in one week and get a day off, unapproved by the city.
Hennessy said officers who took the time off were marked on schedules as being on-duty, but unavailable for service. Other officers were called in to replace them, potentially costing the city more than $460 in overtime pay per person, the lawsuit states.
Hennessy hopes the legal action brings about change.
''It's fraud. It's theft,'' Hennessy said. ``It needs to stop.''
Michael Hennessy, 52, is seeking back pay and the reinstatement of benefits he lost as a result of not reaching his ''performance standards,'' including no take-home car, overtime or off-duty details.
The lawsuit filed in Broward Circuit Court claims that two shift captains created a scheme to inflate arrest statistics -- often by arresting the homeless on misdemeanors -- and rewarded high-producing officers with off-the-books, paid days off.
The accusations were reported Monday by The Miami Herald.
William Amlong, an attorney representing Hennessy, said the quota system is dangerous.
''It's really making the community less safe because it is taking police officers away from their jobs on patrol,'' he said. ``This is both invading the rights of the homeless, who should not be victimized, and wasting taxpayer money.''
Fort Lauderdale police launched an investigation in July to look into Hennessy's claims after he filed a complaint to administrators.
The city is conducting a separate investigation.
Neither a department nor city spokesman would comment on the lawsuit Monday.
Hennessy, a patrol officer for nearly 23 years, claims that he was reprimanded in August for failing to meet his quotas -- one ticket per day and one arrest per month. He said a supervisor banned him from taking home his squad car and working overtime and off-duty details -- and threatened to fire him ''for having low statistics,'' the suit said.
Hennessy contends that over the past year, supervisors in the north district -- which includes parts of the beach, businesses along Federal Highway and the executive airport -- have implemented schemes to boost arrest and ticket numbers.
Among them: A ''scavenger hunt'' to see which officer could make the most arrests in and around Holiday Park, an area frequented by the homeless. The winning officer was rewarded with a $50 gift certificate to the movies, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit also claims that a point system was created to entice officers to increase productivity.
An officer earned 10 points for an arrest, five for issuing a notice to appear, three for filling out a field interrogation card and one for writing a ticket. Earn 70 points in one week and get a day off, unapproved by the city.
Hennessy said officers who took the time off were marked on schedules as being on-duty, but unavailable for service. Other officers were called in to replace them, potentially costing the city more than $460 in overtime pay per person, the lawsuit states.
Hennessy hopes the legal action brings about change.
''It's fraud. It's theft,'' Hennessy said. ``It needs to stop.''
NYPD Officers Sodomize Detainee with a Walkie-Talkie
NEW YORK
Prosecutors in New York on Monday ordered a grand jury investigation into allegations that police sodomized a detainee with a walkie-talkie.
District Attorney Charles Hynes announced that "on the basis of preliminary conclusions of the early stages of my investigation ... I have ordered a special investigative grand jury to be empaneled."
Although police deny the claim, the allegation has whipped up controversy, with comparisons being drawn to a particularly brutal police rape incident 11 years ago.
The alleged victim, a body piercing salon employee named Michael Mineo, says he was held down in a city subway station and sodomized with an object he believes was a radio antenna, or possibly a truncheon.
Lawyers for Mineo, 24, say the incident took place October 15.
Mineo spent four days in hospital afterwards and last week returned to seek more treatment, the Daily News reported. However, his medical records have not been published.
Grand juries are used to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to indictment of a suspect. In many cases, prosecutors only go to a grand jury when they are reasonably sure of being able to proceed to a trial.
Police deny Mineo's accusations and say he was arrested in full view of the public after being caught smoking marijuana.
Investigators have seized the equipment of one officer for tests, but none of the officers allegedly involved has been suspended.
Despite those denials and the fact that there is no published physical evidence to support Mineo's claims, the issue is already explosive.
Activists against police brutality say the alleged incident recalls an officer's sodomizing of a 30-year-old Haitian immigrant with a broom handle in 1997.
The victim, Abner Louima, on Monday told the Daily News that "it does surprise me that this is happening 11 years after. We knew this was not something that's going to go away in one day."
Veteran black community leader Reverend Al Sharpton visited Mineo in hospital over the weekend and was quoted afterwards as saying that he found the story "compelling."
However, The New York Times reported important differences between the 1997 case and the recent incident.
Louima's rape took place in a police station, in contrast to the far more public setting of a subway station. Also, the earlier case had strong racial overtones, since the officers were white and the victim black.
In this incident, the officers under suspicion were of various races and Louima is white.
The prosecutor's decision to convene a grand jury also follows a bloody weekend on New York's streets.
Undercover police on Sunday shot dead two brothers following a shooting outside a nightlcub in the Brooklyn neighborhood.
Meanwhile, a New York mother reportedly confessed Sunday to beating to death her 11-year-old daughter, the New York Post reported.
Prosecutors in New York on Monday ordered a grand jury investigation into allegations that police sodomized a detainee with a walkie-talkie.
District Attorney Charles Hynes announced that "on the basis of preliminary conclusions of the early stages of my investigation ... I have ordered a special investigative grand jury to be empaneled."
Although police deny the claim, the allegation has whipped up controversy, with comparisons being drawn to a particularly brutal police rape incident 11 years ago.
The alleged victim, a body piercing salon employee named Michael Mineo, says he was held down in a city subway station and sodomized with an object he believes was a radio antenna, or possibly a truncheon.
Lawyers for Mineo, 24, say the incident took place October 15.
Mineo spent four days in hospital afterwards and last week returned to seek more treatment, the Daily News reported. However, his medical records have not been published.
Grand juries are used to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to indictment of a suspect. In many cases, prosecutors only go to a grand jury when they are reasonably sure of being able to proceed to a trial.
Police deny Mineo's accusations and say he was arrested in full view of the public after being caught smoking marijuana.
Investigators have seized the equipment of one officer for tests, but none of the officers allegedly involved has been suspended.
Despite those denials and the fact that there is no published physical evidence to support Mineo's claims, the issue is already explosive.
Activists against police brutality say the alleged incident recalls an officer's sodomizing of a 30-year-old Haitian immigrant with a broom handle in 1997.
The victim, Abner Louima, on Monday told the Daily News that "it does surprise me that this is happening 11 years after. We knew this was not something that's going to go away in one day."
Veteran black community leader Reverend Al Sharpton visited Mineo in hospital over the weekend and was quoted afterwards as saying that he found the story "compelling."
However, The New York Times reported important differences between the 1997 case and the recent incident.
Louima's rape took place in a police station, in contrast to the far more public setting of a subway station. Also, the earlier case had strong racial overtones, since the officers were white and the victim black.
In this incident, the officers under suspicion were of various races and Louima is white.
The prosecutor's decision to convene a grand jury also follows a bloody weekend on New York's streets.
Undercover police on Sunday shot dead two brothers following a shooting outside a nightlcub in the Brooklyn neighborhood.
Meanwhile, a New York mother reportedly confessed Sunday to beating to death her 11-year-old daughter, the New York Post reported.
Officer C12 Accused of Grossly Exaggerating
A police marksman was accused of "grossly exaggerating" his evidence to justify his decision to shoot dead Jean Charles de Menezes.
The highly-trained firearms officer insisted he shouted "armed police" before opening fire on the Brazilian in a London Underground train.
But other police officers and all the public in the carriage made no reference in their statements to him saying this prior to the shooting, the inquest into Mr de Menezes's death heard.
The 27-year-old was shot seven times in the head at point-blank range inside Stockwell Tube station on July 22 2005 after being mistaken for one of the men who attacked London a day earlier.
The police marksman, identified by the code name C12, has told the inquest he killed Mr de Menezes fearing he was a suicide bomber about to detonate his device.
Michael Mansfield QC, for the Menezes family, alleged C12 "embellished" his account to explain why he was so certain the innocent Brazilian posed a deadly threat.
The barrister put it to C12: "I am going to make it plain that what you did when it came to making a statement the following day was to grossly exaggerate what you saw in order to, as it were, convince people that he had been a terrorist about to explode a bomb, in your mind. Is there any possibility you did that?"
The officer replied: "Absolutely none whatsoever."
C12 said he only fired on Mr de Menezes after raising his gun and calling out "armed police". But Mr Mansfield alleged the other witnesses' statements proved the officer did not give the Brazilian any verbal warning before shooting him.
C12, a member of Scotland Yard's elite CO19 specialist firearms unit, earlier admitted that a series of misunderstandings and mistakes led to Mr de Menezes's death.
More Information:
http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Menezes-lawyer-accuses-police-marksman.4637957.jp
The highly-trained firearms officer insisted he shouted "armed police" before opening fire on the Brazilian in a London Underground train.
But other police officers and all the public in the carriage made no reference in their statements to him saying this prior to the shooting, the inquest into Mr de Menezes's death heard.
The 27-year-old was shot seven times in the head at point-blank range inside Stockwell Tube station on July 22 2005 after being mistaken for one of the men who attacked London a day earlier.
The police marksman, identified by the code name C12, has told the inquest he killed Mr de Menezes fearing he was a suicide bomber about to detonate his device.
Michael Mansfield QC, for the Menezes family, alleged C12 "embellished" his account to explain why he was so certain the innocent Brazilian posed a deadly threat.
The barrister put it to C12: "I am going to make it plain that what you did when it came to making a statement the following day was to grossly exaggerate what you saw in order to, as it were, convince people that he had been a terrorist about to explode a bomb, in your mind. Is there any possibility you did that?"
The officer replied: "Absolutely none whatsoever."
C12 said he only fired on Mr de Menezes after raising his gun and calling out "armed police". But Mr Mansfield alleged the other witnesses' statements proved the officer did not give the Brazilian any verbal warning before shooting him.
C12, a member of Scotland Yard's elite CO19 specialist firearms unit, earlier admitted that a series of misunderstandings and mistakes led to Mr de Menezes's death.
More Information:
http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Menezes-lawyer-accuses-police-marksman.4637957.jp
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Corrections Deputy Diane Brown Steals Neighbors Maltese
A San Diego County corrections deputy is facing criminal charges after allegedly putting her neighbor's yappy Maltese in the trunk of her car and abandoning it about 20 miles from her Hemet home, authorities said.
Diane M. Brown, 42, was booked into a Riverside County jail Thursday and released on $5,000 bond. A court date has been set for Nov. 20.
Brown works as a corrections deputy at the Vista jail, sheriff's officials confirmed yesterday.
Brown's frustration with her neighbor's fluffy white dog, named Spike, began more than a year ago when she claimed the dog's barking was a nuisance, said Riverside County Animal Services spokesman John Welsh.
Brown took the dog's owner to court, but the judge threw out the case.
On Monday, it appears Brown took matters into her own hands.
Employees at the Cherry Valley Water District in Beaumont said they saw a woman take a dog out her trunk and dump it in front of the building, Welsh said. The woman returned about a minute later, apparently to remove the dog's collar.
Two surveillance cameras captured the incident, and one witness copied down the woman's license plate. The witnesses brought the unharmed dog to a veterinarian, who scanned the dog's microchip and called its owner.
Hemet police later booked Brown into jail on suspicion of being in possession of stolen property. Animal Services officials also are pursuing a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty for abandoning the dog, which is valued at $2,000, Welsh said.
Diane M. Brown, 42, was booked into a Riverside County jail Thursday and released on $5,000 bond. A court date has been set for Nov. 20.
Brown works as a corrections deputy at the Vista jail, sheriff's officials confirmed yesterday.
Brown's frustration with her neighbor's fluffy white dog, named Spike, began more than a year ago when she claimed the dog's barking was a nuisance, said Riverside County Animal Services spokesman John Welsh.
Brown took the dog's owner to court, but the judge threw out the case.
On Monday, it appears Brown took matters into her own hands.
Employees at the Cherry Valley Water District in Beaumont said they saw a woman take a dog out her trunk and dump it in front of the building, Welsh said. The woman returned about a minute later, apparently to remove the dog's collar.
Two surveillance cameras captured the incident, and one witness copied down the woman's license plate. The witnesses brought the unharmed dog to a veterinarian, who scanned the dog's microchip and called its owner.
Hemet police later booked Brown into jail on suspicion of being in possession of stolen property. Animal Services officials also are pursuing a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty for abandoning the dog, which is valued at $2,000, Welsh said.
UPDATE on Man Who Accuses Officers of Sodomizing Him
As a 24-year-old man who has accused the police of sodomizing him at a subway station in Brooklyn spent another day in the hospital on Saturday, a law enforcement official provided a fuller picture of the injuries the man sustained during the altercation.
The man, Michael Mineo, is attached to a tube draining fluid from his abdomen, one of his lawyers said. He was visited at the hospital by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who had spoken about Mr. Mineo’s allegations on his radio program earlier Saturday.
The police have denied Mr. Mineo’s account.
At Brooklyn Hospital Center, Mr. Mineo’s lawyers allowed a cameraman from NY1 to videotape their client in his room, and they later showed the recording to other reporters. Mr. Mineo, who works as a body-piercer, is seen in bed wearing a hospital gown. With his voice cracking, he says, “I feel violated.”
It is Mr. Mineo’s second stay in a hospital since his encounter with the police on Oct. 15, when, he said, a group of officers attacked him for no reason. During the attack, he said, one of them inserted a police radio antenna or a similar object into his rectum. He was admitted to Brookdale University Hospital and stayed for four days.
The police have said that officers spotted Mr. Mineo smoking marijuana and that he ran away when they approached. He scuffled with the police as he resisted arrest, but he was never sodomized, they said.
A law enforcement official said on Saturday that Mr. Mineo suffered a tear just above his rectum, a bruise to the side of his head, injuries to his side and an injury to the outside of his abdomen. But the official said Mr. Mineo did not suffer any internal injuries on the order of those inflicted in the attack on Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant who was assaulted inside a station house in 1997 by police with a broken broomstick.
“Unless there is something that Brookdale missed,” the official said, there were no internal injuries that would indicate the penetration of his rectum by a foreign object. “I don’t know what his current diagnosis is, what he’s back in the hospital for. I don’t know if something else happened.”
Mr. Mineo’s lawyers have said the severity of his injuries supported his allegations. They pointed to hospital records from Brookdale that indicated he suffered from what one doctor described in a written account as an “anal assault.” One of the lawyers, Kevin L. Mosley, said that Mr. Mineo was admitted to the hospital a second time on Thursday night because he was in pain. “He had blood in his urine, and he couldn’t function anymore,” he said, adding that his client had “some sort of abscess in his abdomen,” and at one point was given morphine.
Neither Mr. Mineo’s lawyers, the police, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office nor the hospitals would provide any medical records for Mr. Mineo.
Five officers were involved in the encounter with Mr. Mineo at the Prospect Park station of the B and Q lines; none had any history of disciplinary problems. All the officers remain on regular duty.
A person familiar with the officers’ account of what happened said that one of them was Officer Alex Cruz. The person identified another officer involved as Officer Noel Jugraj.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing, said Officer Cruz’s name was on the summons given to Mr. Mineo on Oct. 15 for disorderly conduct.
Another law enforcement official said that investigators with a search warrant seized a retractable baton and a radio antenna from Officer Cruz’s locker. The two items had been sent for testing, which was not yet complete.
The police Internal Affairs Bureau and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office are investigating.
They have not determined how Mr. Mineo was injured. Investigators who announced a hot line number on Friday were seeking witnesses and hoping that test results to the baton and the radio antenna would offer some answers. The account provided by Mr. Mineo’s lawyers could not be independently corroborated, but some investigators have not dismissed some portions of the lawyers’ story.
On Saturday, Mr. Mosley and another lawyer representing Mr. Mineo, Stephen C. Jackson, spoke on Mr. Sharpton’s radio show before the three men visited Mr. Mineo at Brooklyn Hospital Center. Mr. Sharpton called for a fair, independent investigation.
“I do not know what happened,” Mr. Sharpton said. “But I know that we cannot allow police to be the only investigative body, and find that their findings should go unquestioned and unexamined.”
After visiting Mr. Mineo, Mr. Sharpton said Mr. Mineo’s account was “very compelling,” adding, “I find it hard to understand how someone could inflict that kind of pain on themselves.”
A law enforcement official said Mr. Mineo had filed two complaints with the Civilian Complaint Review Board in the past year. In one, Mr. Mineo said that he was stopped by police officers, and in the other he said that a friend was stopped, the official said.
Mr. Mineo’s lawyer, Mr. Mosley, said that too much attention was being paid to his client’s past, which includes at least five arrests. “These police officers didn’t have his rap sheet when they tackled him,” he said.
Both the police and Mr. Mineo’s lawyers said they had spoken to witnesses who confirmed their respective versions of events.
Two law enforcement officials said the entire incident was witnessed by people in the subway station or visible on transit authority video cameras. But one of the officials said the view of witnesses was obstructed at some crucial points.
Mr. Jackson said he had spoken to three witnesses and that one of them — a colleague of Mr. Mineo’s who was with him shortly after his confrontation with the police — saw blood on Mr. Mineo’s pants and on his hands, and saw Mr. Mineo smear the blood on the window of a police car.
A law enforcement official said Saturday that investigators had no evidence supporting Mr. Jackson’s account. Investigators examined the patrol car that was at the scene and found no evidence that there was blood on it, the official said. The car was still dirty, and it did not appear to be washed.
The police have said witnesses told investigators that they did not see Mr. Mineo being sodomized. A person familiar with the investigation said that those witnesses included a token booth clerk and his 12-year-old son, who was visiting him. The two have provided police internal affairs officers with an account of what they saw and heard.
In an interview at his Brooklyn home, the boy, who said he had spoken with the police, said he was standing outside the token booth when he saw Mr. Mineo run down the stairs with two officers in pursuit. The boy said that Mr. Mineo’s pants were falling off as he was running.
Mr. Mineo first hopped the turnstile and the officers did the same, but there was no train at the station so Mr. Mineo left the platform through the same turnstiles, the boy said.
The boy said a third officer was waiting on other side of the turnstiles and tackled Mr. Mineo. At that point, the boy said, he was about eight feet away. A person familiar with the investigation confirmed that these were details the boy had provided investigators.
“It was a little scary,” the boy said.
The boy’s father refused to speak to a reporter at his workplace on Saturday and to another reporter when he went home.
http://www.nytimes.com
The man, Michael Mineo, is attached to a tube draining fluid from his abdomen, one of his lawyers said. He was visited at the hospital by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who had spoken about Mr. Mineo’s allegations on his radio program earlier Saturday.
The police have denied Mr. Mineo’s account.
At Brooklyn Hospital Center, Mr. Mineo’s lawyers allowed a cameraman from NY1 to videotape their client in his room, and they later showed the recording to other reporters. Mr. Mineo, who works as a body-piercer, is seen in bed wearing a hospital gown. With his voice cracking, he says, “I feel violated.”
It is Mr. Mineo’s second stay in a hospital since his encounter with the police on Oct. 15, when, he said, a group of officers attacked him for no reason. During the attack, he said, one of them inserted a police radio antenna or a similar object into his rectum. He was admitted to Brookdale University Hospital and stayed for four days.
The police have said that officers spotted Mr. Mineo smoking marijuana and that he ran away when they approached. He scuffled with the police as he resisted arrest, but he was never sodomized, they said.
A law enforcement official said on Saturday that Mr. Mineo suffered a tear just above his rectum, a bruise to the side of his head, injuries to his side and an injury to the outside of his abdomen. But the official said Mr. Mineo did not suffer any internal injuries on the order of those inflicted in the attack on Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant who was assaulted inside a station house in 1997 by police with a broken broomstick.
“Unless there is something that Brookdale missed,” the official said, there were no internal injuries that would indicate the penetration of his rectum by a foreign object. “I don’t know what his current diagnosis is, what he’s back in the hospital for. I don’t know if something else happened.”
Mr. Mineo’s lawyers have said the severity of his injuries supported his allegations. They pointed to hospital records from Brookdale that indicated he suffered from what one doctor described in a written account as an “anal assault.” One of the lawyers, Kevin L. Mosley, said that Mr. Mineo was admitted to the hospital a second time on Thursday night because he was in pain. “He had blood in his urine, and he couldn’t function anymore,” he said, adding that his client had “some sort of abscess in his abdomen,” and at one point was given morphine.
Neither Mr. Mineo’s lawyers, the police, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office nor the hospitals would provide any medical records for Mr. Mineo.
Five officers were involved in the encounter with Mr. Mineo at the Prospect Park station of the B and Q lines; none had any history of disciplinary problems. All the officers remain on regular duty.
A person familiar with the officers’ account of what happened said that one of them was Officer Alex Cruz. The person identified another officer involved as Officer Noel Jugraj.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing, said Officer Cruz’s name was on the summons given to Mr. Mineo on Oct. 15 for disorderly conduct.
Another law enforcement official said that investigators with a search warrant seized a retractable baton and a radio antenna from Officer Cruz’s locker. The two items had been sent for testing, which was not yet complete.
The police Internal Affairs Bureau and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office are investigating.
They have not determined how Mr. Mineo was injured. Investigators who announced a hot line number on Friday were seeking witnesses and hoping that test results to the baton and the radio antenna would offer some answers. The account provided by Mr. Mineo’s lawyers could not be independently corroborated, but some investigators have not dismissed some portions of the lawyers’ story.
On Saturday, Mr. Mosley and another lawyer representing Mr. Mineo, Stephen C. Jackson, spoke on Mr. Sharpton’s radio show before the three men visited Mr. Mineo at Brooklyn Hospital Center. Mr. Sharpton called for a fair, independent investigation.
“I do not know what happened,” Mr. Sharpton said. “But I know that we cannot allow police to be the only investigative body, and find that their findings should go unquestioned and unexamined.”
After visiting Mr. Mineo, Mr. Sharpton said Mr. Mineo’s account was “very compelling,” adding, “I find it hard to understand how someone could inflict that kind of pain on themselves.”
A law enforcement official said Mr. Mineo had filed two complaints with the Civilian Complaint Review Board in the past year. In one, Mr. Mineo said that he was stopped by police officers, and in the other he said that a friend was stopped, the official said.
Mr. Mineo’s lawyer, Mr. Mosley, said that too much attention was being paid to his client’s past, which includes at least five arrests. “These police officers didn’t have his rap sheet when they tackled him,” he said.
Both the police and Mr. Mineo’s lawyers said they had spoken to witnesses who confirmed their respective versions of events.
Two law enforcement officials said the entire incident was witnessed by people in the subway station or visible on transit authority video cameras. But one of the officials said the view of witnesses was obstructed at some crucial points.
Mr. Jackson said he had spoken to three witnesses and that one of them — a colleague of Mr. Mineo’s who was with him shortly after his confrontation with the police — saw blood on Mr. Mineo’s pants and on his hands, and saw Mr. Mineo smear the blood on the window of a police car.
A law enforcement official said Saturday that investigators had no evidence supporting Mr. Jackson’s account. Investigators examined the patrol car that was at the scene and found no evidence that there was blood on it, the official said. The car was still dirty, and it did not appear to be washed.
The police have said witnesses told investigators that they did not see Mr. Mineo being sodomized. A person familiar with the investigation said that those witnesses included a token booth clerk and his 12-year-old son, who was visiting him. The two have provided police internal affairs officers with an account of what they saw and heard.
In an interview at his Brooklyn home, the boy, who said he had spoken with the police, said he was standing outside the token booth when he saw Mr. Mineo run down the stairs with two officers in pursuit. The boy said that Mr. Mineo’s pants were falling off as he was running.
Mr. Mineo first hopped the turnstile and the officers did the same, but there was no train at the station so Mr. Mineo left the platform through the same turnstiles, the boy said.
The boy said a third officer was waiting on other side of the turnstiles and tackled Mr. Mineo. At that point, the boy said, he was about eight feet away. A person familiar with the investigation confirmed that these were details the boy had provided investigators.
“It was a little scary,” the boy said.
The boy’s father refused to speak to a reporter at his workplace on Saturday and to another reporter when he went home.
http://www.nytimes.com
Former Officer Robert J Pavlovich Found Guilty of Corruption of Minors, Sexual Assault
NEW BLOOMFIELD, Pa
A former small-town police officer accused of molesting or propositioning more than a dozen teenage girls while on duty was convicted of several sex offenses.
A jury deliberated for about 10 hours Saturday before finding Robert J. Pavlovich Jr. guilty of charges including corruption of minors, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and bribery in official matters.
Pavlovich, 40, of Camp Hill, denied the charges during the three-day trial. Asked on the witness stand whether he had sex with any of the accusers, touched them improperly or asked them to sneak out of their homes, the former Marysville officer replied, "Absolutely not."
Pavlovich said, however, that he did ask three teenage girls to meet him late at night at locations in Marysville as part of an investigation into drug activity and underage drinking. No one was arrested based on information he received from them, he said.
Several women testified during the trial that, when they were 13 or 14, Pavlovich tried to convince them to sneak out of their homes and meet him. They said they believed he intended to have sex with them.
Others testified that Pavlovich had fondled them, and one woman who has been diagnosed with a mental disability testified that she was pressured to perform oral sex on Pavlovich when she was 19.
The allegations date back to 2000, the year Pavlovich was hired. He was suspended from the force in March 2007 and later fired.
Pavlovich remained free on $250,000 bail. No sentencing date has been set.
Jonelle H. Eshbach, a senior state deputy attorney general who prosecuted the case, said she was satisfied with the verdict. Defense lawyer P. Richard Wagner and the Pavlovich family did not comment.
The victims and their families were not at the courthouse in New Bloomfield when the verdict was announced after 10 p.m. Saturday.
Marysville, a borough of about 2,400 people, is just northwest of Harrisburg.
———
Information from: The Patriot-News, http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews
A former small-town police officer accused of molesting or propositioning more than a dozen teenage girls while on duty was convicted of several sex offenses.
A jury deliberated for about 10 hours Saturday before finding Robert J. Pavlovich Jr. guilty of charges including corruption of minors, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and bribery in official matters.
Pavlovich, 40, of Camp Hill, denied the charges during the three-day trial. Asked on the witness stand whether he had sex with any of the accusers, touched them improperly or asked them to sneak out of their homes, the former Marysville officer replied, "Absolutely not."
Pavlovich said, however, that he did ask three teenage girls to meet him late at night at locations in Marysville as part of an investigation into drug activity and underage drinking. No one was arrested based on information he received from them, he said.
Several women testified during the trial that, when they were 13 or 14, Pavlovich tried to convince them to sneak out of their homes and meet him. They said they believed he intended to have sex with them.
Others testified that Pavlovich had fondled them, and one woman who has been diagnosed with a mental disability testified that she was pressured to perform oral sex on Pavlovich when she was 19.
The allegations date back to 2000, the year Pavlovich was hired. He was suspended from the force in March 2007 and later fired.
Pavlovich remained free on $250,000 bail. No sentencing date has been set.
Jonelle H. Eshbach, a senior state deputy attorney general who prosecuted the case, said she was satisfied with the verdict. Defense lawyer P. Richard Wagner and the Pavlovich family did not comment.
The victims and their families were not at the courthouse in New Bloomfield when the verdict was announced after 10 p.m. Saturday.
Marysville, a borough of about 2,400 people, is just northwest of Harrisburg.
———
Information from: The Patriot-News, http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Deputy Sheriff Jerry Nelson Arrested for DUI
An Orange County deputy sheriff was arrested early Saturday in the Tampa area and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, a jail booking report shows.
Deputy Jerry Nelson, 29, was taken into custody about 3 a.m. in Hillsborough County. Nelson, who joined the Sheriff's Office on Dec. 2, 2005, was booked into the Hillsborough County Jail about three hours later and released Saturday.
A Sheriff's Office statement said Nelson will be taken off the street and reassigned to administrative duties while his case is investigated by department officials.
More Information: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7722296&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
Officer Engelberto Rubio Jr Arrested on Child Abuse Charges
SUISUN, Calif.
An officer with the Suisun Police Department has been arrested on child abuse charges, the department said.
Engelberto Rubio Jr. has been placed on 30 days unpaid administrative leave.
The nature of the allegations wasn't released.
Rubio had worked for the police department for three months.
The Suisun Police Department did not release any details on the case, as it was not the arresting agency.
The Colusa County District Attorney is pursuing the case.
An officer with the Suisun Police Department has been arrested on child abuse charges, the department said.
Engelberto Rubio Jr. has been placed on 30 days unpaid administrative leave.
The nature of the allegations wasn't released.
Rubio had worked for the police department for three months.
The Suisun Police Department did not release any details on the case, as it was not the arresting agency.
The Colusa County District Attorney is pursuing the case.
Const. Kevin Duignan Charged with Impaired Driving
Blood tests, which Crown witnesses said were taken from Const. Kevin Duignan, showed an alcohol value of more than three times the legal limit, court heard yesterday.
The Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg heard testimony from hospital staff as part of a voir dire (a trial within a trial) that will determine whether evidence collected at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre can be used against Duignan, a Peterborough County OPP officer.
Mr. Justice Rommel Masse, sitting as judge alone, will have to decide whether the evidence is admissible.
Defence lawyer Leo Kinahan was expected to argue the evidence should not be admissible because Duignan enjoys protection under the province's Personal Health Information Protection Act.
But as the voir dire unfolded yesterday, Kinahan told the court he might have to shift strategies to argue the hospital evidence infringes his client's Charter rights.
Duignan, 50, was charged April 2, 2007 with impaired driving and having care and control of a vehicle with more than the legal amount of alcohol in his blood.
The charge came after Duignan's police cruiser was involved in a single- vehicle collision on Highway 28 south of Burleigh Falls in the early morning hours of March 29, 2007.
Duignan, who was on duty and in uniform at the time, was taken to PRHC where his blood was drawn, court heard.
Hospital lab technologist Pat Surman analyzed Duignan's blood, she testified, finding an alcohol value of 55 millimoles of alcohol per one litre of blood. The legal limit in Canada is about 17.3 millimoles of alcohol per one litre of blood.
Registered nurse Allyson Langworth was working in the emergency room the morning Duignan was brought to the hospital, court heard.
She said the officer was "belligerent" and uncooperative with staff.
The Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg heard testimony from hospital staff as part of a voir dire (a trial within a trial) that will determine whether evidence collected at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre can be used against Duignan, a Peterborough County OPP officer.
Mr. Justice Rommel Masse, sitting as judge alone, will have to decide whether the evidence is admissible.
Defence lawyer Leo Kinahan was expected to argue the evidence should not be admissible because Duignan enjoys protection under the province's Personal Health Information Protection Act.
But as the voir dire unfolded yesterday, Kinahan told the court he might have to shift strategies to argue the hospital evidence infringes his client's Charter rights.
Duignan, 50, was charged April 2, 2007 with impaired driving and having care and control of a vehicle with more than the legal amount of alcohol in his blood.
The charge came after Duignan's police cruiser was involved in a single- vehicle collision on Highway 28 south of Burleigh Falls in the early morning hours of March 29, 2007.
Duignan, who was on duty and in uniform at the time, was taken to PRHC where his blood was drawn, court heard.
Hospital lab technologist Pat Surman analyzed Duignan's blood, she testified, finding an alcohol value of 55 millimoles of alcohol per one litre of blood. The legal limit in Canada is about 17.3 millimoles of alcohol per one litre of blood.
Registered nurse Allyson Langworth was working in the emergency room the morning Duignan was brought to the hospital, court heard.
She said the officer was "belligerent" and uncooperative with staff.
Sgt. Wayne Alger Arrested for Committing Lewd Act with Child
Authorities said Saturday that they have arrested a California Highway Patrol sergeant on suspicion of committing a lewd act with a young girl.
Sgt. Wayne Robert Alger, 36, of Roseville, was under investigation for two weeks before his arrest, said Rocklin Police Department spokesman Lt. Lon Milka.
Milka said the victim is younger than 14 and that Rocklin police arrested the CHP sergeant after the girl's family contacted them.
Alger works the CHP's Capitol Protection Section, which provides law enforcement for state buildings in Sacramento.
According to Placer County documents, Alger was taken into custody Friday and later released on $50,000 bail.
CHP Capt. Bob Ghiglieri, Alger's commander, said Saturday that the alleged incident occurred when Alger was off duty and was not job-related. He said Alger has been put on administrative leave, pending the conclusion of the Rocklin Police Department's investigation.
Sgt. Wayne Robert Alger, 36, of Roseville, was under investigation for two weeks before his arrest, said Rocklin Police Department spokesman Lt. Lon Milka.
Milka said the victim is younger than 14 and that Rocklin police arrested the CHP sergeant after the girl's family contacted them.
Alger works the CHP's Capitol Protection Section, which provides law enforcement for state buildings in Sacramento.
According to Placer County documents, Alger was taken into custody Friday and later released on $50,000 bail.
CHP Capt. Bob Ghiglieri, Alger's commander, said Saturday that the alleged incident occurred when Alger was off duty and was not job-related. He said Alger has been put on administrative leave, pending the conclusion of the Rocklin Police Department's investigation.
Officer Scott Nugent Awaits Trial in Taser Death
There was no hearing Thursday for Scott Nugent, the officer charged in connection with the in-custody death of Barron "Scooter" Pikes.
Winn Parish District Attorney R. Chris Nevils said the hearing was scheduled for Thursday to hear routine motions, like discovery in the manslaughter and malfeasance case of Nugent, but the hearing wasn't necessary as Nevils had provided the materials a month ago.
Nugent's attorney, Phillip Terrell, was satisfied with the discovery, and neither he nor Nugent were in court Thursday, Nevils said. The next step, Nevils said, is for a trial date to be set, although they have to wait until after a pretrial conference with newly elected District Judge Jacque Derr.
Nugent, whose firing from the Winnfield Police Department was recently upheld by the Civil Service Board, is accused of shocking Pikes nine times with a 50,000-volt Taser within 14 minutes. Those shocks were made while Pikes was handcuffed and in police custody in connection with a drug possession warrant in January, officials say.
Winn Parish Coroner Dr. Randy Williams has said Pikes did not have PCP or cocaine in his system as officers alleged, and Pikes, whose cause of death was listed as cardiac arrest on the death certificate, may have already been dead before the last two Taser shocks.
Nugent has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Terrell has said he is confident Nugent will be found innocent once all the evidence is presented. If convicted of both charges, Nugent faces up to 45 years in prison.
The family of Pikes filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this month against not only Nugent but also the city of Winnfield, the mayor, City Council, police chief and other officers on the force, in addition to Taser International Inc. -- the manufacturer of the stun gun device Nugent used.
http://www.thetowntalk.com
Winn Parish District Attorney R. Chris Nevils said the hearing was scheduled for Thursday to hear routine motions, like discovery in the manslaughter and malfeasance case of Nugent, but the hearing wasn't necessary as Nevils had provided the materials a month ago.
Nugent's attorney, Phillip Terrell, was satisfied with the discovery, and neither he nor Nugent were in court Thursday, Nevils said. The next step, Nevils said, is for a trial date to be set, although they have to wait until after a pretrial conference with newly elected District Judge Jacque Derr.
Nugent, whose firing from the Winnfield Police Department was recently upheld by the Civil Service Board, is accused of shocking Pikes nine times with a 50,000-volt Taser within 14 minutes. Those shocks were made while Pikes was handcuffed and in police custody in connection with a drug possession warrant in January, officials say.
Winn Parish Coroner Dr. Randy Williams has said Pikes did not have PCP or cocaine in his system as officers alleged, and Pikes, whose cause of death was listed as cardiac arrest on the death certificate, may have already been dead before the last two Taser shocks.
Nugent has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Terrell has said he is confident Nugent will be found innocent once all the evidence is presented. If convicted of both charges, Nugent faces up to 45 years in prison.
The family of Pikes filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this month against not only Nugent but also the city of Winnfield, the mayor, City Council, police chief and other officers on the force, in addition to Taser International Inc. -- the manufacturer of the stun gun device Nugent used.
http://www.thetowntalk.com
Sheriff Daniel Presgraves Faces Several Charges including Sexual Assault
HARRISONBURG
A closer look at the 42-page indictment against Page County Sheriff Daniel Presgraves shows what prosecutors say was a pattern of widespread corruption that dates back to around the time he took the oath of office in 2000.
The federal government alleges that Presgraves, 46, who earns $97,198 a year, violated racketeering laws by using his position as sheriff to sexually assault women employees; obtain labor for personal projects; take bribes in the form of cash, gifts and the use of machinery; protect illegal activities from prosecution; conceal and divert revenue; and obstruct federal investigations.
Presgraves faces six counts of obstructing a law enforcement investigation, four counts of obstructing an investigation by a federal grand jury, four counts of violating the civil rights of women working at the Page County Sheriff's Office, two counts of making false statements, two counts of conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of violating federal racketeering laws, according to the indictment unsealed Thursday.
He faces 304 years in prison if convicted on all charges, according to prosecutors.
"Public service is a public trust and those who are elected to public office are held to the highest legal, moral and ethical standards," said Julie Dudley, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, Thursday during the unsealing of the indictment. "It's what we all want and what we all expect."
However, it's not what Page County residents got, she said.
Sexual Abuse Alleged
Part of the abuse of power outlined in the 22-count indictment is in connection with the sexual harassment or assault of 12 of the women on his staff he was elected to supervise.
Although he is not specifically charged with sexual assault, four counts of the indictment charge him with violating the civil rights of those employees.
The indictment outlines graphic details of his attempts, sometimes successful, at persuading these women to perform sexual acts or watch him perform lewd acts.
In addition to the lewd acts, the indictment states, he also instructed many of the women not to tell anyone.
In one case, the indictment alleges that after performing a lewd act and groping a woman inappropriately, Presgraves told her not to talk to the "feds" because "nobody knows anything that happened besides you and I."
In a separate incident, the indictment says he told a woman not to testify before the federal grand jury about their sexual activities but to "take it to the grave."
Inmate Labor Claims
Separate from the sexual abuse claims, prosecutors also allege Presgraves abused his power as the top law enforcement officer in the county to receive personal gains.
Presgraves, the indictment says, used Page County Jail inmates to work on projects at his home, at a construction site he and his company, Page Properties LLC, were developing, and at another property he owned that's adjacent to the Shenandoah River and his cabin.
"The inmate labor included, but was not limited to, construction work, operation of machinery, landscaping, mowing, carpentry and painting," the indictment states. "The inmates were often transported to and from the Page County Jail to these work sites by [Presgraves], his wife and [Page County Sheriff's Office] employees at the direction of [Presgraves]."
His wife has not been charged, but prosecutors say the investigation is ongoing.
Prosecutors say he also took government property.
"[Presgraves] stole and converted to his own use construction materials and other items that were owned by the [sheriff's office]," the indictment states.
Presgraves also faces the same conspiracy charge that has resulted in convictions or guilty pleas for three Virginia men charged in connection with the Little Boxwood cockfighting ring. A fourth man awaits trail in that case.
Presgraves is charged with conspiracy to sponsor an animal-fighting venture, specifically for his alleged role in helping Little Boxwood remain active, and his conversations with the owner of a second pit.
In 2000, the indictment alleges, Presgraves told the owner of a cockfighting pit in the Naked Creek section of the county that as long as he, the owner, kept a low profile, he wouldn't have any trouble. It further states that Presgraves told three deputies not to "harass" the cockfighters.
In addition to Pregraves' receiving bribes, disguised as campaign contributions, the indictment alleges he told a resident who called to complain about cockfighting that he didn't have the manpower to combat the issue and that cockfighting was a part of the county's "heritage."
A closer look at the 42-page indictment against Page County Sheriff Daniel Presgraves shows what prosecutors say was a pattern of widespread corruption that dates back to around the time he took the oath of office in 2000.
The federal government alleges that Presgraves, 46, who earns $97,198 a year, violated racketeering laws by using his position as sheriff to sexually assault women employees; obtain labor for personal projects; take bribes in the form of cash, gifts and the use of machinery; protect illegal activities from prosecution; conceal and divert revenue; and obstruct federal investigations.
Presgraves faces six counts of obstructing a law enforcement investigation, four counts of obstructing an investigation by a federal grand jury, four counts of violating the civil rights of women working at the Page County Sheriff's Office, two counts of making false statements, two counts of conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of violating federal racketeering laws, according to the indictment unsealed Thursday.
He faces 304 years in prison if convicted on all charges, according to prosecutors.
"Public service is a public trust and those who are elected to public office are held to the highest legal, moral and ethical standards," said Julie Dudley, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, Thursday during the unsealing of the indictment. "It's what we all want and what we all expect."
However, it's not what Page County residents got, she said.
Sexual Abuse Alleged
Part of the abuse of power outlined in the 22-count indictment is in connection with the sexual harassment or assault of 12 of the women on his staff he was elected to supervise.
Although he is not specifically charged with sexual assault, four counts of the indictment charge him with violating the civil rights of those employees.
The indictment outlines graphic details of his attempts, sometimes successful, at persuading these women to perform sexual acts or watch him perform lewd acts.
In addition to the lewd acts, the indictment states, he also instructed many of the women not to tell anyone.
In one case, the indictment alleges that after performing a lewd act and groping a woman inappropriately, Presgraves told her not to talk to the "feds" because "nobody knows anything that happened besides you and I."
In a separate incident, the indictment says he told a woman not to testify before the federal grand jury about their sexual activities but to "take it to the grave."
Inmate Labor Claims
Separate from the sexual abuse claims, prosecutors also allege Presgraves abused his power as the top law enforcement officer in the county to receive personal gains.
Presgraves, the indictment says, used Page County Jail inmates to work on projects at his home, at a construction site he and his company, Page Properties LLC, were developing, and at another property he owned that's adjacent to the Shenandoah River and his cabin.
"The inmate labor included, but was not limited to, construction work, operation of machinery, landscaping, mowing, carpentry and painting," the indictment states. "The inmates were often transported to and from the Page County Jail to these work sites by [Presgraves], his wife and [Page County Sheriff's Office] employees at the direction of [Presgraves]."
His wife has not been charged, but prosecutors say the investigation is ongoing.
Prosecutors say he also took government property.
"[Presgraves] stole and converted to his own use construction materials and other items that were owned by the [sheriff's office]," the indictment states.
Presgraves also faces the same conspiracy charge that has resulted in convictions or guilty pleas for three Virginia men charged in connection with the Little Boxwood cockfighting ring. A fourth man awaits trail in that case.
Presgraves is charged with conspiracy to sponsor an animal-fighting venture, specifically for his alleged role in helping Little Boxwood remain active, and his conversations with the owner of a second pit.
In 2000, the indictment alleges, Presgraves told the owner of a cockfighting pit in the Naked Creek section of the county that as long as he, the owner, kept a low profile, he wouldn't have any trouble. It further states that Presgraves told three deputies not to "harass" the cockfighters.
In addition to Pregraves' receiving bribes, disguised as campaign contributions, the indictment alleges he told a resident who called to complain about cockfighting that he didn't have the manpower to combat the issue and that cockfighting was a part of the county's "heritage."
Sheriff Deputy Frank Smith Jr. Charged with Selling Drugs
BRACKEN CO.
A Bracken County sheriff's deputy has been charged with selling drugs.
On Friday, Kentucky State police arrested Frank Smith Jr. of Brooksville.
Smith, a Bracken County deputy, was arrested in a McDonald's parking lot in Falmouth.
He was charged with second-degree trafficking a controlled substance. State police said the arrested was the result of a lengthy investigation.
http://news.cincinnati.com/
A Bracken County sheriff's deputy has been charged with selling drugs.
On Friday, Kentucky State police arrested Frank Smith Jr. of Brooksville.
Smith, a Bracken County deputy, was arrested in a McDonald's parking lot in Falmouth.
He was charged with second-degree trafficking a controlled substance. State police said the arrested was the result of a lengthy investigation.
http://news.cincinnati.com/
Friday, October 24, 2008
Deputy William James Weber Arrested for Sexual Assault
The Douglas County Sheriff's Department and the Superior Police department are tight–lipped about the specifics of 55 year old William James Weber's arrest today.
The long time Douglas County Deputy and investigator faces a multitude of charges stemming from an allegation of 4th degree sexual assault on October 15th.
A statement issued by the Superior Police Department says Weber allegedly sexually assaulted an 18 year old male last Wednesday.
Upon executing a search warrant on Weber's home, investigators seized property from his residence including a computer.
Today around 11 a.m. Weber was arrested on two counts of 4th degree sexual assault, two counts of obstructing an officer, one count of depictions containing nudity and one count of exposing a child to harmful material.
The sexual assault charge is a misdemeanor.
Wisconsin state statutes describe it as intentional touching through clothing for the purpose of degrading or humiliating the victim or sexually arousing or gratifying the defendant.
The charge of depictions containing nudity is described as having nude pictures without the subject's knowledge, which is more commonly known as voyeurism.
Weber made his initial court appearance today, and was released on a two–thousand dollar signature bond.
Because Weber is a Douglas County employee Douglas County Attorney Dan Blank is planning on requesting a special prosecutor for the case.
Weber has been place on administrative leave, and Douglas County Sheriff department officials tell me that an internal investigation is on going and they unable to comment until the investigation is finished.
The Superior Police Department is conducting its own criminal investigation.
Weber's is scheduled to appear next on November 21st.
http://www.blogger.com
The long time Douglas County Deputy and investigator faces a multitude of charges stemming from an allegation of 4th degree sexual assault on October 15th.
A statement issued by the Superior Police Department says Weber allegedly sexually assaulted an 18 year old male last Wednesday.
Upon executing a search warrant on Weber's home, investigators seized property from his residence including a computer.
Today around 11 a.m. Weber was arrested on two counts of 4th degree sexual assault, two counts of obstructing an officer, one count of depictions containing nudity and one count of exposing a child to harmful material.
The sexual assault charge is a misdemeanor.
Wisconsin state statutes describe it as intentional touching through clothing for the purpose of degrading or humiliating the victim or sexually arousing or gratifying the defendant.
The charge of depictions containing nudity is described as having nude pictures without the subject's knowledge, which is more commonly known as voyeurism.
Weber made his initial court appearance today, and was released on a two–thousand dollar signature bond.
Because Weber is a Douglas County employee Douglas County Attorney Dan Blank is planning on requesting a special prosecutor for the case.
Weber has been place on administrative leave, and Douglas County Sheriff department officials tell me that an internal investigation is on going and they unable to comment until the investigation is finished.
The Superior Police Department is conducting its own criminal investigation.
Weber's is scheduled to appear next on November 21st.
http://www.blogger.com
Cpl Matthew Spain Arrested for Being Under the Influence
A local law enforcement officer was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of an unknown substance while on duty, officials said.
Palm Desert police Cpl. Matthew Spain, a Riverside County sheriff's deputy, was arrested just before 1 a.m. Oct. 11.
“He was later evaluated and booked,” Palm Desert police Lt. Greg Ammons said Friday.
Spain has since been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Additional information was not available.
Palm Desert contracts for police services with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
More Information: Updated Nov. 1, 2008 http://www.mydesert.com/article/20081018/NEWS0801/810180342/1006/news01
Palm Desert police Cpl. Matthew Spain, a Riverside County sheriff's deputy, was arrested just before 1 a.m. Oct. 11.
“He was later evaluated and booked,” Palm Desert police Lt. Greg Ammons said Friday.
Spain has since been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Additional information was not available.
Palm Desert contracts for police services with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
More Information: Updated Nov. 1, 2008 http://www.mydesert.com/article/20081018/NEWS0801/810180342/1006/news01
Chief Caetano Vasco Chapepa Arrested for Corruption
Maputo
The attorney's office in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado has confirmed the arrest of a high ranking police officer on charges of corruption, reports Friday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
Attorney Janyario Necas said that a police chief superintendent, Caetano Vasco Chapepa, who is the director of training at the Cabo Delgado provincial police command, was been arrested and charged with corruption and swindling police recruit. His case has been handed to an investigating magistrate to validate the detention.
Necas said that Chapepa was detained after evidence was found that he had charged 300 meticais (12 US dollars) to each of the 410 young recruits enrolled for a training course, coming to a total of 123,000 meticais.
He told the victims that the money was to pay for their medical exams in Pemba city, the provincial capital.
However, the provincial health directorate revealed that the cost of the medical exams is just 50 meticais each, and the institution is not responsible for the rest of the money charged by Chapepa.
This amount paid by all applicants should amount to no more than 20,500 meticais. The prosecution says that, looking at the way the swindle was prepared, it is clear that Chapepa was aware of the crime he was committing.
Necas said that the fact that Chapepa was immediately arrested is because there were signs that, if left at liberty, he would disturb the normal course of legal proceedings.
"He had already started threatening the recruits, telling them not to provide the necessary information to the investigators", Necas said.
http://allafrica.com
The attorney's office in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado has confirmed the arrest of a high ranking police officer on charges of corruption, reports Friday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
Attorney Janyario Necas said that a police chief superintendent, Caetano Vasco Chapepa, who is the director of training at the Cabo Delgado provincial police command, was been arrested and charged with corruption and swindling police recruit. His case has been handed to an investigating magistrate to validate the detention.
Necas said that Chapepa was detained after evidence was found that he had charged 300 meticais (12 US dollars) to each of the 410 young recruits enrolled for a training course, coming to a total of 123,000 meticais.
He told the victims that the money was to pay for their medical exams in Pemba city, the provincial capital.
However, the provincial health directorate revealed that the cost of the medical exams is just 50 meticais each, and the institution is not responsible for the rest of the money charged by Chapepa.
This amount paid by all applicants should amount to no more than 20,500 meticais. The prosecution says that, looking at the way the swindle was prepared, it is clear that Chapepa was aware of the crime he was committing.
Necas said that the fact that Chapepa was immediately arrested is because there were signs that, if left at liberty, he would disturb the normal course of legal proceedings.
"He had already started threatening the recruits, telling them not to provide the necessary information to the investigators", Necas said.
http://allafrica.com
Officer Claude Sims Charged with Assault
A Clairton police officer who made news over a decade ago for beating up three handcuffed suspects is in trouble with the law again.
Police say they arrested Officer Claude Sims early today and charged him with breaking down a woman's door in Clairton overnight and severely beating her.
In 1994, three cousins accused Officer Sims of beating them while they were handcuffed.
Sims eventually pleaded guilty to violating their civil rights, but was allowed to stay on the force.
Police say they arrested Officer Claude Sims early today and charged him with breaking down a woman's door in Clairton overnight and severely beating her.
In 1994, three cousins accused Officer Sims of beating them while they were handcuffed.
Sims eventually pleaded guilty to violating their civil rights, but was allowed to stay on the force.
Officer Alph Coleman Fired after being Indicted for Robbery
DALLAS
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle has fired a Dallas police officer who was indicted earlier this week on an aggravated robbery charge.
Alph Coleman is accused of participating in a June robbery of Sam's Club where he worked off-duty as a security guard.
Coleman was fired Thursday during a disciplinary hearing in which he was accused of engaging in adverse conduct that resulted in his indictment, knowingly falsifying an affidavit by giving false and inaccurate information during an investigation and associating with persons of immoral character and convicted felons.
The former officer was working at the Sam's Club in police uniform when he told investigators that a man held a pistol to his head inside the store and forced him against his will toward the accounting office.
The robbery failed after employees barricaded themselves inside a storage room, police said.
Coleman then said in a police report he fired three times at the suspect who fled and was not caught. Police said they determined Coleman — who was hospitalized with a shoulder injury — was not telling the truth. Police also said they have phone records showing Coleman and the getaway driver had talked shortly before the robbery.
Coleman was assigned to the South Central Patrol Division and had been with the Dallas Police Department since September 2004. He was placed on administrative leave during the investigation.
A phone number listed under Coleman's name was disconnected Thursday night.
http://www.chron.com
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle has fired a Dallas police officer who was indicted earlier this week on an aggravated robbery charge.
Alph Coleman is accused of participating in a June robbery of Sam's Club where he worked off-duty as a security guard.
Coleman was fired Thursday during a disciplinary hearing in which he was accused of engaging in adverse conduct that resulted in his indictment, knowingly falsifying an affidavit by giving false and inaccurate information during an investigation and associating with persons of immoral character and convicted felons.
The former officer was working at the Sam's Club in police uniform when he told investigators that a man held a pistol to his head inside the store and forced him against his will toward the accounting office.
The robbery failed after employees barricaded themselves inside a storage room, police said.
Coleman then said in a police report he fired three times at the suspect who fled and was not caught. Police said they determined Coleman — who was hospitalized with a shoulder injury — was not telling the truth. Police also said they have phone records showing Coleman and the getaway driver had talked shortly before the robbery.
Coleman was assigned to the South Central Patrol Division and had been with the Dallas Police Department since September 2004. He was placed on administrative leave during the investigation.
A phone number listed under Coleman's name was disconnected Thursday night.
http://www.chron.com
NYPD Officers Accused of Sodomizing Man
A 24-year-old Brooklyn man has accused NYPD officers of sodomizing him with a police radio in the Prospect Park subway station.
Lawyers for Michael Mineo said he suffered serious injuries from the attack, which they said took place in a subway station atProspect Park on Oct. 15.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said witness statements contradict Mineo's account. Browne declined to comment on the alleged injury to Mineo until police review a doctor's record of the incident.
"We have found two civilian witnesses who didn't support the sodomy allegations," the spokesman said.
The allegations echo those of a case that shook the city in 1997, when Abner Louima was sodomized with a broken broomstick in a Brooklyn station house by a 25-year-old officer.
An additional accusation by Mineo that officers Tasered him is also not supported, Browne said, since the officers in question do not carry Tasers.
The department's internal affairs bureau and the Brooklyn district attorney's office have launched investigations into the complaint, police said.
Stephen Jackson, Mineo's lawyer, said his client stayed five days at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn. Brookdale Hospital officials confirmed that Mineo was admitted on Oct. 15 and discharged four days later.
According to police, officers from the 71st Precinct spotted Mineo smoking a marijuana joint outside theProspect Park station around 12:30 p.m. When they moved in to arrest him, police said, Mineo dashed into the station, leading officers on a chase. Police said Mineo resisted being handcuffed, telling officers he "ate the marijuana."
The officers issued Mineo a desk appearance ticket, Browne said, adding that four officers were involved in the incident with a fifth officer from the transit bureau also at the scene. Jackson said four or five officers pinned Mineo to the ground. "One of them put his knee on his neck, and another one used his radio ... repeatedly" sodomizing Mineo, Jackson said.
Lawyers for Michael Mineo said he suffered serious injuries from the attack, which they said took place in a subway station atProspect Park on Oct. 15.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said witness statements contradict Mineo's account. Browne declined to comment on the alleged injury to Mineo until police review a doctor's record of the incident.
"We have found two civilian witnesses who didn't support the sodomy allegations," the spokesman said.
The allegations echo those of a case that shook the city in 1997, when Abner Louima was sodomized with a broken broomstick in a Brooklyn station house by a 25-year-old officer.
An additional accusation by Mineo that officers Tasered him is also not supported, Browne said, since the officers in question do not carry Tasers.
The department's internal affairs bureau and the Brooklyn district attorney's office have launched investigations into the complaint, police said.
Stephen Jackson, Mineo's lawyer, said his client stayed five days at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn. Brookdale Hospital officials confirmed that Mineo was admitted on Oct. 15 and discharged four days later.
According to police, officers from the 71st Precinct spotted Mineo smoking a marijuana joint outside theProspect Park station around 12:30 p.m. When they moved in to arrest him, police said, Mineo dashed into the station, leading officers on a chase. Police said Mineo resisted being handcuffed, telling officers he "ate the marijuana."
The officers issued Mineo a desk appearance ticket, Browne said, adding that four officers were involved in the incident with a fifth officer from the transit bureau also at the scene. Jackson said four or five officers pinned Mineo to the ground. "One of them put his knee on his neck, and another one used his radio ... repeatedly" sodomizing Mineo, Jackson said.
Officer Rob Boothe Accused of Kicking Handcuffed Man
SPOKANE, Washington
A prosecutor says he'll file a fourth-degree assault charge against a Spokane police officer accused of kicking a handcuffed man in the face.
The Pend Oreille (PAHN'-doh-RAY') County deputy prosecutor appointed to the case, Michael Carbone, told the Spokesman-Review on Thursday he would file the charge in Spokane Municipal Court.
Officer Rob Boothe is accused of kicking 22-year-old John P. Luna on Sept. 5 after a stolen car and foot chase.
Boothe is on paid leave. Luna is jailed for investigation of car theft, hit-and-run, eluding police and assault.
---
Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesmanreview.com
A prosecutor says he'll file a fourth-degree assault charge against a Spokane police officer accused of kicking a handcuffed man in the face.
The Pend Oreille (PAHN'-doh-RAY') County deputy prosecutor appointed to the case, Michael Carbone, told the Spokesman-Review on Thursday he would file the charge in Spokane Municipal Court.
Officer Rob Boothe is accused of kicking 22-year-old John P. Luna on Sept. 5 after a stolen car and foot chase.
Boothe is on paid leave. Luna is jailed for investigation of car theft, hit-and-run, eluding police and assault.
---
Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesmanreview.com
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Former Officer Christopher Buckley Accused of Raping Child Has History of Sexual Assault
NEW ORLEANS
A former police officer accused of raping a 13-year-old girl has a history of sexual assault complaints made by young girls, Police Superintendent Warren Riley said Wednesday.
At a news conference Riley said similar allegations were made against Christopher Buckley, 36, in 2001 and 2003. The department opened internal investigations both times, and the cases were handed over to the district attorney's office. Each time, he said, the cases were refused.
The district attorney's office, under the administrations of Harry Connick and Eddie Jordan, cited as reasons for dropping the cases "failure of the victim or their parents" to cooperate, Riley said.
A 16-year-old girl accused Buckley in one case; in the other, two girls - ages 12 and 8 - complained of inappropriate sexual behavior, the chief said. The alleged incidents occurred when Buckley was off duty, he said.
Riley said he was disappointed the cases were not handled differently by the department but stopped short of criticizing the previous administration. Because criminal allegations were made, an administrative inquiry was not opened.
Still, he noted "this officer should never walk the streets again."
Buckley, a 10-year veteran of the department, was arrested Tuesday for the alleged rape of the 13-year-old daughter of an acquaintance. He was booked into the parish jail on three counts of forcible rape and three counts of oral sexual battery. He resigned shortly thereafter.
Buckley is being held on $525,000 bond. No court date has been set, and police did not know whether Buckley had an attorney.
The arrest came after an internal investigation conducted by the department's Public Integrity Bureau.
More Information: http://www.officer.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=43852
A former police officer accused of raping a 13-year-old girl has a history of sexual assault complaints made by young girls, Police Superintendent Warren Riley said Wednesday.
At a news conference Riley said similar allegations were made against Christopher Buckley, 36, in 2001 and 2003. The department opened internal investigations both times, and the cases were handed over to the district attorney's office. Each time, he said, the cases were refused.
The district attorney's office, under the administrations of Harry Connick and Eddie Jordan, cited as reasons for dropping the cases "failure of the victim or their parents" to cooperate, Riley said.
A 16-year-old girl accused Buckley in one case; in the other, two girls - ages 12 and 8 - complained of inappropriate sexual behavior, the chief said. The alleged incidents occurred when Buckley was off duty, he said.
Riley said he was disappointed the cases were not handled differently by the department but stopped short of criticizing the previous administration. Because criminal allegations were made, an administrative inquiry was not opened.
Still, he noted "this officer should never walk the streets again."
Buckley, a 10-year veteran of the department, was arrested Tuesday for the alleged rape of the 13-year-old daughter of an acquaintance. He was booked into the parish jail on three counts of forcible rape and three counts of oral sexual battery. He resigned shortly thereafter.
Buckley is being held on $525,000 bond. No court date has been set, and police did not know whether Buckley had an attorney.
The arrest came after an internal investigation conducted by the department's Public Integrity Bureau.
More Information: http://www.officer.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=43852
Former Police Captain Aaron Hughes Preliminary Hearing Set for Grand Larceny Charge
A Dec. 18 preliminary hearing has been scheduled for a former Elko police captain charged with attempted grand larceny.
The Eureka County District Attorney's office is prosecuting Aaron Hughes at the request of Elko County District Attorney Gary Woodbury, who recused his office to avoid any appearance of bias.
Hughes is accused of trying to steal an all-terrain vehicle from the shuttered Jerritt Canyon mine site.
He was placed on administrative leave following his arrest in August, and resigned from the Elko police force in September.
------
Information from: Elko Daily Free Press, http://www.elkodaily.com
The Eureka County District Attorney's office is prosecuting Aaron Hughes at the request of Elko County District Attorney Gary Woodbury, who recused his office to avoid any appearance of bias.
Hughes is accused of trying to steal an all-terrain vehicle from the shuttered Jerritt Canyon mine site.
He was placed on administrative leave following his arrest in August, and resigned from the Elko police force in September.
------
Information from: Elko Daily Free Press, http://www.elkodaily.com
Sheriff Daniel Presgraves Indicted on 22 Federal Charges
Page County Sheriff Daniel Presgraves has been indicted on 22 federal charges, including conspiracy and money laundering, some of which are linked to a cockfighting operation.
Among the charges announced Thursday were accusations that Presgraves took bribes from operators of the Little Boxwood cockfighting pit.
In exchange, the government claims he allegedly promised not to interfere with the cockfighting operation.
In a press conference Thursday, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Julia Dudley explained, "According to the indictment, Presgraves was aware of the cockfighting pits and by allegedly taking bribes and steering law enforcement away from it, was a member of the conspiracy that kept Little Boxwood in operation."
Dudley goes on to explain that over the course of several years, Presgraves allegedly physically, verbally and sexually harassed 12 subordinate female employees at the Page County Sheriff's Office and intimidated to keep them quiet.
"Presgraves told his victims whatever information they had about him that could be useful to the feds should be taken to the grave," said Dudley.
Another allegation against Presgraves is that he would take inmates from the Page County Jail to do manual labor on his home.
"Presgraves did not disclose to the Department of Corrections that these particular inmates were performing personal work for him and his family and others," commented Dudley.
Dudley assured Page County residents Thursday that Presgraves will be held accountable for his actions.
She said, "They must know that their elected officials are being held to the highest legal and ethical standards and they must know that even when high-ranking members of law enforcement are accused of breaking the law, they will be prosecuted."
Presgraves was arrested early Thursday morning by FBI agents.
He has been charged with six counts of obstructing a law enforcement investigation, four counts of obstructing an investigation by a federal grand jury, four counts of violating civil rights of female subordinates at the Page County Sheriff's Office, two counts of making false statements, two counts of conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of violating federal racketeering laws.
Presgraves faces 304 years in prison and a $2 million fine if convicted on all of the charges. He was arraigned Thursday afternoon and is currently free on a $50,000 bond.
The judge said he does not have the power to remove Presgraves from his elected office. However, one of the stipulations of Presgraves' bond is that he cannot go near or be inside the sheriff's office.
A court date has not been set yet, but since Presgraves did not waive his right to a speedy trial, he is expected in court within the next 69 days.
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines
Among the charges announced Thursday were accusations that Presgraves took bribes from operators of the Little Boxwood cockfighting pit.
In exchange, the government claims he allegedly promised not to interfere with the cockfighting operation.
In a press conference Thursday, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Julia Dudley explained, "According to the indictment, Presgraves was aware of the cockfighting pits and by allegedly taking bribes and steering law enforcement away from it, was a member of the conspiracy that kept Little Boxwood in operation."
Dudley goes on to explain that over the course of several years, Presgraves allegedly physically, verbally and sexually harassed 12 subordinate female employees at the Page County Sheriff's Office and intimidated to keep them quiet.
"Presgraves told his victims whatever information they had about him that could be useful to the feds should be taken to the grave," said Dudley.
Another allegation against Presgraves is that he would take inmates from the Page County Jail to do manual labor on his home.
"Presgraves did not disclose to the Department of Corrections that these particular inmates were performing personal work for him and his family and others," commented Dudley.
Dudley assured Page County residents Thursday that Presgraves will be held accountable for his actions.
She said, "They must know that their elected officials are being held to the highest legal and ethical standards and they must know that even when high-ranking members of law enforcement are accused of breaking the law, they will be prosecuted."
Presgraves was arrested early Thursday morning by FBI agents.
He has been charged with six counts of obstructing a law enforcement investigation, four counts of obstructing an investigation by a federal grand jury, four counts of violating civil rights of female subordinates at the Page County Sheriff's Office, two counts of making false statements, two counts of conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of violating federal racketeering laws.
Presgraves faces 304 years in prison and a $2 million fine if convicted on all of the charges. He was arraigned Thursday afternoon and is currently free on a $50,000 bond.
The judge said he does not have the power to remove Presgraves from his elected office. However, one of the stipulations of Presgraves' bond is that he cannot go near or be inside the sheriff's office.
A court date has not been set yet, but since Presgraves did not waive his right to a speedy trial, he is expected in court within the next 69 days.
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines
Former Officer Scott Nugent Goes to Court on Taser Death
WINNFIELD
Motions will be heard today in the case of former Winnfield police officer Scott Nugent.
Nugent has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and malfeasance in office in the death of Baron Pikes.
Nugent allegedly shot Pikes, 21, with a Taser stun gun nine times within 14 minutes, according to police records and Winn Parish Coroner Randy Williams. Pikes died in police custody.
Nugent faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
The Winnfield Civil Service Board in September upheld the firing of Nugent
Only one of the five members of the panel voted to reinstate Nugent to the police force, Civil Service Board Chairman Ronald Melton said. The dissenting member said Nugent’s officer bill of rights was violated.
Nugent initially was suspended with pay.
The manner of Pikes’ death was homicide, Williams said, and Nugent pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and malfeasance in office during an August arraignment.
Nugent was fired by Winnfield Police Chief Johnny Ray Carpenter after the suspension deadline passed. That firing was appealed to the civil service board but denied. The board’s decision can be appealed as well.
Pikes’ family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in August against not only Nugent but also the city of Winnfield, the mayor, City Council, police chief and other officers on the force, in addition to Taser International Inc. -- the manufacturer of the stun gun device Nugent used.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20081024/NEWS01/810240323
Motions will be heard today in the case of former Winnfield police officer Scott Nugent.
Nugent has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and malfeasance in office in the death of Baron Pikes.
Nugent allegedly shot Pikes, 21, with a Taser stun gun nine times within 14 minutes, according to police records and Winn Parish Coroner Randy Williams. Pikes died in police custody.
Nugent faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
The Winnfield Civil Service Board in September upheld the firing of Nugent
Only one of the five members of the panel voted to reinstate Nugent to the police force, Civil Service Board Chairman Ronald Melton said. The dissenting member said Nugent’s officer bill of rights was violated.
Nugent initially was suspended with pay.
The manner of Pikes’ death was homicide, Williams said, and Nugent pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and malfeasance in office during an August arraignment.
Nugent was fired by Winnfield Police Chief Johnny Ray Carpenter after the suspension deadline passed. That firing was appealed to the civil service board but denied. The board’s decision can be appealed as well.
Pikes’ family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in August against not only Nugent but also the city of Winnfield, the mayor, City Council, police chief and other officers on the force, in addition to Taser International Inc. -- the manufacturer of the stun gun device Nugent used.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20081024/NEWS01/810240323
The LAPD and Racial Profiling
On monday, the ACLU of Southern California released a report analyzing more than 700,000 cases in which Los Angeles Police Department officers stopped pedestrians and/or drivers of motor vehicles between July 2003 and June 2004.
The study, which I wrote with my research assistant, Jonathan Borowsky, asked not simply whether African Americans and Latinos are stopped and searched by the LAPD more often than whites -- it's clear that they are -- but the more complex question of whether these racial disparities are justified by legitimate policing practices, such as deciding to police more aggressively in high-crime neighborhoods.
We found persistent and statistically significant racial disparities in policing that raise grave concerns that African Americans and Latinos in Los Angeles are, as we put it in the report, "over-stopped, over-frisked, over-searched and over-arrested." After controlling for violent crime rates and property crime rates in specific neighborhoods, as well as a host of other variables, we found the following:
For every 10,000 residents, about 3,400 more black people are stopped than whites, and 360 more Latinos are stopped than whites. Stopped blacks are 127% more likely to be frisked -- and stopped Latinos are 43% more likely to be frisked -- than stopped whites.
Stopped blacks are 76% more likely to be searched, and stopped Latinos are 16% more likely to be searched than stopped whites.
Stopped blacks are 29% more likely to be arrested, and stopped Latinos are 32% more likely to be arrested than stopped whites.
Now consider this: Although stopped blacks were 127% more likely to be frisked than stopped whites, they were 42.3% less likely to be found with a weapon after they were frisked, 25% less likely to be found with drugs and 33% less likely to be found with other contraband. We found similar patterns for Latinos.
Not only did we find that African Americans and Latinos were subjected to more stops, frisks, searches and arrests than whites, we also found that these additional police actions aren't because of the fact that people of color live in higher-crime areas or because they more often carry drugs or weapons, or any other legitimate reason that we can discern from the rich set of data we examined.
Police Chief William J. Bratton quickly rejected these findings, primarily because the study used data that was more than 4 years old. This is a fair point. But we had no other choice: The department has not released the more recent stop data that it has been collecting, nor has it analyzed the more recent data to test for racial disparities. If Bratton is truly confident that unjustified racial disparities are a thing of the past, he should be able to show the change in the current data. I would be happy to organize a group of respected academics to help analyze it.
Bratton also asserted that the report was flawed because we failed to control for the race of both officers involved in the stop. On this point, Bratton is simply wrong about how to conduct a statistical analysis. When testing for unjustified racial disparities in who is stopped by the police in cars and on the street, it's inappropriate to control for the race of either of the officers. The likelihood of being stopped, frisked or arrested shouldn't turn on whether a black, Latino or white officer was involved.
As an ancillary test -- after we'd calculated the general disparities -- we did look at the officers involved, and we found that the racial disparities in the likelihood of arrest were substantially lower when at least one of the stopping officers was the same race as the suspect.
For example, we found that the black arrest disparity was 9 percentage points lower when at least one of the stopping officers was black. Bratton should be troubled that there is less disparity when the officer is the same race as the person stopped, as that result adds credibility to the idea that the disparities in different-race interactions may be because of racial bias.
The president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Tim Sands, even more harshly rejected the results of our report. Sands said I appeared to start with my conclusions and then "worked data to fit." This is a vague charge, but one way to respond to the concern is with transparency. I've posted the data I used in the report and the associated statistical files to the Internet so that other academics can easily double-check the report's analysis.
Sands has argued that the results are not valid because officers often don't know the race of the suspect when they decide to pull over a car. That may or may not be true. But our study looked not just at motor vehicle stops but at pedestrian stops as well, which also showed racial disparities. We also found that, once people were stopped, officers were more likely to frisk, search or arrest African Americans and Latinos than whites. At the point of making these decisions, officers can certainly see the apparent race of the suspects.
It is particularly telling that neither Bratton nor Sands responded to the evidence that the frisks and searches of minorities systematically produced less evidence of crime than the frisks and searches of whites. It is implausible that higher frisk and search rates are justified by higher minority criminality, when these frisks and searches are substantially less likely to uncover weapons, drugs or other types of contraband. Independent of racial disparity, it is a sign of ineffective policing to have officers engage in such a large number of fruitless searches.
Sands charges that I cannot use data to "prove what 9,700 individual officers are thinking when they make traffic stops." But if he thinks that is what I tried to do, he seriously misreads the report. I never suggested that the data show what an officer might be thinking, and I was careful not to attribute the disparities to conscious discrimination on the part of individual officers.
What the report finds is that there are statistically significant racial disparities in a variety of police behaviors that are not explained by legitimate police concerns such as the local crime rate -- or, in the cases of frisks and searches, the likelihood of actually uncovering contraband.
My inability to probe the minds of officers does not make my results less important. The report shows that people of color in Los Angeles experience harsher treatment by police that doesn't appear to be justified by any legitimate law enforcement concerns. The LAPD can't just deny that racism is involved and let the matter rest; it should take steps to address that inequality.
So what does this all mean? The LAPD should be more open to evidence-based policing. Bratton, with good reason, extols data-driven policing when it comes to detecting emerging patterns of crime. The department already has an early warning system to identify officers with troubling patterns of uses of force or civilian complaints, but that system doesn't address racial disparities, even though the data to do so are available. The department must be as open to the same kinds of statistical analysis when it comes to tests of racial disparity.
http://www.latimes.com
The study, which I wrote with my research assistant, Jonathan Borowsky, asked not simply whether African Americans and Latinos are stopped and searched by the LAPD more often than whites -- it's clear that they are -- but the more complex question of whether these racial disparities are justified by legitimate policing practices, such as deciding to police more aggressively in high-crime neighborhoods.
We found persistent and statistically significant racial disparities in policing that raise grave concerns that African Americans and Latinos in Los Angeles are, as we put it in the report, "over-stopped, over-frisked, over-searched and over-arrested." After controlling for violent crime rates and property crime rates in specific neighborhoods, as well as a host of other variables, we found the following:
For every 10,000 residents, about 3,400 more black people are stopped than whites, and 360 more Latinos are stopped than whites. Stopped blacks are 127% more likely to be frisked -- and stopped Latinos are 43% more likely to be frisked -- than stopped whites.
Stopped blacks are 76% more likely to be searched, and stopped Latinos are 16% more likely to be searched than stopped whites.
Stopped blacks are 29% more likely to be arrested, and stopped Latinos are 32% more likely to be arrested than stopped whites.
Now consider this: Although stopped blacks were 127% more likely to be frisked than stopped whites, they were 42.3% less likely to be found with a weapon after they were frisked, 25% less likely to be found with drugs and 33% less likely to be found with other contraband. We found similar patterns for Latinos.
Not only did we find that African Americans and Latinos were subjected to more stops, frisks, searches and arrests than whites, we also found that these additional police actions aren't because of the fact that people of color live in higher-crime areas or because they more often carry drugs or weapons, or any other legitimate reason that we can discern from the rich set of data we examined.
Police Chief William J. Bratton quickly rejected these findings, primarily because the study used data that was more than 4 years old. This is a fair point. But we had no other choice: The department has not released the more recent stop data that it has been collecting, nor has it analyzed the more recent data to test for racial disparities. If Bratton is truly confident that unjustified racial disparities are a thing of the past, he should be able to show the change in the current data. I would be happy to organize a group of respected academics to help analyze it.
Bratton also asserted that the report was flawed because we failed to control for the race of both officers involved in the stop. On this point, Bratton is simply wrong about how to conduct a statistical analysis. When testing for unjustified racial disparities in who is stopped by the police in cars and on the street, it's inappropriate to control for the race of either of the officers. The likelihood of being stopped, frisked or arrested shouldn't turn on whether a black, Latino or white officer was involved.
As an ancillary test -- after we'd calculated the general disparities -- we did look at the officers involved, and we found that the racial disparities in the likelihood of arrest were substantially lower when at least one of the stopping officers was the same race as the suspect.
For example, we found that the black arrest disparity was 9 percentage points lower when at least one of the stopping officers was black. Bratton should be troubled that there is less disparity when the officer is the same race as the person stopped, as that result adds credibility to the idea that the disparities in different-race interactions may be because of racial bias.
The president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Tim Sands, even more harshly rejected the results of our report. Sands said I appeared to start with my conclusions and then "worked data to fit." This is a vague charge, but one way to respond to the concern is with transparency. I've posted the data I used in the report and the associated statistical files to the Internet so that other academics can easily double-check the report's analysis.
Sands has argued that the results are not valid because officers often don't know the race of the suspect when they decide to pull over a car. That may or may not be true. But our study looked not just at motor vehicle stops but at pedestrian stops as well, which also showed racial disparities. We also found that, once people were stopped, officers were more likely to frisk, search or arrest African Americans and Latinos than whites. At the point of making these decisions, officers can certainly see the apparent race of the suspects.
It is particularly telling that neither Bratton nor Sands responded to the evidence that the frisks and searches of minorities systematically produced less evidence of crime than the frisks and searches of whites. It is implausible that higher frisk and search rates are justified by higher minority criminality, when these frisks and searches are substantially less likely to uncover weapons, drugs or other types of contraband. Independent of racial disparity, it is a sign of ineffective policing to have officers engage in such a large number of fruitless searches.
Sands charges that I cannot use data to "prove what 9,700 individual officers are thinking when they make traffic stops." But if he thinks that is what I tried to do, he seriously misreads the report. I never suggested that the data show what an officer might be thinking, and I was careful not to attribute the disparities to conscious discrimination on the part of individual officers.
What the report finds is that there are statistically significant racial disparities in a variety of police behaviors that are not explained by legitimate police concerns such as the local crime rate -- or, in the cases of frisks and searches, the likelihood of actually uncovering contraband.
My inability to probe the minds of officers does not make my results less important. The report shows that people of color in Los Angeles experience harsher treatment by police that doesn't appear to be justified by any legitimate law enforcement concerns. The LAPD can't just deny that racism is involved and let the matter rest; it should take steps to address that inequality.
So what does this all mean? The LAPD should be more open to evidence-based policing. Bratton, with good reason, extols data-driven policing when it comes to detecting emerging patterns of crime. The department already has an early warning system to identify officers with troubling patterns of uses of force or civilian complaints, but that system doesn't address racial disparities, even though the data to do so are available. The department must be as open to the same kinds of statistical analysis when it comes to tests of racial disparity.
http://www.latimes.com
Former Officer Jonathan Lutman Charged with Additional Counts of Stealing
A former Slidell Police officer who quit the force after being accused of stealing from Hispanic motorists has been booked with additional counts of shaking down motorists after pulling them over.
Jonathan Lutman, 26, of Slidell, turned himself in to police Wednesday afternoon on outstanding warrants for theft over $500, theft under $100 and two counts of malfeasance in office.
Police began investigating Lutman earlier this year after several Hispanic motorists came forward with allegations that he had stolen from during traffic stops. Lutman, who had been on the force for two years, resigned and was arrested in July.
Two more alleged victims, also Hispanic, went to police in July after seeing Lutman's picture in a store in Slidell after his arrest, Slidell Police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said. In both cases, the victims told police Lutman had taken money from their wallets after stopping the cars they were driving or riding in, Foltz said.
In his initial arrest, Lutman was booked with one count of theft over $500, eight counts of theft under $300 and four counts of malfeasance in office. The status of that case was not immediately clear Thursday.
More Information: http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl102308cbslidell.13f1c6c4c.html
Jonathan Lutman, 26, of Slidell, turned himself in to police Wednesday afternoon on outstanding warrants for theft over $500, theft under $100 and two counts of malfeasance in office.
Police began investigating Lutman earlier this year after several Hispanic motorists came forward with allegations that he had stolen from during traffic stops. Lutman, who had been on the force for two years, resigned and was arrested in July.
Two more alleged victims, also Hispanic, went to police in July after seeing Lutman's picture in a store in Slidell after his arrest, Slidell Police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said. In both cases, the victims told police Lutman had taken money from their wallets after stopping the cars they were driving or riding in, Foltz said.
In his initial arrest, Lutman was booked with one count of theft over $500, eight counts of theft under $300 and four counts of malfeasance in office. The status of that case was not immediately clear Thursday.
More Information: http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl102308cbslidell.13f1c6c4c.html
Officer Jeffery Pennaz Charged with DWI
A Minneapolis police officer has been charged with one count of driving while intoxicated and one count of careless driving, according to charges filed Thursday in Hennepin County District Court.
Jeffrey David Pennaz, a Minneapolis police officer since 2007, was stopped Tuesday afternoon by police from Medina and Plymouth after a motorist called authorities to report that a man was swerving while driving in the vicinity of Medina Road and County Road 101, then was slumped behind the wheel after stopping at a traffic light, the complaint said.
Two children were in the vehicle when officers approached Pennaz at 3:53 p.m. and instructed him to move his vehicle to a nearby church parking lot, according to a Plymouth police report.
Officers said that Pennaz's eyes were bloodshot, watery and glassy and that they detected a "strong odor of an alcohol beverage" when they questioned him. They also found 10 bottles of Blue Moon beer in the vehicle, the complaint said.
Pennaz, 36, identified himself as a Minneapolis police officer and told authorities he was taking his kids to a cabin to go hunting. He declined sobriety tests at the scene and was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He was taken to the Plymouth Police Department, where he later submitted to a breath test. Two hours after his arrest, the test showed his blood alcohol content was .21 percent, more than 2 1/2 times the limit of .08 percent.
Pennaz, who was off duty at the time of the incident, was booked into the Hennepin County jail and later released.
More Information: http://www.startribune.com/
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Officer Justiniano Biturin Accused of Beating Bar Owner
MANILA, Philippines
The Manila Police District (MPD) wants one of its members to answer an accusation that he beat up a comedy bar owner and took the his money and the cell phone of the owner's assistant early Wednesday morning.
The 43-year-old bar owner, Apollo Portez, a resident of España Avenue, Sampaloc, Manila, suffered bruises from the incident, according to Police Officer 3 Reginald de los Reyes of the MPD General Assignments Section.
In his complaint, the Portez said the policeman, Senior Police Officer 1 Justiniano Biturin, entered his bar on España Avenue at about 5:30 a.m. with two women. Biturin, who's assigned to a Police Community Precinct at the University Belt, ordered food and drinks.
After eating, the cop approached Portez and asked for a 10 percent discount, to which the owner agreed. But then the cop apparently changed his mind and asked if he could just leave without paying.
Portez refused, insisting that he could only give a 10-percent discount.
Angered, the cop reportedly mauled the victim. He even took the owner's wallet, which contained P P1,000.
The owner's assistant, 22-year-old Christopher Taplac, tried to stop the policeman. But the lawman turned his ire on him and even took his Nokia 2100 phone.
The MPD-GAS has invited the policeman to appear at the office to shed light on the incident.
Aside from the criminal charges, the policeman may also face administrative charges and summary dismissal proceedings. - GMANews.TV
The Manila Police District (MPD) wants one of its members to answer an accusation that he beat up a comedy bar owner and took the his money and the cell phone of the owner's assistant early Wednesday morning.
The 43-year-old bar owner, Apollo Portez, a resident of España Avenue, Sampaloc, Manila, suffered bruises from the incident, according to Police Officer 3 Reginald de los Reyes of the MPD General Assignments Section.
In his complaint, the Portez said the policeman, Senior Police Officer 1 Justiniano Biturin, entered his bar on España Avenue at about 5:30 a.m. with two women. Biturin, who's assigned to a Police Community Precinct at the University Belt, ordered food and drinks.
After eating, the cop approached Portez and asked for a 10 percent discount, to which the owner agreed. But then the cop apparently changed his mind and asked if he could just leave without paying.
Portez refused, insisting that he could only give a 10-percent discount.
Angered, the cop reportedly mauled the victim. He even took the owner's wallet, which contained P P1,000.
The owner's assistant, 22-year-old Christopher Taplac, tried to stop the policeman. But the lawman turned his ire on him and even took his Nokia 2100 phone.
The MPD-GAS has invited the policeman to appear at the office to shed light on the incident.
Aside from the criminal charges, the policeman may also face administrative charges and summary dismissal proceedings. - GMANews.TV
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